Thursday, November 24, 2016

K-Rino – “The Big Seven” (Album Review)

One of the best, most consciously progressive hip-hop lyricists of all time, Houston’s South Park Coalition founder K-Rino (pronounced Kay Reno) has accomplished, in less than a year, the huge world-record feat of writing and recording seven new studio albums, which he dropped on iTunes on November 15. K began the monumental effort in December of 2015, writing up until September of this year and recording from then until the end of October. Needless to say, his studio associates worked above and beyond with him, and despite the large amount of work there is in these projects, there is no lack of quality or useful content in store. Active in hip-hop music since the 1980s, in the album-making business since the early ’90s, K-Rino broke out on the scene strong with Stories From The Black Book (1993), his debut, and remained on external labels until 2004, when he issued The Hitt List and the vastly different Fear No Evil off his own Black Book International outfit. The cleverness, awareness and enlightment of Fear No Evil made for a great liberating change for the Southern artist and fortunately, he never looked back. The legacy K has built since is comparable to few. Of all his thirty some wonderful albums, Fear No Evil as mentioned before but also Worst Rapper AliveTime TravelerBook Number 7 and 80 Minute Eternity are arguably his best, but now we have seven more to join the list. K-Rino saw the changing rap landscape and put his best foot forward to represent and support real hip-hop.
Universal Curriculum (album one):
In the first of The Big Seven, K-Rino just gets warmed up but makes a solid kickoff nevertheless with his Universal Curriculum. K’s ripping, tearing rhyme-bars take a brief breather in this one (save for “Extreme Malice” and “Raising The Bars”) so he can speak more casually, but with poetic heft still, on the start and growth of his SPC clique, things you can only witness in the hood, love, depression, dysfunctional families versus good family-oriented folks in the hood but also working hard to get to a better place and live healthier. In contrast and possibly in response to his prior albums’ beats, which were a focus of concern for some fans, for their seemingly and consistently basic nature, the productions we hear in U.C. are nicely varied, compatible with the lyrical themes, and finely mastered, setting the tone well for those on the remaining six LPs.
Conception of Concept (album two):
With fiercer, stronger lyricism than album one, Conception of Concept definitely brings more fire and more turbulent subject matter but still much love and heart. K raps on sensitivity, hurt egos and feelings, economic inequality and oppression in America, skills and loyalty to the craft of emceeing, shaping up lazy slipshod slackers, what some groupies really want (he describes a platonic encounter with one in “One Nite Stand”) and wack rapper mockery at the very end when K brings back his T-Rash, aka Trash, character in the ending song of the same name. Also, the son of K-Rino’s wicked Sorcerer character arrives to stage an attack on him in this set, and the story continues in later chapters of The Seven. Before going any further, a sneak preview from the very eye-opening “Listen Up” is in order. K-Rino raps, “systemic poverty, economics holding us hostage, the rich controlling and watching while they choke us for profit” in the first verse, asks “how can you wake up when you don’t even know that ya asleep?” and then adds “let’s make America great again, a coded phrase by racist hateful men who blame the poor citizens for the state it’s in.” This is with very little doubt the best album of the series.
Enter The Iron Trap (album three):
The deeper we get into this powerful package, the stronger the topics become. K-Rino gradually introduces us to the revolution, and this ease is appreciated. Just make sure you’re seated tightly for K’s treatment of police brutality, black on black violence, top emcees, how they’re ranked and all the variables that determine how they’re received by people, plus hate vs. heart, more of America’s signature problems, Elijah Muhammad’s life and legacy, and the special yet specious privileges given to monkey rappers by big time record execs in the industry. Proceed to the fourth entry for more of these awesome, bluntly honest, sociopolitical talking-points.
Wizard’s Ransom (album four):
