Labels: Bear, Billo, flyer, For The People Entertainment

Billo's new mixtape Falling Off Into 1st is coming soon, and here's a video for "Don't Ask Me" featuring Bear (who's going by Don Cornelius now, but that's a terrible idea, I can't call him that).

Labels: Banga Bill, Bear, video

This week the Baltimore City Paper ran its annual Top Ten Issue. And in The Year in Local Music, I wrote the blurbs for the #1 album, the Get 'Em Mamis, and the #7 album, Cutthroat and Bear, and also voted for placing albums by Wordsmith and Chubb Rock and Wye Oak, and enjoyed a lot of the other albums on the list. I also voted in The Year in Music list, but I didn't blurb anything and the only album on my ballot that got in the top 10 was DJ Quik & Kurupt.

(photo by Josh Sisk)

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Bear, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, G.E.M./Tha Plague, lists, Wordsmith

Cutthroat and Bear - Silent Flutes (For The People Entertainment)

Almost two years ago, I posted "Splurge," a track by two artists from the For The People Entertainment label, from a duo album they were working on together called Silent Flutes. And when I wrote an article about FTP they talked about the album more and sounded really excited about it. So I'm really happy to say that the album is finally here, and it's probably the pinnacle of what these two MCs, and maybe the whole crew, have been working toward the past few years. Beat and Cutthroat are both kind of humble, low key rappers, but together they really have a rapport and make dope songs together, and FTP's producers, mainly Nacktronics but also D.J. Auz and Sketch, really create a whole unique sound that covers so much ground from track to track. It's very much an underground album and isn't flashy or virtuosic, but somehow all these songs hang together really well ("Splurge" is on here but has since been retitled "Tony Montana"). They're looking to get the album available on iTunes this summer, and FTP will be having an event at Fletcher's on Friday, June 26th and Silent Flutes will be available there.

Cutthroat and Bear - "Brilliant" (mp3)
This probably gives me the strongest Wu Tang vibes of the whole album.

Labels: Bear, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, mixtape/album review, mp3

Y'know, it's funny. I've been running this site for over 4 years now, and hearing more and more Baltimore rap every year that I do it, and yet every year I feel less and less qualified to let my opinion be the end-all-be-all that some people treat it as. There's simply too much music, too much variety coming out of this scene for any one person to really fairly judge, but if I'm gonna be the only person that attempts to hear all or most of it, I might as well throw in my two cents, even as I encourage any and all other critics and bloggers to cover this stuff from a different perspective. So I make no claims to objective truth with this list; this is totally my taste, my opinion. I tried to do a poll a couple years ago, but that didn't really pan out and I'm kind of soured on the idea now, but if anyone wants to post their top 10, top 5, whatever in the comments, or e-mail them to me, I'd love to post those if I get enough of a response.

The last two years I did top 50 lists, but this year I decided to scale down to 20, even though I heard more stuff, just because I really wanted to emphasize the cream of the crop, and also because a lot of cats put out boring garbage this year. That's not to insult everyone that isn't on this list, because there were definitely some good releases that didn't quite make the cut, and also some great singles and tracks that didn't really fit into the list anywhere, but I felt the need to be more selective this time. Government Names will return to daily posting sometime in January, probably not for another week or two.



1. 410 Pharaohs - 410 Funk (Strictly Rhythm/Ill Friction)
This list is not really about club music, but the Labtekwon/DJ Booman/Jimmy Jones club/rap masterpiece really deserves to be at the top of this list, as well as the City Paper top 10, anyway, because it is a historic moment for Baltimore hip hop in general.
410 Pharaohs - “Big Girls” (mp3)



2. Brown F.I.S.H. - Bootleg III: F.I.S.H. & Friends... The Mixtape
This isn't really an album or a mixtape, just an odds & sods collection of remixes and collaborations that the F.I.S.H. recorded in the past few years, but it's so full of great music that it's the equal of any album, in my opinion.
Brown F.I.S.H. f/ Jeneba Suma & Jahli of Golden Seal - “Cheatin' (It Ain't Cheatin' Unless U Caught)” (mp3)



3. various artists - Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks from The Wire (Nonesuch Records)
There's a couple club tracks on this, and a couple non-hip hop tracks, but this is still more than half local hip hop, and considering how much mileage Baltimore rappers have gotten from associating themselves with The Wire over the past few years, I thought it was pretty amazing that an official soundtrack of the show came out with songs by Ogun, Bossman, Mullyman, Tyree Colion and others. It was really one of the highlights of my year that I got thanked in the liner notes for this album, and had even a small role in it coming together.
The Get ‘em Mamis feat. L. Cash - “When You See Us” (mp3)



