Slept-On But Dope Hip Hop Songs From The Week Of 9/3/2012

Privaledge featuring Bun B – “Light Shows”

Let me offer a little disclaimer: any song that features Bun B will automatically be my favorite track of the week. That being said, this song knocks and inspired me to check out Privaledge’s Joe World mixtape off the strength of this collaboration. “Light Shows” has a real Houston feel to it, with the chopped n’screwed hook, “Then we gon’ pour up, grip grain and show up / Turn up that light show, now watch as we glow up.” While Privaledge hails from Philly (and his lyrical style reflects that) he sets up a nice H-Town soundbed for Bun B to rock over. The combination is hot, and from other tracks on Joe World, you can tell that Privaledge is hungry and ready for success. Hopefully that happens really soon. – Kathy Iandoli (@kath3000)

Listen to “Light Shows” by Privaledge f. Bun B

Mistah F.A.B. – “All Slavery”

“When that boy from the slums realizes he could scare a nigga just by pullin’ the trigga…” Sound familiar? In recent months Oakland emcee Mistah F.A.B. has been releasing a steady stream of tracks that offer sharp social commentary and substantive messages, fleshing out their hot-button titles – like this week’s super-relevant “All Slavery” – in a way that his older tracks like “Crack Baby Anthem” failed to do. “All Slavery” highlights the hypocrisy in the so-called “solutions” that sheltered pundits or naive do-gooders would serve up for things like the Cheif Keef problem. Religion? Not from priests who are drunk driving or abusing children. Outlawing guns? Maybe if it educated the brain dead shooters in the process. And education is hard to do when kids need to be bussed to a decent enough school to do the job. One of the most powerful lines comes at the end when F.A.B. asks if progress is really going from picking cotton to shopping at Nordstroms for cotton True Religions? “All Slavery” believes that not a whole lot has changed since 1865. But with more tracks like this that get a dialogue going, we’ll all get a lot further than just saying “Bang Bang.” – Michael Sheehan

Listen to “All Slavery” by Mistah F.A.B.

Pacewon & Mr. Green featuring Snoop Dogg & BurntMd – “Lock Me Up”

One of the best “slept-on” albums of the last five years is Pacewon & Mr. Green’s The Only Color That Matters Is Green. I bought the album without hearing all of it, based on the beautiful chemistry of Pace’s always-sharp delivery with Green’s deft programming and exciting arsenal of samples. Fresh off an other Outsidaz project (One Crazy Weekend with Young Zee), I wasn’t expecting nearly as much from follow-up, The Only Number That Matters Is Won. As I dig further into the album, the video single of “Lock Me Up” is another bell-ringer. Snoop Dogg makes for a dope guest-feature and hook, as Mr. Green lays down another show-stealing beat. Pacewon does what he does best, in making weeded rhymes that a common man can relate to, that still hold constant attention. With an underground-meets-mainstream collabo, the pair of Green and Pace made this really cool and creative video that has the feel of Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story,” only in clever (and presumably lower budget) animate form. I love everything about this collabo, and it brought me back to the early ’00s, when Shady/Doggystyle/Aftermath cliques and Outsidaz royalty felt less removed. I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do. – Jake Paine (@Citizen__Paine)

Last Week’s Slept-On Segment