Browsing Tag

Old School Hip Hop

‘Sexy and smouldering’ – Aundre Raashad really is gonna Love You Better (Feat. Aundre’a Lynnette)

Posted on 7 December 2020

Aundre Raashad started his musical career at the tender age of 11, singing in a male gospel quartet, and that understanding of the roots of gospel and the dynamics of placing together overlapping, shared vocal arrangements stand him in good stead here with this gorgeous piece of soul-driven, lightly jazz-influenced R&B alongside collaborator Aundre’a Lynnette.

Lynnette’s delicious, sultry voice sits perfectly alongside Raashad’s smooth groove vocal and laid back, chilled beats, the restrained and tasteful guitar licks filling the space with a delightfully rounded-yet-trebly blues-soul tone and allowing the piano swells and flourishes and seductively funky bassline to carry the song.

While Raashad’s first single, the more hip hop styled ‘Student Loans’, might have brought some notable recognition on its release last year, ‘Love You Better’, from Raashad’s debut album ‘Thank You For Your Time’ (which has already notched up an impressive one million streams in its first six months of release, an impressive as hell set of stats for an indie artist, and which also includes ‘Student Loans’), is perfect, mature, soulful smoky evening music. This is the kind of romantic chilled soul track that’s both modern and cutting edge, in the style of D’Angelo’s ‘Brown Sugar’ or ‘Lady’ or Raphael Saadiq’s ‘Sometimes’, yet at the same time drawing on the vibe and feel of the old-school footsteps of great artists like Al Green, Bobby Womack, or Marvin Gaye. It’s sexy and smouldering, for sure, but it’s got groove and taste coming out of every pore; Aundre Raashad really DOES do it better.

Hear ‘Love You Better’, and the rest of ‘Thank You For Your Time’, on Apple Music.

Review by Alex Holmes

Ki$ama’s Foreign Cars is a gritty, dirty message to a broken heart.

Posted on 28 November 2020

Who doesn’t love a good, gritty ode to dreaming and aspiration and a message to a lost heart? All of us, surely, if only so we can feel better about ourselves for a few minutes? With Ki$ama’s ‘Foreign Cars’, we get the story of deceit and devotion, a modern freestyling hip hop tale of betrayal and requital over a trappy, chiming beats background.

From Ki$ama’s ‘Passages For The Broken’ album, ‘Foreign Cars’ has a dark, dirty vocal, all damage and desire and a yearning to prove oneself after duplicity and abandonment. It’s doomy and menacing in places, a clear shout of self-betterment in the ‘So many times you broke my heart/ One day I’ll be in foreign cars’ lyric which forms the chorus hook. It’s kind of rancorous without crossing the line into hateful, and there’s a clear hopefulness in the appetite for amelioration and progress pasted throughout the lyrics.

You can follow Ki$ama on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Taurean Meacham – Checks Over Stripes feat Aka J. Gatsby

Posted on 19 November 2020

Checks Over Stripes is the latest mantra-filled track from Hip Hop newcomer Taurean Meacham featuring Aka J. Gatsby which pays ode to 80s Hip Hop while bringing introspective wisdom that anyone in 2020 will be humbled by.

The steady rhythmic grind runs through at an arresting pace to allow each syllable to sink in and resonate as Taurean Meacham commands that you stay real, forget the hype and “do it for the love, not the likes”. Every artist needs this groundingly ensnaring track on their playlists. The beats are the hypnotic and the lyrics are practically prophetic.

You can check out Checks Over Stripes by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hip Hop artist 18degreeznorth takes us to school with their hypnotically distinctive track “College”

Posted on 11 November 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILJrez3OuDw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=18degreeznorth

“College” is the second single to drop from 18degreeznorth’s upcoming EP “Sinless Mixtape” which relays hard-hitting resonant rap bars in the up and coming artist’s hypnotically distinctive style.

The artist’s Caribbean verses run through as smooth as butter while the bass-riding beats bring a strong rhythmic pulse to the release which drips with Hip Hop nostalgia, all the while offering a fresh contemporary Trap sound which you would be hard-pressed to find to find elsewhere.

College definitely isn’t lacking in conviction. Yet, the most striking component to the mix is the soul offered by the accessibly magnetic artist who we hope to hear much more from in 2020 and beyond.

You can check out the official animated music video to 18degreeznorth’s single College which premiered on Oct 28th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ecsentric has left another mark on Brooklyn’s map of Hip Hop artists with “Alibis”

Posted on 2 October 2020

 

As an up and coming Hip Hop artist in Brooklyn, NYC, Ecsentric has some serious competition, but his latest release “Alibis” makes it all too evident that he’s on the way to the top with his fresh new sound which vibes with plenty of old school elements.

