British electronic DJ duo Snakehips, proves once again that they can do no wrong, with their downright funky “Forever (Part II)” and its quite interesting, accompanying video.
Teaming up once again with vocalist Kaleem Taylor, the very funk / R&B vibes beginning as soon as the song starts cascade into a smooth, irresistible house rhythm with rich sultry vocals to match. Check out some of Snakehips other sultry tunes below:
Another simply epic track out of the collective EDM group MVNGCSTL (Moving Castle), future house (or as described on a Youtube comment: advanced epic) hit “Make Out” by EDM artists Ba-kuura and Objectives. This smooth, chilled-out dance, R&B, house smasher samples Alicia Keys’ “Unthinkable (I’m Ready).” Many in the EDM community may recognize this sample from another smash house hit, “Stay” by Henry Krinkle or one of its many remixes.
[Previous article on Moving Castle’s artist VICES, “Wanna Luv U” sampling Robin Thicke]
Next up is trap banger “Soundclash” from two trap gods themselves’, Flosstradamus and TroyBoi. This collabo works particularly well here producing a spacey, trap banger incorporating trappy snares & hi-hats and some well known samples (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 DO IT! & the robotic letter vocals at the end). Both artists are well established in their own right; Flosstradamus being one of the artists that pioneered EDM trap music, and TroyBoi, a burgeoning British trap DJ on the come up in the EDM scene (one of his tracks was recently featured on the hit TV show Empire!)
More trap hits from both continued below:
Flosstradamus and TroyBoi latest release, teaming up again for this Waka Flocka remix.
From rising rap star Fetty Wap, the mastermind behind “Trap Queen,” which is blowing up all over America and abroad (I said “Hey, wassup? Hello!!” / Seent [sic] yo pretty ass soon as you walked in the doe’ [sic]) today we are highlighting another track from Fetty’s mixtape/EP Up Next. Standout track “Throw It Back” featuring rapper Khaos continues the vibe from Trap Queen, although less of an anthem and more a regular cut, it’s still great nonetheless. There has been some debate on the Internet as to Fetty Wap’s sound, which some find very reminiscent of Southern hip-hop and rap styles, even though Wap is from New Jersey. There is no doubt that Southern rap has influenced the hip-hop game as a whole and IS a sought-after sound for musicians, most rappers will have at least a few tracks in this style, even if they’re not from there.
Next up, we have two rap tracks featuring the famous actor, Andy Milonakis, who is featured on Gucci Mane‘s Views From Zone 6 mixtape and Chief Keef‘s Sorry 4 The Weight. Getting backing from Gucci and Keef on the former track, and just Keef on the latter, Milonakis spits the ending verses on both and in Keef’s songs claims Keef’s group, GLO Gang. Both tracks are trap hip-hop singles for bumpin’ in the whip or throughout the streets. This is by far, not the first time Milonakis has rapped (whether for fun or officially on an official release), he was known to rap on his former TV show on MTV, The Andy Milonakis Show, where he played a crazy, yet cool young boy (Milonakis is actually in late adulthood). Check out both tracks above and below!
Gucci Mane, Chief Keef & Andy Milonakis “Right Now”
Today we’re highlighting a smooth, funky house beat from the artist and DJ, Jitterbug. This refreshing track while seemingly simplistic, emphasizes and accentuates the basics of house and funk music; A groovy, catchy beat combined here with a melodic piano roll/riff makes for a great and “new classic” house tune. Jitterbug is part of the Uzuri music group/collective, check out more from them below:
Continuing our deep house vibe comes deep-house, bass track “Doing It” by DJ duo Taiki & Nulight and bass producer AC Slater. All the right elements are present in this bass-house anthem; grimey bassline, spacey futuristic synths and a head-bobbingly infectious rhythm. Taiki & Nulight also produced, arguably one of the best remixes of one of my favorite songs, Above & Beyond’s “Sun & Moon” featuring Richard Bedford. Keeping the trance sound of the original and amplifying it with sick bass is the feat of this massive remix. You can check it out below, along with the Soundcloud of the British DJ duo.
[Unreleased Alternative Hip-Hop:] KiD CuDi – CuDi Get
[Sample:]
Gimme more… Uh-huh!
Come on [people], feel the noize…. / Girls, rock your boys
We’ll get wild, wild, wild. WILD WILD WILD!! (Yeeaah!)
[LINK: My review of CuDi’s latest EP Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon
The Throwback Session [Real Hip-Hop:]
For our next throwback segment we go to spacey moon-man, psychedelic funk master, borderline bipolar rapper and rock-star KiD CuDi. Cudi’s musical genius and prowess shouldn’t ever be slept on. Kicking dope rhymes since 2007 the differenter rapper has been hot long before Day ‘N Nite. On “Cudi Get” Cudi kicks it old school with a relaxed, catchy head-bobbing beat. The sample here could not have fit better. Cudi uses no other than the legend J Dilla’s “Wild” as a sample. This masterpiece itself is originally sampled from version of the classic rock song “Cum On Feel the Noize” by Neil Innes & Son.
The result is an interesting flip on the “we get wild/wild/wild” chorus of the original that matches the laidback hip-hop beat. For some reason this song really reminds me of a winter wonderland or something…
Maybe it’s the kid at the end yelling “And that’s the end of my sleighing song!”
Though some may say Cudi may be more “mainstream” these days, who isn’t? I’ve got nothing but love for the Moon Man, he has made some of the most inspiring music that I have heard and felt a connection to…ever. Cudi throughout his career has touched many chords with people like me for being that “different, weird” guy, the “smart, dorky” rapper, the outer-space head, stoner and briefly, coco-indulger. Mr. Rager‘s struggles with life, his family, kid, friends, drugs, past loves, depression and medications are laid out on the table in a way not pitying, but more relatable and as something to learn from. This is in stark contrast to say, Joe Budden whose works (at least around 2008-2009) were much more “I’m whining because I’m depressed!! Aaaah I’m depressed cause I’m not good enough…blah..blah..blah” He had some banging beats but no lyrics that people wanted to hear. If you’re gonna rap about being depressed or down and out, at least make it interesting or funny… not just…sad.