4. The Pornstars - Dirty Work (Pornstar Productions/Bird City Entertainment)
A couple MC/producers that are nicer on the tracks than on the mic, but got enough personality and humor that you aren’t sitting around wishing they just sold the beats to someone else. These dudes could be, like, Baltimore’s answer to the Beatnuts. I can bump this album all fucking day, front to back.
The Pornstars f/ Ckrisis & Mell - “Bird City” (mp3)



5. Bear - All We Got Is Us 2008 edition (For The People Entertainment)
For The People Entertainment has really been a unique and fertile label in the past couple years, and in my opinion this is their most complete and enjoyable release to date, although this year's Cutthroat album comes in a close 2nd.
Bear - “Live Through Time” (mp3)



6. E Major - Majority Rules (Under Sound Music)
Another one that I helped get into the City Paper top 10, so I won't say much more about than I already said there, but I feel like he really did everything right with this project, from the great release party show to the videos to making the whole thing available for free online, he really was smart about how he worked this project and got his buzz up.
E Major - “Don’t Worry” (mp3)



7. PenDragon - I Got Hits 4 Cheap: Draggy Baby Edition (Team Arson)
It's funny, Drag is one of these guys that gets on my nerves for calling himself the "king" of the city and this and that, but he also gets my respect for totally watching everyone's moves and sizing up the competition (he's always sending me links to other people's videos and music before know about them). And really between his production skills, and the heart and intelligence and humor that come across in his music, he has as much of a chance at making a run at the title as anyone these days, in my opinion. Not that I think there is a title, or that there should be.
PenDragon - “How Does It Feel” (mp3)



8. Ab Rock - The Mid Midlife Crisis (Rockmics Entertainment)
Maybe it's just because they did the release party together, and guested on each other's albums, but I really mentally group this along with the E Major record, and they're both really good examples of mature 'conscious' rap albums that are actually fun and laid back.
Ab Rock - “The Incredible” (mp3)



9. Tha Profitt - Concept Art (Profitt Productions)
Bmore's #1 white boy really went in on this one, coming up with creative concepts for every song and showing improvement as an MC.
Tha Profitt - “Fast & Furious” (mp3)



10. 80'z Boys - The 80'z Made Me
Most of the time when rappers boast about being born in the ‘80s, I feel almost like they’re making excuses for their music being inferior to the generations before them. But these guys pretty much just make dope music that doesn’t feel too tied to any particular age or era. I got this early in the year and I’m pretty sure it was released before 2008, but it’s still by far one of the best things I heard in Baltimore this year.
80’z Boys - “The 80'z Made Me” (mp3)



11. Skarr Akbar - The Epidemic (DNA/Akbar Enterprize/U-Turn Ent./Round Table Music Group)
Another year, another ton of new music from Skarr, but even as he was churning out radio singles and collaborations, he put out a 'street album' that ranked up there as one of his most consistent efforts to date.
Skarr Akbar - “If I Should Die” (mp3)



12. Profound - Carpe Diem (Real On Purpose Entertainment)
After years of dwelling in Ogun's shadow, Profound came out swinging this year and established himself as one of Baltimore's punchline masters.
Profound - “What You Gonna Do!?” (mp3)



13. Greenspan - Got Green? (Federal Reserve Music Group)
I knew this guy was a serious talent from the first couple times I saw him live, and I was not disappointed by his debut full-length release.
Greenspan - “Mt. Rockmore” (mp3)



14. D.O.G. - G Pack Music (7 Entertainment/Invisible Set Entertainment)
On the same tip as the 410 Pharaohs record, a really inspired union of rapping and Baltimore club, stretched out to album length. If he put this out right after "Ryda Gyrl" it could've been huge.
D.O.G. - “Louder” (mp3)



15. Soul Cannon - Kaboom (Soul Cannon/Morphius Records)
Soul Cannon might be kinda slept on in the hip hop scene, just because they're a band and mainly play rock clubs, but they really made one of the best conscious rap albums in the city this year.
Soul Cannon - “Get Serious” (mp3)



16. various artists - The Mania Music Group Sampler (Mania Music Group)
Mania Music Group put out a pretty ridiculous amount of free music this year, including solo EPs by each of its 3 solo artsts, and while they were all pretty good, this first sampler mixtape still really stands out to me as the best demonstration of the label's range and diversity of sounds.
Ron G. - “What Ya See” (mp3)



17. Wordsmith - The Revolution Begins With a Takeover Vol.1 (DJ Furious Styles/HipHopDX.com)
Wordsmith is another guy that's been so prolific this year that it's been really hard for me to keep up with his output so far, but this mixtape was the first time I really started to get a handle on how talented he is.
Wordsmith f/ Kontact - “Hard To Forget” (mp3)



