In this week's Baltimore City Paper, I wrote The Short List and a Rap Sheet column with news about new releases by Al Great and Street Scott, DDm, Black Zheep DZ and more.

Labels: Al Great, Baltimore City Paper, Black Zheep DZ, magazines/newspapers, Midas, Rap Sheet, Street Heat

I wrote on the City Paper site about a great Baltimore rap posse cut, Al Great's new remix to the Street Scott-produced "Summer Nights," with DDm, Japiro and Dunson.

Labels: Al Great, Baltimore City Paper, Japiro, Kenton Dunson, Midas, Noise, Street Heat

Labels: Ab Rock, Al Great, Club Reality, flyer, Golden Seal, Greenspan, Jade Fox, Labtekwon, Sean Toure, Smash, Soul Cannon

Labels: Al Great, flyer, Greenspan, Gypsy Soul, Kane, Mania Music Group, Ottobar

Labels: Al Great, Club Reality, flyer, Ogun

Fuze B - Pardon My Sarcasm (DJ Schemes)

Fuze B is a cat from Jersey that lives in Baltimore now, and he's one of these rappers who takes his Twitter really really seriously. I tend to think that artists who get a little too heavy into the social networking tend to be wasting their time, but he posts funny stuff sometimes, and I have to admit it works on some level because I'd never really heard his music before but after following him on Twitter (and occasionally unfollowing him for a while because he really does tweet too damn much sometimes) I bothered to check out his mixtape when I saw it on allbmorehiphop.com. It's a pretty low budget sounding tape, sounds like dudes just throwing on some beats and recording vocals in a hall closet or something, but Fuze B and the other rappers on this generally have good punchlines and sound like they're having fun with it, so it's a good vibe all in all. Al Great and Tonio From Da Top and a whole lot of other people make guest appearances.

Fuze B f/ Renaissance - "What's Ya Name" (mp3)
This is kind of one of the lighter tracks on the mixtape but I dig it.

Labels: Al Great, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, mixtape/album review, mp3, Tonio

Al Great - The Take

I first heard Al Great in the group Alevan collaborating with a producer, and when he subsequently released solo mixtapes I was always a little critical about him sounding more anonymous over industry beats and wanting to hear him back over good original production. Then a while back he dropped an album called The Heist with the producer Heist that seemed to get a good buzz, but I'd just had a kid and so I was kind of out of things and missed covering probably a few good records here that I might've otherwise, so I guess I slept on that one. But he just released this new record so I wanted to make sure I got to it right away, and it's pretty dope. Al Great's voice is kind of like Jay-Z meets U-God, which let's face it isn't the greatest vocal tone in the world to have, and those guys rapped on some of the greatest beats ever, so he's kinda that going against him. But Al Great does have good flow and some nice lyrical detail in his songs, and his producers Heist and E Hill have good ears for tracks that fit him well, definitely holds together as a solid album. Bossman guests on the single "Money On My Mind."

Al Great - "Stand Out (Ya Dig)" (mp3)
This one was an instant favorite for me, great beat by E Hill.

Labels: Al Great, Bossman, mixtape/album review, mp3