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Author Archives: pinkchardonnay

“I Really Tote a 30, Hit the Gas if I Get Pulled”

17 Tuesday Oct 2017

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PC Tweezie – Really

PC Tweezie’s got me ready to fight people at the club with this one, and I don’t even really go to the club. This song goes too hard. There’s nothing overly-complicated or subtle here; Problem Child Tweezie just comes in and throws haymakers in a straight up tour de force. It’s not physically possible to put this on in your car and not start speeding.

PC Tweezie opens strong and makes his presence felt right away, pummeling the opening verse, “I was really in the trenches with them wolves, I really tote a .30 hit the gas if I get pulled. I’ll really beat your ass run up on you like a bull, I’m really getting fat them hos say I’m getting full.” I love everything about this verse –  The hit the gas if I get pulled line just sounds badass AF, while in the days of rappers talking about their nose rings and desinger messenger bags it just feels refreshing to hear PC Tweezie rap about doling out a good old-fashioned beating and literally taking food off of other inmate’s plates. Lastly, I definitely respect that his hos are admiring his weight gain, because usually when I put on some extra pounds I end up just getting fat-shamed into jogging so he definitely has some serious clout.

In possibly my favorite rhyme of ‘extension’ and ‘extension’ ever, Tweezie deftly deploys it in two different usages and some pretty evocative imagery that shows he’s absolutely not fucking around: “I really keep a 40 glock that came with the extensions, I’m quick to bat a bitch and drag a ho by the extensions.” (Made even better by the ‘I’m silly’ ad lib right after).

So many other hard lines…

“I’m really bout to set the record straight. I’m really from the gutter food stamps section 8. I really did time 6 years 30 days. I’m really slangin iron you can check my resume.”

‘I really got a chopper in the rental. I really try to kill ya I ain’t shooting out the window.”

(*Another low key and easy to overlook highlight of the video is the newspaper headline “Tensions Rise in Local Prison” with the byline “PC’s First Day in Lockup Didn’t Go So Well for the Other Inmates”. )

Florida really is quietly perhaps the most diverse and underappreciated state for rap; you have everything from Kodak to guys like Lil Pump and Smokepurp to of course wing mogul Rick Ross, and everything in between, and now we can add Riviera Beach’s PC Tweezie to the list. I’m looking forward to listening to both of his mixtapes and some of his other stuff as well as some of the other guys from his Lost Key Records squad.

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Back Then, You Could Give a Knock a Rock for a Book of Food Stamps

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Bay Area

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With all the crazy stuff going on out here in the world lately, sometimes it feels good to reminisce about a simpler, more carefree time, for example, by taking a trip down memory lane with Key Loom, who affably leads us on a guided tour of his hood in those golden days of youth where you could “give a knock a rock for a book of food stamps.”

Key Loom really sets the aesthetic in his dope 2016 song ‘Succa Free’; “Back then, orange juice with the old E, on the turf soaking game from the OG’s”. Everything from the picture he paints with the verses and the scene he sets to the infectious chorus are top notch; this song isn’t new but I’ve probably listened to it about 30 times this week.

Another notable moment is Key Loom staking his claim to being the “flyest gang bang nigga that you’ve ever seen.” In most of the videos I’ve seen, Key Loom seems to favor more of a sensible, utilitarian fashion such as Dickies and plain t shirts and perhaps a winter hat (not to mention the obligatory blue bandana),  as opposed to some of the more daring “fly” designer gear favored by many of the younger rappers, but hey I have no reason to dispute his claim to that title. For example, see below for a quintessential Key Loom look…

(*Side note, I feel like this is a pretty underrated album cover/artwork)

Image result for key loom when animals attack

There are a bunch of other standout lines like…

“From the era of the D-boys, with a closet full of Air Maxes, in the trap counting stacks on an air mattress”.

Before he throws an absolute haymaker with this strong verse towards the end…

“Burner glove* full of gun shot residue, stay ready what you bitch niggas better do, couple holes in my body but I’m still stepping, thank God every day that’s a real blessing. Still keep my eyes peeled ’cause I’m on shit, fuck them suckas if they throwing up the wrong set”.

*Note that burner gloves are another go-to staple of the Key Loom wardrobe

P.S. – Can we get a Berner/Key Loom collaboration album??

I’m the Midwest Whale on a Lawnmower…

24 Sunday Sep 2017

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The Martorialist, perhaps the chief purveyor of Kansas City’s underappreciated rap scene, got me on a Rich the Factor binge with his recent post on ‘Aristocrat‘ and I’ve been avidly surfing in this Kansas City whale’s wake ever since, delving into his previous work. My favorite song by him thus far is ‘1000’ on his last mixtape, appropriately also entitled ‘1000’. Over a really simple but enjoyable beat, Rich takes us back to the 90s with a flow and bars that seem like they could be preserved in time from the golden era of mafioso rap, and does it exceedingly well. There just aren’t too many guys that rap like this anymore. I also love his laid back flow and voice which makes it sound like he’s such a boss that he’s never had to rush himself for anyone in his entire life. Some great bars in this one from the aristocrat himself..

