Castro, outside the window, selling la to the Darkman. Kung fu flicks. Brooklyn, you know. South Philly, you know. Monty Hall in the gallery. Zilla, stylish with bullet-proof confidence. Bad bitches and bad attitudes means mathematics has been studied. Vodka in the freezer. Todd Koppel looking nervous. Moms rocking Ghostface, not the Chef. Respect tape… Continue reading »
Rappers in 2012: still liking The Wire. As they should. In Havana, the man they call El Colocho Castro dive-bombs on a Small Pro beat. All double entendres and vocal distortion, Perry Ellis and Tommie Lee Jones love. Should you have slept on Castro prior, this would be a good place to start. Know the designer.… Continue reading »
Pelican briefs, Craig Ehlo, Lil Mac, the beat for Wu Banga, the ghosts of master killers, all channeled on the latest leak from the Wu Tang Pulp project. Some more strictly fam members only shit from the Wrecking Crew (Has-Lo, Zilla Rocca, Curly Castro), plus Boogieman Dela and David Little. Small Pro slices and dices… Continue reading »
The President of the Big Juss fan club and the only rapper to own every season of Sliders, returns with “They Call Me Castro.” Flipping a Biggie hook to good purpose, Curly Castro rides a minimalist Blueprint beat to break down conspiracy theories, his upbringing in Brooklyn, and the dawn of his radicalism. Moby Dick… Continue reading »
Check his history: Zilla Rocca’s been a beast. In just 16 bars, no other rapper could seamlessly namedrop the futility of the Seattle Pilots, Neruda, Hemingway’s love of daiquiris, Medellin, Omega 3′s, chicken nuggets, and Southern Comfort while flipping the beat to Tony Stark’s “Fish.” When the Wrecking Crew co-founder first floated the idea of… Continue reading »
All hail the twin Gods of super 8 and synesthesia. Zilla Rocca and Has-Lo mix like yellow and brown to form gold (so the technicolor gods tell me). As I described it earlier, this song is charcoal hands. Purple ties and purple tapes. ZR and Has going crayola, a fresh coat for a tired blend.… Continue reading »
Sach O thinks that song title/credit list is a mouthful. Now here’s a curve ball. Essentially crafting a full-on Funky House jam out of Philly gunners Starkey and Curly Castro’s Marvel backpack epic “Gamma Rays,” production duo The Elementz haven’t so much made a V.I.P edit as an entirely new track. Ironically, while Starkey’s self-proclaimed… Continue reading »
Has any relatively obscure rap song had a better second life than “Broken Language?” Forget Red and Meth’s 08 version, a decade and a half later, the stalagmite set remains enthralled by Smooth Da Hustler’s & Trigger Tha Gambler’s Tunnel banger. From Action Bronson’s “Moonstruck” to Zilla Rocca, Has-Lo, and Curly Castro’s “The Heat” (American… Continue reading »
Skeptics questioned Freddie Gibbs’ decision to join Young Jeezy’s CTE imprint. They wondered why an established independent rapper with a modest but loyal fan base would link with a trap rapper who seemingly can’t get his album released. After all, rappers aligning themselves with already established imprints hasn’t worked well in the past — see … Continue reading »
Photo by Liz Padova Three weeks ago, I ran through the increasing numbers of rappers finding inspiration in contemporary bass music (no Da King & I). Through unintentional oversight, I didn’t include Zilla Rocca and Curly Castro, who have been rapping over dubstep and D&B tracks since before brostep became the popular perjorative (and it… Continue reading »
Excellent Adventures
Bogus Journeys
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Listening
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Aaron Matthews
Abe Beame
Evan Nabavian
Tosten Burks
Matt Shea
Jonah Bromwich
Reading
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Tosten Burks
Aaron Matthews
Abe Beame
Jonah Bromwich
Watching
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Tosten Burks
Aaron Matthews
Evan Nabavian
Jonah Bromwich
Inner Sanctum
Miscellaneous Apostles
Local Natives
Understanding Media
The Sporting Life
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Miscellaneous