In Wizard’s Ransom, the child who “saved” K-Rino from the Sorcerer’s son in album two reveals that he is not really who he pretended to be initially, but before that he “prepares” K and the rest of the squad to fight the dark forces looming. The tale takes a break from there and K brings out more great constructive lessons, teachings and truths. Though childless, K imparts how he would raise a child if he had one, and he remarks on priority-setting later in. On the shocking side, K lets us in on the USA’s wars on the poor, blacks, other nations and its part in creating ISIS. Wholesomely, K shows concern for our daughter’s values, etiquette and sense of worth in “Game For Your Daughter.” “Best Friend” also looks out for the ladies (and guys) because K’s bestie is one, they help each other out and there’s a healthy exchange of ideas and thoughts in their relationship. It’s obvious by now that these Seven are so deep that there is no going back.
American Heroes (album five):
K-Rino comes with hardness and reasoning again in album five, American Heroes. In the ongoing dispute between the police and the public, K doesn’t take sides and he does so by explaining that there are both good and bad cops out on the beat. To elaborate on the title, he exposes the fact that many of America’s propagated role models from history actually had very shady sides and are often not exactly the type of people we are taught they are. Within the mix he expresses ghetto woe but also shows hood-solidarity and hood-unity, and then he confronts the shady ones in society who abuse and take advantage of people. Right before the finale, K shares what it takes to make a better world and to close it up, he translates several common, biased media codewords and other lines along those lines in “Translation.”
Welcome To Life (album six):
K-Rino further builds in a forward, upward direction in Welcome To Life. Decimating sexism, K has something to say about the foul habits and philosophy of both men and women, criticizing domineering self-centered females and ignorant foolhardy males. He understands all the problems of life but he continues to set the bar high and remains strong when it’s at its hardest. His next major bullet-point here is the boring repetitiveness of mainstream street hop, and he even questions the freshness of his own music-making methods. This investigation is important because it encourages innovation and non-complacency in the rap-field. Then K-Rino’s focus goes to heaven and hell, or in other words, constructs of the human mind that are really just conditions of life here on earth. And again, without necessarily taking sides, K-Rino goes semi-conservative on abortion in “Abortion Song,” emphasizing its trickiness and dark side, and digressing, he embraces positivity and shuts down negativity and hypocrisy to close the final chapter of this particular album-book.
Intervention (album seven):
For the last of The Seven, K-Rino continues the Wizard’s journey but also puts a conclusion on it that will satisfy everyone. After “The Final Battle,” the next major achievement of this disc has to be “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend.” The section devotes itself to examining how a man who is being cheated on feels and thinks, though it works pretty much just as well as a woman’s perspective too, but not exactly of course because obviously K-Rino is a guy, not a lady. K then discusses the problem with going out just for self and not for people in general, and in between and all around are standup raps on striving, inspiration, motivation, love, relationship struggles and immortality (“The Man Who Lived Forever”). The raw “Firing Squad” mega posse-cut is a lot of great SPC tradition as the fam ritualistically rip verses one by one by the outro.
All seven of these brilliant vibrant albums have the mark of a master on them from K-Rino’s excellent, legendary writing, delivery and storytelling, his wise mature mindset, and his freeness of thought. His metaphors and wordplay are amazingly clever as usual and his mid-tempo flow is clean, neat and flawless, whether he’s rapping on viciousness, the supernatural or human nature. For those not familiar with K-Rino or hard work for that matter, it will seem unbelievable that the highly thought-provoking emcee and his producers could do what they’ve done in less than twelve months, but believe it, because it’s real. K-Rino is and always has been super-ambitious and driven, and he knows hip-hop (which helps people) needs lots of help always, and it can’t wait. Show your support for K-Rino by purchasing The Big Seven on iTunes or email him at spckrino@aol.com for information on how to get physical copies. You won’t regret the investment.
5 out of 5 stars

