The Channel 10 Podcast, which is hosted by a couple of Baltimore rap dudes I go way back with, Articulate and Singodsuperior, asked me to come on as a guest, and Episode 20 went up this week. We talked for about an hour about in a wide ranging discussion about Baltimore, music, life, all that stuff. It was a lot of fun, thanks to go those guys for inviting me to participate.

Labels: Articulate, Channel 10, Podcasts, Singodsuperior

Rickie Jacobs - Air Jacobs (BuckMarleyXXX.com/The Good Life Reviews)

I first posted a song by Rickie Jacobs on this blog 3 and a half years ago and saw his potential right off the bat, so I'm kinda proud of the fact that he just released his debut full-length project and it's really dope and seems to be getting a lot of positive buzz online. He produces a lot of his own tracks and has some other good producers in his corner, doesn't really have the strongest voice or delivery but I feel like he's got a good thoughtful, humble vibe, got some good ideas, although sometimes it falls into that kinda sadsack synth pop Drake kinda shit I can't really stand. The single a posted a while back features Wordsmith and Artic, and the dude 2 Pistols from Florida also guests on the record, you can download Air Jacobs here.

Rickie Jacobs f/ Artic - "Last Flight Ever" (mp3)
Dope track, love the quick snippet of Blaqstarr's "Hands Up, Thumbs Down" that gets chopped up in there to rep for Bmore.

Labels: Articulate, mixtape/album review, mp3, Rickie Jacobs, Wordsmith

Rickie Jacobs f/ Wordsmith and Artic - "Yes Yes Yall" (mp3)
Rickie Jacobs has been throwing a lot of music out there lately, and he finally just let loose the first single from his upcoming EP, Air Jacobs, and it has a nice lineup of guests.

Labels: Articulate, mp3, Rickie Jacobs, Wordsmith

Articulate - #musicmonday (please RT) the mixtape

Articulate's really been one of the growing number of MCs in Baltimore that's really using the internet well to get his music out there on a really frequent basis, so it's apt that he's the first rapper I've heard of to do a Twitter-themed mixtape (Soulja Boy did one, too, but Artic beat him to the punch by a couple weeks). Don't get me wrong, I hate Twitter and think it's the lamest web 2.0 trend ever, I'm just saying it's shrewd of him. I'm still not sure how much I like Artic as an rapper, he writes verses well enough but he's got that kind of hoarse grain to his voice like he's pushing out the words too hard that kinda bothers me about a lot of newer rappers like Wale or Charles Hamilton. Still, there's some definite good music on his recent releases and I think he's got some real promise. Anyway, you can get this on ItsArtic.com, and guests include Wordsmith, Bex, PenDragon and Rickie Jacobs.

Articulate - "Motion Poetry" (mp3)
I really like the off-the-cuff feel of the track and the way he just flows and flows, and then shrugs it off at the end with "this ain't even a song, it's just a verse I wrote just to be leakin' somethin'."

Labels: Articulate, mixtape/album review, mp3, PenDragon, Wordsmith

Chubb Rock & Wordsmith - A Crack In The Bridge Mixtape (DJ King Assassin/HipHopDX.com)

Wordsmith's collab album with Chubb Rock, Bridging The Gap, will be out nationally in just a couple weeks, on June 16th on E1 Music and Unruly Records, and the first video is already out. To warm up for that release, though, they put out this free mixtape download of songs that aren't on the album, and I gotta say it's almost as good as the album itself, and definitely worth a look. Wordsmith got a couple Baltimore artists, Articulate and Soulstice, guesting on the project, and also members of his Nu Revolution Camp crew (Kontact, Black Knight and Sly Solomon), Chubb Rock has some solo stuff, it's a nice short mix with a good balance of the 2 artists. Wordsmith and Chubb Rock will be performing on Jimmy Kimmel next Friday, June 5th.

Wordsmith f/ Articulate and Black Knight - "The New Street Kings" (mp3)
I like seeing Wordsmith and Artic link up on a track together since I feel like they've got similar musical styles and really both put out music online really consistently and make themselves accessible in that way, good combo. This track's produced by Strada, who did a lot of both the mixtape and the album.

Labels: Articulate, mixtape/album review, mp3, Unruly Records, Wordsmith

There's a lot of 2008 in this batch, I guess just coincidentally. There was a lot of good music last year, though!

71. Jade Fox f/ Eva Castillo - "Got 'Em Like" (mp3) - January 19, 2008
72. K.W. Griff - "Taking Over" (mp3) - January 19, 2008
73. Unstoppable Nuklehidz - "Pass It On" (mp3) - December 1, 2007
74. E Major - "How You Wanna Carry It?" (mp3) - March 29, 2008
75. Ogun, Tim Trees, Little Clayway, Comp, Mullyman and ShellBe RAW - "Bmore Shit" (mp3) - June 6, 2006
76. DJ Rod Lee - "Birthday" (mp3) - July 8, 2005
77. DJ Excel f/ Emmy - "All Nite Long" (mp3) - August 4, 2008
78. Articulate - "Capital Punishment (Homage to Big Pun)" (mp3) - August 21, 2008
79. Wax Musicians - "Here We Go" (mp3) - September 21, 2008
80. Greenspan - "Mt. Rockmore" (mp3) - December 29, 2008

Labels: Articulate, Baltimore club, DJ Excel, E Major, Greenspan, Jade Fox, KW Griff, lists, Little Clayway, mp3, Ogun, The Unstoppable Nuklehidz, Tim Trees

PenDragon - "Amen" (mp3)
Some new Drag, produced by Mark Shotta, I like this one. 41yo also recently posted a new collaboration between PenDragon and Articulate, "Short & Sweet," that's pretty good, too.

Labels: 41yo, Articulate, mp3, PenDragon

Articulate - "I Get Loose" (mp3)
Here's a new track from Articulate produced by Rickie Jacobs. Those guys and Born King are a real interesting circle right now, lotta good music coming out of that group. This track was for a mixtape for HipHopRuckus.com but it's too dope to just sit between some fuckin' Juelz Santana interview audio, gotta give it some props here.

Labels: Articulate, mp3

Labels: Articulate, DJ P-Funk, flyer, Sonar, Wordsmith