Backland - Block Work: None Better (DJ Jabril/Block Boy Music)

I’ve posted so many songs and videos hyping up this project since it was announced way way back around January, so when Backland’s contribution to DJ Jabril and AllBmoreHipHop’s Block Work series finally dropped last month I wasn’t even in a huge rush to cop it since I felt like I’d already heard so much of it. Like a lot of folks in Baltimore, I will forever check for Backland just off the strength of how classic his 106 & Park Freestyle Friday rhymes were, but I definitely have enjoyed his last couple mixtapes too. Like a lot of successful battle rappers, he’s probably not trying to let that reputation cage him in, so sometimes you get a little less of that humor and cleverness and a little more kind of standard mixtape rapper bravado, but he carries it well and the beats are pretty solid. I do hate the song "Who Da Fuck Are U" where it sounds like Backland is doing an OJ Da Juiceman impression, though. DJ Jabril hosts it, Skarr Akbar did the artwork, and 100 Grandman, Hunit Stackz, Caddy Da Don, Comp and B.O.M.B. drop verses on it.

Backland - “Do You” (mp3)
This was already my favorite song on the mixtape when DJ Jabril came in at the end and shouted out "Al Shipley, Government Names." I love when shit like that happens.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Architects, B.O.M.B., Backland, Comp, mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar

Backland f/ 100 Grandman and Hunit Stacks - "All I Need" (mp3)
I was just making a joke on my Twitter recently about how it's kind of confusing and redundant that there are 2 rappers in Baltimore named 100 Grandman and Hunit Stackz (who used to be just called Stackz), but I have to admit it's kinda dope to see them on a track together and know they're cool with having similar names. I've probably posted more music from Backland's Block Work mixtape here now than in advance of any other release in the history of Gov't Names, but fuck it, he keeps trickling out these joints, and I like this, kinda has a "Rubber Band Man" vibe.

Labels: 100 Grandman, Backland, Block Work, mp3

Here's Backland's video for "10 Weed Commandments" off the upcoming Block Work: None Better mixtape.

Labels: Backland, Block Work, video

Backland - "Dennis Rodman" (mp3)
I've already posted some songs from Backland's upcoming Block Work mixtape, but finally here's the first official single.

Labels: Backland, Block Work, mp3

Backland - "Back On My Shit" (mp3)
Twice now, I've posted "new" tracks from Backland's upcoming Block Work mixtape that turned out to be older songs that are going to be bonus tracks on the CD. So now that there's an actual 2010 vintage new song out there, I feel obligated to post it up, so here it is!

Labels: Backland, Block Work, mp3

Backland - "Oh My Gosh" (mp3)
New banger produced by Jay Funk, and like the track I posted a few weeks ago, this is presumably from Backland's upcoming Block Work mixtape.

Labels: Backland, Block Work, Jay Funk, mp3

Backland - "Hopeless" (mp3)
New Backland! And he has a Block Work mixtape on the way soon. Always happy to hear new music from him and this track is pretty great.

Labels: Backland, Block Work, mp3

Really getting down to the wire now, last 2 installments coming on Monday and Tuesday:

21. Blaq Starr - "Get My Gun" (mp3) - June 21, 2005
22. Backland - "Bonus Freestyle Friday Battles" (mp3) - May 5, 2005
23. Tim Trees - "We Don't Love 'Em" (mp3) - March 31, 2005
24. P-Shellz "Fingaz Down (The Hack Anthem)" (mp3) - December 4, 2008
25. DJ Booman f/ Ray Lugar, Lic Shots and Mullyman - "Move Over" (mp3) - February 20, 2008
26. Comp - "Harder" (mp3) - January 15, 2005
27. Bossman - "So Fresh" (mp3) - March 9, 2007
28. J-Roc - "Crown The King" (mp3) - August 24, 2008
29. Barnes f/ Highs-N-Pistol - "Tattoo Tears" (mp3) - June 7, 2006
30. Skarr Akbar - "The Hood Legend" (mp3) - August 31, 2005

Labels: Backland, Baltimore club, Barnes, Blaq Starr, Bossman, Comp, DJ Booman, lists, mp3, Skarr Akbar, Tim Trees

