Ice City to Canada... three new songs to check out

In my last post I meant to give you an update of some of the new bay area music I was listening to, but instead it turned into a history lesson about the connections between the Bay and Texas.  Here, without further ado is some of the music I've been listening to.

Pimpton feat. Andre Nickatina - @ThePimpton @AndreNickatina- "Little Darryl"

Pimpton is a Canadian rap artist (who I met a while promoting Mobb Report Radio at the underground concert series Oakland Live_.  My respect for Canada went up 3 notches when I heard his album.

The old school whip, analog turntable and Wu Tang shirt might lead one to think that Canada was about 15 years behind us, but trust me... the music is only 5 years behind us.  By 5 years behind I mean it's BETTER THAN ALMOST ANYTHING THAT'S MADE BY BAY AREA RAPPERS IN 2013.  Let's hope Pimpton and his homies above the border aren't doing swag rap anthems in 5 years.  I have to hold on to the belief that there's somewhere on this planet where music is still hyphy and pure.... even if that place is Regina, Saskatchewan, CA.




I've known about this song ever since the album dropped, but it grows on me more and more with each listen.  THE BEAT IS SO FUCKIN WEIRD....  different from anything he's ever put out.  The atmosphere of the beat takes you back into an era where HD wouldn't exist.

There are several science fiction scenarios that could explain a song like this being created, but I'll go with one:
Imagine there was a DJ/producer who had some kind of transdimensional portal.  The audio output of this portal was hooked up to a copy of Serato Scratch Live, and he could mix and match different eras of sound.  One day he sets the dial on his portal to "random", and on Deck 1 there's some old guy in Tennessee strumming out a bluesy riff on a guitar... and then on Deck 2 he hears a weird cell phone conversation of some young man from North Oakland talking with a friend about what he had for lunch.  He adjusts the tempos to match between the two decks, and next thing you know, he's created this track.  He then thinks a disparaging thought about DJ Shadow's career "post-entroducing" and then calls it a night.

Anyway, as I predicted after the first listen, this song has grown on me.

Antwon @aaantwon "Laugh Now"

I'm not gonna show this guy too much love, cause he's a rapper who's popular with white hipsters and probably get's more than his fair share of blog love already.  Can't hate on the music though.  He mostly makes songs for the bitches, but they're usually good.  This is one of the few songs I could find from Antwon that isn't about eating pussy.  It's about isolation, fear, revenge and other things that I think about more than I should.

I'm back... sorta... plus Texas and the Bay are at it again!

Ok, I've been MIA for a few weeks.  I took a break from this blog to smoke weed and fuck bitches... and not necessarily in that order.

          


I've still been listening to bay area rap music though.  Luckily I can multitask.  Smoking weed (blue dream is a helluva drug), fucking bitches (that look kinda like Raven Symone) and bumping bay area rap (of the Mobb variety) are all activities that support and ENHANCE eachother.

Here's a few tracks that have come into my life since last we spoke (like RJD2):


"The Game" by Laroo and Hustler E (Texas Money Boyz)
@laroothh @TheRealHustlerE @ttokens
Laroo isn't good at making bad music and this track is no exception.   This is a collaboration between him and Hustler E, a relative unknown from Waco, TX.  Hustler E is dope, the producer T. Tokens is dope.  They did a whole album together, Texas 2 The Bay: Straight Game, Fast Life.

This builds on a seldom discussed but long history of ties between the bay area and texas rap scenes, the evidence of which is presented below:


UGK feat. E-40 and B-Legit "Corruptors Execution"

"Corruptors Execution" is a song who's title is only possible due to it being for a soundtrack.  UGK and E-40 were both on the same record label, Jive records.  Jive handle a lot of the important bay area and southern rap before they struck gold with Backstreet Boys and N'Sync and subsequently lost interest in promoting bay area rap.  Apparently there was an E-40 poster in the background of a UGK album cover, although I can't find it right now.  Just trust me on this.  You can trust me.  Come on, I wouldn't do you like that brah..

Exhibit B

Spice 1 was born in Corsicana, Texas.  It goes without saying that Spice 1 was one of the most influential rappers in the bay area, but his extreme gangsta rap and emotional death ballads were a strong influence the the Houston rap scene as well.

Exhibit C
Bay area rap was a favorite of the legendary DJ Screw, who would slow down classic and lesser known Mobb tracks.  Over a decade before HD was rappin about bricks Bo, the entire city of Houston, Texas was  sippin syrup and listening to bay area rap music.

Here's several of the best examples from Screws extensive discography:

Conscious Daughters - Funky Expedition
From the DJ Screw Tape "Mash For My Dreams



Richie Rich - Do G's Get To Go To Heaven (Freestyle w/ Big Moe, LOS, Grace & Wood)
From the DJ Screw tape "Killuminati"


E-40 - It's All Bad
From the DJ Screw tape "Codeine Fiend"

Check for Droop E's voice at about 1:40