ATSIC S05E10 - Divisions
When you think of “Hip Hop” you might think of something completely different than I do. Both DJ Dice and I are students of KRS-One’s book “The Gospel of Hip Hop”, so I think our idea of the kulture is fairly aligned. That said, I probably enjoy a broader range of it than he tends to. Beyond us and our fellowship of nerds who think about definitions of this sort of thing, “Hip Hop” might bring any number of sounds to mind. KazMega and I talked about it a bit in the interview after this mix, but the umbrella of “Hip Hop” barely covers everything that’s currently happening in the world of rap right now.
When I set out each week to listen to everything new in Canadian "Hip Hop”, I’m casting a wide net. From melodic sing rap, to precision delivery rappity rap, to drumless boom bap (its an oxymoron, I know), to new-school, old-school, true-school, to trap, to drill, to south-west-east, to EDM mash-up, to folk rap, to afro-beats, emo rap, nerd core, rap-rock, and everything in between.. I do my honest best to keep my ear to the metaphorical floor and tap in with pulse of the various scenes. It’s all lyricism over a variety of drums, and the wordplay is what typically keeps me entertained.
I know my opinion ultimately only matters to me, but to me, it’s all Hip Hop. It all grew from the same roots. I hope people don’t see a quick description and make a judgement about what variety of Hip Hop I probably play, because I do my best to make sure we switch up the selections week by week and show love to talented artists from every corner of the genre, and I don’t always put much thought into which hashtags to use on any given episode.
The mix this week starts with a Wu feature, like every other week of the show has for the past 5 years. It’s tradition and we’re sticking with it. I found an Inspectah Deck feature on a track from Flee Lord and Crisis called “Play Amongst the Stars”. Rebel INS remains impactful with his punctuated delivery and social commentary, and I love to see the new guard continue to give props and stand shoulder to shoulder with the Wu generals on songs like this one.
After that it’s entirely so called Canadian content, with artists from sea to shining sea being seen shining.
Kryple is “One Foot Away” on his hopeful new single that kicks things off just dripping with commercial appeal. He’s not the only Edmontonian in attendance this time around either. Juicy Blue and Matt Byrnell check in for “Drop It”, another solid southern inspired addition to their ever expanding catalog.
The Southern half of Alberta was represented with new drops this week as well. First, a bunch of old bands are name dropped on Calgary artist Mark Shawn’s “Crash Test,” a mellow little anthem on a guitar pluck loop. Bringing things all the way local, Lethbridge hometown heroes K.STONE & Alchemy the Linguist deliver an ode to a friend they lost on their new release “Miss Jones”. It features a local songstress on the hook as well, Lucie Waugh, who I think often performs at Alchemy & Donny Sage’s ABoriginal Entertainment concert events. They’re all performing downtown May 11 for their second annual “Springfest”, so if you’re in town go see that. Good to see the locals teaming up and making moves.
There are two Francophone tracks in the shuffle this week, with Jono recruiting Uncle Fester for a remix called “Party Chenous”; as well as a track with a Nicholas Craven beat featuring Pro-V, Eman, & Knlo on a full fledged French cypher track called “From Here to Quebec”. I have no idea what anyone is rhyming about here, but the vibe is good and the flows are on point. These mixes air on the FM dial each week and there is undeniably a large portion of the country who might want to hear our second official language, so I try to pick the odd French track from time to time too.
There’s also all sorts of Toronto, as usual - Big Sproxx providing a beat for some verses from Styles P, Conway & Dave East; a single off Raz Fresco and Cookin Soul’s new project called “Kodak Moment” that also features Lord Apex & Estee Nack; Mark Jordan teamed up with B1 the Architect to trade high art bars on “Van Goh”; Tha Rhyme Animal telling us where he “Came From”; and 2 grimey samplings from KNG Bondalero’s new “Filthy Plea” project called “When Worlds Clashes (feat. Slik Jack & New Villain)” & “Ain’t Afraid (feat. Lord Fury & Junia Demus)”.
Ottawa’s Nayef links with seasoned spitter Philly Regs for “Another”; Quake Matthews gives a warning about the allure of the bottle on “Under Water” from his “Roses” album; Mylo Stone & Worms Ali tagged in Uncle Fester for a expertly crafted ode to the grind on “10 000 Hours”'; and Classified celebrates with Masta Ace to flex their staying power on “Sure Enough”, his newest single.
Plenty of great rap, whatever sub-genre you want to call it. I prefer to knock walls down and break out of containers rather than construct smaller and smaller prisons to segregate ourselves into stylistically. I hope people are open minded enough to listen to something that pushes their sonic boundaries. More new music into more new ears remains the mission statement here on #ATSIC.
This episode is followed by a Fly in Formation interview with Edmonton based emcee KazMega. He’s been on the show before, and last time we ended up talking for almost two hours as well. This time we spoke about his upcoming album “M.E.M.E.”, what makes it “The Most Edmonton Music Ever,” and all sorts of other stuff. Kaz always has good insights into what we should be doing to build the local scene up, and those are the discussions I’m trying to have and share with people. That’s also available on YT. Check the FiF playlist for an archive of all the past guests.
Season 3 of my interview series Fly in Formation continues. The most up to date March, April, May schedule is posted below. I’m trying to keep the momentum with weekly live stream interviews talking to artists, but sometimes scheduling gets bumped around a bit as we flex to accommodate unexpected hurdles from time to time. Hollohan and I are still hoping we can make an interview happen to make up for the missed week, so stay tuned for details on that if we can line it up. Make sure to hit follow on Twitch or subscribe so you don’t have to watch the ad breaks during interviews too. I really appreciate seeing the community growth and having people pop up in chat to say hi during interviews.
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.
