This week, Compton rapper ScHoolboy Q released his much anticipated debut album Oxymoron. Q rose to the rap scene with the rap group Black Hippie, which included Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and the extremely well known Kendrick Lamar. I had the fortune of seeing him at the House of Blues in Dallas in November 2012 when he toured with Danny Brown and A$AP Rocky. He has released numerous mixtapes and has been featured on countless songs, but this is Q's first studio album. From what I have heard, critics have had mixed reviews, and I understand why. While I personally think it's great, I can see how it's not for everyone. Compton has definitely had a large influence on Q's music. This can be heard in his instrumentals, which are reminiscent of classic L.A. rap (largely due to the fact that Dr. Dre, who is from Compton, produced many of the beats for the artists with Death Row).
Like those classic rappers, Q tells cautionary street tales, most likely derived from his life of drug dealing and his association with gang members (though Q himself is not known to be in a gang), as well as remorseful woes. The album earns its name when Q turns from these cautions and woes to a celebration of partying, with songs like "Collard Greens."
It is songs like these (his "radio songs," if you will) that allow Q to gain popularity and make a name that is known by mainstream hip-hop fans. These are the catchy songs that everyone enjoys listening to, however, his other songs are much more honest and genuine, and show where he is from. Overall, I greatly enjoy Schoolboy Q's album, but I don't think mainstream music listeners would enjoy every song on the album.
Preview and buy album here.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Concert Review: DJ Snake
Last week I saw DJ Snake play at Lizard Lounge here in Dallas. When I first heard about the concert, I had no clue who DJ Snake was, but almost any college student should be able to recognize his song with rap star Lil Jon, "Turn Down For What." After looking further into it, I realized I knew a couple of his songs, including "Bird Machine."
The show started at 9 PM and I got to the venue around 10:15 PM. The first opener, a DJ named Johnny Funk, was still playing, and he was very good. The next performer, however, was a DJ called "The Hi-Yahs." He was fantastic. Unfortunately, his computer broke right before his set, so he had to play his songs off of a USB flash drive rather than play them live, but his music was still great. He performed for about 2 hours and got the crowd incredibly pumped up for DJ Snake to come on.
Once The Hi-Ya's were done, DJ Snake finally stepped onto the stage. In all honestly, his appearance and demeanor made him look and seem like a complete d-bag...his music was good, and he played a couple good new songs for us, but he definitely had an ego that was bigger than his music, and I think the two performers before him were better than he.
Listen to some of their songs below:
DJ SNAKE:
THE HI-YAH'S:
JOHNNY FUNK:
The show started at 9 PM and I got to the venue around 10:15 PM. The first opener, a DJ named Johnny Funk, was still playing, and he was very good. The next performer, however, was a DJ called "The Hi-Yahs." He was fantastic. Unfortunately, his computer broke right before his set, so he had to play his songs off of a USB flash drive rather than play them live, but his music was still great. He performed for about 2 hours and got the crowd incredibly pumped up for DJ Snake to come on.
Once The Hi-Ya's were done, DJ Snake finally stepped onto the stage. In all honestly, his appearance and demeanor made him look and seem like a complete d-bag...his music was good, and he played a couple good new songs for us, but he definitely had an ego that was bigger than his music, and I think the two performers before him were better than he.
Listen to some of their songs below:
DJ SNAKE:
THE HI-YAH'S:
JOHNNY FUNK:
Friday, February 14, 2014
Skrillex Plays New Collaboration With Chance the Rapper
At his show in Brooklyn on Feb. 10, Skrillex surprised the audience by unveiling a collaboration in the works with rising Chicago artist Chance the Rapper. The song has no title or expected release date but fans can only wonder if this is what the two were up to when producer Mike WiLL Made It posted a photo of the three entertainers to his Instagram. In a recent interview with XXL Magazine, Skrillex also mentioned that the three were "all working on projects together."
