SkyBlew - Destiny Plotting (Official Music Video)

Chapel Hill emcee SkyBlew, from Alabama originally, introduces his first new music release of 2018 with the single "Destiny Plotting" in its own video (now streaming on YouTube). The versatile wordsmith who embodies a slew of flavors from Christian and nerdcore to conscious and positive brings all those styles to the fresh February song, and he's linked with producer, rapper and singer Mag.Lo out of Deltona, Florida, who contributes chorus vocals plus the track's serene production vibes. "Destiny Plotting" features active intriguing wordplay from SkyBlew as usual but also topics of belief and faith, harmony and unity, and of course SkyBlew's famous optimism and recurring Destiny motif, all to scenes of anime, the city, nature, and people within nature. Recalibrate your soul in a very calm way with superstar artist SkyBlew and colleague Mag.Lo.

O'hene Savant - B/aQ Majik 1 & 2 (Album Review)

The musician and emcee who brought you classic albums such as Inner City Soul, Nina Simone By ..., Os The Great & Powerful and Pisces returns with his fifteenth and sixteenth LPs, respectively named B/aQ Majik 1 and B/aQ Majik 2. O'hene Savant (Kawann Shockley) last released an album in 2016 with ALOC, or A Lack Of Convention, but this most recent output is proof of his hard work since that time. True to its title, B/aQ Majik is a reappraisal of black culture and there's no devaluing it in O'hene's mind, yet in addition to his love for Africa and the African diaspora, he's got plenty more intelligence and compassion that know no ethnic boundaries, and he gives strength to all marginalized groups whether racial, economic or other. All of which is delivered via brilliant wordplay, stories, innovative production including jazz, funk, easy listening, Afro-beat and dance, plus fine guest performances from Teephlow, AJ Nelson, Che Che Da Lyricist, Honey B, E Snipe, Sheda B and Lo. Celebrate these two stellar issues from top five hip-hop artist of his time, O'hene Savant.

Futuristic - 'What More Could You Ask For?' (Album Review)

Emcee Futuristic, or Zach Beck, from Illinois and Arizona, couldn’t let the year slip by without a project so he’s released the What More Could You Ask For? EP. In safe independent fashion, Beck has added a few spiritual elements that go back to the essence of existence, particularly at the end, when he upholds life high above money and material gain in “Human Being.” Before that he shows love to those he’s been distanced from by work and success. Still he rejoices in making it, through struggle, to the celebration after reaching goals, and all the way to his appreciation for his fans. Beck does spend time strutting his stuff, and sections like “I Want It, I Get It” are simply fly jams just for fun, but little integrity is sacrificed in general. We might not be challenged to think outside the box or leave our comfort zones much, but again, Beck proves himself one of the best at making feel-good rap at this point in time. (3 out of 5 stars)   

What More Could You Ask For? 

Futuristic 

Dizzy Wright - 'State of Mind 2' (Album Review)

Unlike his one time Funk Volume labelmate Hopsin, Las Vegas emcee Dizzy Wright is on the right track when it comes to giving fruit-bearing subject matter. Wright’s second album of the year, and the followup to The Golden Age 2, bursts forth with wisdom, ultra-positive as usual for the independent rhyme-artist. The album, State of Mind 2, the sequel to Wright’s 2014 EP, advocates for an alkaline diet, rediscovers the importance of black activism, exhorts us to consider others’ hardships and much more. Guests like Audio Push, Ill Camille and Jon Connor promise lectures for above-and-beyond thinkers, and producers Roc N Mayne, DJ Hoppa, FreezeOnTheBeat and others guarantee a mixture of traditional hard-hewn sounds and relaxing soul and jazz. It has the typical Dizzy Wright feel and format and not many new talking points (the newest of which are Wright’s abbreviated raps on healthy eating) but fans and newcomers will still appreciate his commitment to intelligence, philosophy and consciousness. (3 out of 5 stars)      

Stream here 

Official Dizzy Wright website

Hopsin - 'No Shame' (Album Review)

Let’s make one thing very clear before we delve into Undercover Prodigy Hopsin’s fifth LP, No Shame. It is his first on his second self-made label since the dissolution of Funk Volume in 2016 but more important to note, it is also released in association with 300 Entertainment, which hosts several mumble rappers and whose creators' main mission has always been to turn out the most popular music, not necessarily the most publicly beneficial music. It comes as no surprise then that No Shame has plenty of demons. 

The new project features some new storylines, the accuracy of which is questionable, and a general change of course for Hopsin yet they’re highly problematic. The bulk of it revolves around the plot of Hopsin splitting with his cheating, stripping girlfriend who is also pregnant with his son, a perfect storm of relationship misery and misfortune. Poisoned by angry misogyny and bitterness, Hopsin slings dirt around and about, with a resentful fixation on his departing lady. It’s depicted that she is all bad and that he is pretty much fine.

More wicked and toxic than ever, Hopsin has obviously been badly influenced by 300, alternately vulgar and sexually grotesque, self-absorbed, and sick and twisted in tracks “Money on the Side,” “Black Sheep” and “I Must Be on Somethin” respectively. When he aims to sound serious he’s instead a monotonous, emotionless talk-machine, and the ninth entry in his signature “Ill Mind of Hopsin” series is reserved for him to explain the break in the family to his new son, with blame that doesn’t go around but is rather plopped all on the woman. 

In an ironic, hypocritical twist, “No Words” vocal-drunkard Hash Brown (from Pound Syndrome) returns to be further ridiculed despite his voice actor being on a label that directly supports that same type of artist. But the problem is not alleviated by Hopsin rapping clearly and articulately. He must also rap in a socially responsible manner, which he does not do in No Shame. Hopsin has went the shady path here simple and plain. His talents have been wrenched into unnatural, uncomfortable configurations, all for shock value. Through this sordid engagement of dark tones and growth-stunted production, no one will see the light and few will make it out unharmed. (1 out of 5 stars)

Talib Kweli - 'Radio Silence' (Album Review)

Brooklyn Black Star and Reflection Eternal emcee Talib Kweli had been teasing his Radio Silence solo album since 2015 (at the most recent) so for it to come a full two years later is just enough time for fans to wait, even with the other projects Kweli's label Javotti Media made in the interim. Relax and exhale because the anticipated album, finally here, passes the hardest critical tests. With that cool, post-2010 Talib Kweli feel (in other words the first impression made after Javotti's inception), Radio Silence is an indie affair of flyness, anthems, calm vocal protest against violence in the streets, love, and guests from the under- and aboveground, all of them, even Waka Flocka and Rick Ross, pulling substance out for this particular artist and occasion. Despite all the wisdom and awareness in the author, the subject matter takes only some risks and not quite seismic, and the production, while prominent, won't have everyone coming back for seconds or thirds. It doesn't match the perfection or near-perfection of Talib Kweli's earliest work, but because it's nicely conscious, free of any major slip-ups and arriving at a time when mainstream rap is lowering its performance-related standards, Radio Silence really can catch on and silence the radio. (3 out of 5 stars)

Mr. Lif & Brass Menažeri - 'Resilient' (Album Review)

The genre-fusing swing of Brass Menažeri is slightly new musical terrain for complex, conscious emcee Mr. Lif (not to mention more organic and acoustic than he's used to) but a compliment to his deep lyrics anyhow. In their collaborative project, Lif puts politics in play a few times though he also leans back to simply enjoy the ride, intermittently letting his band partners shine by themselves, like the sheen of their instruments. Resilient could use more rapping, and original rapping at that ("What About Us" is a remix of the 2009 Lif single), but for the most part, the album is a full-bodied treat for the refined palate. (3 out of 5 stars)