Labels: 5 Seasons, flyer

Young Dip - You See Me? (IMP Records/BHood Movement)

I've written about Young Dip a few times on here, including that "D.T.T.W.C." song I couldn't shut up about. I finally got his '07 solo mixtape earlier this year, and it has its moments, although I know a few of the tracks already from the IMP Records compilations, including one featuring Mullyman. It's funny how it already seems almost old-fashioned to hear a dude like him on a Joe Budden/Dipset-type sound, but he ain't bad at it.

Young Dip - "Jeezy Freestyle" (mp3)
I like that line that goes "I'm two levels, no, matter fact, scratch that/ I'm two levels and a flight of stairs past that."

Labels: mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Young Dip

New Skarr Akbar video for "Like What / My City."

Labels: Skarr Akbar, video

DJ B-Eazy - The Blue Print EP Vol 1 (Club Kingz Records/Baltimore Breaks Records)

Back in June, I did a Club Beat column on DJ B-Eazy, who'd been showing up on more and more Baltimore club mixes over the past year and getting radio spins with his remixes of "Ayo Technology" and "Party Like A Rock Star." I posted one of my favorite tracks of his, "Clap Your Hands," on here a while back. He's a young guy, very cool and personable, I think he got into club music through DJing and then started producing, and hooked up with Rod Lee's Club Kingz label, which released this EP on vinyl and CD, 6 full unmixed tracks, newer stuff so not really his best known tracks (although there is a remix of "Attention March," which is a pretty big one).

DJ B-Eazy - "The Rumble" (mp3)
This is a cool way to start the EP, big nasty synth riff. You've heard the "let's get ready to rumble" sample a hundred times before, but it sounds pretty ill on here.

Labels: Baltimore club, mixtape/album review, mp3

Labels: Bedrock, flyer, Minlus McCracken

Labels: Bedrock, flyer, Kane, Pro and Reg, Steez Promo

Labels: flyer, Mullyman

Brown F.I.S.H. - Bootleg III: F.I.S.H. & Friends... The Mixtape

Brown F.I.S.H. is a pretty important group in Baltimore hip hop that I feel like I've never really given enough coverage to on here, partly because a lot of their activity predates this site (I remember seeing them open for Black Sheep way back in '02). Plus, they're really deep into a whole different side of the scene (roots reggae and slam poetry and live R&B bands) that I'm not as into, although I totally respect what they do. In 2006, they did a special invite-only show called "F.I.S.H. & Friends" that was basically an unplugged performance with no sound system and a lot of special guests. I remember getting the invite but I wasn't able to go for some reason or another, and kept hearing how great it was afterwards. Now, there's a DVD full of footage of the event, which looks like it was a lot of fun, and this album/mixtape/compilation-type CD, which basically compiles a lot of remixes and collaborations the group recorded from 2004 to 2007, along with some performances from that show. There's just a lot of jams on this, including all-star remixes of "45" and Golden Seal's "Sistahs Pimpin'," and guest appearances by D.O.G., Symantyx, Greenspan, Heavy Gold, B-Fly, C Love, EJ, and Skarr Akbar.

Brown F.I.S.H. f/ Symantyx and Greenspan - "Cry Baby" (mp3)
Symantyx and Greenspan are two of the new Baltimore MCs who I've been the most impressed with in the past year or two, so I feel like Brown F.I.S.H. are really watching the scene and taking notes when they put both of them on a song like this. OOH has a line on here about how Brown F.I.S.H. was pissed when they didn't get a trading card back when City Paper did them, and I didn't really decide who got one or who didn't at the time, but I have to admit, that was definitely an oversight, Brown F.I.S.H. should've gotten one.

Labels: B-Fly, Brown F.I.S.H., C Love, D.O.G., EJ, Golden Seal, Greenspan, Heavy Gold, mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar, Symantyx

This month on the City Paper's Noise blog, I interviewed DJ Frie (pictured above) for my Club Beat column, and reviewed the following shows: McCracken/Scholarman/Soulstice/Wordsmith @ Bedrock, Sonny Brown/UnReal/Kane/Midas/Labtekwon/Skarr Akbar/B.O.M.B. (and many others) @ The Baltimore Crown awards, the "Music & The Brain Salon (with Shodekeh) @ the American Visionary Art Museum, The Oranges Band/Gary B. & The Notions/Deleted Scenes @ The Ottobar, the Cameron Blake Band @ the 13th Floor and Mike Pursley/Neil Cotterill @ Frazier's.

Labels: 5 Seasons, B.O.M.B., Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Bedrock, Kane, Labtekwon, Midas, Minlus McCracken, Noise, Ottobar, Shodekeh, Skarr Akbar, Sonny Brown, UnReal, Wordsmith

Labels: 5 Seasons, DJ Booman, flyer, Team Fifty

Me'Aze Millioni - Music Without Voice - Instrumental Album (Jam Eazey Entertainment)

Me'Aze Millioni is someone I've known in the Baltimore scene for a few years now, since back when she was known as "Bosslady," as a promoter and label owner and generally just a person doing a lot of different things related to music without being an artist herself. But in the past year or two, she's shown some ambition as a producer, and I think she's collaborated with some MCs here and there and gotten some beats out there, but I hadn't really heard her work much until I got this new all-instrumental album she just released, which is available on CDBaby.com. It's kind of along the same lines as Ron Rico's instrumental CDs, but a little less developed, aesthetically or technically, since she's a less experienced producer. I don't know if she's got an eye on selling these beats to artists or if she completely intends them to be heard as they are here, as instrumentals, but it's an interesting record, 24 tracks covering a pretty wide variety of sounds, mostly mellow synthy beats.

Me'Aze Millioni - "Instrumental 18" (mp3)
This is the one I can probably most easily hear an MC on, it even kinda has separate sections that feel like a verse and a chorus.

Labels: Bosslady, mixtape/album review, mp3

Labels: battle, Bedrock, Minlus McCracken, Steez Promo

Labels: Bossman, flyer

Ogun - "Go Long" (mp3)
Been waiting for a minute and just got the word from Ogun that Checkmate is on the way very soon. All I'm gonna say is get ready.

Labels: mp3, Ogun

Labels: flyer, The Unstoppable Nuklehidz

Jade Fox's Upcoming Shows
Nov 22 2008 8:00P
Bedrock - opening for Keith Murray Baltimore, Maryland
Nov 28 2008 9:00P
Thimian Thai Bethesda, Maryland
Nov 29 2008 5:00P
D.C. Armory - D.C. Rollergirls Halftime Show SE, Washington DC
Dec 24 2008 9:00P
The Red and BlackNE, Washington DC

Labels: battle, Bedrock, flyer, Jade Fox, Steez Promo

Ms. Stress - Flipside (Arsonists Camp)

You may know Ms. Stress as the Madame of Murdaland and just generally one of the best, most aggressive female MCs in Baltimore, and her new album, her first since she joined up with Arsonists Camp, is a definite improvement over her first album. I still think that in some ways she's better as a raw live performer than as a recording artist, and sometimes her voice sounds strained on these songs, but there are a few tracks where I think she really realizes her potential. The beats are by The Banga Donz, G-Major, D.Fos and 1st In Time Productions, and there are guest appearances by Midas, UnReal, and Tufflon Donna, among others.

Ms. Stress - "P's & Q's" (mp3)
This track is a lot of fun, dope hook and sample, good flow.

Labels: Midas, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ms. Stress, UnReal

Here's Wordsmith's video for "Park & Ride," pretty nice-looking production.

Labels: video, Wordsmith

410 Pharaohs - 410 Funk (Strictly Rhythm/Ill Friction)

This has been out for a couple months now, and I hope people aren't sleeping on one of the most essential events in Baltimore music this year: a legendary MC teaming with two originators of the Baltimore club sound for a club/hip hop fusion album released nationally on a historic dance music label. Labtekwon rhymes, DJ Booman beats, Jimmy Jones hooks. It's got the singles "Hammerdance" and "Fresh," the original version of the track they did a remix of with David Banner, and "Big Girls," an update of the Jimmy Jones club music classic "Watch Out For The Big Girl." Michael Byrne reviewed the record in the City Paper recently and I interviewed Jimmy Jones for my club column on the CP website. I don't have to tell you it's worth checking out, but it's on iTunes, it's on Amazon, it's in record stores, go find it.

410 Pharaohs - "No More Sorrow" (mp3)
In a weird way, this is one of my favorite tracks on the album because it kind of sounds more like something you'd hear on a Labtekwon album, with the more introspective lyrics and the melodic beat, but it's still got an uptempo Baltimore club vibe, so it's really one of the best marriages of those 2 styles on here.

Labels: Baltimore club, DJ Booman, Labtekwon, mixtape/album review, mp3

Labels: flyer, Street Legal

Labels: DJ P-Funk, flyer, Minlus McCracken, Sonar, Sonny Brown

Midas, Kane Mayfield and Ron G. - "Lunatic Fringe" (mp3)
The Month Of Mania is over, and I haven't posted about the Midas or Ron G. EPs yet, but Mania Music Group had one last little surprise they let loose at the end of the month, a posse cut named after my City Paper feature on the label, which also includes some quotes from the article within the song. Also, check out another recent article on Mania that appeared in B.

Labels: Kane, magazines/newspapers, Mania Music Group, Midas, mp3, Ron G.

Labels: flyer, Shodekeh

Labels: 5 Seasons, DJ Booman, flyer, Team Fifty

DJ Class - "I'm The Ish" (mp3)
I haven't heard anything new from DJ Class in a long time, at least as far as I know, but then recently he came out with this great new track with an AutoTuned hook that's been on 92Q every night, and it turns out it's the lead single from a new album, Alameda & Coldspring, that's coming out on Unruly Records soon, so I'm real hyped about that now.

Labels: Baltimore club, DJ Class, mp3, Unruly Records

Labels: flyer, Suite, video

Above is the video for "S.U.S. (Save Ur Soul)," Blaq Starr's new collaboration with M.I.A. Also, Blaq Starr will be performing at Sonar on November 13th.

Labels: Blaq Starr, flyer, Sonar, video

Tha Profitt - Concept Art (Profitt Productions)

Concept Art is an apt title for this album, because Tha Profitt understands better than most MCs that one of the keys to making dope rap music is to have strong concepts and themes for songs, a topic to stick to for three verses and a clever title to tie it all together. He can spit a song strand of unrelated punchlines if he wants to, and sometimes he does, but for the most part Tha Profitt has actual themes and ideas, and I can look at the tracklist of a CD like this, and see song titles like "Dollar Meal Anthem" and "One Take Heartbreak" and "Piece Of Shit Whip" and kinda see where he's going with it and want to hear those tracks. And this kid has a crazy work ethic, I still have a couple other CDs by him here that I haven't written about yet. I can see why he'd get the kind of respect that Skarr Akbar would wanna host this CD and co-sign him, or why he's get guest appearances by Bossman, Huli Shallone, B.O.M.B., Ogun, McCracken, TestMe and Hots, among others. Most of the beats are from outside producers like DJ Durti, Adam Shaikh and Drez, I think Profitt self-produced more of his previous mixtapes.

Tha Profitt f/ Huli Shallone - "Neva That" (mp3)
I like this song, it's just about doing your own thing and having your own sound.

Labels: B.O.M.B., Bossman, Hots, Minlus McCracken, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, TestMe, Tha Profitt

So the Baltimore Crown was a lot of fun last night, and one of the highlights for me was that Government Names won the "best blog/website" award, so thank you to The Baltimore Scene and anyone that voted for me. Congrats to all the other winners (Kid Connect, Ogun, Labtekwon, Shaka Pitts, J5, Kane Mayfield, etc.), my full report will follow on Noise after the weekend.

Labels: 5 Seasons, announcements, Kane, Labtekwon, Ogun, Shaka Pitts, The Baltimore Scene

Labels: B.O.M.B., flyer, Minlus McCracken, PX, Shaka Pitts, Turntable Club

Scottie B.
@ Sonar
Wednesday, November 12th

Labels: Baltimore club, flyer, Scottie B., Sonar

Termanology f/ Paula Campbell - "Please Don't Go" (mp3)
Statik Selektah f/ Reks, Ea$y Money, Royce Da 5'9 and Paula Campbell - "Take It All Back" (mp3)
It's been 6 years since Paula Campbell released her first local hit in Baltimore, 4 years since she released her independent album, 3 years since she signed a major label deal, 2 years since she made a record with Three 6 Mafia, and 1 year since Ne-Yo signed her to his production company and started writing songs with her. And even though she keeps making progress, it doesn't seem like she's any closer now to releasing an album or getting real mainstream exposure. But does sing on two fairly high profile independent albums that have dropped in the last two months, Termanology's Politics As Usual and Statik Selektah's Stick 2 The Script, both of which are pretty good. And as a side note, "Hard Out Here For A Pimp" was recently included at #80 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs, and it was the version with Paula that was listed.

Labels: mp3, Paula Campbell

Labels: Baltimore club, Buck Jones, DJ Pierre, flyer

This week in the City Paper, I wrote a feature about Gearie "The Grench" Bowman of Sleepin Giant Media, a Baltimore music video director who's been making some really impressive videos over the past year. I've posted some of his work on Gov't Names in the past, including Heavy Gold's "Drug Dealer," 100 Grandman's "Take It 2 The Top," and Bossman's tribute to K-Swift, "I Wonder." You can see them all on Sleepin Giant's YouTube channel, along with other videos for Tim Trees, DG2 and WildOutCamp, and above is the video for D.O.G.'s "Emergency" that literally landed in my inbox just this morning. I feel that this guy's work really speaks for itself, his videos just look great, especially for the budgets and types of artists he's working with. I get a lot of inquiries from people that make videos and DVDs who want press, and I usually brush them off because that's not really my area of expertise, I'm really only interested in music usually, but these Sleepin Giant videos are so good that I sought them out to write about them, so I hope people see how much they need to step their game up visually to compete around here.

Also in this week's paper, I review Changeling, which had its moments but was pretty much a wash.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Bossman, D.O.G., Heavy Gold, K-Swift, magazines/newspapers, Sleepin Giant Media, Tim Trees, video

A message from The Baltimore Scene regarding this Friday's Baltimore Crown awards:

233 (or so ) Bmore​ peopl​e/​place​s and thing​s you shoul​d know

Congr​atula​tions​ to ALL Balti​more Crown​ Nomin​ees!​
After​ perso​nally​ sendi​ng out thous​ands of priva​te messa​ges,​ email​ blast​s,​ comme​nts,​ etc. We now have our Balti​more Crown​ Nomin​ee List.​ Thank​ you all for your suppo​rt.​
Thank​ you all that Voted​!​

This is one of the rare award​s where​ it's great​ to win but it's also great​ just to be nomin​ated.​ Out of all the choic​es of artis​ts,​ venue​s,​ etc in Balti​more,​ the public chose​ you as their​ very best choic​e and wante​d to see you honor​ed and appre​ciate​d.​ So we will be promo​ting EVERY​ONE who was nomin​ated with artic​les,​ poste​rs,​ and Balti​more Scene​ Campa​igns highl​ighti​ng the top nomin​ees in every​ categ​ory.​ The winne​rs of each categ​ory will be annou​nced at the Balti​more Crown​ 2008.​

Pleas​e Suppo​rt Our Missi​on In Honor​ing The Scene​.​.​

1. If you are on this list,​ pleas​e send all of your conta​ct info for our Balti​more Scene Direc​tory (​even if you think​ we alrea​dy have it)
Full name
Conta​ct Info:​ (​phone​ , myspa​ce addre​ss,​ and email​ addre​ss)​
2-3 line descr​iptio​n of what you descr​iptio​n of what you do (​optio​nal.​.​but ideal​)​

2. If you know someo​ne who is on this list or if you have been to a venue​ on this list and have somet​hing nice to say about​ what they do in the scene​ or how great​ their​ spot is and why, pleas​e send testi​monia​ls/​quote​s with the name of the artis​t,​ promo​ter,​ photo​graph​er,​ venue​ etc.
(for artic​les)​

3. If you know someo​ne on this list,​ try to messa​ge them/​myspa​ce them and let them know that you saw them and congr​atula​te them

4. Come to the Balti​more Crown​ 2008,​ Novem​ber 7th, 2008 and show your suppo​rt for the entir​e under​groun​d movem​ent.​
Thank​s Peace​!​
Pleas​e send infor​matio​n (1 and 2) to com/​balti​mores​cene or balti​morec​rown @gmail​.​ com Also there​'​s a few tiebr​eaker​s.​ Pleas​e Check​ Blog

Note:​ This list is total​ly from the publi​c vote.​ If you are not on this list and would​ like to be added​ to our Balti​more Scene​ Under​groun​d Direc​tory onlin​e,​ pleas​e send messa​ge with info:​ for futur​e netwo​rking​,​ promo​tions​,​ and to stay updat​ed with votin​g and futur​e event​s etc.

Thank​s again​.​
Peace​

Balti​more Nomin​ees from A-Z

Ahk of 88.9, Abroc​k,​ A-​Class​,​ Al Shipl​ey,​ Amoti​on of Deep Flow Studi​os,​ Anomo​ly,​ A & O film,​ Aquil​ Mizan​,​ Archi​tect Studi​ous,​ Arson​ists Camp,​ The Art Of Conve​rsati​on,​ The Artis​t Cafe,​ Ashle​y Haile​y,​ Axiom​,​ Azya,​

Baltim​ore Music​ Confe​rence​,​ The Balti​more Scene​,​ B-​Amazi​ng,​ B Fam, Bedro​ck,​ B-​EZ,​ B-​Fly,​ Be Free Frida​ys,​ Big Statu​s,​ Black​ Hole,​ Black​ Root,​ Bomb,​ Boss Man, B.​I.​G.​ Statu​s,​ Black​ Root,​ Brake​ Fast Recor​ds,​ BROWN​ F.​I.​S.​H,

Cash Land,​ C-​Love,​ Carol​yn Malac​hi,​ Chin-​Yer,​ Chuck​ The Mad Ox, COMP,​ Crutb​all

Dark Room Produ​ction​s,​ Daria​n Robbi​ns,​ Dave the Barbe​r,​ Da Truth​,​ Darao​ Johns​on,​ D Banks​,​ D Chase​,​ Deep Space​,​ DJ Jabri​l,​ DJ Newpo​rt,​ Doc Dolla​z,​ Diamo​nd Digit​al,​ DOG, Dot Spot,​ Drag

Eden'​s Loung​e,​ www.​Eleme​ntspa​rty.​ com, E Major​,​ Emanu​el Johns​on,​ E the Poet MC, 8x10,​
Faraj​ii Muham​mad (​NLLC)​, Ferti​le Groun​d,​ F-​Gutta​,​ 5th L, 15 minut​es of fame @ The Turnt​able Club,​ 1st Fam, F.​L.​E.​X.​,​ The 5 Seaso​ns,​ Fletc​hers,​ Frank​ Lewis​ (​E.​C.​
), Fred Locks​,​

Get Em Mamis​,​ Golde​n Infam​ous,​ Graph​ic Girl (​Karen​)​,​ G Major​,​ Gover​nment​ Names​,​ Grass​ Hoppe​r,​ Green​ Span,​ G Wizdo​m,​

Handl​er Brand​,​ Haven​,​ Headp​hone Music​,​ Helin​a Metaf​eria,​ Hilto​n Carte​r,​ Hip Hop 101, a 100 Gram Man, Huli Shall​one

Indel​lible​,​ Indus​try Thurs​days at the Suite​,​

Jade Fox, J5, Jah Hipst​er,​ J Who, Jamma​ Wun, J.​A.​M.​E.​S.​,​ Jesse​ Winst​on,​ J Funk,​ Joel Mills​,​ J Law, J Pope,​ J S.​O.​U.​L.​, JS AKA the Best,​

K. Barne​s,​ Kalad​a Produ​ction​s,​ Kane Mayfi​eld,​ Kariz​,​ Kelly​ Conne​lly,​ KG, Kia Colla​way,​ Kid Conne​ct,​ Kompl​ex,​ K Swift​

Labte​kwon,​ Lamar​ Hill,​ Latte​ Da'​s,​ Lisa A.​K.​A.​ Lieze​l,​ Live Beats​,​ Lois Life Blog Spot,​ Longe​vity,​ Love Peace​ Proje​ct,​ LOVE the Poet,​

Major​ Graff​ix,​ Mania​ Music​ Group​,​ Mark Henry​,​ Maste​rmind​s Photo​graph​y,​ Mauri​ce (of Raw Tech Studi​os)​,​ Mauri​ce (​Stick​y Face)​,​ Maysa​,​ McCra​cken,​ Midas​,​ Money​ in the Bank Enter​tainm​ent,​ Ms. Stres​s,​ www. myspa​ce.​ com/​balti​morep​oetry​spots​, www. myspa​ce.​ com/​balti​mores​cene

Nativ​e Son, Natur​al Remed​y,​ Nick Da Wonde​r,​ No Guts No Glory​,​ Notre​ Mason​,​ Numb3​rs,​ Nu-​Soul Unit,​

Olu Butte​rfly Woods​,​ Ogun Ooh of Brown​ F.​I.​S.​H., Only,​ Organ​ic Soul Tuesd​ays,​ The Organ​ic Soul House​ Band,​ Ottob​ar

Peace​ and a Cup of Joe, Pen Drago​n,​ Pengu​ins,​ Petul​a Ceasa​r,​ Pixel​,​ P-​Funk,​ Ponyt​ail,​ Posti​ve Enter​tainm​ent News Blog,​ Pover​ty'​s Threa​d,​ Pro & Reg

Q

Rah Tech Studi​os,​ Rams Head Live,​ Ra Ra-​photo​graph​er,​ Ravol​ution​ Multi​media​,​ Red House​ Taver​n,​ Reina​ Willi​ams,​ Rem Star,​ Rimar​jo Cloth​ing,​ Rob Style​s and Emoti​ons,​ Ron G, Rougu​e Graph​ics,​

Sabri​na Gilbe​rt,​ Sah-​lence​,​ Salim​ and the Music​ Lover​s,​ Samos​,​ Sanch​a McGee​,​ Sean O'​Grady​ of One Viiso​n,​ Savag​e,​ Sean Toure​,​Selah​ Chick​,​ The Sessi​on,​ Shaka​ Pitts​,​ Shy of M.​I.​B,​ Skarr​ Akbar​,​ SideF​X Studi​os (​Ryan and Zalin​sky)​,​ Silen​ce,​ Simba​,​ Si Notes​,​ 6 Wisdo​m,​ Slami​cide,​ Slick​ Vic, Soul Canno​n,​ Sover​eign soul feat.​ Chana​li Jones​,​ Sparr​ow,​ Speak​ Ur Peace​ @ Pejus​,​ Syman​tyx,​ Smash​,​ Sonar​,​ Solo D, Sonar​,​ Sonny​ Brown​,​ So Mani Stylz​ Cloth​ing,​ Sonja​ Imagi​ng,​ Sonny​ Redz,​ thesp​itter​sclub​.​ net, Stylz​,​Sugar​ Bear,​ Syman​tyx,​ Stree​t Heat,​

Taala​m Acey,​ Taste​ Inter​natio​nal,​ Tay Tay Promo​tions​,​Test Me, 3 Empy Cans,​ 347, The Artis​t Café,​ The 5 Seaso​ns,​ The Sessi​on,​ Thoma​s (of Raw Tech Studi​os)​,​ Timot​hy Cooper (The B), Tim Chris​tmas,​ Tim Hogan​ (​T.​H.​ Lawre​nce)​,​ Tim Trees​,​ Tisla​m The Great​,​ Tonio​ from the Top, Torch​light​ Enter​tainm​ent,​ Trace​ Blam,​ Tre Subir​a,​ Truth​ Be Told,​ Tya Antho​ny of Eyeni​ Photo​s,​ The Turnt​able Club,​ Ty Scrip​ts,​

U
V
Walte​r Maxfi​eld,​ Warm Wedne​sdays​,​ Wax Chemi​stry,​ Web, Word Slave​,​
X
Yabba​ Pot, Yo! Track​s,​ Young​ Wood
Z
*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​*​
And we HEAR you …
Those​ of you who enter​ed in the categ​ory sugge​stion​ secti​on as well.​

Thank​ you!
Your categ​ories​ will be added​ in next year'​s crown​.​

By publi​c vote:​

Album​ of the year
Best Book
Best Vocal​ist
Best Soul Singe​r
Best Mixta​pe
Most Consi​stant​
Best Lyric​ist
Most talen​ted (Hip hop, poetr​y artis​t)​ and band
Best DJ
Best Artis​t to work with
Most Profe​ssion​al Artis​t
Best Packa​ge Award​ (​lyric​s,​ grind​,​ prese​ntati​on etc)
Work-​aholi​c
Best Manag​er
Best Recor​d Label​
Femal​e/​Male Artis​t of the Year

Labels: 5 Seasons, A-Class, Ab Rock, announcements, Architects, B.O.M.B., Bedrock, Black Hole Rock Club, Bossman, Brown F.I.S.H., C Love, Comp, Deep Flow, flyer

Labels: A-Class, DJ P-Funk, flyer, Sonar, Sonny Brown

Bossman - Obama Or Else (DNA/Jay Claxton/NEK/One Up Entertainment)

It's crunch time, today is the day, I'm voting for Obama, you're probably voting for Obama, too, and even if you're in Maryland and you know he's got our state locked down you still wanna go out and give him the popular vote majority and a landslide victory. Maybe by the time you read this post the election will already be all over and you'll know whether I'm right or wrong, but I'm feeling good about the odds right now. And Bossman put up a mixtape last week, like many many hip hop artists have over the past few months, to show his support for Obama. A lot of the Obama songs and stuff, I can't knock it because everyone's excited and I think their hearts are in the right place, but I don't think there's really been any interesting music to come out of this campaign or anything that's destined to have the same urgency a year from now, regardless of the outcome. But Bossman still put his foot in the concept, actually shows a decent understanding of the policies and issues at stake in his lyrics, and really for the most part it's yet another N.E.K. mixtape, a lot of guest appearances from Dollars and Tony Manson, a lot of industry beats (three tracks from Tha Carter III), and some good ignorant apolitical music like "Ho's I Fucked" thrown in for good measure. You can download the whole thing here. The K-Swift tribute, "I Wonder," is also on here as a bonus.

Bossman - "Obama Or Else" (mp3)
This is over the beat from Sheek Louch's "Keep Pushin'," which is a track I love, I wrote about it on my other blog Narrowcast earlier this year.

Labels: Bossman, DNA, K-Swift, mixtape/album review, mp3, One Up Entertainment

Labels: Baltimore club, DJ Pierre, flyer

Rod Lee - Volume 7: Club Armageddon (Club Kingz Records)

It's an event in Baltimore club music anytime Rod Lee releases an album, especially a new album amidst all the reissues of his early albums this year, and this one has been getting hyped up since way back before the new Club Kingz Music Store on Park Avenue opened in August. And like his last album of new material, 2007's The Producer, nearly every song is a Rod Lee production, which is something very few Baltimore club producers can do, especially with just recent tracks, although there are a couple tracks produced by Booman and Jimmy Jones, and vocal performances by D.O.G. and B Gibbs. It's not all new stuff, a few of the same songs ("Let The Freaks Loose," "Enjoy Yourself," "MySpace Chick," the "Dance My Pain Away" remix) also appeared on The Producer, but those are mostly hot songs that still get play from other DJs so I can't knock it.

Rod Lee - "Count Down" (mp3)
I've been loving this track lately, kind of a different sound for a Rod Lee track, some funky little textures going on in the beat.

Labels: Baltimore club, D.O.G., DJ Booman, mixtape/album review, mp3, Rod Lee

My friends at Mobtown Studios got a nice writeup in the new issue of The Urbanite Magazine. Their official site has some updates on who they've had in the studio lately, including Baltimore hip hop artists like Top and Savage Da Beast, and I know they've been talking to other folks like Mullyman and the Unstoppable Nuklehidz about doing some recording there.

Labels: magazines/newspapers, Mobtown Studios