On this day in 2004, I threw up the first test post on this site. At the time, music was still a pretty tiny piece of the blogosphere and it seemed like you could count all the existing rap blogs on your fingers. So when I finished exams at the end of that semester and had some free time on my hands, I started up this little page with some friends and message board acquaintances whose writing I liked just to have a space to talk about new songs and stuff that interested us. It started out with no real focus, and for the first year or so Government Names was probably known mainly for the weird Canadian kid who had a ridiculous amount of knowledge about Houston hip hop more than anything I did. But I posted about some Baltimore stuff from the very beginning, and as my interest in covering this underexposed scene grew and the other contributors gradually stopped posting, I decided to make that the site's sole focus, and it's been really rewarding and fun. This site got me bank into freelancing as a music critic after being away from it for a few years and gave me a whole new passion for it, and I've met a lot of cool people and heard some great music and hopefully introduced some people to some songs they loved.

Over the past 5 years, I've posted roughly 700 songs, but I've always prided myself on the fact that I try to be selective and find the best tracks to share, or ones that I have something to say about, especially now in the age where the 'best' rap blogs are usually the ones that indiscriminately throw up every new song without writing anything about it or even listening to it first. If someone sends me a single or a leak, I usually only post it if I genuinely like the song, and when I'm writing about a full-length I try to post my favorite song from it (although sometimes even the best song off a CD isn't very good, but hey). So I feel good about a really large percentage of the music I've posted, and wanted to kind of highlight what I think was the best of the best. So to mark the anniversary, I'll be re-posting my top 100 mp3s from the site's first 5 years over the next couple weeks, 10 at a time every day or so, with links to the original posts they appeared in. All due respect to the musicians, I can't thank them enough for making songs that I want to listen to and tell people about on a daily basis. Here's the first installment:

91. Labtekwon - "Soybeans and Tofu Cheese" (mp3) - October 8, 2006
92. James Nasty - "You So Hawt" (mp3) - April 30, 2008
93. Mullyman f/ Backland, Comp and Sonny Brown - "Gangsta Wit Me" (mp3) - August 12, 2005
94. Caleb & Saleem - "We Write Blue" (mp3) - March 12, 2009
95. Mania Music Group - "Gotta Believe It" freestyle (mp3) - April 21, 2009
96. Blaq Starr - "In The Air" (mp3) - March 1, 2007
97. Bossman - "You're Wrong" (mp3) - August 24, 2006
98. Mike Malachi f/ Ron Rico, Agg and Skarr Akbar - "Super Smash Bros. Melee" (mp3) - March 21, 2009
99. Caddy Da Don f/ Tim Trees, Huli Shallone, Los, Skarr Akbar and Bossman - "Whole City Behind Me (Remix)" (mp3) - November 4, 2007
100. Scola f/ Rod Lee - "Turn It Down" (mp3) - August 3, 2006

Labels: Backland, Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, Bossman, Comp, Huli Shallone, Labtekwon, lists, Los, Mania Music Group, Mike Malachi, mp3, Mullyman, Ron Rico, Saleem, Sonny Brown, Tim Trees

Little Clayway f/ Backland, Comp and Tim Trees - "Want To Be A Millionaire" (mp3)
This week in the City Paper I wrote a feature about Little Clayway (and also his sister April Love). He's always been one of the more interesting guys in Baltimore rap as far as I'm concerned and was a good interview, he really said some honest and perceptive things about the city and the scene. This posse cut is a track from the promo version of his upcoming album A New Beginning, which should be dropping officially sometime soon, maybe November.

I also have a couple movie reviews in the paper this week, a longer one of The Express and a shorter one of How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (which is not online).

(photo by Rarah)

Labels: Backland, Baltimore City Paper, Comp, Little Clayway, magazines/newspapers, mp3, Tim Trees

I posted on Government Names about the death of Mr. Wilson of JI-900 back in the week the news first broke, but in this week's Baltimore City Paper I wrote a proper remembrance of the man, who I didn't know well, but knew that he was important enough to the community that there should be some kind of acknowledgement of his passing in the media. It's been very touching, going to shows recently at 5 Seasons and last night at Sonar, to see so many people dedicating songs to him and saying a few words or asking for a moment of silence for Michael Dante Wilson. Thank you to Sonny Brown, Vision (credited in the article as Kenneth McDowell), DJ P-Funk and Mr. Wilson's widow Tara for their quotes and pictures and blessing to write the article, I hope everyone who knew him is happy with it. I posted some of his music in the previous post, but here's some more. I posted "Realest To Run It" a couple years ago but I gotta put it up again, that might still be my favorite track off Mullymania:

