ATSIC S05E02 - BAM BAM BAM
The music doesn’t stop hitting, life doesn’t stop hitting, and neither does ATSIC Radio. Doing what I can to keep up with the flow of new releases, this one is another boom bap heavy episode. I took the wheel for the mix and Dice took a week to relax. He’s back on the next one. Also, some big news over here since I grabbed a DJ controller this holiday season during boxing day sales, so after I put in some work getting my skills up, the mixes I do will be properly mixed and I’ll be able to start calling myself a real DJ. For now I just did what I do with a mouse on Ableton, but the winds of change are blowing.
The mix starts again with 2nd Generation Wu. They dropped a re release deluxe version of their “Hereditary” album, and I played another one from it to kick things off. The show is named after a Ghostface song, so the tradition is to start each mix with a new piece of evidence that the W is truly forever.
I wanted to include “Good Kid” from Merkules in this mix, even though he’s one of the few Canadian emcees who doesn’t need any help getting into plenty of ears. I often think Merk sounds most authentic when he’s looking back at the come up, and this one is another example of that. I know in the video he had his mom rocking a Death Row jacket, and I could swear I saw him saying he’d signed to the label which was recently purchased by Snoop Dogg. It surprised me to see that this song on the streaming platforms was credited as being released on Merkules Music. Whoever it belongs to, it’s dope, and the video is too.
After that it’s back to Edmonton to check in with local mainstays Brothers Grim for an ode to their birthplace, Beverly. It’s a district to the east of the coliseum where the Oilers used to play, and it’s generally the type of place where people are nervous about parking their cars overnight. I think that image has changed a bit over the years, but these guys rep it to death. Pat (who’s so Beverly that it’s in his IG name) shouting out spiced rum and Kom mentioning that he’s made it a habit to rep for Bev over the years sounds about right. This one has a video out recently with visuals by Sonik.
I break my usual rule of only playing Canadians to include “Greenscreen” from Copywrite. Dude has so many clever bars in this one that I couldn’t resist, and I’m a big Evidence fan, so his beat and some references to “having the weather mans back” on a song called Greenscreen were enough to cement it onto the playlist this week. Copywrite is running a contest for producers to remix this one, so that’s another incentive for me - here’s hoping someone dope from up north hits us with a remix for me to play again.
Then we take a bit of a trip back in time, but it’s still new new. It’s upcoming Fly in Formation guest Emprime/Max Prime, with his crew Low Budget Affiliates, providing a remixed version of their old album “6 Bucks a 6 Pack” repurposed over a bunch of McEnroe beats. It’s an unofficial, unauthorized project, so if you like the sounds of this one, go snag the full album on bandcamp while it’s still there.
Funk Lo is consistently worth a listen, and his new one “Equipe Vapeur” produced by brooks Xy is no exception. This is the type of track Dice has been wrestling with lately, where the drums take a backseat to the lyrics and a soul loop, but this style is firmly my lane. I’m here for the bars, and Funk Lo brings at least a couple fun quotables each time I click his new music.
After that, another big single with Merkules, this time a feature on a Quake Matthews single called “Let the Boy Die”. Again, Merk is taking a look back at his past, reminiscing about everything from dying his hair to look like Eminem to falling in love with Dipset while other kids were oblivious. Relatable content there. He also shouts out Pat Stay. Quake takes a similar approach, recalling his days hustling fading into failed schemes and washed up friends while also name dropping some legends who inspired him to chase the dream. Stay golden guys.
A haunting choir sample plays the backdrop for “Clouds” with Falcon Outlaw on a track from Guillotine Bars. I love F.O.’s adlib heavy style, dude has some of the best shouts in the league. Guillotine Bars is a new name for ATSIC, I think, so once again, the formula of working with other artists who are moving in your genre goes a long ways in getting noticed. Hes been dropping singles, several with Falcon Outlaw, but his bio on Spoti or any of his socials doesn’t mention where he’s from, so I didn’t hit follow. I only have enough attention span to keep track of tracks from artists in my own country, so people who put “worldwide” into their info sections don’t make the cut most of the time unless I can find some press coverage or something else stating that they live north of the border.
Speaking of guys who don’t list where they’re from, Fortee is up next, bringing us into a triple play of sadboy boom bap talking about depression. I gather that dude is from Toronto, where he’s part of a studio called Tre Studios. It took more time to figure that out than I should have spent. Either way, the track is a good analysis of the ups and downs that we all go through, and I’m always here for reality raps that people can take strength from. It’s important to remember that everyone, even our entertainers, go through shit.
The theme continues through a new release from west coast emcee Swivel, who laments losing too many friends and offers his thoughts on his own behaviours while navigating depression, with bars mentioning that talking about the feelings and expressing himself help him move past the darkness. If you need someone to reach out to, hit up friends or family for an ear and vent. There’s always a way through, and you’ll come through it stronger than you were before. We’ve all been there.
