New Joint – Mad Dukez & Fresh Kils

Mad Dukez & Fresh Kils – “World Wide” (DTR45.Com / 2014)

Taken from the duo’s recent release “The Open Affairs EP”.

New Joint – Mad Dukez & Fresh Kils

Mad Dukez & Fresh Kils – “Round Rock” (DeepThinka.Com / 2014)

Funky, futuristic flavour from the Buffalo, New York emcee / Toronto, Canada producer combo’s recent release “The Open Affairs EP”.

New Joint – Mad Dukez & Fresh Kils

Mad Dukez & Fresh Kils – “Bootleg Bartenders” (DTR45.Com / 2013)

Taken from the forthcoming album “Gettin’ Gatsby”.

New Joint – Mad Dukez

Mad Dukez – “It’s Going Down” / “I Tried” (Deep Thinka Records / 2012)

The Upstate New York emcee puts his own twist on a Jay-Z instrumental for this track from his new release “716: Seven Tracks, One City, Six Senses”.

Album Review – Pseudo Intellectuals

Pseudo Intellectuals

“Dope Grindwork”

(DTR45.Com)

Buffalo, NY trio Pseudo Intellectuals are some of underground Hip-Hop’s unsung heroes. Tone Atlas, DJ Cutler and Nick Zero have dropped various quality releases in recent years both as Pseudo Intellectuals and Pseudo Slang with very little fanfare. The crew’s 2008 album “Resourceful Illery” is without a doubt one of my personal favourites of the last decade, with its jazz-infused in-house production and unassuming, intelligent rhymes blending together to create a sound grounded in 90s-era low-end theory yet maintaining a unique and fresh feel.

The group’s latest effort, “Dope Grindwork”, builds on the same musical formula that fans of the crew’s previous work are already familiar with and that the uninitiated should definitely take the time to get to know.

The self-explanatory “Old Fashioned” is built around dusty drums and a deftly DJ Cutler-manipulated horn blast, whilst the smooth, hypnotic production of “What’s Crackin'” is blessed by guest emcee A.L. Third bouncing syllables around like a verbal pinball machine. “Study In Brown Minor” is a nice instrumental cut that perfectly encapsulates the PI’s passion for jazz that goes far beyond merely regarding the style of music as just a source of great samples. The bop-stepping horns and slick guitar supplied by featured musicians Brownman Ali and VJ Brown add an organic element to the soothing, head-nodding track.

Part of the appeal of Pseudo Intellectuals is their talent for making local music that has universal appeal. Completely removed from industry politics or current trends, the Intellectuals are simply a group of close friends who just happen to be very talented when it comes to crafting beats and rhymes. Yet even if they weren’t recording together, the members would no doubt still be taking a break from family life when time allowed to play Xbox, debate favourite records and crack a few beers. Thankfully, however, those late-night sessions do lead to the creation of quality Hip-Hop, and it’s the crew’s willingness to embrace the quirks and idiosyncrasies of their everyday environment that gives their music real character. Case in point being “The Elmwood Attitude”, a mellow overview of local eateries that shuns the criticisms of Buffalo “food facists” who would rather see the closure of such places serving calorie-filled plates of nachos, tacos and fried chicken “looking like a bomb hit it.”

“Think Away The Pain” is a humorous reworking of Mobb Deep’s 1995 album cut “Drink Away The Pain” featuring the trio shouting out their favourite alcoholic beverages and insisting that “Coors Light is like water, Budweiser’s acid rain.” The slightly venomous “Flying” finds Atlas attempting to blow away his day-job blues and keep frustrations under control, sitting at his 9-5 desk reflecting that he “may as well be in hell” as he admits to leaving customers on hold whilst “writing rhymes in a legal pad.”

Overall, “Dope Grindwork” is another triumph for the Pseudo Intellectuals. There’s a genuine warmth and sense of familiarity to the group’s sound that makes you feel like you’re a friend of the crew as soon as you hit ‘Play’ here. Like the vintage jazz records that inform the trio’s sonic direction , “Dope Grindwork” is an album that will be stumbled upon in years to come and still enjoyed as a body of timeless music.

Ryan Proctor

 

New Joint – Edreys

Edreys – “D.U.I.” ( Deep Thinka Records / 2008 )

Buffalo, NY’s Edreys cooks up a track that sounds like it was discovered in Jazzy Jay’s basement amongst a batch of unheard late-80s gems – just check out that guitar break!!

Bonus Clip: The video to the single’s flipside “I Like It”.