18. B.O.M.B. - Testers EP (Money In Da Bank Entertainment)
B.O.M.B. had one of the best ideas this year: make a release as long as possible (9 songs) while still being able to call it an EP, so that he could sell basically an album-length release at half price. And really, there's something to be said for making a short release where every song counts, instead of just filling the CD to its maximum running time just because you can.
B.O.M.B. - “Over Here” (mp3)



19. EJ - The Westside Hustle (Carnigie Records/DJ Radio)
I'd been waiting to hear a mixtape from EJ since I first heard him like 3 years ago, and while I thought it could've been better overall, this still had some jams on it.
EJ - “Bitch Niggaz Pt. 1” (mp3)



20. Caddy Da Don - Fixed Fight 2.5: Exclusive Edition (Harup Entertainment)
Caddy definitely gets props for being one of the most notable newcomers of the past year or two.
Caddy Da Don - “What’s Funny” (mp3)

Labels: Ab Rock, B.O.M.B., Baltimore club, Bear, Brown F.I.S.H., D.O.G., DJ Booman, E Major, Labtekwon, lists, Mania Music Group, mp3, PenDragon, Skarr Akbar, The Wire

Bear - All We Got Is Us 2008 edition (For The People Entertainment)

Last year, I wrote about the original version of Bear's All We Got Is Us album, and was told at the time that it would be re-released later on. So when I finally got the re-release recently, I kinda put it to the side thinking it was more or less the same CD with some minor changes. And after I saw Bear open for Beatnuts at the Ottobar, I decided to listen to this and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not only almost a completely different album, but also a far superior one. It keeps three songs from the original, as well as a few of the archival freestyles by Bear's late friend Young Jit, but everything else is new, and this really might be my favorite album from For The People Entertainment to date. The label's production team is just getting stronger and stronger and Bear's got this kind of thoughtful, low key personality that comes across really well here with the right songs, the right concepts, the right beats. EJ guests on the track "We Bosses," although he's not credited in the liner notes.

Bear - "Don Cornelius Shit" (mp3)
The fact that his 2 nicknames are "Don Cornelius" and "Bear" kinda makes me wonder if he's a fan of Achewood.

Labels: Bear, EJ, For The People Entertainment, mixtape/album review, mp3

My posts on the Baltimore City Paper's Noise blog over the past month or so have included a new Club Beat column with Jimmy Jones, write-ups of the Baltimore Music Conference and the the Making The Right Moves Entertainment Conference (both of which were big disappointments), and live reviews of the following concerts: The Beatnuts/Profitt Productions/Bear and Cutthroat (pictured above)/Bash Brotherz/Resn and Finesse @ The Ottobar, Graffix/B-Amazing @ the Black Hole Rock Club, Ruthe Charles/Johnny 3 Legs/Chazter @ Fletcher's, Turtle Neck Store/The Extraordinaires/The Art Department/The Microwave Background @ The Ottobar, Kix @ Ram's Head Live, Squeeze @ the 9:30 Club, Faraquet/Statehood @ the Black Cat, and the Pretenders/Hold Steady @ Sonar. It's been a pretty great month for shows.

(photo by Al Shipley)

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Bear, Black Hole Rock Club, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, Noise, Ottobar, Sonar, Tha Profitt

Labels: Bear, Billo, flyer, For The People Entertainment

Yuk & C.U.T. - 3 Da Hardwae: Squadre Radio (For The People Entertainment)

Last month, I wrote a feature in the City Paper about For The People Entertainment, and posted a bunch of tracks from the label's roster. Two of the artists out of the crew that I hadn't heard that much when I did the article were Yuk & C.U.T., who are a duo and kind of a group within a group, since Squadre Committee is comprised of all the For The People MC's. And after I did the interview with everybody I heard from Yuk later and he hooked me up with some of the material he's working on for an upcoming solo project that sounds good, and this mixtape. Most of the tracks on here feature Yuk and/or C.U.T. (not to be confused with Cutthroat, another FTP artist), but almost everyone else from the label makes an appearance, Billo and Bear and Ace and Lil Shank. And it might be my favorite FTP release I've heard to date, or close to it, mostly because it does display the most of their sounds and abilities. C.U.T. is performing this Thursday, January 31st and also March 1st at Suite's Indie Night, down in the Belvedere Hotel. On this mixtape Yuk & C.U.T. shout out an album they have coming soon called Dedicated.

Yuk & C.U.T. - "Whut They Talkin' Bout" (mp3)
The two of them only rap on about 6 tracks on this mixtape together, and this is my favorite of those.

