Skip to main content

The Witzard's Week In Rap: "Excellent Rapping" from Kendrick Lamar, ANTWON, Aesop Rock, Meyhem Lauren, Travis Barker & Yelawolf (February 15-19th Ed.)



"I gave that lil' cockroach life, and he blasted me / N****s made all those memes, and they laughed at me... He's got 11 GRAMMY nominations, y'all not equal / Maaaan, f__k these white people / My grandma died at 82, scrubbin' floors / and n****s still runnin' 'round beggin' for awards," Jay Electronica ferociously rhymed on "The Curse of Mayweather" Monday; nearly an entire verse-worth of disses aimed at his one-time "Control" collaborator, Kendrick Lamar. Although, President Obama's favorite emcee didn't seem to let Electronica's claims faze him, as he ended up winning five of 11 GRAMMY awards that very same night. I think it's pretty safe to say Kendrick effectively stole the show with his jarring live performance of "The Blacker The Berry/Alright/Untitled III," which juxtaposed he and a spirited Jazz band amidst an all-too realistic prison backdrop and a bonfire-lit African tribe scenario. Lamar told 2dopeboyz during a post-GRAMMY's interview that "Untitled III" and its predecessors stem from a "chamber of material from the album that I was in love [with] where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album."



Hardcore-leaning LA emcee ANTWON unexpectedly announced his signing with Anticon Records early last week, seemingly on the sheer strength of his 2012-14 mixtapes End of Earth, In Dark Denum, and "debut" album Heavy Hearted In Doldrums. "Anticon will release ANTWON's DOUBLE ECSTASY EP [this upcoming April 1st], a five-track collaboration between ANTWON and producer Lars Stalfors. Clocking in just short of 20 minutes, DOUBLE ECSTASY is the San Jose native's most concise and impactful body of work to date," reads a recent Liberal Arts-sanctioned press release. The EP has been preceded by sparse Punk-indebted Stalfors-produced "Luv," an eerie, ominous Biggie-reminiscent ode to falling in [BLEEP] with a stripper.


"Today, I bring you "Rings" - the first song and video off my newly announced full-length solo LP The Impossible Kid, coming April 29 on Rhymesayers Ent. and available to pre-order now," recent Homeboy Sandman collaborator Aesop Rock wrote on Facebook. "'Rings" reflects my failure as a visual artist, and some of the regret I've experienced in regards to not pursuing it further," Rock continued. The Impossible Kid was fully self-produced by Aesop Rock himself, with instrumental help from Philly-based "Blisscore" band Grimace Federation, bassist Jeremy Lynch, and scratches courtesy of DJ Zone. Rob Shaw-directed "Rings" centers around Aesop Rock's apparent death and grizzly autopsy, which reveals his halved body to be chock-full of self-sufficient art supplies and "shapes falling out of the fringe."



"[Ive] been sitting on this joint for a minute, but decided to drop it now, since Kurt Cobain's birthday is this Saturday [February] 20th. PIATTO D'ORO drops March 31st and FTD airs on VICELAND March 3rd," Meyhem Lauren wrote within the brief Soundcloud description accompanying his latest IceRocks-produced "Teen Spirit." Lauren is a long-time friend and affiliate of charismatic chef turned rapper Action Bronson, who garnered wide-spread critical acclaim with his nearly flawless Respect The Fly Sh*t and Mandatory Brunch Meetings mixtapes. Meyhem Lauren can now call Bronson's Blue Chips 1-2 producers Party Supplies his label mates (and hopefully, sooon-to-be collaborators), as Fool's Gold will release his forthcoming album, PIATTO D'ORO.


Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and Shady Records-affiliated Alabama emcee Yelawolf have seemingly reunited for a follow-up to their collaborative 2012 EP, Psycho White. "Me and @Yelawolf's new track, "Out of Control" is out now! Video created by @goldwatch," @travisbarker exuberantly Tweeted Friday afternoon. Jay Electronica and Kid Cudi's go-to videographer Jason Goldwatch helms Barker and Yelawolf's first collaboration in early four years, which is largely composed of "Out of Control" and almost instantly meme-able footage haphazardly cut together 3-4 micro-clips at once. Nothing's been announced quite yet, but my best guess is that "Out of Control" will likely end up re-appearing within Travis Barker's long-rumored follow-up to his 2011 Hip-Hop-centric solo album, Give The Drummer Some.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of
1 comment
Read more

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra
3 comments
Read more

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel
1 comment
Read more