Vision and Mr. Wilson - "Original Gangstaz" (mp3)

Backland and Mr. Wilson - "Close To Dem Gunz" (mp3)

Mullyman f/ JI-900 - "Realest To Run It" (mp3)

Labels: Backland, Baltimore City Paper, mp3, Mr. Wilson, Mullyman, Sonny Brown

I wasn't planning on posting anything new on this site for another week or two to bring it out of hiatus, but after I heard the news a couple days ago, about the passing of Mr. Wilson, I knew I had to acknowledge that. As a member of the group JI-900 and the label Star Status Entertainment, and founder of events like Hip Hop 101 and the Baltimore Fresh Fest, he's had an important impact on Baltimore hip hop over the past several years, and although I only met him once or twice and heard a relatively small amount of his music, I always had a lot of respect for him and I wish I'd been better acquainted with him when he was alive. I'm getting together a little something to acknowledge his passing for the City Paper soon, so anyone that wants to contribute to that with pictures, stories, memories and details of his life, please contact me. Details about funeral arrangments are here and I believe there will be a Hip Hop 101 event dedicated to him in the near future as well. Below are a few of my favorite Mr. Wilson and JI-900 tracks, and after that, some very poignant words about Mr. Wilson by his good friend Sonny Brown:

Mr. Wilson and Mullyman - "Gutter" (mp3)

JI-900 and Mack of the Annexx Click - "4 Da Love" (mp3)

Sonny Brown, Mr. Wilson and Mo Gant - "You Ain't Shit" (mp3)

JI-900 and Little Clayway - "Play Tough" (mp3)

Backland and JI-900 - "U Better Move" (mp3)

Sonny Brown, Snoop Dogg and Mr. Wilson - "Gangsta Ish Remix" (mp3)

From Sonny Brown:

I was really sitting here and contemplating on if i should type something about my dude or if i should just chill the fuck out and just reminese over him by myself. But I feel like to all of the friends I have, i feel like maybe i should share a piece of who i considered one of my most dearest and best frie.. NAAAA... I will consider him someone closer then a friend.. i will just say my brother. I met Mr. Wilson in 2002 when i got out of jail. My homeboy and another brother of mine Will introduced us. Will kept telling me that i needed to get my album done and he knew where to record it. He kept telling me the dude that ran the studio was a real G (lol) and the nigga can rhyme his ass off so i'm like ok Will take me to the studio. Now mind you i am fresh outta jail, still in some sort of way smelling like jail, cqarrying my bag full of court papers and books and shit and i am getting ready to record my first song in a real live studio. Well, when we got there I told my man Will "Yo, this studio CLOUD 9 studio (to my folks that dont know, Cloud 9 was a real nice studio for local artist here in Baltimore) He told me "Yeah, but its MR. WILSONS NOW. I say "Mr. Wilson? what in the fuck? I heard of him. I got in the studio and the first thing i remember was the graff on the wall that read STAR STATUS ENT.. I walked down the hall and made a right and there was everybody... smoking fogs, weed, drinking, and B-ILL behind the boards banging out CRACK! B-ILL was and still is one of the best producers in bmore city 4real. The first person i met was MALIBU.. he was a cool mother fucker and to this day the same as i met him COOL! Then i met KC.. Kenny..lol.. Now kenny? he was my MAN.. He knew every episode of my favorite Show SANFORD AND SON..lol so we immediatly went back and forth on the show.. then i met Mr. Wilson..

