This week the Baltimore City Paper publishes its annual Big Music Issue, and my story in it, Knights of the Round Robin, is about the 5th annual All Rap Round Robin that will be taking place on August 19th at Floristree. I attended the show the last two years and am really excited about the additions to this year's lineup, could be their best yet. For the story I spoke to Height, OOH, Jones, Mickey Free, The Plural MC, King Rhythm and members of Soul Cannon, Mania Music Group, Disturbed Individuals and AK Slaughter (and the concert will also feature PT Burnem, Rapdragons and Secret Weapon Dave).

(photo by Frank Hamilton)

Labels: AK Slaughter, Baltimore City Paper, Brown F.I.S.H., Height, Kane, magazines/newspapers, Mania Music Group, Mickey Free, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons, Soul Cannon

I wrote a post on the City Paper's Noise blog about the exciting lineup that was just announced for the 5th Annual All Rap Round Robin happening in Baltimore in August.

Labels: AK Slaughter, Brown F.I.S.H., flyer, Height, Mania Music Group, Mickey Free, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons, Soul Cannon

It's been an annual tradition that at every December, I do a post here listing my favorite Baltimore hip hop albums and mixtapes of the year. But I never got around to it before the end of 2010, and here we are at the end of January and I feel bad about slacking and just want to get it out there, better late than never. I'll be posting each entry one at a time, and you can follow me on Twitter for updates when I add a new one:



1. Dirt Platoon - Deeper Than Dirt (Brake Fast Records)
So many underground rappers, especially in Baltimore, talk a good game about real hip hop, keeping it grimy, bringing the ‘90s back, all that shit, but when you really listen to their music they’re as eager to keep up with trends or be on some pop shit as anybody they’re complaining about. So that’s why it’s so refreshing to hear Dirt Platoon just not fuck around at all and make some nasty gritty old fashioned hip hop, but still have enough production values, attention to detail and content in their lyrics that it all holds together as a real dope album.
purchase Deeper Than Dirt on Band Camp
Dirt Platoon - "D.P. Shit" (mp3)



2. Los - Shooter (After Platinum/DJ Ill Will/DJ Rockstar)
As a pure MC Los is one of the rare people in Baltimore who I can sincerely say has inspired awe in me at times, just how fast his mind works and how the words pour out of him. I don’t love every creative decision he makes on this, really his first album-style project of all original production, but it’s a consistently engaging listen and probably the only record on this list I’ve seen on any year-end lists outside of Baltimore, even XXL’s, so I’m really happy that dude is kind of becoming a breakout star around here.
download Shooter on DatPiff
Los - "Freedom Of Speech" (mp3)



3. Rome Cee - Tunnel Vision (FreEP)
This may be billed as a “FreEP,” but at just under 40 minutes with barely a second wasted, it’s closer to what rap albums used to be like and probably should still aspire to. Rome Cee was easily the best new Baltimore MC (or new to me, anyway) to grab my attention in 2010 with such a concise, no-nonsense record.
download Tunnel Vision on Band Camp
Rome Cee f/ Kneel Knaris - "Rock My Style (mp3)



4. Backland - Block Work: None Better (DJ Jabril/Block Boy Music)
Backland’s been on the scene forever, and has always been one of the most talented rappers in Baltimore, but his projects have been fewer and further between since an accident and resulting health problems put him on the sidelines for a while. So every new mixtape is an event, especially this one, which he kept trickling out dope songs from throughout 2010 before finally dropping the whole thing on us.
download Block Work: None Better on AllBmoreHipHop.com
Backland - "Goin' In" (mp3)



5. Mickey Free - Last Of The Tight Wiggers
Sometimes white rappers give me some bullshit about how I'm biased against them, but really I just wish more of them were as dope as Mickey Free or were able to navigate their way through hip hop with the same kind of wit and creativity, letting race factor into his identity but not dictate it, playing with white rapper archetypes while transcending them. Last Of The Tight Wiggers is a fun, funny record with some great rapping and the kind of goofy-ass skits people don't make anymore.
purchase Last Of The Tight Wiggers on Band Camp
Mickey Free - "The Unnies" (mp3)



6. Mania Music Group - Welcome To The Audience (Mania Music Group)
I'm a big fan of Mania and have always enjoyed their plethora of free online releases, although no single one of them completely lived up to the crew's overall potential. And that extended to their first official retail album, but they got close enough with a nice collection of jams where all 4 of the group's MCs got a good solo showcase or a standout verse on a posse cut.
purchase Welcome To The Audience on Band Camp
Mania Music Group f/ Dappa!!! Dan Midas - "U Might Think" (mp3)