“We gonna eat with our hands or a fat plate, and I’m good in the jungle like a black ape”

Rich is always on the lookout for snakes in the grass and cuts them down quick, I’m just picturing him riding around a lavish suburban lawn at 5 MPH on a pimped-out looking John Deere…

“Backstabber and a rat and the back door, I’m the Midwest whale on a lawnmower. Grass cut got it looking like it’s Arrowhead, it’s a cannon you can tell by the barrelhead.”

Rich takes the unlikely whale/lawnmower combination to the next level by not only rapping about them but also coming up with these dope whale/lawnmower t-shirts. I see these teenage rappers out here rocking these tight designer shirts where you’re not even sure if it’s for a man or a woman, but give me one of Rich’s whale t shirts, a pair of sweatpants and some clean white Air Force 1’s over that nonsense any day of the week and I’ll be a happy camper. You’ve got to respect a man who just embodies a brand and goes for it all out.

Image result for rich the factor whale

You’ve also got to love the KC-specific Arrowhead reference. With the Chiefs at 2-0, is it unreasonable for this blogger to dream of Andy Reid charging out of the tunnel (actually can Andy Reid really charge anywhere?), looking like the Kool Aid Man in his red short-sleeved windbreaker, leading  the boys out onto the field to this top-notch mob music in the AFC championship game? Then after the big win Kareem Hunt and Eric Berry dump the Gatorade out on Andy Reid to celebrate as ‘Aristocrat’ comes on over the Jumbotron speakers, but instead of Gatorade, it’s Whale Water. A newly minted fan of older Kansas City rappers can dream, can’t he?

Image result for rich the factor whale

Top 10 Songs September 2017

24 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by in Monthly Top 10

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Berner & Young Dolph ft. Ampichino – Win Big

Big Bern stays winning on here as this blog’s unexpected champion of 2017 with my top song for September ‘Win Big.’ Whether it was Berner snubbing Yeezys in the first verse or a Trump reference from Ampichino that was as unexpected as it was edgy, or the heavenly beat, Win Big just stormed its way to the trophy. I wrote previously –

“This song has me feeling like me, Berner, Dolph, and Amp just won a big, hard-fought battle in an enemy city and we’re now realizing it’s over and it was costly, but we gave it our all, we won, and we’re all still here and we’re all good. We’re taking our masks/helmets/visors off and putting our guns down and we’re just triumphantly looking around and surveying the carnage and taking it all in, looking at each other and giving a knowing nod to our brothers in arms. Or we just won a championship and Berner hit the winning 3 at the buzzer against all odds and now we’re all just basking in the glow of knowing we achieved glory.

I was already singing the praises of Berner & Dolph’s collaboration project ‘Tracking Numbers’ because ‘Knuckles’, the first track they leaked from it, was already easily one of my favorite songs of the year. Little did I know that by the time this 8 track mixtape was over that another song from it would be right up there with Knuckles as one of my favorite songs, and beats, of the year. The beat for this one is so triumphant and honest and perfectly captures the ‘Win Big’ mantra. I have to find out who came up with this beat. Berner is like Jameis Winston right now; he’s been around for a couple of seasons but now he’s entering his prime and ready to take the league by storm.”

Lil B – Bad MF

If it wasn’t for Berner hogging the spotlight, Lil B very well could have had the top song for September with not only Bad MF, but Berkley, off his new Black Ken album.

“You can’t see me, even with glasses. West Coast motherf*cker and I’m smashin’. I don’t care if you play this on the radio, ’cause they love me from Oakland to Fillmoe.

Yeah I’m from the ghetto, where motherf*ckers will change your whole schedule. You can meet me at the sideshow, I’m a rap star b*tch I don’t drive slow!”

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Chillin, High as Mount Rushmore, Yeah Baby I’m a Drug Store

15 Friday Sep 2017

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Lil B takes the trap star analogies to the next level on his homage to his hometown Berkeley off of his excellent Black Ken album, he’s not a drug dealer, he’s an entire drug store. F*ck a Walgreen’s or a Rite Aid, the BasedGod has got what you need and accepts most health insurance plans.

I also like the line immediately following it, “We in downtown Berkeley, I’m not rich, but I’m working.” Lil B always has a way of turning the mundane and banal into a positive and makes you fee la little better about grinding away to make ends meet every week. The beat for Berkeley seems like it could go on forever and it goes perfect with the overall atmosphere of the song.

Image result for lil b

I Don’t Care if you Play this on the Radio, ‘Cause They Love me from Oakland To Fillmore

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by in Bay Area

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Y’all thought I was done over here? Nah bruv I’ve just been so immersed in Lil B’s new Black Ken album in which the Based God engages in a bit of revisionist history and reimagines himself as one of the pioneers of hip hop from the 1980s that I’ve lost track of time.

