In this week's Baltimore City Paper, I wrote The Short List, and the final Rap Sheet column, with news about Dirt Platoon, Wordsmith, and more.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, magazines/newspapers, Rap Sheet, Wordsmith

The Baltimore City Paper's annual Big Music Issue is out this week, and I haven't read all the stories yet but it looks like a good one. I didn't do much for it besides my usual Short List concert calender and a Rap Sheet column, with news about Height With Friends, Street Scott, Wordsmith and Mic Life Magazine.

One cool thing that the City Paper crew did for this year's issue was the Big Baltimore Playlist, with unreleased tracks from over 100 local artists. They ended with so many submissions that they went ahead and threw a track from my band Western Blot on there. All the way at the end of side 4 of the Soundcloud playlist is our new song, "As Friends, As Lovers, As Co-Defendants," along with a lot of other great acts. Our next show is on Tuesday!

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Height, Mic Life Magazine, Rap Sheet, Street Heat, Wordsmith

I reviewed Wordsmith's King Noah on the Mobtown Studios site.

Labels: mixtape/album review, Mobtown Studios, Wordsmith

Here’s Wordsmith’s video for “Show Me The Money” and “Touch Backdown,” two songs off his new ‘EPixtape’ (ugh really? that's what we're calling these things now?), Buzz Bangers Vol. 1.

Labels: video, Wordsmith

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

Labels: flyer, Unruly Records, Wordsmith

Wordsmith - Overdue & Underrated (HipHopDX/2dopeboyz/Coast 2 Coast/Frostwire)

Wordsmith is headlining Always Dope this Tuesday, so I thought I'd post about his mixtape that dropped late last year that I'd posted the single "Braggin' Rights" from a while back. I'm not always crazy about Wordsmith's records, sometimes they just feel kind of dry and clinical and he's generally not good at hooks. But I'm really digging this one, so far the songs I'm liking the most include "You Never Know" and "Half Bar Half Amazing" and "Beast In The Trunk," just really consistently good beats on this project. You can download it at 2dopeboyz.

Wordsmith f/ Kontact, Black Knight, Gripz, Greenspan, E Major and Sean Toure - "Baltimore Nights" (mp3)
One of Wordsmith's previous mixtapes had a Baltimore posse cut I posted that also featured some of the same MCs, but I think this one hangs together and works better as a song. E Major just dropped his new mixtape, Greenspan has one coming this month, and I'm forever waiting on that Sean Toure album that I think could turn out really great.

Labels: E Major, Greenspan, mixtape/album review, mp3, Sean Toure, Wordsmith

Labels: Always Dope, Brakefast Records, flyer, Red Maple, Wordsmith

Labels: Always Dope, Brakefast Records, E Major, flyer, Red Maple, Wordsmith

As I did for 2008 and 2007, it's time to look back at what the most frequently used tags were on the site last year. The four numbers represent 2009 posts / 2008 posts / 2007 posts/ total posts on the site:

1. flyer (189/306/361/1199)
2. mp3 (144/120/103/489)
3. Baltimore club (91/114/76/349)
4. mixtape/album review (90/79/80/330)
5. DJ Booman (39/45/38/134)
6. Skarr Akbar (37/26/35/144)
7. Sonar (34/44/39/142)
8. Baltimore City Paper (33/25/35/153)
9. Mullyman (32/26/35/149)
10. 5 Seasons (31/65/102/298)
11. Bossman (29/29/42/168)
12. DJ Class (27/1/0/28)
13. Ogun (26/39/40/146)
14. Shaka Pitts (25/8/0/33)
15. Mania Music Group (24/8/0/32)
16./17./18. (tie) Unruly Records (23/30/11/75) / Club Reality (23/0/0/23)
/ magazines/newspapers (23/41/29/142)
19. Comp (21/17/38/121)
20./21. (tie) 41YO (19/0/0/19) / Blaq Starr (19/28/21/87)
22. Wordsmith (18/6/0/24)
23./24./25. (tie) ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM (17/0/0/17) / Tayland Promotions (17/0/0/17) / Noise (17/18/18/53)

Edit: I managed to forget video (31/18/1/50), which would've been tied for 10th place on the list if I'd tabulated it correctly at the time.

