Continue reading "shabazz palaces | they come in gold | lese majesty lp"
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“Sanity, a visage of my wealth
Lost but always found before the idols that I’ve knelt
Strategy, the only way to cry
Keep it do or die and always think in terms of I
Reverie, some legend futures past
Revelry, instead for it renders hella fast
Capitol, a sound that’s on the rise
It’s slaking unrealized until essence has been razed
Sepulcher, a stage enlived by ghosts
Floating off with bags of the blood encrusted dough.”
– “They Come In Gold” (from “The Phasing Shift” suite)
Herein bumps and soars Lese Majesty, the new sonic action of Shabazz Palaces. Honed and primal, chromed and primo. A unique and glorified offering into our ever-uniforming musical soundscape. Lese Majesty is a beatific war cry, born of a spell, acknowledging that sophistication and the instinctual are not at odds; Indeed an undoing of the lie of their disparate natures.
Lese Majesty is not a launching pad for the group’s fan base increasing propaganda. It is a series of astral suites, recorded happenings, shared. A dare to dive deep into Shabazz Palaces sounds, vibrations unfettered. A dope-hex thrown from the compartments that have artificially contained us all and hindered our sublime collusion.
These reveries were sent to Palaceer Lazaro and Fly Guy ‘Dai in the year of gun beat battles in excess; In a succession of days, whilst walking in dreams and in varied transcendental states….(every minute of every day is filled with observation and composition. In action). Songs are committed and gathered by robots at Protect and Exalt Labs, a Black Space in Seattle, Washington.
The visual features of Lese Majesty are resultant of the gleanings of fellow Constellationaire, Nep Sidhu.
The Black Constellation squads up, protects and exalts the messages within, and colludes accordingly. We thank you. Peace.
Pre-Order yours at the SubPop Mega Mart.
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]]>Continue reading "DTMD // Makin’ Dollars"
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2012 is still fresh, so it’s only logical we sit back and reflect on 2011 and all the music the year produced. No serious conversation concerning rap can exclude the many wonderful offerings by our ace homies Mello Music Group and their well-stocked roster of rap all-stars. We all know how cream will always rise to the top, but at times we are unaware of such delicacies. Not because we don’t know any better, it’s just that sometimes good things get overlooked and obvious choices go unchosen for lack of awareness. Case in point. The extraordinaire rap-duo: Dunc and Toine. With confidence they saddle up to the spotlight turning bravado into an asset and a positive tag worth wearing on battle ready rolled-up sleeves. Dunc’s production is above par, and in fact raises the bar for would be contenders. Dunc’s work, and indeed his style are veritable nods to rap heavyweights J Dilla, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Pete Rock, among others. Yet, he doesn’t’ mimic so much as he incorporates points of reference with new life, which propel his sound into the stratosphere. But if production is the of the river Styx, separating the world of supreme beats from that of the common mediocre fare. Then by all means Toine’s lyrical adeptness is the proverbial manna from above, leading those who once fed on saccharine enriched music to an abundant and organic menu which satisfies the soul. His is words leading boys into manhood. Turning singular alphabets into mature statements culled from reason and wisdom. Together DTMD Makin’ Dollars is collectively more than a physical entity, combined they are an audible representation of two young men making their way in the world, clearing a swath wide and exact. And they ain’t followers. Naw, never that! They’re improvisers aspiring to reach Rap’s promise land; the mountaintop of your notice and the audience of your well-tuned ear. Peace.
