Feb
07

Too Advanced, Digi Stance: Pulp Banga 101 Taught by the Wrecking Crew

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 »

Jan
23

Full Spectrum, the Sequel: Starring Zilla Rocca, Has-Lo, and Open Mike Eagle

Bug eyed monsters clutching swooning heroines. Grassy knolls and brazen adventurers. Blue Beatle butterflys. Murder scenes swept with neon green urgency before tops are turned Ron Burgundy. What’s a Golden Gopher to a taxiderm? Zen koans by Zilla Rocca. Skies stained the color of ash and Tiramisu. Tarnished crowns and lacquered hair. Gold not bronze.… Continue reading »

Nov
16

Scallops, Tossed Salads and Rap Ballads: Wu-Tang Pulp

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 »

Oct
24

Zilla Rocca & Has-Lo Bend Color Bars

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 »

Jul
26

Color Bars: Zilla Rocca & Has-Lo Go Full Spectrum

Charcoal hands. Purple ties and purple tapes. ZR and Has going crayola, a fresh coat for a tired blend. Indirect homage to Ice-T and straightforward pounds to Edan and Elzhi. Kids raised on Wu-Tang slang slashing in opal and in the color of money. Biggie referenced in mustard spread. Egg shell tiles. Nostalgia stashed in… Continue reading »

May
16

Broken Clocks and Heat: Zilla Rocca, Curly Castro & Has-Lo’s “American Language”

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 »

Apr
26

Has Lo – Untitled #1 (Hold On)

Has-Lo strolling past the cemetery gates to commune with the tombstones and ancestral spirits. Number one among the ghosts channeled is Dennis Coles. This is how you engender Wu-Tang comparisons without ripping off the Clan a decade late. Select a vaguely obscure soul loop and kick melancholy meditative rips while using the phrase “old earth.”… Continue reading »

Mar
30

Has Lo, In Utero

Has-Lo “Utero” from Mello Music Group on Vimeo. Through the first quarter, Has-Lo is the front runner for the Roc Marciano Award for Chain Swinging, Bell-Ringing, East Coasted, Blunts from Bodegas rap. If there’s a surfeit of adjectives in that last sentence, credit the density of Has’ writing. Easy listening this is not. In Case… Continue reading »