Thursday, March 27, 2014

Y-2 SchoolBoy Q



SchoolBoy Q is a very talented Emcee. Q started rapping in 2007, which in the big picture, really is not that long. In that short time, he has already made a mark on the game and gained the respect of some extremely credible artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, and Jay Rock. Q prides himself on representing a style of rap music that instead of writing about only the dark parts of the streets, he talks about how he overcame them. It is inspiring. Born as Quincy Matthew Hanley on October 26, 1986 in Germany to a pair of military parents he moved around a lot as a child before finally settling in LA. As with most artists that grow up in cities, Los Angeles especially, Q got to see the good and the bad sides of the streets. He was enrolled in a 

rather high end almost prep school as a child, but he was respected for knowing his way in the streets. That is where the name “SchoolBoy” originated. It is rare that a child that attends a nicer school is accepted by the gangsters of the streets. As a teen, Q admits that he did join a gang, he was a “Hoover Crip”. His friends were all selling drugs, so he thought he would too. Q wrote his first verse as a teen, but did not pursue the music career until he was twenty one. He realized that music could relieve stress and aggression, which was something he needed in his life. His first album “Setbacks” was released in 2011. The album mainly targeted his experiences on the streets. He realized that the album could have been much more, but he was too caught up in all of the other pointless things. He realized what his true passion was. The following album “Habits and Contradictions” arrived a year later and ended up moving up the “iTunes Top 10” list. It peaked at number three, and reached number 16 on Billboard’s top rap album. Q is an up and coming artist in the game. I along with many others are expecting big things from him. 


Y-1 G-Eazy








G-Eazy is a rapper that most people haven’t ever heard of. When I bring him up in conversation, people tend to be completely clueless. I don’t understand how that can be. One of the most skilled Emcees and producers I personally think that G-Eazy is widely under appreciated. He has a very distinct voice. It is not hard to enjoy though. Some rappers have a distinct, different voice but it can end up being a bad thing. That is not the case here. I love his voice, style, and flow. Schooled in the bay, tested in New Orleans, G-Eazy isn’t a stranger to paying dues. His live shows have turned heads from the smallest of Midwest clubs all the way up to arenas on dates with Lil Wayne, Big Sean, A$AP Rocky and Drake, among others. Without label support G-Eazy has trekked across the US on multiple tours breaking hearts with his James Dean meets hip-hop vibe and unforgettable live shows. It’s not hype. It’s not a hit. It’s not an image. 
It’s all of the above. G reinterprets what he loves, not what everyone wants to hear, but in 2012 it’s looking like those two paths are starting to merge. Gʼs been a fixture on the local New Orleans rap scene for a few years and more recently in the music blogosphere, but in the last few months his popularity has surged and as his national profile has grown exponentially. He recently opened up for A$AP Rocky at his sold-out New York City debut and supported Lil Wayne, Mystikal and others at the buzziest event of SXSW 2012– Lil Wayne’s DEWeezy party. G’s announcement on all 41 dates of the Van’s Warped tour has solidified him as an artist to look out for in the coming months. But it all comes back to the live show, one New Orleans music blogger summed it up with, “the young crowd was reaching the levels of mass hysteria reserved for the 50s and 60s rock Ê»nʼ roll legends to whom G-Eazy has been paying so much homage. If you haven’t checked him out yet, I would one absolutely recommend his music to anybody. I will bet right now that by mid 2015, Eazy will be known across the world. 


Thursday, March 20, 2014

X-2 Atmosphere







Atmosphere is an underground hip-hop group from Minneapolis. The group centers on Emcee, Sean Daley, better known as Slug. The son of a black father and a white mother who divorced when he was a teenager, Slug became entranced with hip-hop, graffiti, and breakdancing, and formed the Rhymesayers collective with two high-school friends. After some early gigs as Urban Atmosphere, where Slug DJed behind Spawn's rhyming, the pair hooked up with producer Ant (Anthony Davis), as well as like-minded locals such as MC Musab, Mr. Gene Poole, and the Abstract Pack, forming an underground hip-hop clique dedicated to free styling, clever and complex lyrics, and anti-gangsta positivity. In 1998, Atmosphere released their debut album, Overcast!, which quickly became regarded as an underground hip-hop classic. 
The next Atmosphere album was titled Sad Clown Bad Dub II. The album was sold while the group was on tour and is now out of production. The album is highly sought after and is viewed as a collector’s item. A year later, the group released Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP's, a collection of three EPs built around the theme of Slug's complicated relationship with his ex-girlfriend. Slug regarded her as “the love of his life”. By this time indie rap superstars, Atmosphere returned with their fourth album, Seven's Travels, in 2003, followed two years later by You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having. The group continued to put music out during the next couple of years, including the free download Strictly Leakage in late 2007, a near-party album that they followed up with When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold in April 2008, a record that featured plenty of live instrumentation and guest background vocal spots from Tom Waits and TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe. The “double-EP” To All My Friends: Blood Makes the Blade Holy appeared in 2010, with the full-length album The Family Sign following in 2011. I view Atmosphere as one of the greatest groups to ever enter into Hip-Hop. 