Now When i met him, he shook my hand and he asked me if i had something to record. Mind you all I'm JUST GETTING HOME maybe 2 hrs ago and he already asking me if i was ready to record. I told him i did'nt have any money and he said "Man, i knew you just got home yo.. you part of a family now".. I went in and recorded '"COME ON" As soon as i recorded that we recorded a string of records.. But he ones we banged out and got the most love for was "UMMM HMM", "Ride with me" and "YOU AINT SHIT" I went from just being a nobody nigga that just got out of jail to being a dude recording with MR.WILSON and JI900.. From all the recording we just developed a unbreakable bond.. the recording actually got us into just MAKING MONEY AND HISTORY TOGETHER. Such as the Fresh fest, recording the infamous SNOOP DOGG record DOE CHEESE, Blammy awards, Beat battles, HipHop 101, Madame of Murdaland battles, constructing his first video to do 2 years on BET UNCUT and so on and so forth.. IF IT WASNT FOR MR. WILSON I WOULDNT OF NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOSTING EVENTS. Pfunk gave me the oppurtunity.. If it wasnt for Wilson and my dude Excel i wouldve retired from the rap game and jumped back to selling drugs again.. But he always told me.. "yo god gave you a gift that alot of people dont have.. so use your gift and show the world who you are". I use to think that was corny. But it in some sort of way made sense. I learned alot from him.. I learned what true friendship meant. I learned what loyalty meant. I learned how to love my family better and Most of all My business mind sharpened all because of him. Sometimes you meet people in life and you never know why you let them in.. Then you just sort of get used to them.. then its like you gel with them.. i talked to this dude like 6 times a day EVERYDAY.. then one day.. i just didnt call him because of my situation then 1 week went by in he's in the hospital in a induced coma.. I know people say that one day your here and the next day your gone thing.. it really makes since but you know what? In a few months i may heal.. and i may take for granted life like we all do from time to time.. I refuse to do it again. I know i came back and i promised to do more with myself.. But now? I have absolutley no choice right now.. Its always something, first my leg now this.. I am REALLY on a mission to do well and feed my friends and family. I watched this dude say he wanted a 2004 S500 benz and frommoney at hiphop 101 and our many legal hustles he got one..... In 2 weeks. I watched him do EVERYTHING he wanted to do and then some, He's gone so now i have to live for him and myself. Damn this shit hurts man.

I will make sure that his name is'nt in vain. I am bringing back HipHop 101 because i know if he never got sick then he wouldve kept it going. i am going to keep STAR STATUS going because he actually managed me before my personal manager Mika and i am the President of that label. I am going to do a fresh fest this year.. Why? because he started them and i will continue to make that happen.. And last but not least I am bringing the 2nd annual WILSON BLAMMY AWARDS because again if he was here he wouldve done it. And the funny thing is I was told i wasnt going to be able to pull it off in the 2 weeks it took me to put it all together and regardless on how sloppy it went.. It was a success... So just imagine whats gonna happen now that i know what to do..lol.. I hate fucking haters..lol.. i feel like i need to be doing ALOT of things on my own and or with the help of my family such as VISION, MALIBU, KD, BACKLAND, WILL, MANNY, BMORE BRIAN, LOKEY, BRIAN, KENNY, JFUNK, RASHAWN, JABRIL, B-ILL WIDOW,PFUNK, DJ EXCEL, MISSY, SONJA, MIKA,TYREIKA, and OMAR LITTLE. We will not let your name go in vain Wilson. For you guys that didnt know him.. you felt him because his hand was in EVERYTHING. I wish i couldve went to that HELL RELL joint LAST NIGHT because HELL RELL was his favorite emcee.. but it aint official until i speak on him They might of said something about him but shit dont matter unless I SONNY BROWN speak on what he did so fuck it .. I love you Mr. Wilson.. you are and will always be my best friend/brother and you truly will be missed.. Man i cant stop crying yo but i know your plight here was completed and you are now in your rightful place with god! I love you yo!

Either myself or Rashawn from Welding ent will be letting everyone know where the arrangments will be held so just keep the family in prayer and in spirit. If anyone would like to make monetary donations to Mr Wilson or send flowers of condolences or anything please call this number 443-803-3885 and ask for CHRIS. Once again, if you want to make MONETARY DONATIONS AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND CARDS AND OR FLOWERS OF CONDOLENCES PLEASE CALL 443-803-3885. Mr. Wilson was more then just a person in this community but he helped out alot within the community and paved the way for alot of you young emcess trying to get up in the game.. So I know 4sure if some of you cats cant at least send a card or something for a real legend man dont even bother to holler at me.. If you just want to talk and let at your feelings about him you know how to reach me..

Love is Love and always remember him!

