Thoughts
Wow, last Friday had to be one of the best release days in recent memory. It had vibes and excitement of release days when I was a teenager. The only shitty thing is I have to wait months for most of the releases to arrive. The wait is worth it though. I hope everyone was able to lock down the releases they were looking for.
I am sure most of, if not all of you, have had a chance to check out Awol One, Id Obelus and Rove’s masterpiece Fresh A.I.R by now. This video produced by DJ Navin Johnson is incredible and if you have not already seen it, watch it now. There are so many Easter eggs in the video too. I really like the Theory train at the end! It would have been so obvious to put in a Rove one but to take it in this direction is next level!
Check out Rove’s Bandcamp for the vinyl, CD and Tape.
You can also grip a copy of the second in the trilogy of 12”s from Kool Keith and Mc Homeless with supe producers Rove and Noblonksi. This along with The Fresh AIR ep are worth it just for the cover art alone. This is dropping soon in the States so stay tuned for that announcement. Canada ands Europe getting the drop on this one.
So, the cat is out of the bag as Rove announced his next album dropping in July titled Poke The Bear. As you would expect it features a who’s who of the indie rap world. All you favourites and then some are on it. I have heard the the whole thing and I know this phrase gets overused, but heads ain’t ready.
Factor dropped a single along with the preorder for his new record last week. This one features the homie Ceschi and once again they have worked their magic. I had heard this song a couple times before it dropped and thought it was a heater but since it has dropped it has been blowing my mind with how good it is. It is both Factor and Ceschi at their best together! This video is wild! I can’t wait for this album to drop. If you are in Saskatoon on June 16th you just may have an opportunity to hear this one live!
You can still place pre-orders for Factors’ Moving Like A Planet at Fake Four’s Bandcamp.
Summer is on the horizon and with that a Saskatoon rap tradition is back. After a couple year hiatus due to covid and a soft launch return last year that got affected by some inclement weather, Summer Fling is back! Going down July 21 and 22nd. Featuring performances from Sole, Id Obelus, Noblonski and Turn The Gun. This is a really exciting lineup of artists and I am extra excited to finally after all these year meet Id Obelus and Noblonski in person. It is going to be a great weeekend so if you are in the area roll on through.
I kicked it with Rove while he painted this last Saturday morning! Always a good time.
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 available NOW!
Record One
Atmosphere - so many other realities exist simultaneously
This was a pleasant surprise I must admit. I didn’t have huge expectations going into this album but I figured there would be a couple good songs and it would be solid throughout but this definitely blew those expectations out of the water. Now I have a number of artists that I consider legacy artists for myself and I will always grab their newest release no matter what and Atmosphere is in that category for me. It might just be me but Slugs feels like he is rapping from the heart on this one. The production is super dope and a little less safe and obvious for a typical Atmosphere album but still maintains the classic sound that you have become accustomed to. Also Saskatoon gets a shout out on the track It Happened Last Morning when slug says, “I flew back from Saskatoon, I knew what I had to do”. So extra props for that name drop!
Record Two
Dose One - Even With Demons
Another heater from Dose One. Portable Fiction is my jam so far but I have only listened to the album a few times through. The record features 6 tracks and usually I would gripe about the shortness of record but it seems to work perfect for this album. Oaklands’s Hand$made is on an all time run of releases right now. Everything coming from the label is sooo good. It is really impressive and I hope it never ends. Only knock of course is the Red coloured vinyl but as always I am willing to overlook it if the music is dope ad once again that is the case with this one. Also props for at least putting an A and B on the record labels so I can figure out the song names for radio purposes.
Rap Shirt
This weeks shirts are courtesy of the homie Rove. Some new additions thanks to La Jae mixing up some sizes and a nice come up for me! Thank you Rove! Yes two of the same shirt! You can never have enough Shapeshifter shirts.
Classic Material
Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
I spent a lot of time going to shows in Winnipeg because they got different show that we never got. They would get classic East Coast artists coming through on one offs just like Saskatoon would get West Coast Underground artists coming through on one offs that other cities wouldn’t get. The Winnipeg homies would often come through for those shows and vice versa. It is one of many reasons Winnipeg is like my second home and a place I probably should have moved to in 2013 but that is a story for another day.
Things are super hazy on this one unfortunately. I drank really hard at this show with soso. We had a tendency to do things like that in that era. I honestly don’t remember a lot about this show. It was a part of Peg City Holler 2003 which took place August 28-30th. I think this may have been the last Peg City, well at least the last I remember attending. The show was at the Zen Lounge, which I really am not all that familiar with and really don’t have much of an idea of what it looks like.
Black Moon is an all time classic group for me Evil Dee djing on his knees in the stairwell of a building was mind blowing to me. In 1993 I thought that was the coolest shit I ever saw. It was so hip hop in the romantic Hollywood fairytale sense. They always had the best videos and the best remixes on their 12”s. Also that Nervous Records logo is an all timer as far as logo’s go. Real hard to beat.
So my anticipation for this show was extremely high due to my formative hip hop teenage years. It was a bucket list show for me really. I never thought in a million years I would see Buckshot and DJ Evil Dee live and in of all cities Winnipeg. I really wish I could have remembered more specifics of the show but one of the things I will never forget is soso yelling “Woody Allen” at the top of his lungs over and over that night. I am still perplexed by that to this day but it is an all time memory for me for the bizarreness of it. I was able to briefly say what up to Buckshot and DJ Evil Dee before they exited the stage after performing. During that super brief interaction I was able to get my copy of Enta Da Stage signed by both of them. It is one of my favourite and most cherished signed records. It is one of 12 signed records that I have framed and displayed in the Rap Nest.
I really loved all these trip in that era to Winnipeg. I made so many friends and solidified so many friendships. Winnipeg has been so good to me over the years and is one of the reasons I am so proud to add to the rich hip hop culture there with my radio Show You Know The Rules on UMFM 101.5 every Sunday Night 10-11pm Winnipeg time. I still don’t have the time zone worked out other than in the winter we are the same and in the summer we are an hour behind them. There is nothing like Corydon on a sunny day, I am so hip hop I freestyle my resume.
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
Thoughts From The Rap Nest
Hell yeah! Thanks homie 🙌
We'll have to hang out the next time you're here! Maybe hit up Old Gold Vintage Vinyl - Kinetic always has some good shit. I missed the Black Moon show, but I think I had a good reason...at least that's what I'm telling myself.