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Bishop Lamont's 'Reformation' LP is a game changer for hip-hop and the world

The Reformation: G.D.N.I.A.F.T by Bishop Lamont
For over a decade now, rap-giant Bishop Lamont (Philip Martin from Carson, California) planned and deliberated in the wings of the game and the shadows of the underground, from experiencing a falling-in and then a falling-out with Dr. Dre label Aftermath Entertainment to sharing several powerful mixtapes with his fans and all the while generating a vast buzz with his craft. As time passed, hardcore hip-hop heads kept clamoring for more. In a year that has thus far seen many tremendous hip-hop projects, mostly independent and/or self-released, Bishop Lamont brings us another brilliant one, The Reformation: G.D.N.I.A.F.T (August 19), which some are claiming to be his official debut studio album, and despite his previous releases, it certainly feels and sounds like it is that AND the ultimate project of the man and emcee’s life at this point. And what better time than now to release it? The good bishop must have intentionally timed it out to drop the soberingly conscious gem in this particular global climate of economic turmoil and sociopolitical upheaval and malaise, and without a doubt, The Reformation does address the issues that trouble us plus the reforms we desperately need.
With nineteen tracks of enlightening hit after hit spanning one hour and twenty minutes, The Reformation is every bit the kind giant that Bishop Lamont himself is, but with a guest, sometimes several, in each song, it’s also a gathering, featuring a stunning group of lovely singers and strong emcees. On the bars-end, we’ve got seasoned spitters like the legend Lord Finesse, Xzibit, RBX, Warren G, Rapper Big Pooh, Ryu and Apathy doing their thing for a reason and to supply the sensuous melodics we have traditional song-vocalists like Empress Selassie, Sinead White and Shaun Morgan from post-grunge/alternative metal band Seether. Everyone is down for the cause, and they all connect and blend as they should. Of course the feature presentation is collectively all the good sociopolitical messages that Bishop Lamont doses out across the disc, not all at once or all the time but spread out to keep our attention. In the process, he builds a healthy comprehensive manifesto from top to bottom.
Bishop Lamont’s intro is in the form of an anti-texting-slash-calling while driving skit in which he is an actor and subsequently gets tangled up in the ensuing accident. It segues into the previewing “Then You Die.” Persistent and contemplative, Lamont has every reason to fight on. One of his first big drops comes in “The Heretic” when he says, “look at every motherf*cker in the world that’s rich, most of them got it off some cutthroat shit.” He and Ras Kass explain the backwards ways of the rap music industry these days in “The Realest Sh*t,” and in short, they’re basically telling us that too many people who claim to be real are actually really fake, and it’s true unfortunately, in every walk of life even. “Shoot Em Up” and “Crazy” do get tied up in some gangsterism, but it’s only relegated to those songs, and in them some other themes are touched upon too, namely self-defense and the occasional necessity to use force in order to combat force.
“Life or Death” comes to terms with, you guessed it, life and death but also heaven and hell on earth, generally saying you reap what you sow throughout, and in “Lord in Heaven,” Bishop Lamont uses several hood analogies to say that if you live dirty and don’t change, you’re going to meet a dirty end. The latter song is very karmic and it showcases some of Lamont’s good storytelling skills. “Razor Blade” provides some time to cool out and spark one, with veterans Warren G and Kokane. “Here We Go Again” is likewise another one of The Reformation’s more low-key, but still great, parts (peep the Pac homage), but “Are You Ready” is not. It’s amped with love and a great sense of community. The whole song is quotable, but you can hear it for yourself.
Bishop covers other general though still very useful topics further in, and his spirituality shows without him proselytizing thankfully. He handles feelings of disillusionment, faith, holding on, and killing the devil in all its forms. Aside from that, the proceeding final section is loaded with many gorgeous must-hear passages. Take this line by Lamont from “Dream Big”: “I can’t hate nations I’ve never been to… we’ve never met so how’m I gon’ beef with you… I can’t judge, I don’t know what you’ve been through, it might be different, could be the same, but all I know we got in common every human got pain.” Later, in “Speak to Me,” the theme is how the wrong direction taken by the game is negatively influencing the impressionable as in “men and women of the cloth not all ’em true, condemning you but they be secretly sinnin’ too, stop giving millions to these hypocrites, while they all ballin’ but the hood ain’t rich, yeah I know it’s business, you gotta get ya dough, but don’t forget to handle business and save some souls.” “Phoenix” however contains statements that are still more profound and prophetic: “Can the world withstand the ignorance of man, can the world withstand the greediness of man, can our world withstand the self-destructiveness of man?… too many conflicted predictions of political oppositions that are always on a mission, for selfish acquisition, for money, for power, more land, the water, what’s yours, what’s ours, the ground where you stand so much blood was spilt on, prisons need our freedom, that’s what the systems built on.”
Still, there might be nothing more rattling for you than the penultimate “Un-American,” where Bishop Lamont, Apathy (Demigodz, Army of the Pharaohs) and Ryu (Styles of Beyond) lambaste the for-profit, anti-humanity United States of America. What’s most grabbing in the song and probably why it’s near the end is their clarification that if you’re not speaking out about America’s gross problems then you’re really not a patriotic American after all. The outro is just as clever. The fate of the two car accident victims from the beginning skit hints at a nightmare awaiting them at the hospital… the hospital of all places. Still like Western healthcare now? In all, another beautiful, classic package of exquisite rhyme schemes, powerful messages, varied beats and diverse guests has been delivered to us early this holiday season. Bishop Lamont finally has that grand masterpiece he’s been working toward since the start and we can all learn a lot from it. When you’re as literate, courageous and politically feisty on the mic as Bishop Lamont is, of course the mainstream is not going to embrace you, but in Bishop’s case, he fought like a mother to get where he is now and wow did it pay off! (stream on Spotify here or purchase at iTunes here or at Google Play here)
5 out of 5 stars