That’s 7 rappers, 3 Baltimore club producers, 3 venues, 3 blogs/websites, 2 labels, and a lot of other categories. Congrats to everyone that made the list, everyone else: grind harder, or actually e-mail me every time you do a show or drop new music.

Labels: Blaq Starr, Bossman, Comp, DJ Booman, DJ Class, lists, Mania Music Group, Mullyman, Ogun, Shaka Pitts, Skarr Akbar, Unruly Records, Wordsmith

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

I posted about 80-something albums and mixtapes on Gov’t Names in 2009, more than any year before, but I have to admit that between staying home with my son for the last 3 months of the year and generally being busy and overwhelmed for the rest of the year, I really feel like my attention was scattered and I don’t know how much I really appreciated everything I heard. And there are a ton of notable releases I either haven’t gotten around to hearing yet, or have heard but haven’t posted about, and while probably spend the first couple months of 2010 catching up on those. Still, I’m pretty confident that barely anyone’s heard as much as I did this year, so I’ll keep pulling together my favorites for a big year-end list for whatever my opinion’s worth. I’ll make the same offer I did last year even though nobody took me up on it then, though, that if people e-mail me their own top 5 or top 10 or whatever, hopefully I can get enough to make that a whole other post (I’m probably never going to attempt a reader poll again, though, that was a mess). I feel like, with more of the stuff I write about here readily available for free download than ever, on DatPiff or AllBmoreHipHop or whatever, there’s really no excuse for anyone who reads this site to not hear a lot of it and form their own opinions, and I’d love to hear them.



1. The Get Em Mamis - TerAwesome (RCRD LBL)
It’s funny, a lot of my music critic friends and contemporaries seem to get excited about any female rapper that comes down the pipeline, and while I’m obviously a big supporter of female MCs especially here in Baltimore, I still feel like they need to be held to a standard just like anybody else. And really, Nicki Minaj and Lil Mama are just garbage, even compared to rappers who were doing it big a few years ago like Trina or Remy Ma. So I’m really glad that Roxzi and Symph from G.E.M. are really stepping up and making great music that you don’t have to adjust your expectations for based on their gender.
download TerAwesome from RCRD LBL
The Get Em Mamis - "Boss Bitch Business" (mp3)



2. The Boy Blesst - Charmicidle (Reign Music Inc.)

I’ve been into Blesst’s mixtapes for a couple years, but he was always just one of many mixtape rappers I liked out of many. But this year he set himself apart by making a real album, where pretty much every track has a good beat and a strong hook, every verse has some dope rhymes and says some real shit, which is somethig that so few of his peers have managed to do. This album is so laser-focused it’s crazy.
buy Charmicidle from digstation.com
The Boy Blesst - "Good Times Roll" (mp3)



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

I was initially attracted to For The People for how big and prolific their roster is and how unique their whole organization is as much as for their music. But I always saw the potential and the creativity there, and they really delivered a release that lives up to that promise this year.
buy Silent Flutes from Amazon
Cutthroat and Beat - "Squadre Name" (mp3)



4. The Black Sunn - GodSound (2dopeboyz/illRoots)

The Black Sunn has to be my favorite newcomer of the year, even if he’s probably been doing his thing for a minute, and getting introduced to someone who’s got his own sound and is really making great music right from the jump is one of the things that really keeps me excited to keep doing this site.
download GodSound from 2dopeboyz or illRoots
The Black Sunn - "Tune In" (mp3)



5. Kneel Knaris - Going Sane In A Crazy World (Street Legal Entertainment)

I remember last year hearing that both members of PX (Parts Unknown) were working on solo albums, and figured they might be coming out around the same time. As far as I know, though, only Kneel’s has come out so far, and he really set the bar high and took his music to a whole new level, really getting high concept and autobiographical at the same time. This might not be my favorite album on this list, but it’s definitely the most ambitious.
buy Going Sane In A Crazy World from Amazon
Kneel Knaris - "Something To Talk About" (mp3)