Sonny Brown

Labels: Annexx Click, announcements, Backland, JI-900, Little Clayway, mp3, Mr. Wilson, Mullyman, Sonny Brown

This week, the results of the 2007 Idolator Pop Critics Poll were published, and as a regular contributor to Idolator, I voted in the poll (see my ballot here) and put together an 80-minute mix CD for the accompanying 2007 In The Mix package. I wasn't sure what to write about for my mix, and had a few different ideas, but I'm glad I went with Baltimore music, since I'm sure anything else would've had a lot in common with some of the mixes the 30-something other writers made. My tracklist and essay about the mix are here, but I'm gonna go ahead and post mp3's of the whole thing here (since I've already posted most of these songs, or other songs by the same artists, on my blogs in the past year anyway):

1. The New Flesh, "Squeeze"(mp3) (from Vessel, Heartbreakbeat)
2. Avec, "In Character"(mp3) (from Lines, Civil Defense League/Doghouse)
3. Wye Oak, "Obituary"(mp3) (from If Children, Morphius)
4. Thrushes, "Ghost Train"(mp3) (from Sun Comes Undone, Birdnote)
5. Mario, "Skippin'"(mp3) (from Go, J)
6. Ckrisis, "Down For Whatever"(mp3) (from Muscle Up Vol. 2, Bird City Entertainment)
7. Bossman, "So Fresh"(mp3) (from End of Discussion, One Up)
8. Ogun ft. Che'Ray, Comp, Backland, Little Clayway, Skarr Akbar &
Bossman, "Just Us"(mp3) (from Bmore Hero, Real On Purpose)
9. Young Dip, "D.T.T.W.C."(mp3) (from You See Me?, IMP)
10. Jade Fox ft. Eva Castillo, "Got 'Em Like"(mp3) (from Ashes of Another Life, self-released)
11. Ace ft. Billo, "Slow Ya Speed"(mp3) (from The Product, For the People Entertainment)
12. Silouette, "Chicken Box"(mp3) (from The Best of B-Ill: Chapter 1, Banga Bill Enterprises)
13. Tyree Colion, "Projects"(mp3) (from Hamsterdam Vol. 2: Stash 2 Da Strip, Darkroom Inc.)
14. Heavy Gold, "Charm City"(mp3) (from Tha Testa, Stay Gettin' Entertainment)
15. Height ft. Bow N' Arrow, "Smash Your Eyes"(mp3) (from Winterize the Game, Grand Man)
16. DJ Blaqstarr, "Crazy Leg Wit It"(mp3) (from The King of Roq, JB Starr Productions)
17. Rod Lee, "Enjoy Yourself"(mp3) (from The Producer, Unruly)
18. KW Griff, "Taking Over"(mp3) (from K-Swift the Club Queen Jumpoff Vol. 11, Doo Dew Kidz)
19. Say Wut, "Futuristic"(mp3) (from Beats Extraordinaire EP, Unruly)
20. Dan Deacon, "Jimmy Joe Roche"(mp3) (from Spiderman of the Rings, Carpark)
21. Cex, "Oregon Ridge"(mp3) (from Sketchi, Temporary Residence)

I kind of grouped the mix into genre sections, from indie rock (tracks 1-4) to R&B (track 5) to hip hop (tracks 6-15) to Baltimore club (tracks 16-19) to IDM or whatever it should be called (tracks 20-21). Track 3 is by a band who was called Monarch when I made the mix, but in the month since then they've changed their name to Wye Oak and signed to Merge Records, which is reissuing their great album in April. My full list of top Baltimore albums of 2007 is over at Noise.

Labels: Backland, Baltimore club, Billo, Blaq Starr, Bossman, Comp, For The People Entertainment, Heavy Gold, Jade Fox, KW Griff, mp3, Ogun, Rod Lee, Skarr Akbar, Tyree Colion

Labels: 5 Seasons, B.O.M.B., Backland, Banga Bill, Bossman, Comp, DJ Booman, flyer, Huli Shallone, Jade Fox, Kartel, Los, Mullyman, NOE, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Team Fifty, Tha Profitt, Tim Trees

You voted, and last night was the ceremony. And I lost, mufuckas! Nah, Strictly Hip Hop definitely deserved their award, congrats. I'm pretty happy with the results, half the people I voted for won and most of the other categories I pretty much agreed with the decision, too. Here's the full list of winners (I'm doing this from memory, but I think I got all of them right, although I'm not 100% sure I got Rookie Of The Year right), and I should have more complete coverage up on Noise sometime this week:

