Thoughts From The Rap Nest
Thoughts
I just want to welcome the homie Max Prime who just subscribed to TFTRN earlier today! I sent Max an email a couple weeks back and I received a really nice response. It was great to hear from him and to hear he is doing well! I look forward to reconnecting and possibly collaborating on something in the future!
A couple weeks back I saw the homie Odis post about a feature in Invasion Graff Magazine #15. It is a British Columbia based magazine by Nazo. It features a host of historical graffiti photos from their personal collection. These photos were mostly acquired through photo trades with artists around the world primarily in the 1990’s. It is super sick and well put together. There are still a few copies left here.
Coming off the heals off of the super dope album, Maddhappy, Arealrapsgood is back and this time with the Dirty Sample. The track is super dope and I can’t wait for the full length album Content. Check the Bandcamp link below for the DJ pack for the track.
For the first single for his upcoming album, Content, partnered with The Dirty Sample on production, AzraelRapsGood has updated his software and is wired in. “Dirty Drops of Mud” is a gritty ditty built on witty wordplay and multi-layered punchlines that are delivered rapid fire, each concept evolving effortlessly into the next. The song is a lyrical showcase, and it’s immediately evident Azrael raps good. And The Dirty Sample’s beat is also true to his name and the song’s, opening with a muddy bass line beneath a dominating few repeated guitar notes as if someone might be tuning their instrument, and then the drums kick in—heavy! With their first single, the duo make a splash and now you have dirty drops of mud on your nice outfit.
The accompanying video produced by ARG Vidz has Azrael late night loitering, kicking his raps at some of his favourite 24 hour spots on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, BC.
Their homie Chadio dropped the surprise Bandcamp Friday preorder for his new album Cousin of Lucy dropping February 10th on Hand’solo Records. There are three tracks up fro preview including the Sweater Song feat Nolto which is super sick!!
Chadio had a bad breakup. We’ve all been there. And when it’s a long-term relationship that ends in cheating, it can be especially rough. How does one get over it? For Chadio, he channels the anger and grief into song. The result is Cousin of Lucy, a short album of breakup songs that serves as a spiritual successor to his No Wives Club (2021). Here he breaks down the break up, revealing the circumstances of the situation throughout but most of all on first single “Hear Me Out”, gets metaphorical with second single “Sweater Song” featuring Nolto, and gives voice to vengeful thoughts on opening song “Morning Breath Takers” and “At Peace”. But light shines through as Chadio looks forward to moving on with third single and album closer “Wrong Way”. Aside from the frantic, upbeat sound of that final song, the production from Aalo Guha and Pasquale is dark, sombre and often off-kilter. Chadio’s Cousin of Lucy is profoundly personal and also thoroughly universal.
I got this really dope Fresh A.I.R. freshener the other day from one of the homies. It is for a super dope upcoming release and I am just going to leave it at that for now.
Missed Third Verse last night? Ugsmag has you covered once again to stream or download NOW! Catch Third Verse on CFCR 90.5 fm in Saskatoon, SK every Wednesday 9-10:30pm CST. Stream online via CFCR.ca or Radio Garden.
As always the last 10 episodes of my other weekly radio show You Know Know the Rules on UMFM in Winnipeg airing every Sunday night 10:00pm -11pm CST. Episodes availible NOW!
Record One
The Perfect Color Combination - Stay Busy Till Death
When the homie HobsStayBusy reached out to see if I was down to rock some cuts on the album I immediately said I was. He then sent me two tracks one featuring Meagabusive and the other Memphis Reigns and I was like, woah this is going down. The production on this one is handled entirely by HobsStayBusy which is really dope and adds nice layer of continuity throughout the album. I like how they reached out to a bunch of DJ’s to lay down cuts throughout the album. This really completes a the album and is really refreshing to hear on album. I am not just saying that because I was involved as I would be saying the same thing regardless. This is a great album and CD’s are available now!
2020 was the last full length album The Perfect Color Combination dropped, now in 2023,they have come back to drop a new fresh 15 track album-Stay Busy Till Death produced this time around, solely by HobsStayBusy. The team of Hobs and Tank bring back that raw grimey boombap hip-hop once again,adding the cuts of various skilled djs(Taebo Manuhs,DJ TMB,DJ Rob Fayder,Rove and Chaps) to add that "authentic" hip hop vibe back with beats rhymes and scratching,also featuring some of the illest MC's(Avatar,Memphis Reigns,Gamblez,Skull Bludgeon,MegaBusive,Staplemouth and Boxguts) to bless the tracks with Hobs and Tank.This album is sure to be appreciated by the hip hop purists and graff heads out there.
