Rap – Page 2 – 7th Level Music

Jyroscope and Montana Macks are “Frozen in Time” with their new single.

Chicago’s Jyroscope – consisting of MCs I.B. Fokuz, Collasoul Structure and DJ Seanile – and producer Montana Macks announce a collaborative EP, Happy Medium, out July 23rd. Today, they present the EP’s first single, “Frozen In Time,” alongside an accompanying video. Over the last decade, Jyroscope has recognized how difficult it can be to strike a balance between focusing on one’s craft, career, and the life responsibilities that come with putting down roots and starting a family. Happy Medium is a potent manifestation of that endless journey for balance. Over sleepy jazz samples, layered in well seasoned breakbeats, these tracks are born anew by Montana Macks. Collasoul and I.B. trade pointed verses about fatherhood, bills, the hypnotic self-erasing loop that is heading to-and-from the gig and blowing off steam with a beer or three before tomorrow means doing it all over again.

Preceding Happy Medium, Jyroscope released several projects including the Hip House mixtape, On The House, in 2016 and the bouncy boom bap-filled, MUTE EP. Happy Medium is the result of over a year’s worth of work that began with a wildly fruitful session in late 2019. They felt the title best reflected where they currently are as artists and people. With other obligations taking up more and more of their time, how much does making space for music matter in the big picture? At what point do the records start to count and people begin to truly take notice? How do you find the sweet spot, especially when little about life is sweet or easy? As I.B. Fokuz says, “As husbands and fathers, artists… asiatic men. The balance is defined by spinning plates. Managing the day-to-day with our families on our backs. A leap of faith is the dice we roll on our kitchen tables. Still hungry, still crafting our magnum opus. Still men of principle… keeping our worlds intact.”

In the percussive lead single, “Frozen In Time,” Collasoul raps “On the long road to peace baby we gettin’ all the best of it/ it’s scenic wit delicate petals/pedals and we don’t wanna step on it.” He elaborates: “The first 4 songs we created were seeds we planted prior to the pandemic. Those initial songs were actually going to be the full project according to I.B. and I, but Macks called me and said hey, I think something’s missing….He sent over ‘Frozen In Time’ and the moment I heard the horns on that beat I knew we had something special with that one. To me it sounds like we actually start working towards finding peace with the help of those calming horns.” Montana Macks adds: “I had a beat I was stashing for my next instrumental project, but thought it could round out this EP. I hit up Collasoul and pitched doing another song and he wasn’t terribly receptive to the idea. He agreed to listen to it and passed it along to I.B. Fokuz, I got a call probably 30 minutes later like, ‘say no more’ and it became the single.” The accompanying video, directed by Kory Stewart, was shot across the city of Chicago and is donned in a hazy, black and white filter.

Watch the Video for “Frozen In Time”

“Frozen In Time” is a first offering of the poetic rhymes and heart-felt imagery across Happy Medium. It makes for a captivating listen, one that is sure to have fans new and old itching to run it back well before the final note has faded away.

Pre-order Happy Medium EP

Happy Medium EP Tracklist
1. War Going On
2. Work
3. Auto-Pilot
4. Frozen In Time
5. Take It Easy

Keep your mind open.

[Take some time to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: El Jazzy Chavo – Aspects of Dystopia

Combining jazz, hip hop, funk, and “atmospheric melodies,” El Jazzy Chavo‘s Aspects of Dystopia is a cool, mood-altering record that can be experienced in different moods, on different days, and through different listening systems all to various effects.

The overriding theme of the album is the day-to-day struggle of the lower class living in places with people (and buildings) who overlook them. “Futurama” is like the opening track to a film about a renegade graffiti artist in a totalitarian regime and a place where “the deep snow buries any sound.”

The groove of “Slap of Realism” is rooted in electro-bass and and processed beats that sound almost like they’re coming from the back of a bodega down the street. “Below the City” is surprisingly bright, as if you went into the sewers to hide from killer robots and discovered a vibrant colony of other survivors there. “Delusion” would fit well into a horror film with its simple synth stabs and ethereal chords.

