Torii MacAdams sits crooked in the slab
Nalepa ft. Milo, Open Mike Eagle & Nick Diamonds
“Another One Of Mine”
Open Mike Eagle’s set at Echo Park Rising was delayed by two hours, which gave fans ample time to hover around his friend and musical guest, Hannibal Buress. It was the second time in as many weeks I’d seen Buress in public, and on both occasions he appeared to barely tolerate the steady onslaught of those rendered overly sociable by his celebrity. His eyes, naturally sleepy, were further glazed over by repeated incursions into his personal space. With his burgeoning television career, it won’t get any easier for him.
I’m attempting to get my housemate to stop listening to Girlpool in the living room, and part of this multi-pronged attack is trying to force Open Mike Eagle fandom upon him.
Rich Homie Quan – “Bankroll”
Like great American artists Mike Kelley, Diane Arbus, and DJ Khaled, Rich Homie Quan understands the suffering that often comes with success. He’s suing Think It’s A Game Entertainment (whose name practically screams “unpaid royalties”) for, surprise!, unpaid royalties, Rich Gang appears to have spontaneously combusted, and, according to “Bankroll,” his jeans are too small for his oversized wad of cash. If only there were solutions for an abundance of currency and a deficit of denim.
OT Genasis ft. Lil Wayne – “Do It”
OT Genasis is like The Thing, a deadly, parasitic life form that survives by perfect assimilation. During his brief stint as a member of G-Unit Records, the Long Beach rapper made relatively generic trap music, going so far as to tap Sonny Digital for his mixtape Black Belt. The lead single on his Conglomerate Records debut, “Touchdown,” was a blatant DJ Mustard ripoff. With “CoCo,” the parasite finally found a suitable host; OT Genasis limited his vocabulary to roughly 14 words, and the lowest common denominator was thrilled.
The aforementioned Think It’s A Game Entertainment isn’t the only one receiving ill-gotten profits from Rich Homie Quan’s work–OT Genasis owes the Atlanta rapper a serious debt for “Do It.” OT Genasis wasn’t blessed with Quan’s unusual vocal range and capacity for emotive mumbling, so he makes do with a half-rhythmic monotone.
DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad ft. Danny Brown – “Dubby”
To say “Dubby” features Danny Brown is a bit of an oversell. Brown’s vocals for “Dubby” are very much in the footwork tradition of short, chopped samples– his voice functions more as a percussive element than it does a rapped verse. The thought of Brown rapping over footwork is enticing; Mic Terror has done it well, and Brown too could use the stutter and disjointedness of footwork to great effect.
The Outfit, TX ft. Devy Stonez – “All Bills Paid”
The Outfit, TX are between albums, but Mel, Dorian, and JayHawk remain busy. In June, Mel penned an extensive piece on Dallas’ fledgling rap scene for Noisey. In July, the group released a collaborative EP, Deep Ellum, featuring some the acts included in the Noisey article. In September, the group, who recently recorded at Red Bull’s Los Angeles studio, will return to the city for Passion of the Weiss’ tenth anniversary show.
The video for “All Bills Paid” finds the group sipping Lone Star on a patchy lawn. JayHawk is playing a severely disorganized dominos game, Mel has one arm around a woman in a Ramones tank top, the other clutching a Texas flag bandana, Dorian lounges in the background, and Devy Stonez does his part for racial harmony by including an awkward white guy in his posse. #AllLivesMatter, I guess.
Tracy T ft. Sauce Walka – “Phones Ringin”
The only thing I want to accomplish in my career is having the Sauce Twinz dictate content at Passion of the Weiss for a week, and temporarily renaming it Saucin’ of the Weiss.
https://soundcloud.com/leikeli47/my-ex-is-a-ho
Leikeli47 – “My Ex Is A Ho”
Compared to Leikeli47’s “Fuck the Summer Up,” which caught the eye of Samsung-branded automaton Jay Z, “My Ex Is A Ho” feels somewhat rote. The growl-and-shriek vocal tics which Leikeli47 affects (over-relies on?) have been used by fellow New Yorker Nicki Minaj–it’s impressive in a performative sense, but often unexciting in a visceral sense. There’s nothing specifically wrong with “My Ex Is A Ho”–the conceit is good, as are the Dean Smith and John Wooden references–it’s just numbing.
