What So Not featuring Action Bronson, D Mac & Blood Diamonds – “The Quack”

I remember a few years ago I interviewed Dubstep producer Flux Pavilion, and he argued that the first real Dubstep track was dead prez’s “Hip Hop.” If that’s true, then Dubstep and Hip Hop are play cousins, so why not marry the two? What So Not, the Skrillex signed duo from Australia grab Action Bronson and D Mac on this new track “The Quack.” The group comprised of Emoh and Flume create this trappy meets dubby soundbed for big Bronson to lay on. Of course he says his usual slapstick perverted lines like “I don’t need the headache, just need the head” and alludes to his polygamous weed-laced mobbish lifestyle. Then D Mac comes in with a high sped flow that races the beat before Bronsolino jumps back in. Dubstep/EDM producers Blood Diamonds help enhance the beat and give it even more of electronic boost. The result is awesome. It’s a trap house party and everyone is invited. – Kathy Iandoli (@kath3000)

Listen to “The Quack” by What So Not featuring Action Bronson, D Mac & Blood Diamonds

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

Tim Dog featuring Kool Keith – “Falsified”

I don’t remember being as angry with Hip Hop (or this the media) as I’ve been this week. In February, our Valentines Day was marred with the news of Tim Dog’s death. People that had never even heard Penicillin On Wax were basically throwing themselves on the Bronx bomber’s unbought casket with their Wikipedia and All Music Guide tabs open (as usual). Then, in the last month, news emerges that it might just be the ultimate con-gone-wrong. Tim Dog may have faked a death to avoid paying a woman a court-ordered larceny damages. That was also big news on these Internets. Now, Kool Keith not only makes a song with Tim Dog in “Falsified,” he gives a statement to HipHopDX. Nobody seems to either acknowledge it, or care. We’d rather talk about Yeezus sales numbers or Wale’s studio interactions with Jerry Seinfeld. This reminded me of two truths: the industry is filled with cornballs. Also, that the craziest people are often the smartest. Kool Keith is easily one of the most innovative emcees in Hip Hop history. Yes, he’s bugged out. Yes, he’s ridiculous. Yes, he’s made quite a bit of hard-to-digest songs and albums since Critical Beatdown, The Four Horsemen and Dr. Octagon (each deserving of the utmost praise and accolade). However, just because Kool Keith is crazy doesn’t mean he isn’t honest, and it’s sad that very few people bothered to listen to him, or Tim Dog, enough to give this news its credence—even if it too, is just another MC Ultra hoax. In the words of EPMD, I’m mad—and not at Keith or Tim. – Jake Paine (@Citizen__Paine)

Listen to “Falsified” by Tim Dog featuring Kool Keith

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

The Grouch & Eligh – “All These Lights”

Just like eating filet mignon after years of Steak-umms, The Grouch and Eligh’s “All These Lights” collaboration with producer Pretty Lights and its accompanying visuals takes some getting used to. It’s the rare example of when the trifecta of rhymes, production and editing is so on-point the viewer is left awestruck, jumping at the replay button to start the party all over again. Sean Michael Williams and Gus Winkelman craft a visual backdrop that that not only complements the trio’s work but lets it soar to new heights. We’ve been so inundated with slapdash videos featuring nothing but a rapper sitting on a rented Panamera in front of a rented house that to see techniques like back projection, time lapse, stop motion and wide panoramic shots of a skyline pulsing with light feels like the most welcome smack upside the head ever. We’ve also gotten to a point where our ears have been trained to accept sterile beats full of paper thin percussion looped every four bars. Enter Pretty Lights who welcomes us in with a Monster Magnet meets Missisippi Delta riff accented by flutes which then slams into an instrumental held down by a fuzzed out bassline and chunky organic sounding drums.  And how many times have we felt excluded from the very songs we’re supposed to enjoy because we don’t know what it’s like to be as rich and get laid as much as the rapper delivering the rhymes? G&E sidestep that by serving up clear restrained verses that are like an instructional manual to a dream Saturday night; achievable simply by jumping in your car, rolling down the windows and flooring it into the city. The countdown starts and the question is asked, “lets get busy, who’s with me?” I think we all are. – Michael Sheehan

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

Last Week’s Slept-On Segment.

RELATED:The Grouch & Eligh Speak On Video Release, Future Plans [2009 INTERVIEW]