“Where the Stars Don’t Shine” is the track that introduced me to El Jazzy Chavo. The wicked beats, sampled horns, and lounge vibraphone sounds hooked me right away. “The voice you hear is not my speaking voice,” a woman says at the beginning of “La Sirena de la Salva,” and then siren-like calls emerge from your speakers alongside smooth guitars and snappy beats. “Threshold of Sensation” has a neat warped sound to it that almost makes you feel drunk.

“Swallowed by Normality” has a neat switch near the end that shakes you out of your relaxation, but not in a harsh way. The sampled brass on “Hemispheres” is a great accompaniment to the vaporwave synths. “Return to Forever” is waiting for a rapper of mad skills to come along and use it in his next track. “Andromeda” has some of the best use of sampled raps on the record.

“Barefoot in the Storm” has a groove as relaxing at the title implies, and “Stealing in the Moonlight” is just as slick. The album ends with, appropriately, “Oblivion.” The track isn’t gloomy, however. It’s more of a blissful peace one finds as you fall into a well-deserved rest. The album ends with the sampled lyrics of, “I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I’m on a different wavelength than everybody else.”

He is, and Aspects of Dystopia will put you onto El Jazzy Chavo’s wavelength.

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

Growing Concerns Poetry Collective releases haunting new single – “First You Need a Body.”

Last fall, Chicago-based group Growing Concerns Poetry Collective released BIG DARK BRIGHT FUTURES, an album that finds the common place between the personal and political as it explores the depth of social chaos while conjuring visions of collective transcendence. Today, they are pleased to present a video for the standout track, “First You Need A Body.” Throughout the song, MzKenzie Chinn describes “learning to love her body and sexuality despite a Catholic upbringing” (Bandcamp). Featuring the collective’s three members – McKenzie Chinn, Mykele Deville, and Jeffrey Michael Austin – the video shifts between a south side Chicago beach at dawn, a tennis court, and the home shared by Chinn and Deville. The dreamy visuals (captured by Remsy Atassi) kaleidoscope across environments meant to evoke both the power and delicateness of Black femininity, while lyrics like “You can’t call the cops on a body that can turn into light” celebrate the transformational magic of Black femme sensuality despite the limitations imposed on Black womanhood by anti-Black American culture.

Watch Growing Concerns Poetry Collective’s Video for “First You Need A Body”

Stream/Purchase BIG DARK BRIGHT FUTURES

Watch Video for “Shout Across Mountains”

Watch Video for “Come To Me Open”

Keep your mind open.

[Second, you need to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Situation Chicago 2

Situation Chicago 2 is a fine compilation of Chicago bands and artists, and proceeds go to helping artists and venues affected by the pandemic (which, by the way, is pretty much all of them). The project is part of the CIVL SAVE fund, which needs all the help it can get to support independent music venues throughout the Windy City (full disclosure, some of these venues are my favorite venues in the country).

“Sinistry” by MIIRRORS is a fiery live rock cut with some light goth touches. Robust‘s “Dont Know Why” is a smooth example of Chicago’s vibrant rap scene. The bass line alone on it make impregnate you. Speaking of great example of Chicago’s music culture, Fess Grandiose‘s “Keep the Rhythm Goin'” is a prime one of Chicago house music (a genre that, while popular, still deserves to be better known around the globe). Umphrey’s McGee and Bela Fleck team up on the bouncy and bright “Great American.” Reduxion‘s “The Imperial Boxmen” is sweet funk jazz that will make you want to spin your lover around the room. Speaking of fun, Jeff Park delivers a great instrumental cover of WAR‘s “Slippin’ into Darkness.”

“Drowning” by Neptune’s Core starts side B of the vinyl with strong power-pop hooks. Goth country makes an appearance with The Goddamn Gallows‘ “The Maker.” V.V. Lightbody‘s “Really Do Care” is a slice of dream-pop complete with birdsong and cat’s purr-like guitar. Erin McDougald‘s lovely, sexy “The Parting Glass” is a wonderful exemplar of Chicago’s jazz club scene and makes you want to seek out her live performances.