6. ScholarMan - GameShift: The Movement (Soganic Music)

ScholarMan was another artist that was new to me in 2009 that really impressed me, and he put out a whole lot of music this year, including a couple EPs, but this full-length was my favorite release so far.
buy GameShift: The Movement from Soganic Music
ScholarMan f/ K-Mynez - "What You Puttin’ Back" (mp3)



7. Chubb Rock & Wordsmith - Bridging The Gap (Godigital/Unruly/Koch Records)

I wasn’t sure if this old school/new school New York/Baltimore combination made any sense, or whether Wordsmith would really get the room to do his thing like he does on his many many solo mixtapes, but after all the wait I have to say this album really came together well.
buy Bridging The Gap from Amazon
Chubb Rock & Wordsmith - "Soul Baby Blues" (mp3)



8. Comp - The Man With The Hand (Bang-A-Rang/Shape Shifter Entertainment)

5 years after his Def Jam deal came and went, Comp finally made a non-mixtape album, and it’s way too personal and funny and weird and harrowing than anything a major label would’ve allowed from him.
buy The Man With The Hand from Amazon
Comp - "Short Film" (mp3)



9. Height With Friends - Baltimore Highlands (Wham City)

I’ve liked Height’s unique take on rap since the first guest verse I heard from him way back in 2002, but it was this year that he really seem to come into his own and kind of create a whole movement of likeminded MCs and producers, many of whom collaborated with him for this album.
buy Baltimore Highlands from Wham City
Height With Friends - "Code Of Love" (mp3)



10. K-Mack - Night Ryda (Knokville Entertainment/Banga Bill Enterprise)

Sometimes I wonder if it takes a MC or producer that have been at it since the mid-’90s, like K-Mack and Banga Bill, to make a record that sounds this tough and really maintains the feel of that era, without actually feeling forced or retro.
download Night Ryda from AllBmoreHipHop
K-Mack - "B City" (mp3)



11. Los - Welcome To Swaggsville

You may notice that there’s not a single mixtape in the top 10 of this list, it’s all albums with original production, and that’s because for the most part I’m fucking sick of mixtapes and hearing people rap over the same tired radio beats over and over and over. But if I’m gonna listen to any, I’d prefer it’s someone who can really kill every beat like Los.
download Welcome To Swaggsville from swaggaboylos.blogspot.com
Los - "Say You Will" (mp3)



12. Barnes - Block Work Featuring Barnes (DJ Jabril)

This is an example of a record I didn’t really think of much at first, or at least I didn’t like it nearly as much as Barnes’s first album, but I was really convinced to go back and listen to again after hearing about people really thinking highly of it. And that doesn’t always work, someone else was really insistent that I give their shit a second chance recently and it still sounded weak when I went back to it.
download Block Work from AllBmoreHipHop
Barnes f/ Bump - "Ay Boy" (mp3)



13. Mike Malachi - Malachi's Way II: Malachi's Revenge (Music In Me Production Inc.)

The underrated Mike Malachi and his producer Ron Rico came back hard this year with an album that feels like a step up from their previous efforts, but still a natural progression and very much a piece with their earlier albums.
download Malachi's Way II: Malachi's Revenge from DatPiff
Mike Malachi - "The Showstopper" (mp3)



14. Shy Lady Heroin - Queen Of The Streets (Money In Da Bank Ent.)

Last year’s Queen Of The Mic champ really upped her profile this year with a ton of live performances and this mixtape, which I wasn’t real into at first but has grown on me.
download Queen Of The Streets from AllBmoreHipHop
Shy Lady Heroin - “What You Want" (mp3)



15. Haz - The Game Need Change (DJ Radio)

I heard a lot of generic hardcore street rap mixtapes this year, but very few of them managed to flow as well as this one and not wear out its welcome.
download The Game Need Change from AllBmoreHipHop
Haz - "100 Bar" (mp3)