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]]>Continue reading "Boog Brown – The Brown Study Remixes"
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When you inhabit the city, you cannot shake the city. A city can get inside of you: its noise, neon lights, concrete, and hard smells too, like exhaust and ripening refuse. Hard with soft interiors. Fast paced, but loving slow and thoughtful behind closed doors. The city. It beckons many; to write or flight. D-Town denizen Boog Brown (now an ATL resident) personifies her hometown to the core, but don’t think gritty or whatever other negative connotations you conjure up at the mere mention of the Motor City. Instead, just listen to Boog Brown‘s flow and let her paint a different definition; rap has vocalized portraiture. Let the stereotypical fall to the wayside, and allow Ms. Brown to reassign the colors on the canvas of your mind. Her words, paint like Lucile Clifton verse. Better yet, let her cast vibrant moving bodies drawing historical reference. South to North, and in her case traveling back south again. Not retrograde nor regression, but akin to the Sankofa bird; looking back to see one’s way forward. Watch her paint, much like an augmented work of Jacob Lawrence and his profound Great Migration series. It’s all there in The Brown Study Remixes, the lows seeking higher ground, the ugly burgeoning with potential beauty, and above all, resilience and wisdom mastering its lower-self. Cities can be tough, make no mistake about it. But cities, like life itself, is also survivable; even desirable. Inhale. Detritus and refuse disintegrating, spoiling under a hot sun and critical eyes. The smog, exhaust, foul-mouthed spectres and city saints there here, and interwoven throughout this metroscape there exist their stories. Stories not all bad, not all good. Learn from the bad, but cherish the good. Like the poetry which drifts from the full-bodied honey hued lips of Boog Brown. Peace.
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]]>Continue reading "Cities Aviv – She’s A Buddhist, I’m A Cubist"
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Listen to Cities Aviv. However, I caution you to continue with only a single expectation; get ready to experience another variance of what you think hip hop is or should be. His music is a hybrid of multiple influences melded into shape shifting beat-song. But more importantly, let the music do what it do. Let it move you. We’re on the cusp of an age, an age when labels and categories are shredded and lay bleeding in a ditch. Rap is evolving into whatever its various DIY practitioners need it to be at any given moment. And further, rap will not be contained, it’s busting out at the seams and running naked and rampant towards your eardrum. It is a good time to be alive, and like a surfer let’s ride this Tsunami until the mothafuckin wheels fall off. Peace
Check out Spin Magazine’s Brandon Soderberg as he chronicles Rap’s New Underground. Also, peep Cities Aviv at bandcamp for a “WetDream” personified.
Sample the sample
Scratch the vinyl
Watch the rap ramble
Lyrics like a scalpel, watch ’em bleed.
She’s A Buddhist, I’m A Cubist
Die Young
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]]>Continue reading "shabazz palaces | black up"
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Let’s go back to 2009, ok? Alright, I understand maybe you don’t want to revisit the entire 365 days of ’09, so let’s just sample a snippet. Digable Planets alum Ishmael Butler aka Palaceer Lazaro materializes out of the stratosphere and joins forces with Tendai ‘Baba’ Maraire to deliver the wonderful star stuff of Shabazz Palaces dropping two truncated EPs, Eagles Soar, Oil Flows and The Seven New.
Out of a magician’s hat something surreal materializes; unlikely album names coupled with off the beaten path track titles. But these weren’t the only oddities. Take into account the music, which is genre busting too. You may sense an understatement in the mist, which if you listen to the tracks below you’ll immediately understand.
In 2009 Shabazz Palaces not only turned hip-hop on it’s proverbial ear, but the persona, previously known as Butterfly re-wrote its underlying code. Shabazz Palaces offers hip-hop processed through the gigantic particle accelerator at CERN. Songs begin in one place and culminate in another. The lyricism is dope, but in an altered state sort of way, i.e. dreamy and mystical yet introspective and consciousness raising. In it’s raw organic form the music is easily digestible ; it is akin to avant garde jazz , in that it has structure but it roams terrain previously unexplored by most hip hop heads.
With Shabazz Palaces you never step into the same river twice, with each listen a new facet is revealed. So, if your looking for Top 40 hip-hop forget about it. But if you are looking for that monster tsunami to ride into the wee hours of the morning then jump aboard.
I posted the old stuff first, the latest Shabazz Palaces album Black Up dropped June 28th of 2011. The track An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum is 100% butta’. At times it is appropriate to give a primer before you hit ’em with the straight dope. Peace.
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