It’s a good compilation, and proceeds go to a great cause. You can’t miss.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: MF DOOM – MM…FOOD (2004)

More than just a collection of rap tunes about food, MF DOOM‘s MM…FOOD is a masterclass in hip hop, songwriting, beat mixing, and villainy.

The opening track alone, “Beef Rap,” uses samples to tell us the album will be comfort for our bodies and minds. It’s true. DOOM tells us it’s about the beats, not him, but his lyrics are so smooth and stunning that you can’t ignore him. You want to analyze everything he says because it’s coming out with references to cartoons, strippers, lesser MCs, kung fu, and, of course, food. The beat boxing on “Hoe Cakes” is outstanding, and DOOM tells tales of picking up chicks and then cutting out like D.B. Cooper.

Count Bass D. joins DOOM on “Potholderz,” which is pretty much about what you think it is as the duo name check O.J. Simpson and talk about being so high they forget they didn’t light the joint they’ve been trying to smoke. “One Beer” stumbles around with drunken beats but DOOM’s vocals are as deft as a circus acrobat’s. “Deep Fried Frenz” tackles sycophants, backstabbers, and gold-diggers while DOOM looks for true friends. “Jealousy the number one killer among black folk,” he warns.

“Poo-Putt Platter” is chock-full of weird cartoon samples rearranged into a weird mix that melts into the equally strange (and delightful) “Fillet-O-Rapper” and “Gumbo” – both of which have so many samples you can’t keep track of them all. One of the most clever uses is DOOM rearranging samples from cooking show hosts talking about wraps.

“Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate” emerges from these three tracks like a massive ray gun rising out of a supervillain’s volcano hideout. The sample from a Fantastic Four cartoon telling the origin story of Dr. Doom is uncannily close to DOOM’s story, which, of course, is the reason he chose it. “Kon Karne” combines jazz beats with video game sounds and DOOM mentioning Sally Struthers and the Tower of Pisa in the same breath.

The groove on “Guinnesses” is downright slick, almost making you slide across your kitchen floor if you hear it while doing the dishes or, better yet, making dinner. Angelika and 4Ize add some killer lyrics (Angelika on the verses, 4Ize on the choruses) about how some relationships are like battles that often are best not chosen. “Kon Queso” has a cool bass lick running through it as synth stabs bounce behind DOOM’s nimble wordplay, which is available “to freaks and to pencil-necked geeks.”

Mr. Fantastic joins DOOM on “Rapp Snitch Knishes” – another song about fake friends (who in this case spread gossip or worse). “Vomitspit” cuts and loops a cool lounge track while DOOM reminisces about how he used to lose his game when a woman called him “Daddy” and how being a masked villain isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “Kookies” might have the best bass line on the album, because it’s like a deadly sidekick to DOOM’s verbal gymnastics. You’ll lose track of how many references DOOM makes to cookies and uses them to refer to other things. It’s this kind of wordplay that made DOOM your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.

MF DOOM left us far too soon, but at least he left masterpieces like this for us to obsess over for years to come. His master plan was fulfilled. He became a world ruler and then for mystic pursuits.

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

Rewind Review: King Geedorah – Take Me to Your Leader (2016)

Part of the legend and greatness of the late MF DOOM was that you never knew what he was going to do next. On the 2016 album Take Me to Your Leader, he took on another secret identity – King Geedorah, who himself was MF DOOM taken over by aliens bent on taking over the Earth. It’s a wild concept record filled with DOOM’s stunning rhymes and cool kaiju film samples helping tell / yell the story.

The first words on Take Me to Your Leader are “Follow the light, the light is your guide.” on “Fazer.” DOOM is fully possessed by the Planet X aliens and threatening to spit electricity (which is already does through his jaw-dropping rap skills) and to make “razors out of beer cans.” The loops and beats of “Fastlane” almost sound warped. The X-aliens brag about their control of DOOM and his friends on “Krazy World.”

“The Final Hour” takes a great sample from Hall & Oates‘ “I Can’t Go for That” and slows it down to the point where it’s almost unrecognizable. “Monster Zero” is another name for King Geedorah, and it’s also a great trip-hop tune with many great samples from Japanese monster films. “Next Levels” brings back hip hop rhymes atop an acid jazz beat.

