In part inspired by Sean Palmer’s 10 Young Rap Projects That Deserve More Attention over at SSG Music (which schooled the hell out of me, good lookin) here are some recent slappers of note. Unlike that list, mine is not so ambitious, because not only does it feature less than 10 laudatory listings (half in fact), it also covers songs and not whole projects, for the most part.
Before we get into it, be sure you already have Danny Brown’s XXX. I dig it very much and a full album review shall be forthcoming.
Mellowhype – “67″
The latest leak off Numbers is so awesomely moody, a gorgeously numb tune about abandonment and mistrust that climaxes in a moment of unity found through shared pain. This shit is grown, especially Left Brain’s beat, a clatter in the void that grows into something soulful in step with Hodgy’s verses.
SK – “Baby” feat. John Crown
Another kind of grown courtesy of SK (whose Late Arrival Mixtape is worth a DL) and John Crown (whose Coffee & Beats needs to come out soon). Maintaining the spirit of the Tony Starks original, both rappers spit serious about fatherhood’s beauty. Mr. Crown takes it further, sprinkling the complications and anxieties of daddy-dom with papa pride. John is one of the best cats doing it out there right now, and if he can find more time to focus on music, he has the makings of an underground favorite.
P. Dukes – “My Bitch & My Burner” feat. KD
Have to admit, I’m really not feeling most of P. Duke’s Easy Money 3: Celebrations & Tribulations. Too often dude is like an overly earnest ST 2 Lettaz boasting about things Chris Rock would say you’re supposed to do, like paying off college loans. Not to take anything away from that accomplishment — lord knows it’s worthy of celebration — but it doesn’t always make for the most interesting subject matter, especially when coupled with fairly run-of-the-mill red state rattlers. But then there’s “My Bitch & My Burner,” a banger that makes me wish for a car, and a stereo, and a summer, all three of which have not appeared together at the same moment anytime in the near past. KD (whose criminally slept on and excellent G-Fluid is now available for however much you want to pay, so go get it) slays yet another guest verse with no-filler Bama talk.
Young Jeezy – “Rough” feat. Freddie Gibbs
(via) Gangsta Gibbs and the Snowman rhyme tough over another Lil Lody production that will be off The Real is Back 2. Freddie is the most ferocious rapper alive and sounds good over Jeezy’s typically grandiose trappings (pun intended). This inclusion mostly serves to openly declare my indecision regarding which I am more excited for: the pair’s September 2 show at the Showbox or Gibbs’ Cold Day in Hell.
Avatar Young Blaze – “Green Gotham” feat. Max B
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Also on that Jeezy/Gibbs bill — Avatar Young Blaze, who just dropped The Iron Curtain street album and through the course of his career has learned a thing or two from Jeezy’s slow-flow. Though I prefer his last mixtape, Danny Darko, for its depictions of a hard-scrabble soul finding the good life while always aware of his capacity to come unhinged, this release has plenty moments all its own, including and especially the lyrical knuckle-cracking that is “No Zzz’s” and the suave bad girl tune “Hollywood Star.”
Based on track-listing alone I was most intrigued by “Green Gotham,” billed to feature none other than Biggavelli himself. Aside from shouts on the intro and a slyly slurring half-sung chorus, the waviness is kept to a minimum, but unlike pretty much every other hook-for-hire piggyback this cut is dope. Young Avatar gets in some pointed jabs: “diesel like my old bitches, hella sour.”