Welcome back for this week's edition of Straight No Chase, your one-stop shop source for all things hip-hop here on EARMILK. This comprehensive weekly feature aims to share hip-hop based content we may have missed during the past week, while also highlighting memorable content we did cover. In addition to the recap of our best hip-hop posts, SNC also includes a Video of the Week, Project of the Week, and a brief list of recently released noteworthy projects and upcoming releases.
As any hip hop head worth their salt knows, these days music floods the blogosphere by the millisecond. Consequently, the landscape of hip-hop is forever changing. There are countless rappers, both established and up-and-coming, as well as renowned and budding producers and beatsmiths dropping their fair share of dope music for the listening masses. It is our mission to mine the interweb for both audio and visual gems, delivering them straight to you for your auditory consumption. But enough with the jaw jacking: let's cut straight to the chase.
Straight Killer, No Filler
Though people may get the impression that music bloggers and writers are freaks of nature who robotically comb the Internet for music, never missing a beat, I am here to assure you that we too are fallible humans who in the process of bringing dope music to the masses, may miss a good banger or two along the way.
This week's delivery includes collaborative cut from Michigan's finest Willie The Kid and Jon Connor which will land on Willie's upcoming tape Aquamarine,a track from the SAVEMONEY crew's Joey Purp's new mixtape, a cut from Lucas Rivers' new EP [Rolling Weekends], and a host of other tracks.
Without further ado, let's jump right into this past week's selection of killer tracks:
Willie The Kid – Aquamarine [Mixtape]
Skyzoo – A Dream Deferred [LP]
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/55492140" iframe="true" /]
The Black Opera – Overture [EP]
Brian Fresco – single
Alley Boy – The Gift of Discernment [Mixtape]
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/55438165" iframe="true" /]
Yung Nate – 11:04 [EP]
Lorine Chia x Chance The Rapper – Lorine [LP]
The O'My's x Blended Babies – single
Joey Purp – The Purple Tape [Mixtape]
Deniro Farrar & Shady Blaze – single
SuaveHaus – SuaveHaus [EP]
Mikkey Halsted – Castro [Mixtape]
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/55645444" iframe="true" /]
Cookie Monster Galaxy – Name On A Cloud [Mixtape]
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/44442974" iframe="true" /]
Dice Raw – The Greatest Rapper Never [Mixtape]
Lucas Rivers – Rolling Weekends [EP]
Bulu x Big K.R.I.T. – single
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/55648984" iframe="true" /]
GLC – The Anti Simp [Mixtape]
Shabaam Sahdeeq & Eddie B – The Wolves [Mixtape]
DJ Khaled x Nas x Scarface x DJ Premier – Kiss The Ring [LP]
YP- No Doz [Mixtape]
On The Rocks: Weekly Recap
Here's a five track recap of some of the best hip-hop covered this week on EARMILK. Take a couple of minutes to stroll down memory lane and revisit a handful of tracks brought to you earlier in the week.
Tuesday saw the release of the second collaborative song from Mac Miller and Pharrell's upcoming joint EP, Pink Slime and the first single from Pac Div's forthcoming sophomore album, GMB (October 16) and the release of Hit-Boy's solo debut album.
The latter half of the week saw Atlanta duo Mac Five announce their upcoming Ratchet Shit LP with the release of the album's lead single "Supa Loose" and surfacing of 2 Chainz 's Lil Wayne assisted track "Yuck" off his upcoming Def Jam debut abum, Based On A T.R.U. Story.
For those who may have been snoozing at the wheel this past week, here is your chance to play catch up:
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Cito On The Beat – "I Be High"
Fresh off releasing his new mixtape last month, New York's Cito On The Beat deliver the visuals for his hedonistic track "I Be High". Directed by La Sey Films + In The Struggle Productions, the smoked out video includes plenty of the sticky green stuff.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUff8twqsZM[/youtube]
"I Be High" can be found COTB's new tape, Pinkster which features production from Cito, Black The Beast, K-Skillz, Divine Bars and Equator Line and features from Elowes, Michael Francis and Scotty McStoned.
CITO ON THE BEAT | FACEBOOK | SOUNDCLOUD | PINKSTER MIXTAPE
PROJECT OF THE WEEK
Once again, this week's project of the week nod goes to a project I haphazardly stumbled on with the help of social media. This week's project comes courtesy of Lyv Rugratz's frontman KiU. Dedicated to his life passion, music, the Philadelphia raised, Brooklyn based rapper, songwriter, and producer's new album Potent Art is a lyrically packed project. In a brief conversation the Lyv Rugratz member summed up the project with the following statement:
The purpose of Potent Art is to show listeners that the creativity in music as a WHOLE still exists. The concept of Potent Art is simply justified by attacking all of the aspects in music from having the best beat selections, to bringing a certain sound to each track, & picking the best and suitable features for certain tracks, that is basically what makes the ART of the project POTENT.
The cover which was done by designer/artist Shalise Jones, symbolizes the mind of an artist, the concept was to express/illustrate a different category of things that an artist thinks about and puts through their music. Every symbol on top of the human cranium sends a message of thinking out loud because the thoughts are put into the album. There's a different emotion put into each track and it's deliberated through things that are always in our minds.
The fifteen track album includes production from KiU, LyvAJ, Cazzie Jetson, and C. Money and feautres from Armon!, Bella Aces, Bones, B. Lee, Chance Davis, Clout, Duce Geez, Kayla H., and Lyv Rugratz Own LyvAJ.
Other Noteworthy Projects
Upcoming Releases – August 14
Friday Flashback
De La Soul – "Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa"
Depending on who you ask the average hip-hop fan will tell you storytelling is a lost art in the world of hip-hop. In an age where radio-friendly production-heavy club bangers are in high demand, it's easy to see why narrative-based songs rarely translate into commercially successful singles. When an infectiously catchy hook, simplistic lyrics and banging production are viewed as the core ingredients for chart-topping hit, the art of storytelling has quietly been surplanted by the art of mindless pandering.
While a new school of rappers including Kendrick Lamar ("Keisha's Song (Her Pain)") and Big K.R.I.T. ("They Got US") are reviving the art of storytelling, some of hip-hop's greatest lyrical bards belong to bygone eras in the illustrious genre's history. Known for their unrivaled collective lyrical prowess, Long Island trio De La Soul's 1991 single "Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa", off their second album De La Soul Is Dead, is a perfect example of trio's penchant for weaving creative stories into their raps.
Despite the comical title of the single, "Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa" found the usually laidback and lighthearted group tackling the serious subject of child molestation. Produced by legendary producer Prince Paul, the four minute song chronicles the heartbreaking story of the fictional character Millie and the sexual abuse she is subjected to at the hands of her father, who happens to work as the local Macy's department store Santa.
De La Soul surely does not stand alone when it comes to identifying groundbreaking storytellers who possessed the ability to craft and deliver imaginative and many times poetic stories in their songs. Rappers like Masta Ace, Rakim, 2 Pac, KRS-One and Slick Rick among others all were blessed with the unique gift of creating intriguing and equally engaging lyrical narratives that have withstood the test of time.
That's all for this week's edition of Straight No Chase. Thanks for checking in and checking out our fresh selection of all things hip-hop. As always, feel free to comment on this week's tunes and/or offer up any suggestions and music and video submissions for the subsequent edition of Straight No Chase.