“Geedorah has arrived, you guys can take five,” Geedorah / DOOM says on “No Snakes Alive.” DOOM’S pace moves back and forth from methodical to frenzied on the track. DOOM and Mr. Fantastic team up for a smooth track on “Anti-Matter.” Bonus points to you if you get the joke / reference in that partnership. The title track is a bit of a weird dream with plenty of samples of hysterical laughter and that Hall & Oates sample chopped up and restructured one more time.

“Lockjaw” goes back so fast that you barely have time to breathe, let alone catch all the tricky rhymes in it. “I Wonder,” with guest star Hassan Chop, has a cool, cinematic string section loop throughout it and takes on a philosophical tone as Chop wonders why he got dealt such a bad hand in life. The funky “One Smart Nigger” tackles how white culture loves to co-opt black culture and often not admit to doing it or, worse, claiming it was all their idea to start.

“Render unto Geedorah what is Geedorah’s,” DOOM says at the beginning of the last track, “The Fine Print.” That line takes on even more significance after hearing the track before it. The beats mix funky horns, video game sounds, beatboxing, and electro-drums to strut around like a three-headed dragon from outer space across the city of your choice.

The album ends with someone tells us the future of the planet is at stake, and DOOM is the one to deliver the message. He delivered many throughout his too-brief life. I haven’t mentioned a lot of the amazing wordplay on Take Me to Your Leader because, like any DOOM record, there’s so much that you don’t know where to start.

Keep your mind open.

[Take yourself to the subscription box.]

CHAI team up with Ric Wilson for “Maybe Chocolate Chips.”

CHAI photo by Yoshio Nakaiso, Ric Wilson photo by Jackie Lee Young

Japanese quartet CHAI present a new single/video, “Maybe Chocolate Chips” (Feat. Ric Wilson), from their forthcoming album, WINK, due May 21st on Sub Pop. CHAI’s past albums have been filled with playful references, in the lyrics, to food, and WINK’s intimate single “Maybe Chocolate Chips” offers an evolution of this motif. Bassist/lyricist YUUKI wanted to write a self-love song about her moles: “Things that we want to hold on to, things that we wished went away. A lot of things happen as we age and with that for me, is new moles! But I love them! My moles are like the chocolate chips on a cookie, the more you have, the happier you become! and before you know it, you’re an original♡”

Chicago rapper Ric Wilson, who they initially connected with at the 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival, brings smooth vocals over a laidback beat and whirring, dreamy synth. A community activist and artist based on the Southside of Chicago, he got his start with the legendary Young Chicago Authors, the Chicago-based storytelling and poetry organization which helped launch the likes of Noname, Saba, Jamila Woods, Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, and many others. He’s also featured in the accompanying video, directed by Callum Scott-Dyson, which is made of fun collages and video clips in classic CHAI style. Ric added: “Super in love with this new song with CHAI, a song about loving yourself & understanding your beautiful no matter what oppressive societal norms are telling you is beautiful. I hope folks can wake up and jam this while they make their coffee, or enjoy just sitting outside an open field. This year we’ve all spent a little more time with ourselves, let’s find the beauty in it.”

CHAI elaborates on the video: “This music video is the perfect visual for ‘Maybe Chocolate Chips.’ It was our first time working with Callum and the result (animation, etc.) was something we’d never tried before! Callum actually reached out to us for this but we loved how his work featured grotesque but cute components and tons of fantasy so our vision for this was in line. ♡⭐️^o^♡ Your mole is actually a Chocolate Chip! But you knew that already right?!♡⭐️♡”

WATCH CHAI’S VIDEO FOR “MAYBE CHOCOLATE CHIPS” (FEAT. RIC WILSON)

