ATSIC S04E30 - Attention
DJ Dice is back in the mix for round 2! We're serving up a fresh dose of Boom Bap and bars, curated and hosted by yours truly, Doobyis. Now, if anyone's out there paying as much attention to the culture and spinning this many artists from across our great nation every week, well, someone, please point me to it. Running a show that consistently delivers 85-95% Canadian Content and keeps it mostly locked on tracks released in the past couple weeks is, as far as I know, unheard of. No other way to put it. I have immense respect for DJs all over the country doing their thing; it's crucial. But this is a different animal entirely. It deserves some national recognition, and I'm going to keep saying it. Even the CBC doesn't promote Canadian artists as consistently as #ATSIC. It's a shame because there's so much undiscovered talent out there giving up on their dreams due to a lack of support. For many years, I wondered why no one did this, so I eventually stepped up and did it myself. Now, we've got the turntablist side covered too, with the individually incredible DJ Dice and DJ Baggylean joining as rotating mainstay DJs. I don’t know how we’re going to keep making it better than it already is, but I’m going to keep trying.
Anyway, onto the mix. We always kick it off with some Wu vibes. Lately, we've been hearing a lot of features from GFK and Raekwon, so this time I decided to go with a 2nd Generation Wu pick: Tahmell & iNTeLL's "Spiritual Warfare" from their "We Made This" EP. iNTeLL just doesn't seem to stop recording; it's been a steady stream of releases for years. If you're not up on it yet, now's your chance to get schooled.
Dice was hyped to drop a track featuring Pharoah Monch on a new release from the late, great King Reign, a Toronto-based emcee who sadly left the land of the living in 2016. I'm not sure where these new joints keep coming from, but I'm thankful that someone in the camp is dedicated enough to keep them coming to light. This one's fire, but what else can you expect from Monch really?
Next, we're heading out to Montreal for a quick freestyle from DeusGod. This guy always sounds like he's having a blast, even when he's talking about the gritty side of life. This is one of those freestyles that brings you into the studio and lets you hear an emcee just playing with bars and having fun with it off the cuff. Sounds like it might be a legit improvisation as well, but who really knows.
Let's talk about Nic Bam. He's not just musically talented but also apparently adept when it comes to the style of indie promotion that gets noticed by shows like ATSIC. We're playing two tracks from the Belleville, ON artist for the first time on the show. Here's the cheat code: collaborate with established artists who I already like. It’s a time honoured tradition of rap. That's exactly what Nic did. One track features a verse from Spesh K, and the other has D-Sisive dropping some bars. These guys are artists I spin regularly. The lesson here is that you can gain connections and recognition from features that aren't necessarily from the A-list. There are people to buy verses from besides Merkules or Young Stitch. I remember buying CDs, hearing features, and then digging deep into the discographies of the artists I discovered. These connections spiderweb across the entire industry. The internet now makes it easier than ever for someone who wants to engage with the music to find artists who are involved on songs, it’s a click away. In Hip Hop, you can connect everyone with just a few degrees of separation. This applies to the indie Canadian scene as well. Discovering new artists through features is probably the most common way I find folks I might have otherwise missed. Props to Spesh K and D-Sisive for doing features and spreading some light to a new arrival.
Now, "The Medicine" is another gem from "OREBODY," Mickey O'Brien's new LP, that cuts up the legendary CL Smooth vocal from T.R.O.Y. on the hook. I don’t feel like it’s sample snitching when it’s that obvious right? Either way, I'm sitting down for a chat with Mickey for his second Fly in Formation appearance on Tuesday, Oct 17, over on https://www.Twitch.tv/doobyis. He's released five albums in five years, toured across Canada twice this year, and he's about to jet over to Japan to keep pushing his music to new ears. The least I can do is play his tracks on the regular.
We've got another one sent over by Ivason Black, "Stardust." This track features Ivason alongside five other Toronto-based emcees: Age, Ill Tone, Shark, N.I.Gel & Mista D. They've come together to form the supergroup "The Magnificent 6ix." These guys have been dropping laid-back grooves, and both of their first singles have graced #ATSIC, leaving me wondering if there’s a group LP coming up.
I don't stick to just one style of rap, I like all types of shit, but especially when Dice is in control, the mixes lean toward the OG vibe with plenty of folks over 30. I'm also trying to keep an eye on the up-and-comers though. The guys who make me wish I had been putting in work like they are now back when I was in my early 20s. Calgary's TALEBSON is someone I don't know much about, but I saw some buzz around his new album "Casablanca," so I checked it out, and liked what I heard. The whole project is solid, blending new age vibes with that dusty sample based sound. TALEBSONs got bars too, rooted in the high level lyricism we know and love, so you should definitely check out the rest of the album when you have a moment.
I suspected Thrust OG and BoFaatBeatz, the newest SnowGoon, had an album in the works, but I couldn’t say for sure and couldn’t find anything online, so I asked Thrust directly. Turns out they dropped an album a month ago on BoFaatBeatz Bandcamp page exclusively. They've pushed about three singles in the past month on streaming, and we've featured all of them on ATSIC. They all bring that traditional boom-bap vibe, and a full album from these cats should be a treat. I’ll be checking it this week.
