June’s spotlight on the ten best new hip-hop releases to hit Bandcamp includes a Star Wars-inspired boom bap experiment, a UK production duo’s club-centric workout, plus a remix project that pairs a couple of longstanding New Jersey rap experimentalists with a modern soul duo. We also check in with the latest solo sureshot from one half of the Run The Jewels phenomenon.
Alikho Igama
Earth At My Feet
Compact Disc (CD)
Composed Philly MC and producer Alikho Igama pitches Earth At My Feet as a reflection on exploring new junctures in life while drawing a close to less beneficial paths. Fittingly, the album conveys the sense that Igama is sketching out a spiritual travelogue. “I ain’t really care—back then it was smart/ Now I’m ensnared in the trap of my thought/ In the lap of the land/ With a rope pulling taut/ With the rest of the plan/ Tell me who would have thought that I might need a hand?” the MC relays to the sounds of producer Knvcklehead’s serene vibes-infused backing on cornerstone moment “Sunrise Over Shibuya.” Adding an extra layer of cohesion and conviction, Igama’s own production contributions are complemented by similarly soul-centric loop-based beats from Clayhead, Knvcklehead, and Sun Gin, with the latter forging “Law Of Attraction” and “Picture Book” into the sort of bittersweet sun-blissed musical moments that encapsulate the emotional crux of Earth At My Feet.
The Allergies
Tear The Place Up
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD),
Tear The Place Up furthers the funk-forward musical journey of the Bristol, UK-based, crate-diggin’ pros The Allergies. Putting faith in the allure of upbeat, club-friendly cuts, DJ Moneyshot and Rackabeat craft 13 funk and soul-sampling tracks that are pepped up by select vocal spots: The title track co-stars repeat guest MC Andy Cooper spitting in warp speed mode over a high octane groove that harnesses electro influences; the swaggering organ-enhanced “Stanky Funk” features the Pharcyde‘s Bootie Brown; and vocalist Charles Morgan adds a pained soul music element to the mid-project moment “Reconcile.” Spotlighting the vintage funk power that pulses through the album, punchy closer “Take Another Look At It” makes deft use of singer Marietta Smith to amp up a deliciously crusty funk groove.
Amadeus360
The MPC Jedi
Fusing boom bap hip-hop ethics with Star Wars-inspired sampling tactics, Brooklyn beatmaker Amadeus360‘s The MPC Jedi is a strapping rap workout that includes a forceful roll call of guest MCs headed up by the Boot Camp Clik’s Buckshot, Juice Crew legend Craig G, and mighty Brooklyn bombers M.O.P. Having been mentored by mixtape icon Kid Capri and successfully notched production credits with Busta Rhymes, Kool G Rap, and Sheek Louch, there’s an inherent brawn and heft to Amadeus’s beats: Opener “How The Block Sound” conveys prowling, backstreet menace; “Prosperity Gospel” showcases angular, elbows-out sample chops; and “Get Started” employs anxiety-charged strings to prompt guest verses from Tragedy and Whispers. Adding a more subtle edge to the sonic agenda, mid-project cut “Stakes It High” revisits De La Soul‘s righteous statement of intent and backs MCs Craig G and El Da Sensei‘s verbals with a blend of punchy drums and meditative piano stabs.
Dälek
King Garbage, dälek vs. King Garbage
Over two tracks that clock in at just under 10 minutes total, dälek vs. King Garbage presents longstanding New Jersey sonic progressives dälek and the classic soul duo of Zach Cooper and Vic Dimotsis (aka King Garbage) taking turns reinterpreting a track from each other’s most recent albums. Under King Garbage’s ambit, dälek’s “Good” from Precipice is transformed from an intense industrial-hued moment into a shapeshifting, aqueous-sounding experience that reveals a calm and tranquil underbelly. In return, King Garbage’s psychedelic-hued and echo-inflected “I Miss Mistakes” is channeled through a shoegaze lens by dälek in order to establish an ethereal emotional pull. A charming hip-hop gem whose slender setup accentuates its experimental charms.