BEST EMCEE MALE - BACKLAND

BEST EMCEE FEMALE - MS STRESS

BEST GROUP - 1ST FAMILY

BEST RNB MALE - MYKEE

BEST RNB FEMALE - TYREIKA

BEST MIXTAPE - OGUN-BMORE HERO

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - CADDY THE DON

BEST MIXTAPE DJ - DJ JABRIL

BEST LIVE SHOW - COMP

BEST BEATMAN - JFUNK

SPIT FIRE AWARD - VERB

NEXT 2 BLOW AWARD - SKARR AKBAR

BEST MEDIA AWARD - STRICTLY HIPHOP 88.9

HIPHOP 101 AWARD - SQUIRRAL WYDE

Labels: Backland, Comp, Dirty Hartz, Hip Hop 101, Ms. Stress, Ogun, Skarr Akbar

So the folks at Hip Hop 101 decided to start this thing called the Blammy Awards for the Baltimore hip hop community, and they're letting the public decides who should win. I wish them all the best in getting a great turnout, I have pretty mixed feelings about the polls I've tried to do on this site in the past and haven't really decided if I want to do one at all this year. But the nominees and all the information on voting and deadlines from Sonny Brown are listed below. I bolded the names of the people I'm voting for, just to let you know what I think and who I endorse if you're having trouble deciding (don't be mad at me for any of my opinions, I'm just being honest!), but obviously I'm biased about the "best media award," where Government Names is a nominee. Email your ballots to CASTITNOW@gmail.com

DECEMBER 3rd HIPHOP 101 BLAMMY AWARDS

THESE ARE THE NOMINEES.. VOTE ONE TIME FOR EACH CATAGORY. THE POLLS WILL BE THRU EMAIL, ACTUAL POLLS THAT ARE BEING WORKED ON NOW THAT WILL BE PLACED ON MY PAGE AS WELL AS SHAKA PITTS PAGE. I WILL ALSO HAVE SOMETHING SET UP AT HIPHOP 101 EVERY WEEK . VOTING DEADLINE ENDS NOVEMBER 30TH.. THE BLAMMY NOMINATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

BEST EMCEE MALE
SKARR AKBAR
CADDY THE DON
BACKLAND
OGUN
VISION

BEST EMCEE FEMALE
MS STRESS
NIK STYLES
CREAM
TUFFLON DONNA
SYMANTEX

BEST GROUP
G.E.M.
1ST FAMILY
RAW DOC
KARTEL
DIRT PLATOON
TRIUMPHANT MUSIC GROUP

BEST RNB MALE
CHE RAY
MYKEE
BRANDON

BEST RNB FEMALE
TYREIKA
KIA CALLAWAY
KIESHA STARR
LYNEE MICHELLE

BEST MIXTAPE
BACKLAND-THIS IS ME
OGUN-BMORE HERO
CADDY DA DON- 2.5
VISION- DONT GET IT MIXED UP
UNREAL - THE FUCK ELSE YOU WANT FOR FREE
COMP-THE MAN WITH THE HAND

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
JBROWN
CADDY THE DON
KG
TY-GUDDA
YOUNG SAC
ONLY
TRIGGA

BEST MIXTAPE DJ
DJ BOOMAN
DJ JABRIL
DJ BIG REL
DNA
DJ ME'AZE MILLIONI

BEST LIVE SHOW
COMP
KG
CADDY THE DON
OGUN
DIRT PLATOON

BEST BEATMAN
AKIRA
D-BANKS
JFUNK
SPEILBERG
EWATTS
GMAJOR
REINA WILLIAMS
KANG KONG

SPIT FIRE AWARD
SAVAGE
TRIGGA
VERB
MANIAC DRE
MS STRESS

NEXT 2 BLOW AWARD
MULLYMAN
BOSSMAN
TIM TREES
HULI SHALLONE
D.O.G.
B.O.M.B
SKARR AKBAR

BEST MEDIA AWARD
STRICTLY HIPHOP 88.9
MUSIC MONTHLY
GOVERNMENT NAMES
REALTALK WITH SPITTS MCMAN
BMOREVIBE
DEEPFLOW TV/RADIO
STREETZ MAGAZINE
BMOREHH.COM / J5
MALDOTCOM

HIPHOP 101 AWARD-SQUIRRAL WYDE

Labels: B.O.M.B., Backland, Bosslady, Bossman, Comp, D.O.G., DJ Booman, DNA, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Hip Hop 101, Huli Shallone, Kartel, Ms. Stress, Mullyman, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Sonny Brown, Tim Trees, UnReal

Stackz - No 2Morrow (Rebel Royale Ent.)