Ambeez dropped "As We Continue On" on Oct 6, and I'm feeling the chill of "On A Mission." This Nova Scotian producer/emcee has been consistently dropping quality Hip Hop for quite a long while. He recently updated his Bandcamp with a bunch of his past catalog, so you might want to dive into that.
Then it's off to Saskatoon for another one from Skizza, "Orchard." This is the kind of mentality we all need – when life gives you lemons, plant the seeds and grow an orchard. The track is dropping some serious wisdom. Skizza told me that Part 3 is his favorite installment of the series, and while I might have a soft spot for Part 2 (I was on that one), Champion Season Part 3 is definitely a great project that you shouldn't sleep on. AK Productions supplied the beats for this track, just like he did for the whole "Champion Season" series this summer. Later in the mix there’s another one on an AK beat, but not from Skizza.
Torae & Marco Polo come through with another banger, "Rap Shit." Dice is bringing the skills with the pullbacks and juggles, exactly what I was hoping for when we talked about collaborating on #ATSIC. I'm thrilled to help bring some traditional turntablism into the modern Hip Hop scene by providing Dice with fresh music to drop each week. I've been telling him for a while that there's still plenty of rap being released that satisfies all the old school requirements, and that there's a lot of music out there for folks who still crave that boom-bap lyrical tip. Torae and Marco Polo's "Midnight Run" album is a prime example of that.
Next up, we've got another gem with a touch of nostalgia for the old-school gamers. DJ Blkluos teamed up with Toronto emcee Sayzee and Tabz SOS for "Death in 64," loaded with references to the N64 era. It's a perfect vibe for all the rap nerds who grew up mashing Goldeneye. I'm all for it. Sayzee just dropped a Bandcamp exclusive album, YFRWN9 (Your Favourite Rappers Worst Nightmare #9), which I’ll be digging into this week as well. Some interesting features on that one too; Tona, RunXGun, and The 6th Letter from BKRSCLB.
The second “freestyle” of the mix is from Edmonton’s own Tariiiq, with his “Unstoppable” flow cascading over a horn section and some live sounding drums. I wonder if this one was the Goldeneyes playing the beat.. That’d be sorta crazy if they were back to back with a song about Goldeneye 64. Synchronicity shit.
And what would a boom-bap episode of ATSIC be without the regular dose of Tone Chop and Frost Gamble? "What's That About" gives us more of what we love from this dynamic duo. Tone might say his rhymes aren't intricate, but I'd beg to differ. Sure, he's not the kind of rapper who spits tongue-twisters or breaks the sound barrier, but his rhymes are meticulously crafted and well-structured. Not every artist puts that kind of thought into their bars. Rhyme schemes that hold up throughout a song are their own brand of intricacy. It's like Tone's in the same league as Sean P; his bars are clever combinations of simple words. Those double-rhyme finishers that switch up every two bars never fail, and they often pair words that sound natural but still catch you off guard. Intricate enough for this guy.
The next track is another AK Productions beat, this time featuring the renowned rappity-rapper Young Stitch. He's delivering some of his more traditional flows on a track about OGs wearing hoodies in the summertime. If you know, you know. Stitch always brings a high skill level to his songs, but I'm particularly digging this style from him, this one is heat rocks.
And for the last track, it's Ezza of Choom Gang laying down some smooth flows over a jazzy horn-laden beat. This track oozes laid-back vibes and offers some life lessons about not passing judgment and letting people live as they please. It's a fitting sentiment to wrap things up this week. You don't need to understand everyone's motivations, and you probably won't unless you find yourself in their shoes someday. Live and let live.
Thanks for tuning in and listening. Feel free to sound off in the comments, whether you agree or disagree, or just want to share your thoughts. Let's get some discussions going about the national rap scene through these posts. You can also find me on various social platforms. I've been most active on Threads lately, so come say hi. Tune in every week for a new mix; we'll keep our ears to the streets and bring you the best drops each week. I miss the days of full albums, but I'm making the most of the singles era by compiling enough tracks to create my own cohesive mixtapes to listen to. Each week, we're dropping a fresh set list, and with talented DJs like Dice and Baggylean on the boards, there's plenty of cutting and blending to keep things legit. I couldn't be happier with how it's all shaping up.
After the hour of music, we've got an interview with Doom Squad representative Kryple in the newest episode of Fly in Formation. You can watch past episodes or catch the latest one every week, live on Twitch or later on Youtube. Fly in Formation interviews go down on my Twitch every Tuesday. Swing by and hit follow or subscribe if you want to support the show and watch interviews without pesky ads.
If you want to support the show or any of my various projects, including ATSIC, Fly in Formation, and my own music (which is simmering on the backburner for now, but I'll be back), you can donate directly at http://www.paypal.me/doobyis.
I'll post the tracklist, along with my best guesses at each artist's city, below. I'm logging it on that spreadsheet for CKXU every week, so I figure I ought to share it here too. My stat homie PoftheK is helping me crunch the numbers by the end of the season to figure out which artists I play the most, which city gets the most love, and all that jazz. I'm looking forward to breaking it all down.
Stay up.
