Sean Price Enjoys Long Walks In The Park

Sean Price is dropping his album titled Mic Tyson next month. In the meantime, he/Duck Down Records is releasing videos of music that WILL NOT be featured on the album. In other words, Duck Down wanted to generate a viral video to promote the album as well as the free show in Betsy Head Park tomorrow (see flyer). Thing is, when you try and make things “go viral” they inevitably fall astronomically short. Sorry Buckshot, but random clips of unicorns shooting rainbow farts or midgets on miniature ponies just doesn’t do it anymore, we’ve all been there and seen that. How about that free concert though? NY shows kill LA shows, seriously.

Boston Out of Control

I get great joy out of seeing the Red Sox out of the playoffs and the Patriots playing their least dominant football in years.  Still, with the New York Hip-Hop scene in an inexplicable limbo, Boston has really stepped up for the East Coast.  Pretty much anytime you see a rapper you’ve never heard of on a track featuring Edo G, Termanology, or Singapore Kane (and sometimes Masta Ace), you can expect a melodic, pensive beat, thoughtful lyrics, and an overall solid track.

That’s the case with the above track by SEEK, apparently 1/2 of the Boston group RADIx, with Edo G.  The camera work could be more intersting by, I dunno, changing at all, but at least it fits in with the whole “Perspectives” idea.  Boston’s been on point in the late double-Os, so if someone could tell GiftedUnlimitedRhymesUniversal to get his head out of his ass, I’d appreciate it.

ZIF Video of the Week: Masta Ace & Edo G – Little Young

Finally, a music video from the upcoming Masta Ace & Edo G (A&E) album. Indie rap lacks video content, and when they do put out videos, most indie rappers rely on their content and flow to make a video pop. In this case A&E brings some eye candy, a slew of disses, and film it in HD. Sounds independantly good to me.

Peep the tracklisting for the new album, and download the track “Little Young” after the jump.

Alchemist and Oh No Get Recession-Proof

Back in the ’90s and early ’00s when the economy was booming and the potential for Hip-Hop seemed limitless, every artist and their moms was venturing off as a solo artist.  Starting your own label was low-risk and a right of passage for successful acts.  However, the decline of records sales in combination with/as a result of the recent recession have created a survival-of-the-fittest-type attitude among artists and record execs, alike.  While the labels have responded by becoming stingier with their dough, sticking with established artists to knock out that hit single, solo artists are progressively receding into the comfort of the group setting.  From a fan’s point of view, the allure of combining such star power is not unlike your favorite superheroes teaming up when you were a kid.  And there are always those peripheral emcees who shine on guest appearances, and this should presumably be their bread and butter.  Over the last few years, we have seen the following “super groups” formed:

• Buckshot & KRS-One
• EMC (Masta Ace, Punchline, Wordsworth, and Stricklin)
• Special Teamz (Edo G, Jaysaun, and Slaine)
• Slaughtahouse (Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’9, and Crooked I)
• Randome Axe (Sean Price, Guilty Simpson, and Black Milk)
• Street Sweeper Social Club (Boots Riley and Tom Morello)
• La Coka Nostra (Everlast, Ill Bill, DJ Lethal, Slaine, and Danny Boy)
• Idle Warship (Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel)
• Torae & Marco Polo
• The 4 Horsemen (Ras Kass, Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt)
• Global Takeover (El Da Sensei and The Returners)

The latest addition to this list is the crew Gangrene aka Oh No and Alchemist, which makes their grand debut on Al’s newest album Chemical Warfare.  On the track “Acts of Violence” (video below), Oh No and Alchemist form like Voltron and incite riots from a news room.  Unfortunately, a bunch of the tracks from Chemical Warfare, dropping July 7th, have been previously released in one form or another, but it certainly looks to be a banger.

MPFREE: Gangrene – “Acts of Violence”

MPFREE: The Weekend Round-Up

-Wale & 9th Wonder’s Back to the Feature mixtape dropped, and it features Talib Kweli, Freeway, Black Thought, Young Chris, Joell Ortiz, Bun B, Torae, Joe Budden, and Curren$y.  Sounds pretty dope, but I can’t help be feel that Wale is o-ver-rat-ed.  Grab it here.

-Not sure what project this is supposed to be off of, but Nas’ newest Swizz Beatz-produced track is kind of nice.  This is probably the first Swizz Beatz joint that I’ve ever enjoyed.  Still, he’s firmly cemented himself as the 21st Century DJ Clue and needs to shut the fuck up.

-A second track, “Car Service,” has leaked from Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y’s upcoming, collaborative mixtape How Fly.  Looking forward to this one.

-Jamie Foxx has a new track out with The-Dream, Kanye, and Drake.  Is anyone downloading this track to hear Jamie Foxx?  Didn’t think so.

-The Wu continues to make noise, leaking tracks off of their live band-backed Chamber Music.  Peep “Kill Too Hard” with Masta Ace, U-God, and Inspectah Deck.

-In case there was any doubt that Slaughterhouse (Royce Da 5’9, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I)  is going to be raw as shit already, the first leak off of their album features M.O.P.  Check it.

-After what seems like 2 decades, Chali 2na is getting set to drop his debut solo album.  If anything, “When Will I See You Again” has reminded me how dope Elzhi of Slum Village is.

-You can’t sample The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”  Kweli already tried.  But J Dilla could interpolate the melody and throw Guilty Simpson on the track.  Yeah, that could work…

-I’ve been a bit disappointed by Torae and Marco Polo’s collabo, Double Barrel, but I’m really feeling the last track.

-BONUS:  The sample to Jay-Z’s “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune),” produced by No I.D.  Ill, but pretty standard issue.