After many years of anticipation Bay Area veteran, The Jacka, is set to release his newest effort, Tear Gas, on June 16, 2009.
The Jacka is a member of the Bay Area powerhouse, Mob Figaz, and is no stranger to all coasts. With the release of Tear Gas, we hear The Jacka teaming up with everyone from Freeway to Paul Wall to E-40 to long time collaborator Cormega. The lead single from the album, “All Over Me,” was a huge success and this album is poised to propell The Jacka to legendary status in the Bay Area, if he hasn’t attained that title already!
With one of the biggest buzzes surrounding this album and many years of waiting The Jacka is now ready to blast the world with the most potent Tear Gas imaginable. Hope you have your gas masks ready!
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311 views | Posted in Coming Soon, First Listen
Long Beach, Ca is the home to many prominent Hip Hop artists and Mr. Midas is on pace to be in that catagory. Although he splits time between Colorado and Long Beach, Mr. Midas has never lost his west coast hustle. Midas made a lot of noise a few years back when he dropped his single, “Pretty Black Girl,” and hasn’t lost his magic touch yet. Whether it be with his newest group, Gang Green International or on the solo tip.
With his newest effort, Last Man Standing, Mr. Midas proves that all that glitters is gold!!
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192 views | Posted in Mixtapes
Hailing from Inglewood, California, Shade Sheist (born Tramayne Thompson) is a vet in the game. Shade has been releasing music since 1993 and has worked with some of Hip Hop’s biggest names: Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Timbaland, Kay Gee, Nate Dogg, and Ja Rule. We cut it up with him recently…….see how it went down.
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1,660 views | Posted in Artist Spotlight, Interviews
On this Valentine’s Day, we thought it would be appropriate to showcase a beautiful, talented, upcoming R&B singer. Dasha has been featured on Nobody Famous’ recent EP, Biscuits & Gravy, which was released exclusively on this site and has worked with other people in the industry, such as The Underdogs, Howard Hewett, Lil’ Fiz, K Irving, S-Dott, and Bedrock. Dasha is currently writing for various projects independently and with D.L.S., her writing team. Her priority is writing and recording her own album, which will be done this year. With a growing fan base and almost 150,000 plays on her Myspace page, she is definitely on the brink of something major… her destiny.
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397 views | Posted in Interviews
At the age of 27, Thad Reid is already a decorated rap veteran. He has dealt with personal tragedy and the constant struggles of „the come-up”. Hailing from the land of Virginia, Thad is already accustomed to being the underdog, but he has used that status to take all by surprise. Trials and tribulations, like these, have brought lesser men down. But Thad Reid has no time to look back, the future is bright. The industry is flooded with rappers, but there is always room for an MC. There is always room for songwriters, people who take their art to a new level. And just when you thought you have the South pegged, you hear a voice different from the rest, that voice is Thad Reid.
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332 views | Posted in Artist Spotlight, Interviews
A native of the tough city of Baltimore, MD, Talia “Shiré” Burgess is about to blow the R&B/Hip-Hop scene wide open. Unlike most singers of her generation, Shiré is a true artist who loves to make real music about real life situations; the ups and the downs! She has become a prolific singer/songwriter and all of her songs feature beautiful melodies, meaningful lyrics and powerful arrangements. Her voice is a subtle blend of the raw soulfulness of Aretha Franklin mixed with a little bit of Kim Burrell. Everyone who hears her uniquely thick and raspy, yet honey-coated voice instantly falls in love with it. We had the opportunity to sit down with Shiré recently to talk about her trials making it in the music industry. Here’s what went down…
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711 views | Posted in Artist Spotlight, Interviews
In the beginning, it was written… We are all born with innate gifts, our duty is to embrace those gifts and share them with the world. For Brooklyn born lyricist Sherod “Sha Stimuli” Khaalis, this means provoking an emotional response through his music. Growing up, Stimuli’s inquisitive mind could not be held by your typical childhood frivolity. He preferred to follow behind his older brother Lord Digga, one of hip hop’s most notable producers. Hanging with Digga, Sha found New York hip hop. He ran the streets from the basketball court to the studio alongside such legends as Master Ace and Big Daddy Kane. Eager to become a student of the game, he digested everything in his surroundings from beats and lyrics, to talks about the business behind the music and at age 11, Stimuli picked up a pen, and brought his first rhyme to life.