Photo via Instagram
The untitled song begins with Chance singing a melody over synth instrumentals. Chance raps to build up to Skrillex's drop, and takes from Notorious B.I.G. with his hook "Ask you what your interests are/ Who you be with?" While Chance keeps his normal rapping/singing flow, the song differs from both his typical hip-hop and Skrillex's typical dubstep beats, instead adopting a smoother, electronic and jazz instrumental. Listen below.
Since Skrillex played this live, I have reason to believe that this is not the way the actual song will sound when it is released. However, either way I am both excited for the release of this song as well as for the release of future collaborations between Skrillex, Chance the Rapper, and Mike WiLL Made It.
Photo via Instagram
The untitled song begins with Chance singing a melody over synth instrumentals. Chance raps to build up to Skrillex's drop, and takes from Notorious B.I.G. with his hook "Ask you what your interests are/ Who you be with?" While Chance keeps his normal rapping/singing flow, the song differs from both his typical hip-hop and Skrillex's typical dubstep beats, instead adopting a smoother, electronic and jazz instrumental. Listen below.
Since Skrillex played this live, I have reason to believe that this is not the way the actual song will sound when it is released. However, either way I am both excited for the release of this song as well as for the release of future collaborations between Skrillex, Chance the Rapper, and Mike WiLL Made It.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Best Hip-Hop/Electronic Collaborations/Remixes
My absolute favorite kind of music is rap with an electronic instrumental. I don't know why I love it so much... probably because there's no way I'm not dancing when I hear it. Hip-hop EDM is on the come up (even Katy Perry has jumped on the bandwagon with "Dark Horse"), but it's still not always easy to find. I've spent a lot of time searching for songs I haven't already heard or that have been remixed with a trap beat, but everything I find is just awful. After looking at "10 Dubstep/Rap Collaborations That Don't Suck" and realizing that they actually all suck, I decided I would make my own list.
B.o.B - Ray Bands (Kush Trap Remix) This remix is not well known at all, but it is great. People always enjoy it wherever it's played. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of B.o.B because he's too mainstream rap, but on this remix I love him. It's extremely different from the original and allows you to enjoy the lyrics and give him credit for clever lines. He should get rid of the original completely and only use this remix.
Reflex - Body So Tight ft. Childish Gambino If you don't know, Childish Gambino is the stage name of Donald Glover, an actor and writer for the show "Community." In my opinion, Glover's greatest strengths in his lyrics are his uses of assonance, consonance and allusion. For example, one of the first lines in this song is, "Gambino Aveeno, that ashy to classy." It's so catchy and goes so perfectly with the beat that you have to sing along to it. Not to mention, once the bass drops on this song, you have to dance. Props to Reflex, whoever you are.
Danny Brown - Dip Danny Brown is one of the artists who is pioneering the EDM/Hip-hop movement. He toured with record producer/trap DJ Bauuer last year, and will now be touring with the extremely famous A-trak. I had the fortune of seeing him in November 2012 when he toured with rapper A$AP Rocky and he was an incredible performer. This is a song off of his most recent album, Old... No comment on the subject matter.
Action Bronson - Get Off Me (ill.Gates & Wick-it Remix) I recently found this song on Soundcloud and love it. Action Bronson is a newer rapper who has a tradition/underground feel to his music, which means he's typically downtempo. Remixing and Action Bronson song can be difficult, but ill.Gates and Wick-it killed it. I would expect an Action Bronson/Dubstep collaboration would be extremely awkward and terrible, but the beat goes perfectly with Bronson's vocals.
Drake - Come Thru (James Blake Remix) This song is different from the rest in that it is not an upbeat, dubstep dance song but instead is just an electronic rework of Drake's "Come Thru." James Blake is a British electronic song, and honestly his music is weird, but for some reason I like it. Not everyone is a fan of this song because the beat doesn't necessarily match the vocals, but if you're a fan of James Blake and his kind of music, you will love this. Blake even throws on some of his own vocals, which are beautifully harmonized.
A$AP Ferg - Work (Mati Festival Trap Bootleg) Remixing this song seems like it would be easy since the original already has a great bassline...it seems like the original was just sped up and a drop was added (although I know that's not all). Still, I almost like this version better and now feel like the original is too slow. It's not a dance-y song since it's so...gangster...but I like it because it makes me feel hood when I listen to it.
