| The Fossil Fuels of Curly Castro & Has-Lo | February 12, 2013 |
Most of the time, rap is fun and games. Rare is the track that bangs and conveys a social message without being preachy or didactic. Late period Talib is enough to make you dismiss political and “conscious” rap outright. But then occasionally you hear a song that reminds you of rap’s power to stop you […]
No shish kabobs, afro-picks, and dashikis. The Wrecking Crew come with scallops, Columbian neckties, and tailor-made suits. Plus, the occasional goose that needs to be fed. For anyone raised on the Wu as holy scripture, this is far better than any fan fiction you could ever conceive. This is building a heavily fortified compound addition […]
| The 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2012 (W/ Zip File) | December 19, 2012 |
Now with ZIP File. Download: Passion of the Weiss Top 50 Hip Hop Songs, 2012: Part II (#50-26) (Left-Click) Passion of the Weiss Top 50 Hip Hop Songs, 2012: Part I (#25-1 ) (Left-Click) Previously: Passion of the Weiss Top Hip Hop Songs — 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 Novelty Bonus – “Hot Cheetos […]
| Hard Boiled Fiction and Hard Living: Scenes from Zilla Rocca’s “Party with Villains EP” | November 13, 2012 |
Don’t let the green grass fool you, Zilla Rocca is as regional a rapper as you could find. Occasionally, he slips into the Shadowboxer noir-hop executive trench coat, but on the new Party with Villains EP, he pulls from the bullets and bourbon sagas of South Philly crime reporter George Anastasia, the legacy of Allen […]
| Raising Caine with Zilla Rocca, Curly Castro & Has-Lo | September 18, 2012 |
Fresh kill from the Wrecking Crew. More black-clad pulp bangers pulsing out of the badlands between Motherless Brooklyn, The Big Sleep, The Fantastic Four and Charlton Heston before he burned his b-r-a-i-n for the NRA. Curly Castro channels his inner Robert Thorn on “Soylent Green,” a track excised from his forthcoming Fidel, where he pairs […]
| Homeless Swordsmen: The Wrecking Crew Presents: Wu Tang Pulp | September 4, 2012 |
When Zilla first told me about the concept behind Wu-Tang Pulp, I thought it was a terrible idea. The Wu canon is inviolate. There is no way to improve a song like “Bring the Pain” when Method Man raps as smooth and stellar as nutella. A banger like “Fish” is better than even pot-encrusted Branzino. […]
Brassy moles and brazen adventurers, another lavish illustrated book, the rap game Sam Spade, ZR, returns with Has-Lo and Open Mike Eagle for “Full Spectrum 2.” Maybe the best part of the rise of otherground rap is the demise of the mean-mugs that dogged every old video. Not everyone can be Roc Marciano. After all, […]
| “Your Backpack Past” Brought to you by Open Mike Eagle & Has-Lo | August 14, 2012 |
Open Mike Eagle and Has Lo remember seeing you purchase your Juggaknots 12″ at the Fat Beats in 1997. You gave Percee P daps and told Babu that your flow was the illest. They remember you rocking Lugz, a Jansport, and a Rawkus Records t-shirt. You used to worship Talib Kweli and now he’s doing […]
| Stained Glass Thoughts from Has-Lo | July 23, 2012 |
Like Ka and Roc Marciano, there’s a patient painstakingly assembled quality to Has-Lo’s music. If you listen to it only once, you might even find it a bit boring. Has’ rarely modulates his voice, opting for a cool detachment, the lucid narrative eye triumphs over the bloodied combatant. It initially seems like aloofness, but upon […]
Intro inscribed illiodically by Zilla Rocca. The Firm’s self-titled album sold a million copies…and was universally considered a colossal failure, so much so that Eminem took a shot at it when he ghostwrote Dre’s verse on “Forgot about Dre”. The project was such a travesty that it fractured the relationship of one the most talented […]
