Kane Mayfield - Prelude To BladeRunner/Dealer EP (Mania Music Group)

Mania Music Group has been running its "Month of Mania" campaign all October now, putting up free mixtapes and EPs on its official website, and now the month is almost over and each of the label's three MCs' solo EPs are now up. The first one that went up a couple weeks ago was by Kane, who is a ridiculously sharp and funny dude and one of the most interesting people I've met in the Baltimore rap scene over the years, considering that a lot of rappers tend to be surprisingly devoid of personality or a sense of humor. My City Paper piece about Mania kind of touched on the fact that his music in the past has been really serious and political, and that they've been trying to get him to put more of himself into the music. But after the goofy label sampler tracks like "Party In Ya Face," this EP is kind of him going back to more serious, message-driven music, though the production goes in a whole different direction with all these thick Blade Runner-inspired Vangelis synths and loud-ass drums, which makes it a lot bolder and more textured than anything he's done before. There's some more levity on the last couple songs, "Dealer" and "Your Fired" with Midas, but for the most part it's a really dark, ominous record, and I like how Mania's produced just committed to that sound and vibe. Go to the Mania site or Kane's MySpace to download all 6 songs.

Kane Mayfield - "The Code" (mp3)
This one's my favorite right now, nice piano/drums loop.

Labels: Kane, Mania Music Group, Midas, mixtape/album review, mp3