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Kxng Crooked capital-punishes capitalists in 'Good vs. Evil'

Good vs. Evil by Kxng Crooked
It must have been the rest he received from his low-key 2015 that gave him such a charge this year because advanced emcee Dominick “Kxng Crooked” Wickliffe is absolutely on fire and therefore on a roll and well he should be. We just don’t want him to put out the fire. Statik Kxngfrom February was of course a juggernaut, and eight months later, we got the tasty sample that is the Valley of the Kxngs EP, which represented lyrically what he’s been cooking up on his own since the dawn of 2016. Even the most well informed, most updated fan however, likely couldn’t see the politically motivated attack he’s hatched on this month’s Good vs. Evil LP (Nov. 11, RBC Records), his third studio album as a solo artist.
The out-of-control alternate reality/dystopian future concept of the album is on a double dose of ‘roids here. Crooked I is pumped full of frustration and anger at the modern day world’s racism, class separation, the disappearance of the middle class, the growing number of those living in poverty and the military police state to the point where he envisions struggling citizens picking up arms and fighting back violently. No one wants to see it sure, but his prediction might not be far off considering the current decrepit conditions and despair of the poor. Crooked I is not shy and doesn’t lie when he blames the wealthiest one percent, the “Puppet Master[s],” whose puppets are the police (robots in his futuristic imagining/foretelling) that brutally “keep order” at the demand of these super rich masters.
Crooked I has every right to be outraged at the extremely corrupt system, and his retaliatory ideas are more than enough to get anyone out of their seat, but even after many many first strikes, violent retribution against the enemy (no matter how sensually gratifying it may seem at the time) will only deliver short term satisfaction at best. Love, morals, values, teaching, learning and a phasing out of both toxic ideologies and destructive institutional thinking are absent from Kxng Crooked’s agenda, which simply makes him just another ruthless ruler in Good vs. Evil. Extremely rebellious and very revolutionary, the album kicks off the war between the rich and poor but also continues the cycle of hate and physical aggression, if only in the mind and on wax. Good vs. Evil is great for going after the establishers of both the media’s propaganda model and the twisted political economy but not in how it does so.
3 out of 5 stars