7. Mullyman - Harder Than Baltimore (Major League Unlimited)
Mully's second album was a total improvement over 2005's Mullymania and really found him tightening his circle up to 2 great producers that both cover a lot of territory, DJ Booman and MBAHlievable, and just focusing on collecting the best of his various singles and leaks over the past year or two plus some dope new songs.
download Harder Than Baltimore on DatPiff
Mullyman - "MULLY!" (mp3)



8. Greenspan - Got Green 2 (Federal Reserve/IllVibes-DMV.com/DJBooth.net)
Greenspan is one of the few rappers in Baltimore that seems to make every move carefully and thoughtfully, his rhymes are always well written, his tracks are always crisp, his live show is always entertaining, just an all-around solid artist.
download Got Green 2 on DJBooth.net
Greenspan - "Never Done" (mp3)



9. Skarr Akbar - The Pursuit Of Happyness (Akbar Enterprize)
Skarr Akbar is one of those artists that keeps dropping new mixtapes year in, year out, and always makes this list, usually somewhere lower, because honestly although he's a huge talent and every record has some dope songs, a lot of times they end up feeling like just another mixtape. But The Pursuit Of Happyness and to a lesser extent its sequel really broke that pattern and felt like cohesive album statements.
download The Pursuit Of Happyness on AllBmoreHipHop.com
Skarr Akbar - “Unbreakable” (mp3)



10. Rapdragons - Featuring Baltimore (Ltd Comp)
I'm really kind of jealous of Rapdragons that they got the brilliant idea to build an entire rap album out of samples from Baltimore rock and indie bands and that they executed it so well.
download Featuring Baltimore on Ltd Comp
Rapdragons - “Come Harvest” (mp3)



11. The Boy Blesst - Show-N-Prove (Reign Music)
I was a huge fan of Blesst's 2009 album Charmicidal, and while this one doesn't have as many memorable songs to keep me coming back, it's still another solid record from one of Baltimore's most underrated rappers, who just has a completely unique voice, an interesting lyrical perspective and a great ear for beats.
download Show-N-Prove on AllBmoreHipHop.com
The Boy Blesst f/ Barnes - “Homeboy” (mp3)



12. Al Great - The Take
After a few freestyle-heavy mixtapes that didn't particularly grab me, Al Great came hard with a couple of records full of original production in 2010, The Heist and a few months later this great follow-up, The Take.
download The Take on DatPiff
Al Great f/ Jet Noise Cardi - “Blinders” (mp3)



13. Si-Notes - Cash On Delivery (Gritty Gang/ARS Productions)
There were other female MCs from Baltimore that made a lot more noise in 2010, but Si-Notes made a mixtape I can really bump front to back last year and they didn't, so I'm still pretty happy with having given her the Best of Baltimore award.
download Cash On Delivery on AllBmoreHipHop.com.
Si-Notes f/ Hunnit Proof - “C’mon Baby” (mp3)



14. Rickie Jacobs - Air Jacobs (BuckMarleyXXX.com/The Good Life Reviews)
After a couple years of enjoying the tracks I'd heard from Rickie Jacobs here and there, it was cool to finally hear a full-length project from him. His voice and his presence on the mic are still a little lacking, in my opinion, but I like where his head's at and what he's trying to say with his music.
download Air Jacobs on Tha Good Life
Rickie Jacobs - “The End” (mp3)



15. Spita - The Fire
This is one of those kinds of odd records that isn't on anybody else's radar that ended up in my e-mail inbox that I really dug, exists very far outside current trends while still being kind of contemporary and radio-friendly, unique voice and some great production.
purchase The Fire on iTunes
Spita - “Spita” (mp3)



16. Bossman - The Re-Up (1Up Entertainment)
Almost immediately after this album was released, Bossman began a campaign of desperate publicity stunts like "Fuck Radio" song and the one-sided Wale 'beef' that, to be honest, were just bizarre and sad to me, and really made me wonder if the dude has just lost his way completely and isn't worth paying any attention to anymore. But the best part of his uneven 2nd official album at least affirmed that he's still got some of that spark that made the Law & Order album so great way back in 2004.
purchase The Re-UP on Amazon MP3
Bossman - “Pain” (mp3)