One of the best tracks off of Wiz’s self-released EP: Deal or No Deal
I went out and bought Wiz’s Deal or No Deal, and still have no regrets. It felt good to support an artist I knew was going to make it big once enough people heard his sound. Most of his fans today are preoccupied with Wiz’s new songs, or only know his radio bangers (a la Black & Yellow; We Dem Boyz), but Wiz has been churning hits and industry shaking releases since around 2005. Deal or No Deal was his first independently-released album, meaning Wiz had a lot of control over the album and you can really hear it in its sound.
It’s smooth, it’s polished, its got that laid-back stoner vibe Wiz was originally known for and wasn’t anything too flashy. Compare to his following EP Rolling Papers, an album that while good, had more than a few songs the label probably forced Wiz to do and just had more songs that did not match his previous style. Wiz later commented in an interview, after the interviewer commented Wiz had said “[he had] wrote a couple lines about [Rolling Papers] in which you[Wiz] said, ‘maybe [if I had more control], [I] would have done things differently [with the album].” Leading Wiz to explain to the interviewer that his true fans would stick with him and should know that album was like an “experiment” and that his long-term success could not be predicted from a single album (and his first on a major label). Wiz predicted his future right as shortly after Rolling Papers he began to soar in popularity: Papers‘ “Roll Up” was a mainstream-hit, “Rooftops” with Curren$y became a rap classic, and “On My Level” featuring Too $hort became a party-favorite. This interview was later sampled in one of Wiz’s mixtape songs as an outro.
He was a Pittsburgh treasure/secret, and peeping his early mixtapes (How Fly, Show and Prove, etc.) showed me that Wiz would be an artist to watch. Like Kid Cudi and Dot Da Genius, Wiz also had a very creative synergism with his main producer and others of his crew, like Chevy Woods, Sledgren and Jeremy “I.D. Labs.” Though I am no where near the fan of Wiz as I was back in 2008, after watching him show up on radio, then TV, then the numerous concerts around Atlanta (he performed at The Masquerade a ways back and a few years later performed with Young Jeezy at Emory University. I snuck into that show and ultimately my favorite performance of his before I considered him as the superstar he is now. Kush & Orange Juice launched his career and his performance with Juicy J [at Atanta’s Masquerade] proved that “bands” will make her dance! (Below is another one of Wiz’s hit “indie” songs before he blew up) “In the Cut” sampling Frou Frou‘s “Let Go”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKHZb5eRa58
Cudi has been just about everywhere a musical artist could go. He started indie. The lone black guy trying to come up in the independent rap game, rapping over tracks sampling electronic music akin to the likes of Frou Frou (worth nothing, Wiz later did the same sampling Frou Frou on “In the Cut” from his legendary mixtape release Kush & OJ).
Cudi, the ‘duder’ himself a.k.a. Mr. Rager, and Mr. Moon Man, has come a long way from his days of rapping over spacey, trippy, completely mind blowing beats. Cudi really has 10 x Deep, Plain Pat and a host of other supporters to thank for his jettison into the mainstream. They helped him release his first mixtape Man on the Moon which became one of the most iconic mixtapes of the 2007-2009 era. Smooth vocals over the heavenly ethereal Nosaj Thing sample in “Man on the Moon” is a life-changing song (especially after seeing it live).
Cudi’s rap albums did not disappoint either, though became less and less original than the last. I supported his first full length CD which had some decent new songs, but many from his mixtape. Nonetheless Cudi was fresh, new and looking to be the light of hip-hop. Until he began to start doing more features than actual music (*ahem Kanye, 88 Keys *ahem) and by the time CuDi got back to where and when he could focus on his self, he would release WZRD. An ultimately forgettable mix of “cuder music” with pop/alternative rock, which received very mixed reviews. Kid Cudi’s latest album (reviewed here) was not as bad but still doesn’t live up to the initial hype and promise we were given for a completely different rapper, black man even, one from outer space, who doesn’t mind rapping over a Led Zeppelin sample or focusing on atmospheric sounds over driving EDM beats or common street rap hits and hi-hats.
Make sure you do not sleep on these two standout tracks from two of the hottest producers in the music game right now. The first “Gorilla,” comes to us from EDM/chillwave/hip-hop producer Clams Casino, who gained much recognition after producing several songs for Lil’ B and A$AP Rocky (Lil B’s “I’m God and A$AP’s “Wassup”) as well as Mac Miller’s “Angel.” Clams is well known in the hip-hop and electronic community and his beats are revered as being very unique, different, often hauntingly good. His self-released instrumental EP, Rainforest, was very well-received. Featuring original beats and instrumental versions of his tracks artists have rapped over, his instrumental tapes became a series (Instrumentals) which is available fore free from his website.
Our second highlighted producer is a god in the indie music community and is celebrated as one of the most prolific and youngest electronic producer to date. “DMT” is one of XXYYXX’s more atmospheric, entrancing and aurally euphoric instrumentals from his popular sophomore album. XXYYXX first gained popularity following the release of his first album Still Sound and his very successful, influential self-titled EP, XXYYXX in 2012. One of the standout singles “About You” (see below) was extremely popular with its calming yet repeating, expounding beat. The song was so popular that a remix featuring rapper 2 Chainz surfaced shortly after the originals’ release.
LUMiNOUS Musings 