Stay Busy Till Death-Its says it all.
Record Two
Aj Seude - Oil On Canvas
&
AJ Seude - avada kedavra
A double feature from the Seude Gawd this week. I have not been as excited about an mc as I have been in the last couple years than I have been with AJ Seude. He really can do no wrong and with each release and verse I hear I am wowed more each and every time. He possesses this lackadaisical rhymes style that is also straight fire which is both unique and His rhymes contain the perfect balance of social commentary and conciseness that is refreshing and enjoyable.
Oil On Canvas might be my favourite album of his to date. It is just perfect front to back. avada kedrava vinyl features the orginal album on sides A & B and a remixed version of the album on sides C & D. This is such a nice concept. It is like two unique albums He has a deep catalogue that is can’t miss and I encourage you to check out!
Aj Seude is on the top of my list right behind Serengeti of rappers I have yet to see live that I must see live. I really hope something works out in 2023 where that is a reality. A couple of the Saskatoon homies have produced tracks for him recently that are insanely good so who knows he may find his way to Saskatoon before too long! AJ Seude is returning with Televangel on the beats with a Parthian Shots which is a follow up to the incredible Metatron’s Cube. This is dropping in March and I cannot wait!
Classic Material
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Thursday July 13, 2006 was not a day like any other but the day I saw Cannibal Ox live! Now rewind to May 15, 2001 the day The Cold Vein changed the face of hip hop forever. There have been albums before and albums since that have affected hip hop in various ways but there has never been anything like this. This album was like nothing I had heard before or since. Others have tried to replicate it but the rawness and realness of it is just not replicable on any level. The lyrics and delivery of the duo are unparalleled in rap. It is perfectly setting that The Cold Vein was the first shot out the cannon for the newly minted Def Jux records. Coming off the heals of Company Flow, El-P’s production was a shot at every Everytime I listen to this album it takes me back to being a University student, Dj’ing with the homies, rap scheming and dreaming of making rap, playing shows and touring.
Fast forward 5 years, I really thought the gap between this release and me seeing this show was bigger and like 10 years or more. This was really surprising to me when I dug out the show poster and the LP. I was on tour with Epic, Brzowksi and Matre through the Western United States. We linked up with the new homie Ancient Myth and spent a few days at his place in Denver on a lull during the tour. We caught wind of a Cannibal Ox show at the historic Fox Theatre in Boulder Colorado. Boulders is about a 45 minute or so drive from Denver. It was a no brainer for me to want to go. I was such a huge Cannibal Ox fan and the chance to see them was one that I could not pass up. Matre had some homies in the Denver area so he was spending time with them but Epic,, Brzowski, I believe Ancient Myth came with us (I sent him a message to confirm and will let you know if he confirms before I publish. Update he thinks he did not go).
There were a few really monumental things about this show that are burned into my memory. Vast Aire was even better live than on record and he stole the show. Vordal Mega was three sheets to the wind and could barely hold himself together and I got a JJ Gargantuan sandwich from Jimmy John’s after and it was one of the best things I have ever eaten. I have had a couple since and they have been incredible but nothing has ever compared to that sandwich on that night in my entire life.
I often think about this show and how good Vast Aire was. I wish I could go back and relive seeing him live over and over. Vordal Mega drank a 26 of Hennessy while he was on stage and he could barely walk on to the stage at the start of the show. He freestyled a lot and barely got through any of his versus but Vast Aire was so good that it didn’t ruin the show. At the end of the show they eventually just turned off Vordal Mega’s mic and the DJ pulled him off the stage a few times but he kept coming back on stage until finally he left the final as the mic was shut off. Probably the most intoxicated I have ever seen a performer in my life. I think that is really saying something especially since I have seen the LBA (Low Budget Affiliates, this that know, know) a number of times live.
Closing Ramblings
As always, thank you for reading and for the feedback!
**legal disclaimer all records and songs were run through the RAP NEST 5000 SUPER ANALYTIC COMPTROLLER MACHINE that is certified by the I.A.A.R.R.A (International Association of Analytical Rap Recordings Analysis) in layman’s terms, it means the machine is never wrong.
Catch you next week with more thoughts from the rap nest.
Peace
-chaps