17. NOE - Gone Till Noevember (DJ 4Five / G14)
NOE has more of a 'biter' stigma than anyone else in Baltimore, but honestly at this point most of the comparisons to Jay-Z is purely from the voice he was born with and he's really got his own rhyme style and ear for beats that doesn't feel especially derivative of anyone in particular.
download Gone Till Noevember on AllBmoreHipHop.com
NOE f/ Jim Jones - "Tangerine Fisker" (mp3)



18. TestMe - In A Lane By Myself (Power Hitter Records)
TestMe is still copping Lil Wayne's rhyme style, delivery and vocal mannerisms so much that the title In A Lane By Myself is pretty inaccurate, but he's still one of the most talented biters in Baltimore and has gotten better and better at putting together consistent mixtapes.
download In A Lane By Myself on AllBmoreHipHop.com
TestMe - "No Hooks" (mp3)



19. Height With Friends - Bed Of Seeds (Friends Records)
Height is kind of the de facto ringleader of a weird, mostly white crew of rappers in Baltimore that gets overlooked or ignored in most conversations about Baltimore hip hop, and the Height With Friends records in particular go a little beyond hip hop with rock instrumentation and vocals that are sometimes more chanted than rapped. But they're in a great groove right now with the records they've been doing and really making a case for why their eccentric vision of rap is exciting and valid.
purchase Bed Of Seeds on Band Camp
Height With Friends - “Link Wray” (mp3)



20. Ogun - In My Spare Time (Architects Studio/Real On Purpose)
There's so much passion and honesty in Ogun's music at his very best that sometimes I just get a little disinterested when emphasizes swag more and kinda lets go of that earnestness that defined his early albums. And the fact that this mixtape is called In My Spare Time only kind of reminds me how much I'd rather him go hard on making the best possible album he can, but there's still some joints on here.
download In My Spare Time on AllBmoreHipHop.com
Ogun f/ Goon - “Why You Acting” (mp3)

Labels: Dirt Platoon, lists, Los, Mania Music Group, Mickey Free, mp3, Ogun, Rapdragons, Rome Cee, Skarr Akbar, The Boy Blesst

On my other blog, Narrowcast, I posted a list of The Top 25 Concerts I Saw In 2010, and it included 3 very different Baltimore hip hop shows that I reviewed for the Baltimore City Paper's Noise blog in the top 10:

* Bossman, Mullyman, Skarr Akbar, 100 Grandman, TestMe & Smash @ the Black Hole Rock Club, March 17
* Soul Cannon, Mania Music Group & The Get Em Mamis @ the Windup Space, July 3
* Rap Round Robin with Mickey Free, PT Burnem, Rapdragons, Height With Friends & AK Slaughter @ Floristree, August 7

I'm way late on finishing my list of favorite Baltimore hip hop albums & mixtapes of 2010, but hopefully I'll get that up in another week or two.

Labels: AK Slaughter, Black Hole Rock Club, Bossman, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Height, lists, Mania Music Group, Mickey Free, Mullyman, Noise, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons, Skarr Akbar, Soul Cannon

Labels: flyer, Rapdragons, Scottie B.

Some recent live reviews I've written for the Baltimore City Paper's Noise blog: the Rap Round Robin with Mickey Free/Rapdragons/Height With Friends/AK Slaughter/PT Burnem/etc. @ Floristree, J Roddy Walston & The Business/Tommy Tucker & The Supernaturals @ The Ottobar and Casual Curious/Andrew Weathers Ensemble/Us And Only Us @ the Hexagon and Tears For Fears @ Rams Head Live.

(PT Burnem photo by Al Shipley)

Labels: AK Slaughter, Baltimore City Paper, Height, Mickey Free, Noise, Ottobar, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons

Rapdragons - Featuring Baltimore (Ltd Comp)

Ever since I interviewed these guys last year, I've been intrigued by their plan to feature a different Baltimore band on every track of their 2nd album; I talked about the record in my WYPR spring music preview and also posted a live version of one of the tracks. Then the album finally arrived, and is available for free download at the Ltd Comp site, but it took me a minute to getting around to checking it out. It was worth the wait, though, and I definitely feel like it's a far better album than their debut, really shows their ability to chop samples interestingly, and all the different kinds of bands they sample give them a really broad sonic palette to work with. If you follow the Baltimore rock scene at all, you're probably familiar with some of these bands, like Beach House, Ponytail, Double Dagger, Arbouretum, but even if you're not, this works really well as just a laid back stoner rap album. Rapdragons will perform at the Baltimore Rap Round Robin this Saturday, should be an awesome show.

