Insomniac’s Weekly Top Ten is on deck for another edition of innovative raps & pulse-pounding Boom Bap. In fact this week’s chart is so good we should keep it to ourselves. But nah!…that wouldn’t be fair. Here at Insomniac Magazine we pride ourselves on sharing the illest gems the underground has to offer. So enjoy our gift of music & check out the Top 10!
1) Producer, PER C WELLS, shepherded a sonic journey with MAIN FLOW, J57, WAKE SELF, AND DJ TMB on “Perfect Strangers” that filled our souls with Golden Era vibes while propelling underground Hip Hop into the future. High energy bars of excellence along with top of the line turntable action add to the excitement. It’s just the first taste of the Sante Fe Soul Master’s forthcoming “Perception” album & a GREAT one at that!
2) SmooVth of #TheWinners collective is a first rate lyricist who shows no signs of EVER slowing down! His mic skills are unmatched & he proves the point once again on a dope new track from his forthcoming “SS96J” album. “Amends” produced by #TheWinners First Lady, El Ay, is at first glance not the most likely choice for a single. It possesses an off-kilter arrangement that might be too complex for the average listener. But then again, SmooVth has never been one to take the easy route. He meets the challenge of El Ay’s intricately constructed soundscape with bars of brilliance, complemented by a flow as precise as a master surgeon’s incision!
3) HORSESHOE GANG are brilliant emcees with brilliant concepts brilliantly executed. If you think that means they must be artistic geniuses, you’re right! The Brothers in Beats, Rhymes, and Life ventured into the lab with production mastermind, Jonathan Elkaer, and emerged with a creative tour de force titled “Hyenas” that utilizes Matthew Mccougnahey’s ‘Money Chant’ from “The Wolf Of Wall Street” as the sonic nucleus for the rhythm & rhymes that explode from the speakers. The lyrics, production, and even PAUSES all fall into place so perfectly it’ll have you pre-ordering their “4 Brothers” album before the track barely has a chance to end. ‘Wanna hear dope music? Now you know where to find it. Horseshoe’s the name & The Gang’s all here!
4) BENNY x CONWAY deliver more Black Soprano Family music to the masses with “Dirty Needles.” The two emcees continue to bring out the best in each other with rough & rugged rhymes that never get stale. Add those building-shattering beats into the mix & the fam can’t lose! Just leave it to the Griselda camp to come thru with the heat WEEK AFTER WEEK!
5) THAGODFAHIM teamed up with MACH HOMMY for a raw Griselda Records stamped sonic assault called “Blackwater” that tore the roof off the Insomniac office! Merging a muddy, grinding beat with a hypnotic Jazz loop, the emcees proceeded to destroy all opponents who stepped in their path. The key word that comes to mind here is “Powerful.” Competitors need to throw in the towel & run for the hills. The Two Man Demolition Squad is coming thru!
6) DJ CONCEPT is poised to drop another dope project on fans called “Flight Patterns 2.” To amp things up to the next level, he enlisted ROME CLIENTEL & B. MARSHALL for his funky first single, “The Looking Glass.” The track possesses a reflective quality despite the boldly dismissive nature of melancholy musings represented by the hook – “No time for looking back/the past is in the past…” It’s a soulful, laid back excursion into sound & rhythm that acts as a harbinger of excitement for the project to come.
7) Kingston, Jamaica’s FIVE STEEZ brought so much heat to the table on his Mordecai produced banger, “Mic To The Check,” that it would be understandable if all his competition bowed out of the emcee game & decided to stick with day jobs. Let’s face it, rapping’s not for everyone…but it’s clearly Five Steez’s calling ’cause he delivers bars like body blows to the chest! Mordecai’s infectious track is the ultimate accompaniment to the lyricist’s unique, high-energy style. It soars & cascades as Five Steez blends with the rhythm until they’re one & the same!
8) THAGODFAHIM gets the coveted double-countdown award for the week as he charts once again with “Lately.” The funky slo-mo groove serves up head-nodding excitement that can’t be denied. It’s a blunted Buddha Blessed joint that will get you to light one up so you can meditate deeper on the lyricist’s rhymes. Along with sampling one or two dope joints you need to check out the entire “TGIF” project. ThaGodFahim is just hitting his stride & he’s only gonna get better with time!
9) Manchester is experiencing a boom in artistic talent from Hip Hop’s underground. UK lyricist, FLEX, is the latest emcee to showcase his skills on the mic and he does so fantastically on the Maverick Soul produced, “Vibes da Vida.” The Golden Era influenced cut is one of MANY bangers on his recently released “Soul Food EP” that promises to launch the up and coming emcee into the creative stratosphere. Check the flow & respect the gift!
10) Who says that a Stella Artois brewery ad can’t be funky enough to make the charts?!!? Well THE ROOTS worked the impossible by dropping the Bill Withers “Lovely Day” influenced “Bittersweet” on the music masses. If you’ve been living underneath a rock & have no idea how the crew gets down, one listen will tell you everything you need to know. Questlove beats the hell out of those drums and Black Thought shatters the mic with a bombastic blast of bars too amazing to describe. So why waste time doing that when you can listen below? Press play & enjoy the show!
Well that’s it for this week. Catch ya next time and…DON’T SLEEP!
– Kevin Keith