Labels: Bear, Billo, For The People Entertainment, mixtape/album review, mp3

I've written about the Baltimore label For The People Entertainment on Gov't Names many times before, and this week in the City Paper I wrote a feature about the whole crew and all the artists on the label. They're a really cool, interesting bunch of dudes who are doing something completely different from anyone else in the city. Every MC talks about hitting it big and putting money back into their community, but these cats are actually running after school programs and teaching yoga to kids and trying to keep them out of gangs right now, and putting money from music back into these things (and yes, if you're wondering, the headline "Yoga Flame" is an homage to Tynan Delong). I got a release for Yuk & Cut recently that I should post about soon, but I've got 5-6 hours of music from the label's whole roster on my computer that I've been listening to the past couple weeks while working on the article and everything, and they got some jams, so here's some of my favorites:

Squadre Committee - "Seen So Many Come, Seen So Many Go" (mp3)

Bear - "Hip Hop" (mp3)

Lil Shank - "Who Dat Iz" (mp3)

Ace - "Juice" (mp3)

Cutthroat - "All New All Fresh" (mp3)

Billo - "Livin' Ur Life" (mp3)

(photo by Rarah)

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Bear, Billo, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, magazines/newspapers, mp3

Labels: Bear, Billo, Cutthroat, flyer, For The People Entertainment

Bear and Cutthroat - "Splurge" (mp3)
For The People Ent. is a label that's always sending me music, and I always listen. The latest thing I've heard from them is a preview of a whole album of collaborations that two of their artists, Bear and Cutthroat, are doing together called Silent Flutes. They're also going to be performing material from the album at FTP's show at Sonar next Saturday, the 28th. This is by far my favorite of the tracks I've heard, really cool subtle production by Nacktronics. You've gotta keep listening because the beat keeps changing, there's enough ideas in there for 3 different songs, some real different, creative shit.

Labels: Bear, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, mp3

this week the saga continues with...

Styker

Bear

&

Ant tha God (coming down from Jersey)

http://www.myspace.com/slickleviathan
http://www.myspace.com/miclife247
http://www.myspace.com/miclifemagazine
http://www.myspace.com/miclifenow
http://www.myspace.com/torchlightentertainment
http://www.myspace.com/torchlight_family
http://www.myspace.com/brownmonkeymusic2

Labels: Bear, flyer, For The People Entertainment, Mic Life Magazine

Bear - All We Got Is Us (For The People Entertainment)

Bear is yet another MC from For The People Entertainment, whose artists Billo and Cutthroat I've written about in the past (and both of whom make guest appearances on this album). Apparently this was originally released last year, but because Bear plays or played college ball and had a busy schedule, the CD didn't really get promoted at the time, so FTP is re-releasing it in '07 before Bear drops his 2nd album. I think Ace from FTP has a new release coming out, too. This album is dedicated to a rapper named Young Jit who died in 2004, and a few Young Jit freestyles are featured throughout the CD. No production credits, but it definitely feels consistent with the sound on the other releases I've heard from the label, with these nice low key, synth-driven beats. The track "Hip Hop," which is one of my favorites, can be heard on the FTP MySpace page.

Bear - "Rainy Nights" (mp3)
This is one of my favorite tracks, good vibe on here.

Labels: Bear, Billo, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, mixtape/album review, mp3

For The People Entertainment is a Baltimore-based label that I've been in contact since I wrote about their artist Billo's mixtape a few months ago. Besides Billo, the artists on FTP's roster include Ace, Bear, Cutthroat, Lil' Shank and Yuk & Cut, and I believe all of the above are also members of the group The Squadre Committee. A while back they sent me a big package with a binder of information about the label, a DVD trailer, and a CD sampler from each of the artists. It seems like no two artists on the label sounds the same or even really makes the same kind of hip hop, which is kind of refreshing, you don't see that too often. They've got a few releases coming up soon from Billo and Cutthroat, but in the meantime, here's a few of my favorite tracks from those samplers:

Squadre Committee - "What's Good In The Hood" (mp3)
The Squadre CD is the only sampler that has 7 full tracks, and this is my favorite out of that batch, nice cinematic string loop.

Billo - "Where Da Block At" Remix (mp3)
When I posted about Billo's Daily Grind Volume One, I posted the original version of "Where Da Block At," but the remix is a whole new track, different beat and everything.

Cutthroat - "Exquisite" (mp3)
Cutthroat seems to be on more of a conscious tip, this track has a great beat and some deep lyrics, I'm looking forward to hearing more of his stuff.

Yuk & Cut - "Pimp Eazy" (mp3)
Now this beat is just hot. The way they scratch up that Juelz Santana sample is nice, too.

Labels: Bear, Billo, Cutthroat, For The People Entertainment, mp3