Rapdragons f/ AK and Hanna Badalova - "Rap'n'Roll" (mp3)
This song samples the Art Department, a band I really like that are also about to release a new album. In a weird way it makes sense to me that Rapdragons would sample the Art Department because I interviewed both groups in the same year, at the same bar. AK from AK Slaughter guests on this track, and they'll also be at the Round Robin.

Labels: AK Slaughter, mixtape/album review, mp3, Rapdragons

Labels: AK Slaughter, flyer, Height, Mickey Free, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons

Artscape is coming this weekend and Whartscape is next week, and even though My Crew Be Unruly III has been postponed and won't also be happening this week, there'll be some other club music and local hip hop happening at both of the big festivals, so I thought I'd do a quick summary (if I miss anything or there's other rap/club artists performing at/near the fests, please let me know):

Artscape

Friday, July 16 @ Metro Gallery
Scottie B

Sunday, July 17 @ Wachovia Stage
DJ Impulse

Sunday, July 17 @ Charm City Stage
Breaking Reign

Whartscape

Friday, July 23 @ Current Space
Scottie B, The Get Em Mamis, Height, Rapdragons, Plural MC

Friday, July 23 @ H&H Building
Mickey Free

Labels: Baltimore club, flyer, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Height, Mickey Free, Rapdragons, Scottie B.

This week is the Baltimore City Paper's annual 'Sizzlin' Summer' issue, and I wrote a fun piece that's kind of a playlist of local summer jams. I talked to folks like DJ Booman, E Major, Shaka Pitts, PenDragon, Kane Mayfield and members of Kadman, Jumpcuts, Rapdragons, the Art Department, the Cameron Blake Band and the Out Of Your Head Collective, and they picked songs by Wye Oak, LMS, Skarr Akbar, the Annexx Click, Junkers, the Get Em Mamis, Rhinovirus, Billie Holiday, Celebration, Sri Aurobindo and Brown F.I.S.H. We've even got a player on the CP site where you can stream some of the songs.

(illustration by Alex Fine)

Labels: Annexx Click, Baltimore City Paper, Brown F.I.S.H., DJ Booman, E Major, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Kane, PenDragon, Rapdragons, Shaka Pitts, Skarr Akbar

Rapdragons - Ten Stories Hijacked (Ltd Comp)

This is a remix album of tracks from last year's Rapdragons debut album Ten Stories High, and I previously posted an advance track from this a couple months ago. The main record has a remix of all 10 songs from the original album, but if you download it from the Ltd Comp site, there's a 'bonus pack' with 5 more remixes of some of the same songs, and interestingly there's a promise of a 2nd upcoming bonus pack that'll feature a remix picked from submissions sent to the site. It's all kind of a cool idea and I appreciate the collaborative spirit of the whole enterprise, which is in keeping with the upcoming Featuring Baltimore album that Rapdragons are dropping this summer, but I will say that, like the Height With Friends remix album I wrote about a few months ago, I like it more in theory than in practice. Like with the Height record, the appeal of the Rapdragons album for me was really largely in how homemade and DIY it felt, and the sense that the beats and lyrics were all created together as part of one vision, so it's not really the kind of hip hop where taking the a cappellas and throwing it on a new beat necessarily works that well. Plus a lot of the remixers here are from the indie or techno scenes so they're not really trying to make bangers anyway, it's a little more artsy and abstract, even moreso than the original record.

Rapdragons - "Take Her Home (Cex Remix)" (mp3)
As I explained once in an old post here once, Cex is a dude known primarily for making weird glitchy techno records who, briefly about 7-8 years ago, was going pretty hard with his own odd brand of indie hip hop, and made some dope records with Height and Mickey Free (who back then was called Bow'N'Arrow). When I saw that he had a remix on here, I was curious if he'd go back to his old style of hip hop beatmaking, but instead he goes more into his weird dark techno steez, with a 9-minute track full of wild vocal edits and spacey synths. It's technically on the 'bonus pack,' which is a shame because I feel like it'd make a cool statement for this to be part of the proper remix album.

