Torii Mac-Mac-MaCcCcc-Adams
switched from LA Lights to British Knights with the strap, ha.
Kap G – “I Be Up”
Immigrants from Mexico and Central America are a significant and essential part of the United States, yet remain proportionally underrepresented in rap music’s tapestry. Even in Los Angeles, the mecca of Chicano rap, the sub-genre’s stars are almost invisible. Chicano rap, like many hybrid cultures, is an intensely regional phenomenon with a severe barrier to accessibility: listeners need a working knowledge of Spanish and English (or alternatively “Spanglish,” a pidgin tongue), and localized Chicano culture. Kap G, a first generation American, is seeking to change that.
Unlike his progenitors, Kap G’s lyrics hardly bare the cultural hallmarks of his Mexican heritage. He often makes reference to Mexican culture, but the insider-only slang belongs to the English-language rap of his College Park, Atlanta home. Kap G is the type of rapper that major labels regularly gamble on (in this case, Atlantic); he has a signature look (his ridiculous, blond-streaked hair), makes fairly generic street rap, and, most importantly for quarterly earnings reports, has cross-cultural appeal. Kap G’s problem lays not in the presentation, but the product: he’s not talented enough. He’s not offensively, obviously untalented–and he may well retain a strong regional following– he just doesn’t have the forceful, undeniable gravitational pull of Southern stars like Lil Boosie, Kevin Gates, Young Thug, and Future.
Boogie ft. De’Anna Stewart – “Make Me Over”
Boogie’s voice, nasal and slightly lisping, is immediately recognizable. These qualities, tailor-made for schoolyard derision, have been repurposed into gifts by the Long Beach rapper. Compared to RA The Rugged Man’s slobbering, near-indecipherable lisp, Boogie’s is delicate like a feather duster on a bookshelf, or the hiss of shuffled paper.
Chedda Da Connect ft. Fetty Wap, Yo Gotti, Lil Boosie and Boston George – “Flicka Da Wrist (Remix)”
I’m not entirely convinced by Chedda Da Connect’s viability as an artist, partially because his name includes a type of cheese. I’m even less convinced by Boston George, entirely because his name sounds like a latently racist Bill Simmons relative.
Tyga ft. Lil Boosie – “Pleazer”
Tyga is an unbearable rapper who receives an endless stream of excellent beats. The instrumental for “Pleazer,” produced by FKi, is a modern interpretation of Too $hort’s “Freaky Tales,” the original’s low-fi 808 menace polished for a generation young enough to be Too $hort’s children. That Tyga (or “T-Nasty” as he disgustingly refers to himself) gets to spew anal sex-lustful inanities over this beat is an injustice only partially rectified by Boosie’s presence.
Rome Fortune – “Leaders”
Rome Fortune goes hip-house with production from Four Tet! “Leaders” is music for when the only way you can express your joie de vivre is by doing the Running Man in a pair of Hammer pants.
Bankroll Fresh ft. Turk, Lil Wayne, Juvenile – “Hot Boy (Remix)”
While B.G. is unfairly imprisoned for having kept it too real (Okay, it was gun possession and witness tampering.), his former groupmates have been reunited by Bankroll Fresh on the remix for the appropriately-titled “Hot Boy.”
The “Hot Boy” remix finds Turk, Wayne, and Juvie at different junctions in their careers. Turk appears to be regaining some of the momentum he lost during his own lengthy prison bid for possessing a gun, with which he shot a SWAT officer. Lil Wayne has settled into awkward, lukewarm mediocrity while suing the only man who still wears Lugz, Birdman, and half-impersonating Young Thug. Despite Juvenile’s recent, indifferent Mardi Gras 2 mixtape, it’s he who shines brightest on “Hot Boy.” His unmistakably thick New Orleans accent doesn’t need to be backgrounded by bombast and fireworks, just the bare essentials. If Mannie Fresh and Juvenile reunited for an album, I’d buy ten copies.
Pyramid McCloud – “Church”
I can’t claim to have any in-depth knowledge of Pyramid McCloud, but “Church” was produced by Versis. The minute-long “Church” is yet another reminder that Versis is a gifted beatmaker, whose sparse trickle of music is approaching Jay Electronica levels. Multiple Passion of the Weiss staffers have expressed interest in a follow-up to Versis’ underrated 2010 album, iLLCANDESCENT.