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

X-1 Biggie Smalls





Biggie Smalls, aka The Notorious BIG, aka Christopher Wallace is the most iconic person in the rap and hip-hop industry next to Tupac Shakur. Biggie was born on May 21st, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. Biggie began dealing drugs at a very young age. When he was a teenager, he found an interest in music and started experimenting with it. He befriended Sean “Puffy” Combs, also known as “P. Diddy”. Biggie was born in a rough area of Brooklyn in a neighborhood called Bedford-Stuyvesant. At an early age he was surrounded by drug addicts and dealers. As a result of his upbringing, he was entered into a life of drugs, and crime. In an interview with Biggie, he said “Hustlers were my heroes, everything happened on the strip I grew up in. It didn't matter where you went; it was all in your face”.  At the age of seventeen, he was arrested for selling crack cocaine and he stayed in a North Carolina prison for nine months until making bail. After being released, he started following his interest in music. He started gaining notoriety around the neighborhood that 

he used to deal in. He caught the attention of producer Sean Combs. Combs split off from the label he was working for, and set up his own label called “Bad Boy” records. He immediately signed Biggie. Biggie got to work as soon as he could and started remixing Mary J. Blige's single, "Real Love”. In 1994, he released his debut album titled “Ready to Die”. The album told the story of his life.  It went back to the days of dealing, and selling drugs, to his rise in the rap game. The record had massively influential hits such as “Juicy”, and “Big Poppa”. The record went platinum, and the young rapper Biggie was thrown into stardom.  Success was hard on Biggie though. With the fame, came money. With money, came critics. Biggie became extremely paranoid. It led him to act out with aggression. He was reported assaulting a club owner over a cancelled show. After the event, he took a baseball bat to some reporters. His most famous feud was with fellow rap star, Tupac Shakur. Tupac was a west coast rapper, and they naturally didn’t like each other. I won’t get into specifics of the feud, but it eventually led to the death of Tupac Shakur, and Biggie Smalls. A rap game feud led to the death of the two most influential Rappers the game has ever seen. They both died before their time.   


Friday, March 14, 2014

W-2 Sulbime





Sublime was an American reggae/punk/ska band from Long Beach, California, United States. The band also
had heavy influences from a mix of reggae and dub, ska, punk, progressive rock, acoustic rock, and
hip-hop. The band consisted of three members, Bradley Nowell on vocals and guitar, Bud Gaugh on drums,
and Eric Wilson on bass guitar. The band achieved mainstream success with the release of their self-titled
album but Bradley died shortly after. Bradley died from a heroin overdose, and the band broke up shortly
after. The band is still seen as highly influential today and is still played on American radio stations, especially
in their home town of Long Beach California also known as the LBC. From 1988 to the mid 1990’s the
band toured throughout southern California and gathered a cult like following of skaters, and surfers.  The
band sold their initial recordings at live shows—eventually including their first full-length album 40 Oz. to
Freedom.  “40 Oz. to Freedom” featured several songs that would go on to become fan favorites, including
the title track “40 Oz. to Freedom” and “Date Rape”, as well as a selection of covers, including their version
Smoke Two Joints”. Their second album, Robbin’ the Hood, was recorded in 1994

        It consisted of a few fully developed songs along with instrumentals, tape dubs and various rantings of the
         manic Raleigh Theodore Sakers. On May 25, 1996, just two months before Sublime, their self-titled
         third album and major label debut was to be released, frontman Brad Nowell, a recently married
         new father, fresh out of a record company sponsored rehab, died of a heroin overdose after a show
         in Petaluma, California. In Bradley’s absence after his death, the band’s first single “What I Got” was
played all over the country and got phenomenal ratings. The album went five times platinum due to 
that song.   Sublime were known for their casual attitude and heavy use of marijuana and alcohol
with Brad and band mates often arriving late for gigs, sometimes drunk. Their carefree attitude is
what I along with most people find so magical about the band. The music is so easy going and laid
back. They are all so musically talented. It is a shame that Bradley died before his time. He would
have been able to grace the world with some incredible musical creations.