CHAI is made up of identical twins MANA (lead vocals and keys) and KANA (guitar), drummer YUNA, and bassist-lyricist YUUKI. Following the release of 2019’s PUNK, CHAI’s adventures took them around the world, playing their high-energy and buoyant shows at music festivals like Primavera Sound and Pitchfork Music Festival, and touring with indie-rock mainstays like Whitney and Mac DeMarco. Like all musicians, CHAI spent 2020 forced to rethink the fabric of their work and lives. But CHAI took this as an opportunity to shake up their process and bring their music somewhere thrillingly new. Having previously used their maximalist recordings to capture the exuberance of their live shows, CHAI instead focused on crafting the slightly-subtler and more introspective kinds of songs they enjoy listening to at home—where, for the first time, they recorded all of the music. They draw R&B and hip-hop into their mix (Mac Miller, the Internet, and Brockhampton were on their minds) of dance-punk and pop-rock, all while remaining undeniably CHAI. While the band leaned into a more personal sound, WINK is also the first CHAI album to feature contributions from outside producers (Mndsgn, YMCK) as well as Ric Wilson. This impulse towards connection with others is in WINK’s title, too. After the “i” of PINK and the “u” of PUNK—which represented the band’s act of introducing themselves, and then of centering their audiences—they have come full circle with the “we” of WINK. It signals CHAI’s relationship with the outside world, an embrace of profound togetherness. Through music, as CHAI said, “we are all coming together.” In that act of opening themselves up, CHAI grew into their best work: “This album showed us, we’re ready to do more.”
WATCH THE “ACTION” VIDEO

WATCH THE “PLASTIC LOVE” VIDEO

WATCH THE “DONUTS MIND IF I DO” VIDEO

PRE-ORDER WINK

Keep your mind open.

[Maybe you should subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rochelle Jordan’s new single, “All Along,” is out now.

Today, Los Angeles-based Rochelle Jordan returns with “ALL ALONG,” her second single of the year for TOKiMONSTA’s Young Art Records. Following the recently released “GOT EM,” “her most devastating dance floor track to date” (Resident Advisor), “ALL ALONG” is an R&B song tapping into a new jack swing sound. Working again with producers KLSH and Machinedrum, “ALL ALONG” is percussive and lush while showcasing Jordan’s rich and hushed vocals.

“ALL ALONG” initially developed as a love song to someone close to Jordan, but as she continued listening, it transformed into an ode to self-love. “As the song started to close in, I began to get this overwhelming feeling that I was actually speaking to myself. This song felt better to me once I started hearing it as the importance of recognizing your own self as your greatest lover. It’s so easy for us to get caught up searching for someone else to fill our voids, instead of working on us in order to make ourselves whole.”
Listen to Rochelle Jordan’s “ALL ALONG”

Born in London to British-Jamaican parents, Jordan and her family relocated to the eastside of Toronto in the early ‘90s. Her father, a drummer, encouraged her love of art and instilled an appreciation for Northern soul, Jamaican reggae and dancehall, while an adolescent Jordan simultaneously soaked in the record collection of her older brother: funky UK house, nocturnal drum and bass, garage, and all the gospel samples contained therein.

Since relocating from Toronto to LA, Jordan has gone on to tour with Jessie Ware, collaborated with Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) on his 2014 Grammy-nominated album, Because the Internet, and landed a stint doing voice over work for the Adult Swim show, Black Dynamite, where she appeared in a memorable episode featuring Erykah Badu, Chance the Rapper, and Mel B. of the Spice Girls.

“ALL ALONG” and “GOT EM” are Jordan’s first pieces of new music since last year’s single, “Fill Me In,” in addition to collaborations with the likes of Jacques Greene, Machinedrum, Jimmy Edgar, and others.
Stream/Purchase “GOT EM”

Watch visualizer for “GOT EM”

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe before you go?]

[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Debby Friday’s new single will have you “Runnin”’ to the dance floor.

Audiovisual artist, vocalist and experimental producer DEBBY FRIDAY has shared her new single & video “RUNNIN”.

Shedding the previous layers of noise and catharsis, the Vancouver-based artist drives home a snaking synth-rap jam that’s primed with electric potential. Speaking about her thrilling new single, she says:

“This new record is about pure expression. I don’t feel like I need to exorcise anything from myself anymore. I wanted to to push myself in different directions and see what would happen and I think I accomplished what I set out to do. “RUNNIN’” is a cheeky song that has DEBBY FRIDAY themes present, but now I’m having so much more fun.”