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543 views | Posted in Artist Spotlight, Interviews
14KT is 1/7th of Michigan hip hop heroes The Athletic Mic League (AML) and 1/4th of production powerhouse The Lab Techs. He has been instrumental in boosting the careers of fellow crew members Buff1 and DJ Haircut. Now that he’s produced pivotal tracks for nearly every notable Detroit hip hop artist and beyond, released multiple albums with AML, and toured extensively throughout the US and Europe, this Producer / Emcee / DJ is ready to expose the inner workings of his mind to the world. The Golden Hour (review here) serves as an introduction to the unorthodox genius of 14KT and is the first of several full length albums already completed.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the Detroit-based producer. Here’s what went down…
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703 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
When you think New Jersey, you probably think; Redman, Naughty By Nature and even Joe Budden. But allow us to introduce an emcee by the name of Hasan Salaam. This Dirty Jerz emcee is making a powerful statement musically and in the community. On top of being a supremely talented rapper, Hasan Salaam is very active when it comes to the improvement of the inner city communities and as you would expect, he takes pride in all of his endeavors. If you’ve never heard Hasan’s music you will be in for a pleasant surprise. By listening to his lyrics you will find out that this Jersey emcee is so much more than your average rapper!
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164 views | Posted in Artist Spotlight, Interviews
2003 saw the release of Common’s Electric Circus and if this album isn’t an experience, I don’t know what is. Over the years I’ve found that this is an album you either hate or love. The people who love it tend to commend Com for his risk taking and his adventurous route taken on this release and those who hate it, in fact, hate it for the exact same reasons.
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1,144 views | Posted in Music Reviews
After releasing his debut album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, Common Sense was overlooked and the project garnered very little recognition. But like every great emcee, Common, didn’t let that hinder his growth.
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319 views | Posted in Music Reviews
Graduation is the complete opposite of Kanye’s first two releases. College Dropout and Late Registration both were swamped with features and skits while Graduation takes a minimalist approach, containing only 13 tracks and many of the features only appear on the hooks.
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114 views | Posted in Music Reviews
When Kanye West announced the release of Late Registration, he faced two battles. First, he must overcome the dreaded sophomore jinx, and secondly, he had to compare to his first classic release. With the success of College Dropout, the latter seemed so much harder for Mr. West.
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105 views | Posted in Music Reviews
A lot of producers try and do what Kanye West has done and simply come up short. We’ve heard countless producers try their hand at rapping but for some reason they just don’t cut it. Kanye had a pretty solid fan base built up based off of his beats prior to dropping College Dropout but with this release, Kanye was opened up to a whole new world, The Mainstream. It’s hard not to love the production ‘Ye has been a part of but when he decided to pick up the mic, the masses truly fell in love. Whether it is Kanye’s unique flow, lyricism or his swagger, Kanye offers a little bit of something for everyone.
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123 views | Posted in Music Reviews
Recently, Boston emcee J the S has been all over the scene. With a new project in the immediate future (My Will) and a monumental release (The Last Days) geared for next year, I sat down with Jake to discuss a whole heap of topics. We touch on the typical music things but we also step outside the normal realm and discuss politics, marijuana, teaching and community outlook. J is much more than a rapper and it is so good to see him finally getting the proper recognition. We have heard him with the likes of Joell Ortiz, Ras Kass, B.o.B, Kool G Rap and so many more, but this is a different side to Jake. All emcees should take notice because regardless of what the Chinese calendar says, 2009 is the year of the Snake!
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27 views | Posted in Interviews
