ATSIC S04E21 - On & Up

We continue on and up with another mix of the best new rap across the map. I'm on the deck in a lounge chair, curating and hosting, and DJ Baggylean is on the decks, spinnin' and scratchin' and bringing the “live” element. From coast to coast, we got a blend of artists you might not know yet, some familiar faces dropping fresh tracks, and even some big names from the States kicking bars on Canadian beats. Expect smooth boom bap and some dope lyricism, as per usual.

First up, it’s Shanii (he dropped the “22” from his name for this release and launched a new Spotify). He recruited Quake Matthews for “Born to be Different”, a smoked out vibe setter to get things airborne. Quake is scary consistent, even when it’s on a feature for an out of the blue single with another Halifax..er..ian..ite.

Toronto shadow veteran JD Era checks in with Teck Zilla, Roqy TyRaid & UK based President Zik for ‘A Whole Lot’, Super dope high energy shit I could have worked into a dancier mix for sure. Head nod shit to wake everyone up proper.

Lord Juco and Asun Eastwood brought bars for days on “Buicks, Bonnevilles, & Beamers” off of Asun's '7Eventh' album once again. Pure lyrical magic over that classic sparse boom bap. Some of the best lines in the hour on this one, Juco brought flame.

OGB’s back in the mix with another from ‘Revenge Vol2’. This one features the skeletal ape grumbling about people “asking why I do this” after he raps a verse about his motives.. It was probably me. I sort of ask everyone that motivation question when I first get to talk to them on Fly in Formation, because I think it’s a good way to get a feel for what an artist’s all about. Most tell me the same thing OGB says here, & said in our interview - that it’s not for the ‘Not Gold Nor Fame’. Therapeutic reality raps for the win.

When I talked to Len Bowen this week, he mentioned Super Duty Tough Work as one of the acts to pay attention to in Winnipeg right now. Happy I was already up on them. It gets tougher and tougher for artists to tell me about up and comers in their scene who I haven’t already noticed, but I keep asking them that question on FiF anyways, cuz I’m all about finding the gems. This track, “Quiet Strength” was the lead single for SDTW’s upcoming Paradigm Shift album, which drops Sept 8.

Another pick from Spesh K’s recent EP “The Good Scotian”, Real Big Facts finds him telling it like it is with signature simplicity over top of a repeating key line.

JRoberts takes the spotlight twice tonight, first with the hard-hitting "Peak Mean" featuring none other than Conway the Machine, and then later returning with "Better Days" alongside L-Biz and Rasheed Chappell, over an Imperitiv beat. Both tracks are absolute bangers, and JRoberts is definitely on a roll with his impressive output lately.

Ali the Great teams up with the legendary Moka Only for "The Road," where they walk familiar paths, kicking along raw raps. Speaking of Moka, he makes another appearance on the episode with "Still Paying Dues" from Konfidential & Mlny, with a dope swingy guitar loop that adds a unique bluesy touch to the track. Can't get enough of Moka's timeless flow.

Big Sproxx coming through with fire power on “The Corner”, giving us the chance to play Jadakiss and rep it as Canadian content – and it's soulful and dope as ever! Bringing out legends and reminding everyone how great they still are is one of my favorite things to do on #ATSIC.

Len Bowen and I also talked on the most recent Fly in Formation interview about Winnipeg having a very diverse scene, where there are artists making music that sounds like it could have come from either coast. This track “Whole Weight” from Winnipeg’s Fresh IE fits sonically as far to the left as it can get, skipping along over some rumbling G shit to shake the concrete. Makes sense the album’s called “Trunk Music”. I need to make time to listen to more of those tracks.

Adam Walsh is, from what I gather, a battle rapper who has a new one with a really nice hook. We’re “Free” to play what we like on this show, and I liked this one.

We're not just fashionably late; we're "Late to the Party," and that's all thanks to Len Bowen's latest project "Nthn4grntd," which dropped last month. This is the third track we're spinning from it on #ATSIC.

I had a killer Fly in Formation interview with Len earlier this week, and it'll be pinned to the end of next week's #ATSIC episode on Mixcloud. Plus, we're dropping the video on YouTube and Twitch soon. So throw your hands up and get ready for more dope content coming your way!

I swear I didn’t realize until after I’d decided to call the episode “On & Up” that the lady from XL the Band sings something about it in part of this “Kodachrome” track. I just felt like that was the trajectory, so I picked some words like I usually would. Probably it was subliminal and I’d heard it when I picked the song earlier in the week. That Baggylean happened to take the folder of tracks and line this one up last so that it’s the last thing you hear, is a coincidence that I didn’t notice until after I made the mix and listened back to it on a nature walk. Serendipitous stuff. Means good things I think.

Anyways, if you enjoy this type of music, this type of content, this type of blog post.. hit like on posts, hit follow on socials, hit share to boost the signal, and hit subscribe on Twitch or go donate on Paypal if you want to be fucking awesome.

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If you want to see Fly in Formation interviews live, come by on Twitch.

UPCOMING FLY IN FORMATION INTERVIEWS

Aug 8 - Thomas Quinlan from Handsolo Records @7pm MST

Aug 15 - Ol’ Gorilla Bones @3pm MST

Aug 22 - Epic (from Saskatoon Folk Rap Records) @7pm MST

Aug 29 - Arlo Maverick @7pm MST

Sept 5 - Frost Gamble @3pm MST

Stay Up.