Two years since his previous effort Gutter Rainbows hit stores, Brooklyn rhymer Talib Kweli drops off his fifth solo album Prisoner of Conscious. With an array of featured guests, a magnitude of rhythmically responsive instrumental backdrops and more subject matters than a book of short stories, the 15 track lyrical get down is a tempo frenzy of intellectual poetry.
Independence is something highly celebrated by many in the music industry today. While independent labels have been around for years and years, it wasn’t until the decline in music sales that indie labels then became the best way to get your music heard.
In hip-hop, labels such as Amalgam Digital and Koch, now known as E1 Entertainment, are two of the biggest names in the indie market, and then there was of course Rawkus Records once upon a time, who introduced the world to acts such as Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, and a certain white boy by the name of Eminem.
There’s one label name missing though; and while they might not be a household name quite yet they are in fact one of the most successful indie labels on the planet; Strange Music.
With partner Travis O’Guin, Kansas City rhymer Tech N9ne started Strange Music in 1999. Since its launch the label has had big successes in the form of multiple album releases, sold out tours, and one of the biggest selections of music merchandise any label has to offer.
Taking time out from his busy European tour schedule, Tech N9ne sat down with Soul Culture at his first ever UK show to discuss independent sales, Kendrick Lamar, and battling with his dark side.
Consistency is key, and as far as the rap game goes there are a handful of individuals who deliver time after time after time. While an unlikely source of such consistency, mainly due to his endless array of sidetracking lyrical and street beefs - there have been a few embarrassing secrets dug up too - Jayceon Taylor, aka Game, seems to be a rhymer that the hustlers ride with, the girls scream for, and his peers unquestionably admire. Much of his music has proved timeless, if slightly repetitive occasionally, and his level of sales has maintained a respectable level during a declining climate that sees the Compton representative’s total sales sit close to the ten million mark.
With new album Jesus Piece marking his fifth major label release, Game has put together a conceptually stellar project that features near perfect production and cinematic tales of a road less travelled, unless of course you perceive yourself as a gangster. After switching album titles at least three times [two of them being Soundtrack To Chaos and F.I.V.E. (Fear Is Victory’s Evolution)] the decision to run with Jesus Piece was more to do with the conceptual split screen that glorifies street life whilst worshipping faith in a higher being than anything else.
Hometown: Detroit, Michigan
Record Label: White Room Records
Age: 25
Drawing inspiration from some of the darker, overlooked and more honest portions of human emotion, the unique being that is JMSN captured our attention in 2012 with his beautifully unnerving and haunting odes, coupled with accompanying artistic yet almost horror-like self-directed visuals that in equal parts shocked, scared, hypnotised, disarmed and left us in awe, and is set to continue raising the bar this year.
Eagerly anticipated, hyped up to the max, and with the buzz of a thousand hornets, good kid m.A.A.d. city is the major label debut album from Compton’s own Kendrick Lamar. Without doubt the most discussed project of recent years, hip-hop aficionados, frat boys, and industry insiders have set the internet ablaze the past few months discussing the TDE/Aftermath/Interscope Records release. The question is, does it justify the hype?
With Compton emcee Kendrick Lamar’s new album, good kid m.A.A.d city, due for release shortly there’s absolutely no question that all eyes are on Top Dawg Entertainment. Currently without doubt one of the hottest cliques in hip-hop - alongside the likes of MMG, G.O.O.D. Music, and Roc Nation - TDE are a powerhouse full of talent. Reminiscent of early G-Unit, when 50 Cent steered a small team - Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck - to the top of the charts, Top Dawg have their own small but incredibly deadly unit.
In what was surely an introspective effort, the Yellow Album gave longtime Dom Kennedy supporters something quite different from the usual summer-released, Westside, Impala-riding music. In contrast to From the Westside with Love II, the Yellow Album utilized more synthesizers. 2011 summer classins like “Grind’n”...
The Warner Music stable Maybach Music Group may very well be the next great powerhouse in Hip Hop to be acknowledged alongside the likes of Roc-A-Fella, Bad Boy and Death Row. The reason for this isn't the magnitude of hype/output that its leader Rick Ross possesses, its the crew's supporting cast who potentially will bring more than a few numbers to the table when history recalls MMG's glories.
Arguably one of the breakout star of 2011, Meek Mill jumped at the chance to establish himself as a mainstay in Hip Hop, delivering verbal beatdowns as a featured artist and on his own impressive Dreamchasers mixtape, as the 23-year-old Philly young gunner delivers a sequel with more abrasive, young-wild-and-free narrations.
There's an old saying that goes, "two heads are better than one." This philosophy has translated pretty well in Hip-Hop over the years with multiple emcees and/or producers banding together - in what I have always liked to picture as some kick-ass Power Rangers-like ritual - in the quest to create some fine quality music.
Through time, the forces of Run-D.M.C., A Tribe Called Quest and the Wu-Tang Clan have wielded their mighty microphones in the mission to keep rap music on its trajectory towards good taste. Now, decades later, it would appear that the collective dynamic has made its return and just may be planting the seeds for Hip-Hop's future.
With the subcategory of 'teen rap' now bursting with numerous young talents, the question now remains as to which of the 21-and-under prodigies has the potential to go beyond their adolescent fanbase and appeal to the grown folk. Already making huge movements for a youngster who only graduated from High school not too long ago Pittsburgh's Mac Miller has already shown promise, in that his current musical teen fodder still carries enough weight for older heads to dig.