Five years after the release of their last seasonal soundtrack (2015’s “Stocking Stuffer”), Seattle’s Vitamin D and Maneak B reunite to provide an entertaining dose of reality-based festive flavour, even though “a pandemic Christmas just wasn’t in the plans” – raise ya glasses and be safe!
Ali The Prodigy & Talkin2Wallz – “Midnight” (Vision Head Entertainment / 2013)
Mellow vibes and thoughtful verses taken from the Seattle-based duo’s forthcoming album “Supreme Being”.
5th & Wyatt – “Over & Over” (SpeakersMinds.Com / 2013)
Uplifting vibes taken from the Portland, Oregon twosome’s forthcoming album “Circadian Rhythms”.
Serge Severe – “Treat H.E.R. Right” (SergeSevere.BandCamp.Com / 2012)
New Zapata-produced flavour from the Portland, Oregon lyricist.
Posted in North West Hip-Hop
Tagged Independent Hip-Hop, North West Hip-Hop, Serge Severe, Underground Hip-Hop, Zapata
Graves 33 – “Waiting For Never” (Graves33.Com / 2012)
Poignant rhymes from the Seattle-based artist’s forthcoming album “Banner For Boxed In”.
Yirim Seck – “Crescendo” (YirimSeck.Com / 2012)
Marcus D-produced track from the Seattle emcee’s forthcoming EP release “Audio D’oeuvres”.
Serge Severe – “Hunger Games” (SergeSevere.BandCamp.Com / 2012)
Second official track to be lifted from the Portland, Oregon emcee’s forthcoming Zapata-produced EP “Silver Novelist.
Luck-One & Dekk – “Searchin'” (LuckOneMusic.BandCamp.Com / 2012)
New visuals from the album “Beautiful Music Part 2” featuring lyricist Dekk sifting through a huge amount of vinyl in various Seattle record stores.
Trailer for Portland, Oregon emcee Serge Severe’s forthcoming Zapata-produced EP “Silver Novelist”.
DL – “Melodramatic” (DLBeatsRhymesLife.BandCamp.Com / 2012)
Jazzy vibes taken from the Seattle-based producer-on-the-mic’s forthcoming album “Super Sonic Subversions”.
Fearce & BeanOne – “Bully” (YukTheWorld.Com / 2012)
The Seattle-based duo take a serious look at problem of bullying amongst young children with this latest single.
Posted in Music Videos, North West Hip-Hop
Tagged BeanOne, Fearce, Independent Hip-Hop, North West Hip-Hop, Underground Hip-Hop
The Seattle-based emcee drops life-affirming rhymes on this new project over crisp, melodic production from the likes of Dramatics, A-Beats and DJ Tenk – download here.
Serge Severe – “Seasons” (SergeSevere.BlogSpot.Com / 2012)
Zapata-produced track from the Portland emcee’s forthcoming EP “Silver Novelist”.
Fearce & BeanOne – “I Want It All” (YukTheWorld.Com / 2012)
The Seattle-based duo follow-up their recent free album project “There Goes The Neighborhood” with this dope new track featuring the pair balancing material and spiritual wealth.
Portland, Oregon producer G_Force (Planet Asia / Fangtshida) has put together this random tribute EP to disco dons the Bee Gees flipping a selection of their back-in-the-day tracks into quality Hip-Hop instrumentals – download here.
Fleeta Partee – “Inception” (FleetaPartee.Com / 2012)
Vitamin D-produced single from the veteran Seattle emcee’s forthcoming EP “LIFEMUZIK”.
Khingz – “F.u.t.u.r.e” (WanderingWorx.Bandcamp.Com / 2012)
Taken from the Seattle artist’s album “Liberation Of The Monster”.
Serge Severe ft. Jon Belz – “Rare Flow” (SergeSevere.Blogspot.Com / 2012)
Taken from the Portland emcee’s Terminill-produced EP “Service Without A Smile”.
Fangtshida
“Fangtshida”
(FangtshidaMusic.BandCamp.Com)
A six-man collective consisting of members from both Chicago and Portland, Oregon, Fangtshida’s self-titled debut album definitely has its roots in true-school boom-bap but the crew are able to put their own twist on the familiar with plenty of personality both musically and lyrically.
Produced entirely by beatsmith G_Force, who recently gained blog notoriety through his work with Planet Asia, “Fangtshida” finds remaining group members N.VS (emcee), Cody DeCamry (emcee / producer), Sam Trump (vocalist / trumpeter), Dain (emcee / producer) and Rio (emcee / vocalist) rhyming, singing and playing their way through ten tracks of quality Hip-Hop.
The crisp “Stadium Status” features the crew showing off their verbal dexterity over jazzy pianos and live flutes, with N.VS putting wack emcees on blast, claiming “Spittin’ a verse like makin’ a child, Givin’ birth, So in essence I be sonnin’ their style” as the group pass the mic to one another, giving the track the feel of a seamless, polished rhyme cypher.
The sparse, moody “Steer Clear” features more aggressive lyrical barbs woven around a strong backdrop of head-nodding beats, sampled soulful wails and triumphant horns, whilst the hazy “OJ” paints a day-in-the-life picture of weed-induced mackin’ over G_Force’s “plutonia inhuman space music”.
Obviously not wanting to be easily pigeon-holed, midway through the album the crew throw out “Hold Me Down”, a soothing ode to finding the right woman that’s built around passionate vocals, smooth harmonies, wah-wah guitars and stirring strings. It’s somewhat ironic that, given the current uninspired state of most modern R&B, one of the most soulful tracks to be heard in sometime is to be found here on a Hip-Hop project.
The organic musicianship and tight verses of the pounding “Face Value” could easily draw comparisons to the live-band-real-rap sound of The Roots, whilst the upbeat, carefree sonic vibe of the BE.water-assisted “Doughboy” provides an interesting contrast to the crew’s observational rhymes about corner-huggin’ drug-pushers.
An entertaining release that definitely possesses its own unique character, with “Fangtshida” this multi-talented Chicago / Portland collective have taken a large step towards carving out their own niche in today’s vast rap universe.
Ryan Proctor
 | Ang13 on New Joint – Ang13 / Shad… |
 | frankensense1 on 100 Favourite Albums & EPs… |
 | Mr K on Flight School Vol. 4 Mix Strea… |
 | don manolo pinchadis… on New Joint – J Littles… |
 | Don Cave on Sunshine Philadelphia: The God… |
Old To The New - Ryan Proctor's Beats, Rhymes & Hip-Hop Nostalgia 