Labels: mixtape/album review, mp3, Rapdragons

A while back I started talking to some folks at WYPR, the Baltimore-based NPR affiliate, about contributing to some of their local music coverage for the station's Maryland Morning program. And the first product of that association is the web exclusive Spring Music Preview, a little 15-minute podcast kind of thing where Lawrence Lanahan and I discuss a bunch of recent and upcoming Baltimore music releases, and play songs by Bossman, Mullyman, Height With Friends, Rapdragons, Thrushes, Kadman and Wye Oak. I have a voice for print the way ugly people have a face for radio, but overall I'm happy with how it came out and was a lot of fun to put together.

Labels: Bossman, Height, Mullyman, Rapdragons, WYPR

Rapdragons f/ Dustin Wong of Ponytail - "Early For Work (live at Mobtown Studios)" (mp3)
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Rapdragons recently became the 2nd hip hop act to do a 'microshow' with my friends at Mobtown Studios, performing a special set live in the studio for a small audience and recording it for posterity (the first was Cutthroat last year). The first half of their performance consisted of songs from their debut album, last year's Ten Stories High, and the second half was songs from their upcoming Featuring Baltimore, in which they sample a different Baltimore band on every song. At Mobtown they performed songs that sample the Art Department, Weekends, Existencils, and Secret Mountains, and had guest appearances by members of AK Slaughter, Future Islands and Ponytail, the latter on a song that samples Ponytail's "Late For School" that was my favorite part of the set. You can download and stream the whole set at the Mobtown site.

Labels: AK Slaughter, Mobtown Studios, mp3, Rapdragons

Rapdragons - "She Got Me (Moss of Aura Remix)" (mp3)
This is the first leak from Ten Stories Hijacked, the remix album companion to last year's Ten Stories High that Rapdragons are releasing on April 20th. Michael Byrne reviewed this remix in the City Paper recently, too. The original version was my least favorite song on the album, but this one is a definite improvement in that it doesn't remind me of Shwayze. The Rapdragons are performing a 'micro-show' at Mobtown Studios this Thursday, March 11th, see the Mobtown site for details (it's a small show so you gotta RSVP).

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Mobtown Studios, mp3, Rapdragons

Last week in the City Paper, Michael Byrne did a singles round-up of tracks by Rapdragons, Jonny Blaze, E Major and Scottie B.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, E Major, Jonny Blaze, Rapdragons, Scottie B.

Labels: AK Slaughter, flyer, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Mickey Free, Ottobar, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons

Over on my other blog, Narrowcast, I recently posted a list of the 20 best shows I saw in 2009, and the Baltimore hip hop artists on the list included Height, Mickey Free, AK Slaughter, Rapdragons, P.T. Burnem, Kane and Midas and Ron G. of Mania Music Group, Minlus McCracken, Jade Fox, Wordsmith, Soul Cannon, Si-Notes, Shy Lady Heroin, the Get Em Mamis and E Major.

Labels: AK Slaughter, E Major, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Height, Jade Fox, Kane, lists, Mania Music Group, Midas, Minlus McCracken, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons, Ron G., Soul Cannon, Wordsmith

Rapdragons - Ten Stories High (Ltd Comp)

I wrote a City Paper feature about the Rapdragons a couple months ago, but it occurred to me that I hadn't really posted about their album yet. I kinda talked about the album already in the article, but I think it's pretty fun, kind of takes the amateurish lo-fi feel of the whole Height/Round Robin rap scene they're affiliated with but combines it with an ignorant boastful rapping about blunts and bitches kinda mindset, which in a weird way is a fresh combination. You can download the album, and preview tracks from their next one, Featuring Baltimore, at the Ltd Comp site.

Rapdragons - "Bigwams" (mp3)
This track samples Bob Dylan's "Wigwam" and is one of the faster, funnier, and more weed-focused cuts on the album.

Labels: mixtape/album review, mp3, Rapdragons

note: doors for this show are at 10:30, not 9:00 as listed

Labels: flyer, Mickey Free, P.T. Burnem, Rapdragons, Zodiac

This week I have a piece in the Baltimore City Paper about the Rapdragons, a new hip hop duo I saw at the All-Rap Round Robin, a few months ago, which was actually only their 3rd show ever. They're playing at the Windup Space this Saturday, and their album is available for download on Ltdcomp.com, but what I'm really excited to hear is their next record, Featuring Baltimore, which is going to be all samples of Baltimore bands with Baltimore rappers guesting on tracks with them.

(photo by Rarah)

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Rapdragons