Friday, November 11, 2016

For ATCQ, 'We Got It From Here' is a proper homecoming slash last-hurrah

We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service by A Tribe Called Quest
After eighteen years of LP-drought, two reunions and award after award, the super legendary golden age pioneers of alternative hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White), have returned with their sixth studio album, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, possible because of the renewed fan-excitement for the crew plus the group’s newfound cohesion and unified mission, which both found incredible steam one year ago. Sadly but not unexpectedly, the great MC Phife Dawg, who had been battling diabetes for many years, died in March in the thick of the recording process, but his contributions are still major in We Got It. Named after a testament that sounds like it could be either a stroke of braggadocio on the group’s part or something the new guard of rap would say to the guys of Tribe ironically, We Got It From Here is a kaleidoscopic melange of fine experimental production thrills from Q-Tip and Ali, some classic vocal interplay between Q-Tip and Phife, a variety of concepts and subjects and rock-solid yet emotionally powerful guest spots from Busta Rhymes, Elton John, AndrĂ© 3000, Consequence, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Jack White, Anderson .Paak and Kendrick Lamar.
The Tribe use their “Space Program” as a way to get above and ahead of those things that hold people back, and choose to rebel in quick fleeting bursts and also in some random effective ways, as they remark on bigotry, radio station PDs, elitists, kids these days, the experience of being dark skinned and fun love-making, all in the first half. Quite a few of these topics make their appearances short with one of the most extended examples being the “We The People”-line which states, “Vh1 has a show you can waste your time with.” If they had been any longer or testier, Epic Records might have had a conniption with the collective. Other spots are simply fine dynamics that showcase the great verbal exchange, smooth baton-passing and focal continuity across verses, most notably when Busta and Consequence pick up after Q or Phife for instance.
The second half continues in that same conscious manner. Current rappers are held to a higher standard in “Black Spasmodic,” the slaughter-obsessed culture of the law is grieved and calmly protested in “The Killing Season,” and lost loved ones are immortalized in “Lost Somebody.” The ender “The Donald” is a tricky one to make out. Although the title flashes the name of the new US commander in chief, it’s more a tribute to Phife, whose name is punched in repeatedly throughout the track. It leaves a little more to be desired of a finale-song from a group of such high status and caliber as these men have; however, looking back on the whole thing, though the newly artistic productions speak louder than the vocals in pockets, and although the album in general tends to give a bigger stage to the guests than the original members themselves, the memory-making parts are vast and undeniable and the spirit of the multitudes that went into crafting the album is powerful and tremendous. The group said this will be their last official album and in fact they said the same for The Love Movement back in 1998, but it’s easier to believe the statement now because of the big time gap between that and this, and most especially because We Got It From Here is a grander, more proper sendoff for the famous foursome.
4 out of 5 stars

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Mac Lethal is lethal and real in 'Congratulations'

Congratulations by Mac Lethal
Kansas City native Mac Lethal (David McCleary Sheldon) is a lot more than a tight rapper of quality and substance. He is a former artist of Rhymesayers Entertainment and a cofounder of his current label Black Clover Records but most importantly he is an emcee who is committed to staying independent (not on a major label). His debut LP 11:11 arrived in 2007 followed by Irish Goodbye in 2011 and this year, on September 13, he unhinged his door-kicking third full length studio album Congratulations. It’s a wise opus of dream word-offerings with a Tech Nina feature and fun music accompaniments. 

Off the hook conceptually, Congratulations is in order with Mac’s sharp vocalism including some of his famous double-time rapping, loads of new advanced rhymes and lots of direct social commentary on the economy, self-employment, health, parenthood and marriage. Before he raps on society at large, he goes into his rocky youth, but once he gets into his explicitly harsh critique on corporations and capitalism, things really start to get interesting. He calls out the love of money and things and explains the problems and pitfalls of menial corporate employment, cubicle pencil-pushing, paper-shuffling and such. He makes clear that this type of wage-slavery is really just building up someone else’s fortune at the expense of the builder.  