A trippy experiment in exposure techniques, “RUNNIN” is brought to life by its own hypnotic video, which was shot on 35mm and directed by FRIDAY and Ryan Ermacora. Filmed near Hope in British Columbia, the visual was inspired by the colour palette of tinting techniques in early cinema, and shot using multiple exposures on one roll of film.

Watch & listen to “RUNNIN” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwHCwo_KlhM

Born in Nigeria, raised in Montreal and now based in Vancouver, FRIDAY released her debut self-produced, rap adjacent EP, BITCHPUNK in 2018. In 2019, Deathbomb Arc ushered in her second, critically acclaimed EP, DEATH DRIVE, which throbbed with eroticised electropunk fervour and cleared a path for self-actualisation. The project was accompanied by FRIDAY’S first music video and directorial debut for the lead single “FATAL”, which was subsequently nominated for the 2020 Prism Prize Award.

Having swapped Montreal’s heady nightlife scene for Vancouver’s scenic mountain views two years before, FRIDAY spent much of last year in lockdown figuring out this new direction in her life. “I was going through another change that involved so many other things – internally and externally in the world – and I felt like I needed to create something to represent that rebirth. Making a short film had been on my bucket list for a while.”

Conjuring elements of folk horror in its bewitching depiction of nature and isolation, the eight and a half minute film BARE BONES is an ode to the cycles of change, building upon FRIDAY’s self-mythology. “I like things that have a little bit of a creepy vibe to them,” she offers. “I like things that are just a little bit unsettling, because I think it brings you back to yourself in a visceral way. It reveals the subconscious.”

“RUNNIN’” celebrates rebirth, and the next stage of DEBBY FRIDAY’S evolution. Working with producers Cayne and Andrew of Big Kill, this track marks FRIDAY’S first studio outing, having previously produced everything from her bedroom.

Keep your mind open.

[Run to the subscription box before you go.]

[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity.]

Top 40 albums of 2016 – 2020: #’s 10 – 6

We’ve reached the “David Letterman” moment – the top 10 albums of records I’ve reviewed in the last five years. Shall we begin?

#10: Priests – The Seduction of Kansas (2019)

This post-punk album is as sharp as a straight razor and as sexy as a femme fatale wielding that razor. Priests call out toxic masculinity, the changed political climate that arose from the Trump administration, and rich elitism with a mixture of snark, shredding, and, yes, seduction. Priests amicably split up after this. I hope they’ll put out new material someday, but they went out on a high note if not.

#9: The Besnard Lakes – A Coliseum Complex Museum (2016)

Easily the lushest album on this list, A Coliseum Complex Museum is full of soaring psychedelic riffs and vocals and songs about hope, strength, and the cosmos. It’s an uplifting record that preceded four years in which most people were trying to put each other down. It reminded us that we’re better than that, and always have the potential to move ourselves and others forward.

#8: Automatic – Signal (2020)

Good heavens, this is a stunning debut of post-punk and synthwave gems. Automatic threw down a gauntlet with this record after slapping all of us across the face with it – and looking fabulous while doing it. Signal arrives sounding like these three women have been making albums together for a decade and is perfect for dance floors, bedroom romps, and action scenes filmed in neon-lit nightclubs.

#7: A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)

The final album with A Tribe Called Quest made with founding member Phife Dawg before his death, We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service is a powerful record that reminded the world of many things: ATCQ still had the hip-hop chops that many still envied, Phife was an amazing MC, and that hip-hop (and music in general) can be a powerful tool of change and resistance.

#6: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (2016)

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard could’ve appeared multiple times on my top 40 list due to their prolific output alone, but Nonagon Infinity was the surefire winner of everything they released in the last five years. The album is masterfully engineered as one long track that, when looped, plays infinitely without any noticeable bumps. This was the album that propelled them to massive popularity and is a wild ride from never-beginning start to never-ending finish.

What albums made the top five? Post-punk makes another appearance, as does more doom metal, powerful rock, electro, and an album by a legend.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]