Wait, back it up…Huh! Easy back it up! It’s time for the latest edition of Insomniac Magazine’s Weekly Top Ten. There’s no room for rambling but PLENTY of space for dope music, so press play & check out the joints below!
1) The mighty DREADCHILD has a graphic novel, an animated cartoon, collabo albums, and of course more incredible music with The Knotz on the way! But right now fans should be focused on “Sinister Sauce,” his maniacally hypnotic self-produced single featuring YOUNG ZEE, ASWAD MIKAL & SWIGGA DA DON. The ill MONSTER track from his forthcoming “NOT 4 $ALE” album is chock-full of B-Movie samples & strange sound effects that mesh perfectly with the Boom Bap framework Dreadchild masterfully crafted. The four lyricists match the madness with equally bizarre rhymes that push the track over the top. Who needs bland beats & PC lyrics when you can experience something much more fulfilling? Spread a little “Sinister Sauce” on your playlist & watch the party instantly increase in excitement!
2) MARQ SPEKT & BLOCKHEAD teamed up with rhyme assassins, CONWAY, HPONE & BUZE BRUVAS for a lyrical throwdown titled “Point Break” that demonstrated how powerful Hip Hop music can be when skilled spitters go to work! Conway kicks things into high gear with lines like “Keep a burner on me muhf***er ’cause the street’s cold/shooter get shot, I’m just stickin’ to the G code/’bout to lock the game up, I’m punchin’ in the key code/n***a try to walk me/I break his f***ing knee bone”…Yep! And you can bet it escalates from there! What the game’s been missing the past several years, these emcees provide. We’re talking about gritty, raw, underground heat! There will surely be more of it on MarQ’s Blockhead produced “Keep Playin'” album dropping August 19th. And for all the competition who dared to battle these emcees – “No spoiler alert but we heard they found them boys in the dirt!”
3) Coming straight outta D.I.T.C. Studios, this marks the second time we’ve heard late power spitter, TASHANE, on a track blessed by the legendary Showbiz…and we can’t help but wonder what could’ve been! With this joint, as on his previously released “Caffeine” gem with Magestic Gage, Tashane showcases a ferocious, take no prisoners delivery & razor sharp rhyme style that lights up the booth brighter than renegade Con-Ed workers during a New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square! Without a doubt, he had the goods to go all the way to the top. Had he lived, he would’ve eventually been hailed as one of the greats. Luckily we have these recorded tracks to serve as his legacy! On the A BLESS featured, “Bars 4 Dayz,” both emcees handily rip the mic to Show’s immaculately ominous production. Your favorite rappers can’t even reach the heights they ascended to on this track. It’s a brute force attack by true EMCEES…and another win for the underground!
4) GZA & CAPER linked up to deliver boundary breaking bars designed to spark creativity & expand our minds on the brand new “SKILL OF STYLEZ.” Utilizing Wu’s trademark Kung Fu movie samples, we hear a practitioner of the martial arts speaking to another student with a similar style before GZA & Caper take over the mic. “The heart pumps and creates surround sound” is a stand out line on the creative cut. Not just because it sounds good, but because that’s exactly what happened to us once we started listening.
5) SEAN ROSATI’s promos for his forthcoming “2016s” EP are so dope that it seems next to impossible that he’ll be able to top them when the actual project finally drops! Either way, we love an emcee who sets the bar high…and on that count, the DirtyDiggs laced “Caliverse” doesn’t disappoint! This is some real cruise down the highway with the top down type funk! It’s very, VERY brief but EFFECTIVE in making us feen for the EP! Dope ish…
6) AL-SHID spits venom about the way police treat blacks and other minorities on the K. Scott Cosme produced masterpiece, “Fire In My Heart.” The rage-fueled banger finds Al-Shid at wit’s end, unable and unwilling to take it anymore as he watches and endures numerous horrific & senseless displays of violence. The fire in his heart is beginning to boil over. You don’t want to see him lose control!
7) GENSU DEAN & DENMARK VESSEY continue their “Whole Food” power collabo on the brand new gem, “Broken Petal.” The track brilliantly highlights a soundscape & rhyme scheme that will appeal to heads who love the classic Hip Hop joints as well as modern day fans of the genre. The pair have figured out a way to brilliantly straddle the line for maximum audience satisfaction. That’s not easy on a song that takes a searing look at police violence towards minorities and exposes the harsh realities the media tries to whitewash by telling us we’re all being treated equally, when the actions of the law provide evidence that demonstrate otherwise.
8) SHIRT’s Spectacular Diagnostics produced, “Summer Not Coming,” may be new to the Top 10…but anyone walking through the streets of NYC on June 20th already heard this super-charged banger blasting out of speakers from a flatbed truck driven by the enterprising emcee himself. In a modern digital age, this is that throwback analog type ish that we need to see more of. Don’t email or post your music online and hope people will find it! Go DIRECTLY to the people and give your music that added personal touch. It’s the kind of marketing that makes headlines & gives the consumer a story to remember you by. As far as the music itself, it kicks ass with triumphant horns, a head-nodding Boom Bap beat, and timely rhymes about the murder rate rising for black youths. Pray for the kids and learn to play the violin. What? You don’t know how ill that is? SHIRT will explain!
9) Boston’s BIA left town to link up with DAVE EAST in his hometown of “Harlem” on this dope new FKi laced joint. Skills are in abundance as the emcees flow on the mic to craft a storyline that instantly draws us in and captures our attention. Bia’s sexy, smooth delivery kicks off the proceedings THE RIGHT WAY & we’re pretty sure Dave got that mil he was lookin’ for…So instead of sellin’ haze he can keep bringin’ the heat!
10) Houston’s CAM WALLACE gives a nod to hometown legend, Scarface, on his new self-produced banger that borrows & twists lines from The Geto Boys’ classic, “Mind Playing Tricks On Me.” “My Soul” delves into the madness the lyricist has witnessed due to a darker pigmentation of one’s skin and the police department’s trigger-happy aversion to it. Cam boldly flows over the intense soundscape as he wonders, “where do we go from here?” However things pan out, Cam will always be prepared. No matter what happens they can’t have his soul!
Well that’s it for this week. Catch ya next time and…DON’T SLEEP!
– Kevin Keith