16. PenDragon - HomeRun King (Team Arson)

Drag remains one of the city’s best underdogs, making dope beats, dope rhymes, good videos, etc.
download HomeRun King from dragwroteit.blogspot.com
PenDragon - "Never Stops" (mp3)



17. Skarr Akbar - The Street Album B4 The Album (Akbar Enterprize)

The perennial favorite continues to drop solid projects year after year after year after year after year, this list wouldn’t be complete without a Skarr tape.
download The Street Album B4 The Album from AllBmoreHipHop
Skarr Akbar - "Dear Diary" (mp3)



18. Al Great - Greatness (Alevan Music Group/DJ 5 Starr)

I met Al Great a few weeks after posting about this mixtape, and turns out dude was really kinda mad about it, and I didn’t even think I was that harsh, I really just want him to put out another album with original production because he’s had a few mixtapes in a row.
download Greatness from AllBmoreHipHop
Al Great - "Circles" (mp3)



19. Mania Music Group - Demos, Freestyles And Outtakes 2007-2008 (Year One) (Mania Music Group)

Mania’s profile continued to rise in 2009, even if their output wasn’t as relentless as their initial flood of material in 2008, but really even this odds’n’sods collection is as good as what a lot of artists were putting out as their best shit.
download Demos, Freestyles And Outtakes 2007-2008 (Year One) from ManiaMusicGroup.com
Rapman Ron G - "Break (Demo)" (mp3)



20. NOE - Deal Or NOE Deal (DJ Daa One)

Soundalike or not, NOE’s got lyrics for days and continues to be someone worth watching as he makes more and more industry moves.
download Deal Or NOE Deal from AllBmoreHipHop
NOE - "92Q Freestyle" (mp3)

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Comp, For The People Entertainment, G.E.M./Tha Plague, lists, Mania Music Group, mp3, Skarr Akbar, The Black Sunn, The Boy Blesst, Unruly Records, Wordsmith

Kane Mayfield of Mania Music Group, Wordsmith and Jade Fox
opening for Bilal @ Ram's Head Live
Wednesday, December 16th

Labels: flyer, Jade Fox, Kane, Mania Music Group, Rams Head Live, Wordsmith

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

DJ Bless f/ Wordsmith - "Heavy Metal Mics" (mp3)
Wordsmith - "Braggin' Rights" (mp3)
Here's some new music from the ever prolific Wordsmith, a DJ Bless-produced track featuring him, and his own new solo single produced by Rafpak, from the Overdue & Underrated mixtape dropping on December 7th. His album with Chubb Rock, Bridging The Gap, is on iTunes now but is finally getting a national release in stores on November 17th (although I've seen copies in the Sound Garden here in Baltimore already). Also, Wordsmith is performing at Heavy Hitters 7 this Friday.

Labels: mp3, Wordsmith

Labels: Black Hole Rock Club, flyer, Wordsmith

Labels: flyer, Jade Fox, Ottobar, Wordsmith

Wordsmith & I.N.C. The Poet - A Baltimore Martini

Last month, I posted about Wordsmith's album with Chubb Rock, Bridging The Gap and mentioned it had just come out. But I realized more recently that I jumped the gun and it was pushed back a few weeks, so it's actually officially coming out today, July 14th. And since I wanted to mention that and make sure people know it's available now, I thought I'd post about Wordsmith's other duo album that recently came out. This one's with I.N.C. The Poet, who I wasn't familiar with before, turns out he's from the UK, which I didn't realize during the whole first half of the album, then I started to hear a slight accent on track 6 and looked up where he was from. Apparently he's from a town called Martini, hence the title. Strada, who does the beats on a lot of Wordsmith's projects, is on the first few tracks here, and overall it has the same kinda sound and vibe as his other records, although it kinda feels like there's more dark, introspective topics than usual. Wordsmith also seems to kinda whisper more, but he's always had a pretty whispery flow. Anyway, good short record, nice collaborative vibe where they really seemed to write songs together and get on the same page.

Wordsmith & I.N.C. The Poet - "A Baltimore Martini" (mp3)
The title track, produced by Art Glasbeek, is probably my favorite track on the album.

Labels: mixtape/album review, mp3, 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