Killer Mike
MICHAEL
2 x Vinyl LP, Cassette
Killer Mike‘s first solo outing since 2012’s rambunctious R.A.P. Music shapes up as a family affair that mirrors the ensemble nature of the fire-starting MC’s Run The Jewels missions alongside El-P. All but one of the album’s tracks call on the talents of a guest vocalist, with the top-grade roster headed up by CeeLo Green adding a redemptive note to the introductory statement “DOWN BY LAW,” Young Thug bringing his trap-level presence to the funereal-sounding “RUN,” and Andre 3000 and Future teaming up to help cast the astral-gazing “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” as a multi-generational ATLien excursion. Naturally, El-P also graces the session, with the duo’s RTJ chemistry adding an ardent boost to “DON’T LET THE DEVIL,” complete with Mike rattling off a verse that houses the sort of sentiments that underscore the conceptually uncompromising heart of MICHAEL:
Watch the world go to hell as I’m laughing saying it’s perfect/ Catch me after Sunday service disturbing the church’s workers/ Tell the deacon we ain’t speaking, need money, his prayer worthless/ I can tell through my alertness he’s nervous about his purchase.
Kool Keith
Black Elvis 2
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
Just shy of four decades since debuting his next level lyrical tactics with the group Ultramagnetic MCs, Bronx maverick Kool Keith keeps faith with his patented brand of otherworldly scientific abstractions on this sequel to 1999’s Black Elvis. (The original is one of the genuine gems in Keith’s extensive back catalog.) Calling on a tightly-packed production squad that includes L’Orange, Marc Live, Raaddrr Van, and Keith’s own self-produced soundscapes, the album backs Keith’s verbal outings with a blend of grungy kicks and snares overlaid with ominous creeping synths. “Everybody trying to come up in a new high-rise building/ I’m at the desk, throw they paperwork in the toilet,” rants Keith on key cut “The Formula,” which also features Marc Live and reunites Keith with his Analog Brothers cohort Ice-T. “It’s not how well you’re doing—it’s how long you’re doing well,” raps Ice-T on the track, successfully coining a veteran’s brag that epitomizes the vitality of the album.
Tame One & Parallel Thought
Da Ol’ Jersey Bastard (The Definitive Edition)
Vinyl LP
Originally released in 2008, Da Ol’ Jersey Bastard has been remastered and tweaked to help further the legacy of beloved Artifacts MC Tame One, who sadly passed away last year. Crafted in cahoots with fellow Garden State production duo Parallel Thought, the project is an apt showcase for Tame’s punchline-heavy brags and rap-referential lyrics.
“I’m from Jersey where they argue all day who’s the best?/ Tame One the Terror, Reggie Redman Noble or Treach?/ Some said I’d be better suited doing sober records and music with a message to it/ I say eff-it and just do it,”
raps Tame in freestyle-inflected fashion over the lush soul-helmed production of “The Night Cap (After The Jam).” Refreshingly, verbal guest spots on the album are capped at Sean Price splattering trademark ballsy braggadocio over the high-octane rattling percussion that fuels “Haha Da Rah Rah” and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien blessing the chugging funk-fueled “Catch Me.”
Teflon
2 Sides To Every Story
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD), T-Shirt/Shirt
Longstanding M.O.P ally Teflon‘s 2 Sides To Every Story is an unshakable dose of mature boom bap rap that bolsters the gravel-voiced Brooklyn spitter’s street-wrought bars with burly production duties split between DJ Premier and Jazimoto. “I used to dodge school just to rob fools,” recalls Teflon over the ultra-violence of “No Fake Love,” a track that includes DJ Eclipse upping the intensity by adding vintage M.O.P soundbite scratches to the mix. Furthering the First Family canon, Teflon’s M.O.P. comrades naturally grace 2 Sides To Every Story, with Lil’ Fame lighting up the piano-helmed “It Is What It Is” and the authoritarian Billy Danze striding through a “rugged-ass playground” on “The Thoro Side” to assert his clique’s credentials with assured verbal domination.