JSTJR - Money and Bass ft. Charlie Bars JSTJR produced the perfect beat for Charlie Bars' rapping style. Bars typically likes to play with his vocals, changing pitches randomly throughout his songs and repeating words or lines over and over again... I guess in a way he mimics electronic instrumentals. I can listen to this song whenever, and I especially like to work out to it. I would absolutely love to see both of them perform.
Danny Brown - #ExpressYourself (Prod. by Trampy) I'll close out this post with this classic. Trampy produced this beat without Danny Brown in mind, but it was absolutely perfect for Brown. It plays into the twerk movement, encouraging girls to "express" themselves via shaking their asses. Even I try to twerk when I hear it. I call it a classic because people who follow trap or Danny Brown closely have to know this song.
B.o.B - Ray Bands (Kush Trap Remix) This remix is not well known at all, but it is great. People always enjoy it wherever it's played. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of B.o.B because he's too mainstream rap, but on this remix I love him. It's extremely different from the original and allows you to enjoy the lyrics and give him credit for clever lines. He should get rid of the original completely and only use this remix.
Reflex - Body So Tight ft. Childish Gambino If you don't know, Childish Gambino is the stage name of Donald Glover, an actor and writer for the show "Community." In my opinion, Glover's greatest strengths in his lyrics are his uses of assonance, consonance and allusion. For example, one of the first lines in this song is, "Gambino Aveeno, that ashy to classy." It's so catchy and goes so perfectly with the beat that you have to sing along to it. Not to mention, once the bass drops on this song, you have to dance. Props to Reflex, whoever you are.
Danny Brown - Dip Danny Brown is one of the artists who is pioneering the EDM/Hip-hop movement. He toured with record producer/trap DJ Bauuer last year, and will now be touring with the extremely famous A-trak. I had the fortune of seeing him in November 2012 when he toured with rapper A$AP Rocky and he was an incredible performer. This is a song off of his most recent album, Old... No comment on the subject matter.
Action Bronson - Get Off Me (ill.Gates & Wick-it Remix) I recently found this song on Soundcloud and love it. Action Bronson is a newer rapper who has a tradition/underground feel to his music, which means he's typically downtempo. Remixing and Action Bronson song can be difficult, but ill.Gates and Wick-it killed it. I would expect an Action Bronson/Dubstep collaboration would be extremely awkward and terrible, but the beat goes perfectly with Bronson's vocals.
Drake - Come Thru (James Blake Remix) This song is different from the rest in that it is not an upbeat, dubstep dance song but instead is just an electronic rework of Drake's "Come Thru." James Blake is a British electronic song, and honestly his music is weird, but for some reason I like it. Not everyone is a fan of this song because the beat doesn't necessarily match the vocals, but if you're a fan of James Blake and his kind of music, you will love this. Blake even throws on some of his own vocals, which are beautifully harmonized.
A$AP Ferg - Work (Mati Festival Trap Bootleg) Remixing this song seems like it would be easy since the original already has a great bassline...it seems like the original was just sped up and a drop was added (although I know that's not all). Still, I almost like this version better and now feel like the original is too slow. It's not a dance-y song since it's so...gangster...but I like it because it makes me feel hood when I listen to it.
JSTJR - Money and Bass ft. Charlie Bars JSTJR produced the perfect beat for Charlie Bars' rapping style. Bars typically likes to play with his vocals, changing pitches randomly throughout his songs and repeating words or lines over and over again... I guess in a way he mimics electronic instrumentals. I can listen to this song whenever, and I especially like to work out to it. I would absolutely love to see both of them perform.
Danny Brown - #ExpressYourself (Prod. by Trampy) I'll close out this post with this classic. Trampy produced this beat without Danny Brown in mind, but it was absolutely perfect for Brown. It plays into the twerk movement, encouraging girls to "express" themselves via shaking their asses. Even I try to twerk when I hear it. I call it a classic because people who follow trap or Danny Brown closely have to know this song.
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