Under the influence of J. Cole, Nas, Logic and Kendrick Lamar, Ecsentric’s sound boasts that shimmeringly alluring Jazzy tone, although the dreamy reverb in Alibis takes the production to new hypnotic heights. As for the lyrics, they’re candidly exposing enough to draw a tear from you as you lose yourself in the evocative narrative of loss and betrayal.

The instrumentals may be light and melodic in Alibis, but don’t be surprised if it leaves you with a few emotional bruises.

You can check out Ecsentric’s latest drop by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Feel the Flow of Joey Ivy’s Transfixing Feat of Hip Hop “Golden Ticket”

Posted on 4 September 2020

Breaking Hip Hop artist Joey Ivy’s latest single “Golden Ticket” kicks off with a hauntingly phantasmic prelude which won’t fail to leave you transfixed by the archaic samples which set the perfect tone for the experimentally arrestive mix.

There may be plenty of Old School elements in Golden Ticket stylistically. But lyrically, Golden Ticket is well and truly grounded in the 21st century. If any Rap artist can put Pasadena on the map, it’s Joey Ivy. The flow and grind to their playful and witty bars are practically unparalleled. It practically begs for repeat attention by allowing you to draw more out of the powerful lyrics with each hit.

You can check out Golden Ticket for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rico B – No Hooks: An Atmospherically Bass-Driven Hip Hop Debut

Posted on 29 August 2020
http://www.deezer.com/track/1054653542

Rico B has joined a plethora of Hip Hop artists who have made their debut in 2020, still, he definitely didn’t fail to make an impression. Their first single “No Hook” is a certifiable indication of plenty more fresh new drops to come from the US artist.

They’re rolling with their own unfuckwithably convictive attitude in No Hook, which is a fairly misleading title, you’ll be hooked in this atmospheric bass-driven mix from the moment you hit play. The vibe may be fairly ominous, yet, the Boom Bap mix has plenty of accessibly personable distinction to throw your way.

You can check out Rico B’s debut for yourselves by heading over to Deezer.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

A1OURWORLD passes the vibe check with their latest single “7.weekly”

Posted on 26 August 2020
https://soundcloud.com/mastalo-key/7-weekly

A1OURWORLD dropped their latest single 7.weekly on August 14th, the fresh vibing Hip Hop drop will be right at home on your Summer Hip Hop playlists.

The grooving beats are a minefield of sharp melodic hooks which ensure that your attention never falters from the melodic instrumentals which create the perfect platform for A1OURWORLD’s high-vibe playful Rap bars.

Under the smooth production, you’ll find elements of Old School Hip Hop and RnB, but A1OURWORLD discernibly didn’t fail to create a mix which drips with commercial potential. Oh, and good luck getting the melody out of your head after hearing it. As far as Hip Hop earworms go, they don’t come much more stubborn than the one contained in 7.weekly.

You can check it out via SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

JFK – Dropping some ‘Shroomz’

Posted on 21 August 2020

“Pop one, pop two wi’d’a mushroom/girl you know that I can’t live without you” seems, at first glance, to be an unusual declaration of love but hey; it ain’t stupid if it works, right? And hell, it seems to be working for Florida’s JFK, judging by this chilled out slab of old-school trap.

Slightly trippy sounding, like its title, ‘Shroomz’ blooms and swells, a chiming background synth track over bass and stuttering snare beats, a psychedelic lullaby, insidious, worming its way into your head behind JFK’s rhymes. It’s catchy, poppy, and it properly hooks like the some laid-back T-Pain or Flo Rida; “Down a rabbit hole” indeed.

You can here JFK’s ‘M.Y.F.B.’ EP on Spotify.

Review by Alex Holmes

Jay Rick$ brought poignantly sobering introspection into the realms of Gangster Rap with “Thug Ways”

Posted on 18 July 2020

Breaking Hip Hop artist Jay Rick$ has recently dropped their striking new single Thug Ways. Whatever your perceptions of Gangster Rap are, throw them out of the window before you hit play.

The compelling track holds up a mirror to our 21st-century reality where it’s all too clear that nothing has changed since N.W.A. used their aggression to create hit records. But that doesn’t mean that Jay Rick$’ track isn’t fresh. It drips with commercial potential. His transfixing ability to pull you right into the candidly revealing first-person perspective made Thug Ways one of the most grounding tracks I’ve heard this year.

The cutting minor notes around the rattle of the drumbeats are more than effective at setting the sobering tone. The sobering tone which will stick around long after the atmospheric track has faded to a close. We’re already stoked to hear what comes next.

You can check out the official music video to Thug Ways which dropped on July 2nd for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast