various artists - Baltimore Beat Bangers, Vol. 1 (Wisdom Court Ent.)

I was very interested to hear about this project, basically an all-star instrumental mixtape full of beats from some of Baltimore's best rap producers, because it's just kind of unprecedented in this scene. Obviously producers are always passing around CDs of beats looking to work with MCs, but other than a couple instrumental albums I've gotten from Ron Rico and Me'Aze Millioni they don't seem very commonplace, certainly not a compilation full of beats by different producers like Imahj put together for different projects. As the host, Ambush, says on teh intro, “we bringin’ beat tapes back.” There's some unfamiliar names on here as well as some producers you've probably heard of like Banga Bill, Ms. Tris Beats and Heist, as well as some rappers who produce a lot of their own stuff like Skarr Akbar, PenDragon, Sean Toure and Street Scott aka Street Heat. And everyone gave their tracks titles, so it's a little easier to visualize them as becoming songs or already being songs when they have evocative names like "Ice In My Veins" or "Devilish." The “you are now listening to the sounds of Baltimore Beat Bangers” tag all over every track gets a little annoying, but I understand if that’s the way producers gotta protect their tracks from getting jacked and used without getting paid for first. It'll be interesting to see how many of the beats on this CD get turned into songs by rappers in the next year or so. You can download Baltimore Beat Bangers at AllBmoreHipHop.com and the release party is at Club Reality this week.

Ms. Tris - “Get With This” (mp3)
Ms. Tris is such a versatile producer, this one stood out to me as soon as I heard it but I wouldn’t have guessed it was her,has a very contemporary radio-friendly sound but still really detailed and unique.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Banga Bill, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ms. Tris Beats, PenDragon, Sean Toure, Skarr Akbar, Street Heat