Prolific wrote his new one “Mind Turned Black” with happier times in the rear view, looking back to times when he wasn’t depressed. D-Sisive shares the nostalgia he remembers from his earlier years discovering his favourite Hip Hop, a simpler time when anything was possible and things didn’t seem so bleak. I can relate to feeling like that, but since I’ve started doing ATSIC, I’ve truly managed to rekindle the spark that discovering new music built in the first place. I’ve been thinking lately about how part of getting old is giving up on keeping up to the current world. The feeling I get each week when I hear dope new music for the first time is still one of the best feelings I can think of, and it rivals the feeling I got when I would hear the classic legends of Hip Hop for the first time. Every week I find new songs that give me that old feeling. That’s one of the reasons I do this show, and do my best to push it into new ears. Music is so powerful.
K-Riz reminds us of a timeless meditation: Storms “Come & Go” - and you’re either coming out of one or you’re heading into another. It’s a hugely effective coping mechanism to keep in mind that there are always going to be brighter times ahead waiting on the other side if you push through the trials and tribulations. I talked to K-Riz this week for Fly in Formation, so stay tuned on Youtube or Mixcloud, I’ll post that full interview soon enough. This one has fellow Calgarian K the Chosen on it too, another guest I recently talked with on FiF.
Saskatoon is in full effect with a spaced out jam courtesy of Kay the Aquanaut & Factor Chandelier. These guys are so comfortable pushing the envelope that it’s sort of a signature style at this point. No limit to the progression when you’re rewriting rules as you go, like on this, the title track from their full length project “New Physics” which you can pre-order on vinyl now.
B1 the Architect is back, this time with Nathan Skullz & OG Verbz on “Blades Out”. There’s some tricky rhyme schemes throughout this one, as all three emcees keep the swords sharp with some verbal sparing with unnamed wack emcees. Classic vibes.
BADBADNOTGOOD is a Toronto based band that caught my attention with a full album backing Ghostface in 2015, and they’ve stayed busy since. “Mint Chocolate” has them providing some smooth jazz for Conway and Westside Gunn to talk to em over. There are plenty of famous Americans who make music I like, and these are two of them, so if I get an excuse to play them and still call it Canadian Content, I will.
Gritfall is an emcee from Toronto’s BKRSCLB crew. I really enjoyed hearing from him on Fly in Formation, since he’s one of the gen Z artists who still respects the roots and prides himself on well practiced skills and old school sensibilies. His new album with horn player Millwood, “Make it Til You Make it” is a great example of the work ethic being put into practice. Knock out solid music and let the pieces fall into place. The new video for “Fall Feeling” is up now as well, but I decided to play the title track from new album this time around. The album was originally released exclusively on BKRSCLB.com but now it’s available elsewhere as well.
Boldy James & Nicholas Craven are a sort of dream team in the new school Canadian boom bap scene. The Montreal producer stays mad busy working with top quality lyricists, and is once again back backing Bo on an entire album as a follow up to 2022s “Fair Exchange No Robbery”. This one is called “Penalty of Leadership” and this track “Formal Invite” is the third single, following “Brand New Chanel Kicks” and “No Pun Intended”. It’s more of what you’d expect, no nonsense new age street oriented boom bap.
Moka Only is joining one of my favourite slept on west coast emcees, Switch, for an entire EP called “The Mothership” which is 6 tracks dropping Feb 2. The lead single “Who Are We” has them reintroducing themselves with authority over some spooky keys. Moka continues to explore a wide range of styles, and Switch is consistently one to watch, just like he said on this song, so I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of what they put together.
I don’t always feature Francophone music, but I know there are people across the country to can speak French, so I try to show some love here and there. This track “Vent” from Waahli made the list this week because I saw Edmonton emcee and friend of the show Tariiiq promoting a slot he landed opening for the Montreal emcee when he tours through the frozen prairies. It’s happening Jan 25, which is tonight as I write this. You can check the show details here.
That’s all for this week, but I’ll be back yelling over a DJ Dice mix for episode 503, so make sure you don’t miss out on another hour of new release Canadian boom bap coming up next.
This one features a Fly in Formation interview with Edmonton freestyle emcee extraordinaire Thug Shells who had all sorts of insight into building a community on Twitch, practicing freestyle skills, maintaining vocal health, DJing at EDM festivals and mixing in some Hip Hop, her freestyle open mic nights, and a lot more. Definitely worth a watch, even though I was getting some weird technical difficulty and was hearing her audio on a 3 second delay. All in all it only resulted in a few awkward pauses or moments when we talked over one another, and there were still a lot of gems dropped while I learned more about her hustle and her perspective on the Edmonton rap scene.
Season 3 of my interview series Fly in Formation is underway as well. The Jan/Feb schedule is posted down below, and it’s full of artists I’m excited to talk to. Check the promo below to see who else is coming up. Make sure to hit follow on Twitch or subscribe so you don’t have to watch the ad breaks during interviews! Help build a community by popping up in chat and asking questions to me or the guests.
Every week, I buy every song I play, unless the artist sent it to me, saving me a buck. I believe in buying music to support independent artists. Making music is time-consuming and expensive. Streaming doesn’t pay much at all, and since streaming has become the way most people consume music, it’s even more important to make sure to buy tickets, buy music (physical or digital), and buy merch from artists you want to hear more from. Streaming pays next to nothing, so if you want artists working on more music instead of working more shifts at their day job, you need to show them love by opening your wallet and giving them financial support.
Telling a friend is another great way to support the show, I appreciate everyone who helps spread the word immensely.
Stay Up.
