If the summer heat is sucking you dry, we don’t want you to panic ’cause we’ve got the cure! It’s not a bottle of water, the A.C., or even a cold shower…but it’s the POWER of Insomniac’s Weekly Top Ten! Now that your senses are on full alert, hop to attention and press play!
1) NC’s lyrical sensations, ILLPO, blow up the charts again with their D.R.U.G.S.Beats laced hand grenade titled, “Growing Pains.” Mundae Boones & J Bond are Masters Of Destruction when it comes to shredding bangers like this & you can’t beat killer lines like: “Now who you gonna call if they ballin’ a little harder/if life is a horror story best pray you don’t meet the author/I’m Stephen King creating the evil thing I’m sayin’/to put it plain & simple these streets ain’t even playin.” We could go on & on but do yourself a favor and check out the song. It’s Hip Hop to the highest power! ILLPO & D.R.U.G.S.Beats consistently deliver the goods!
2) A year after his untimely passing, new SEAN PRICE material is still shaking up the airwaves and confirming what we already knew – The man was truly one of the all-time greats! “Rap Professor” is the latest posthumous track to showcase the incredible mic mastery of the lyrical legend…and it does so magnificently as Sean’s mesmerizing flow cascades around DJ Skizz’s soulful & compelling backdrop. Witty wordplay is the name of the game as The Einstein of Emceeing drops bars of brilliance that leave us in awe!
3) C-ZAR VAN GOGH & SHABAAM SAHDEEQ find humor in the darkest places…and nothing could be darker than the state of the world today! On “That’s What It Is” the supreme lyricists run off a checklist of simply bad to downright horrific events and shrug them off in such a light-hearted manner you might overlook the razor-sharp skill & technique carefully interwoven into each line. Here’s an example: “It’s C-Zar Van Gogh y’all know how the story is/take both my legs I still kill it like Pistorious.” Yep!…They’re going for the throat! No PC bulls**t allowed in this joint. Direct & to the point…That’s what it is!
4) ALCHEMIST unwraps his latest Craft Single to thunderous applause on the ROC MARCIANO featured “All For It.” This is one of those hardcore head-nodding type joints you pump up loud while cruisin’ in the ride. It’s a thugged out beat that requires the right emcee to do it justice. Who better than the Black Aristotle with a bottle?
5) PSYCHO LES gets his “Dank God” on with some of the heaviest hitters to ever do the damn thang! INSPECTAH DECK, PETE ROCK & JERU THE DAMAJA join the Beatnuts ambassador on some true New York ish called “Hip Hop Never Left.” The groove compels listeners to nod their heads to its sinister undertones that signal DANGER!!!! That’s the perfect vibe to give off ’cause no one’s safe when this crew step to the mic!
6) DANIEL SON & Giallo Point shut down the entire industry with their new project, “The Gunners Tape!” “GOLD CLIPS” is one of the highlights that will make aspiring emcees seriously consider filling out that UPS application, ’cause once they hear this joint they’ll know they can never compete. With its spaghetti western inspired soundscape, the lyricist is given more than enough ammo to cut loose…and that’s exactly what he does! Turn up the volume & f**k the Olympics! Daniel Son should be on a Wheaties box…He’s a TRUE champion in every sense of the word!
7) DADDY GRACE’s “Black Cream” is so bold and rebellious that it’s like experiencing an alternate universe in which Melvin Van Peebles’ racially charged film classic, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassssss Song” was remade into a ground-breaking Hip Hop video with the artist otherwise known as Born Allah taking shots at Klan members while striding across the Mason-Dixon Line. Blackness is the force that propels the track forward and master producer, Bigg Scott, knows exactly what Daddy Grace needs to slay the bigoted crackers who attempt to derail his ascension to the top. We say “attempt” because nothing can ever really stop Daddy Grace. Hip Hop lives…and it resides in the soul of this fantastic emcee!
8) How can THAIONE DAVIS x PUGS ATOMZ call their dope new Kenautis Smith laced joint, “NAHH!!” when it constantly makes the listeners scream YESSSS!!??!!! This is funky soul-powered heat that must be played back to back consecutively at least 5 or 6 times, cause dammit…it’s just that good!!! This is LIVE music to get you amped up when you wake up in the morning or when you’re headin’ to the club at night. Thaione, Pugs, and Kenautis rule the rhythm! For the rest of you muthaf***ers it’s curtains!
9) BEL-AIR isn’t just an impressive lyricist…he’s also a VERY smart man. No matter how dope you are on the mic, in this day & age you need a major co-sign to get listeners to pay attention to your material. Bel-Air shot for the stars & won by getting Chicago’s eternally thirsty star spitter, MICK JENKINS, to contribute high energy power bars to Donato’s glorious gospel-laden soundscape. “Drive Slow” is such a dope showcase for all involved that we wouldn’t be surprised if a second collabo between the two happens somewhere down the line. It’ll probably happen sooner than later because Bel-Air & Donato are headed for the big time!
10) KON “strikes with the power of ten” & we “felt the heat of the impact” on this brilliant slice of Ill Majestic laced Boom Bap from the rising lyricist’s “Evade The Negative” album. “Detrimental” takes Hip Hop back to the basics with pure, unfiltered beats & rhymes that sound almost otherworldly in an era where songs are overproduced to the point of no return. Kon & Ill Majestic understand what the music is truly about & deliver heartfelt PASSION into their material. In a time when the tracks & artists are sounding increasingly more robotic, that is one human emotion Hip Hop sorely needs.
Well that’s it for this week. Catch ya next time and…DON’T SLEEP!
– Kevin Keith