Stackz sent me this mixtape a few months ago, he's a rapper who crews with B.O.M.B. and Backland, who appears on here. I kinda slept on it for a while and hadn't gotten around to posting about it, when one of my favorite songs "Kick It Ova Here" appeared on the DJ D-Mob mixtape and kinda reminded me that it's pretty dope. Stackz reads Gov't Names and is really one of the only artists who's given me some real constructive criticism on the site, asking me how I select songs and telling me that sometimes he feels like my taste is wack, which I really respect, to be honest. Not too many people keep it real with me like that, and I do understand where he's coming from, since he's a really lyrical artist and a lot of the stuff I post here and rave about is more about a great beat or concept than about the rapper being really solid. You can download this whole mixtape off DatPiff.com, and I reccomend it.

Stackz - "No 2morrow" (mp3)
The title track and the last song on the disc, really ties it together and makes it feel like an album, rather than just a mixtape.

Labels: Backland, mixtape/album review, mp3

Labels: Backland

Backland - This Is Me (Block Boy Music)

Backland has been one of the best rappers in Baltimore since the 90's and has maintained that position even though a car accident took him out of the game for a couple years there. But this is his second CD after his comeback, just a year after Back In Business, and he's still better than most of the other MC's out here. Backland was working the door at 5 Seasons last time I was there and handed me a copy of this as I was leaving, thanks to him for that. You can download the whole mixtape for free on the mixtape site Datpiff.com, and I love seeing Bmore artists on that site, that's a tool that a lot more people could be taking advantage of. There's guest appearances from Stackz, B.O.M.B., D. Davis, Mr. Wilson from JI-900 and others. A whole lot of Backland's appearances on 106 & Park's Freestyle Fridays used to be on YouTube, but Viacom are a real bitch about shutting down any videos of their shows and took most of them down. Someone uploaded this one pretty recently, though, peep it before they catch it.

Backland f/ Huli Shallone - "Off My Block" (mp3)
This sounds more like a Huli Shallone song than a Backland song, production-wise, but Backland kills his verse. I haven't heard much from Huli lately, does he have anything new out? There was a rumor going around a few months ago that Huli had signed to Universal Records, but his official MySpace page (there were a lot of other pages by people impersonating him before he finally got on MySpace himself) still lists his label as "unsigned."

Labels: B.O.M.B., Backland, Huli Shallone, mixtape/album review, mp3

B-Ill - The Best Of B-Ill: Chapter 1 (Banga Bill Enterprises)

Banga Bill is a producer who's down with Star Status and Street Official Records and a lot of other labels, and if you listen to Baltimore hip hop at all you've heard some of his work over the years. I reviewed this mixtape for the City Paper recently, and it's a double CD that features his work with a ton of great Baltimore artists (Mullyman, Barnes, JI-900, Tha Annexx Click, Backland, Los, Blesst, Sonny Brown) as well as some pretty major out-of town MC's (Freeway, Joe Budden, Snoop Dogg, The Clipse, Jae Hood, Drag-On, Ghostface Killah, Memphis Bleek). Don't be confused by the cover art, though, none of the Baltimore rap featured on The Wire is on these CD's. But check out Bill's MySpace page where you can buy a lot of these tracks via Snocap.com. Since it's a double CD, I'll post a track from each CD:

Silohette - "Chicken Box" (mp3)
The chicken box is such a Baltimore thing, when I heard this for the first time a year ago I thought it was so brilliant that someone here made a song out of the concept. This track should've been a huge hit, in my opinion. Is her name spelled Silohette or Silowette, though? I've seen it both ways.

Los - "Ain't Shook At All" (mp3)
This is a pretty short track but it's hot, and it's always good to hear something from Los, he needs to put out a solo mixtape or something already.

Labels: Annexx Click, Backland, Baltimore City Paper, Banga Bill, Barnes, Los, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Sonny Brown, The Boy Blesst