Later, Mac hits on the importance of living healthy by eating well, exercising and consuming “Weed & Coffee” (optional yet pleasant). Towards the end, he starts in on the family-man topics, i.e. the hard but true realities of being married with children, how it’s very much both bitter and sweet. He reads these notes with a splash of humor but also gallons of sincerity. He’s going through it. Through it all though, Mac’s delivery is clearly spot-on, serving our ears streams of well written lyrics of beautiful wordplay. Congratulations, Mac. This is easily one of the best albums of the year.   

5 out of 5 stars

Hoodie Allen is clever, confessional and genuine as a real-life 'Happy Camper'


Happy Camper by Hoodie Allen
At the time of this review, independent marketing-minded emcee Hoodie Allen (Steven Markowitz) from Long Island, New York (Plainview to be specific) is already pretty deep in his music career. He released his All American EP in 2012 (famous for “No Faith in Brooklyn”) and his first studio LP, People Keep Talking, in 2014 and yes, people did keep talking very well of the rapper because of it. His new album, Happy Camper, came out on January 22 and is close to EP length but is more like a long-play in breadth. The University of Pennsylvania graduate and former Google employee (sounds a lot like the path Lil Dicky took before music, college education followed by white collar job) has filled this !llmind-executive produced project with both melodies and witty rhymes in equal parts, many times running simultaneously as a matter of fact. Above all that though, Hoodie is simply himself, says what he wants and is able to connect with us with common values, sense, humor and good fun.

As a young man entering the real world, Hoodie talks a lot about what troubles him, whether it’s girl problems or the demands put on by society, but he’s also decided to be bright about where he is in life and what he has to hold on to. “Intro To Anxiety” is Hoodie’s outpouring of concerns, worries and feelings on nervousness, stress and insecurity in a nice joyful-sounding song ironically. It doesn’t feel hectic at all which is nice. “Are U Having Any Fun?” has a bunch of light dating wiles, and the honest “Remind Me Of” has Hoodie reminiscing but also some of that optimism mentioned before (one line that rings true: “we got sh*tty jobs and bills to pay”). In “So Close To Happiness,” he reminds himself of that intermediate stage of life he’s in with the very millennial-esque chorus line “big house, don’t really need that.” The next four songs in line go along with Hoodie’s thoughts on romantic love, as we'll soon see.

In “Too Invested,” he’s completely committed to the right relationship (“put the money in the bank, girl, I ain’t never too invested”), and in the hotly intimate, super lurid “Surprise Party,” he spends a special night in with his shorty and raps “that’s just me being a little cocky, we can do it on the stairs like Rocky.” His mixed feelings about love then surface in “Make You Feel” and “Champagne And Pools.” All of a sudden he sees the relationship divisions caused by his hard-work, and in the latter song, he wishes for something other than superficial, immature, fun-obsessed girls. For the end, Hoodie has decided to put aside the chick issues for stirrings on fame and family. He weathers the storm of work and comes out on the other side to celebrate in “25th Hour,” and in "King To Me," he speaks to his father with love in his words and voice and in general just talks about the power of family connection, to beautifully cozy piano and his own gorgeous singing.

Happy Camper is the product of no meddling label-intervention (remember, it’s self-released), quality features (Blackbear, Meghan Tonjes, Ricky Smith, SuperDuperKyle), excellent rapping (extra credit for Hoodie’s neat, impressive quicker flows), original innovative production and true proper personality. Hoodie Allen is comfortable being who he is and puts on no showy, pretentious personas, aided mainly by his producers’ help, his own skills and the fire in his belly from his ambitious Jewish roots and upbringing. He spits on relevant topics and unloads tons of awesome, memorable and highly quotable lines, some more being “I got the people divided, I call that Gaza flow” and “take out the gat and ‘Eric-Clapped’ them.” It's not very rebellious or politically testy, and it's perhaps too comfy in its safe suburban spirit, but Happy Camper is excellent feel-good rap that is ok to feel good with.

4 out of 5 stars

(Review by Alex originally appeared on Examiner.com on January 30, 2016.)