The beat almost sounds like something from a 70s or 80s movie where some sort of menacing but ultimately cartoonish villain is strutting onto the scene for the first time. “Watch out, I’m a bad motherf*cker…” opens Lil B. I don’t think anyone could pull off an album, song, or even just the song title ‘Bad MF’ in 2017 besides Lil B. And not only can he pull it off, he makes it into an absolute slap.

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Yhung T.O – Been Through

04 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in Bay Area

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Forget accolades like best up and coming young rappers or best Bay Area artists, Yhung T.O is up there as having one of the strongest 2017’s of any artist, period, regardless of region or age bracket. Between his output with SOB X RBE, some of the slaps on his debut project On My Momma like ‘Love the Way’ and his recent collaboration Try Sumthin with OMB Peezy, Yhung T.O just can’t miss right now. Even with all those jams under his belt, ‘Been Through’, off of his new Before the Fame EP, may be his best song to date.

You can really feel both the pain and triumph in his voice on the resilient ‘Been Through’:

“Feel like I deserve a trophy, ballin for my homies, gotta keep a 30 in my 40, cause you don’t know what I’ve been through,” croons T.O over an almost melancholy piano-driven beat, as he more sings than raps on most of this track.

“Lately, sh*t been drivin a nigga crazy, I gotta watch my back cause they hate me, so how could you blame me, for putting 50 in this drakie? I gotta make it home to my baby.”

A very compelling track by one of the most charismatic artists in the game. It’s early but I think ‘Been Through’ is going to join OMB Shawniebo’s ‘4 Minutes All Me‘ and Berner’s two new gems with Young Dolph ‘Win Big‘ and ‘Knuckles‘ as early candidates for my favorite couple of songs of 2017.

 

Berner & Young Dolph ft. Ampichino – Win Big

31 Thursday Aug 2017

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This song has me feeling like me, Berner, Dolph, and Amp just won a big, hard-fought battle in an enemy city and we’re now realizing it’s over and it was costly, but we gave it our all, we won, and we’re all still here and we’re all good. We’re taking our masks/helmets/visors off and putting our guns down and we’re just triumphantly looking around and surveying the carnage and taking it all in, looking at each other and giving a knowing nod to our brothers in arms. Or we just won a championship and Berner hit the winning 3 at the buzzer against all odds and now we’re all just basking in the glow of knowing we achieved glory.

I was already singing the praises of Berner & Dolph’s collaboration project ‘Tracking Numbers’ because ‘Knuckles’, the first track they leaked from it, was already easily one of my favorite songs of the year. Little did I know that by the time this 8 track mixtape was over that another song from it would be right up there with Knuckles as one of my favorite songs, and beats, of the year. The beat for this one is so triumphant and honest and perfectly captures the ‘Win Big’ mantra. I have to find out who came up with this beat. Berner is like Jameis Winston right now; he’s been around for a couple of seasons but now he’s entering his prime and ready to take the league by storm.

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“Overkill Peezy”

29 Tuesday Aug 2017

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You guys thought I was done over here? Nah fam, I was just hibernating and bumping the new Berner & Dolph mixtape on repeat for the last week. In other news, OMB Peezy continues his streak of very solid releases with this menacing ode to those who dare cross him, ‘The Hard Way’. Nothing fancy here but the foreboding beat, great chorus, and good verses is a surefire and time-tested combo. Just another really good release in Peezy’s overall body of work, I don’t think he’s released a bad song yet. What’s more, Peezy shows a knack for tasteful wall art at his home and even more importantly that pillow he’s lounging on that makes its debut at around the 0:37 mark looks comfortable AF, almost like he’s chilling out on a fluffy white cloud. I’m also loving the self-appointed moniker ‘Overkill Peezy’. He’s also teasing another song on Instagram called ‘Pressure’ which should be dropping soon so I’m fully expecting his streak of hits to continue.

Image result for omb peezy

Top 10 Songs August 2017

22 Tuesday Aug 2017

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August was probably the best month of new music in a long time for your humble host, with new projects out by everyone from Kodak Black to Peewee Longway to Berner, and probably two of my favorite songs of the year so far, ‘4 Minutes All Me’ by OMB Shawniebo and Berner’s new joint ‘Knuckles’ with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane. Perhaps most importantly of all we got news of what I expect to be the holy grail in a long list of Berner collaboration albums, his project with Young Dolph, which should be out at the end of this month. Here are the top 10 songs for an unexpectedly great month.

OMB Shawniebo – 4 Minutes All Me

OMB Shawniebo comes out with an early contender for song of the year on here. See previous post on 4 Minutes All Me here. You can never go wrong with this type of combination of wolf masks, baby blue Gap sweatshirts, luscious beats, and 4 minutes of just obliterating one of the tastiest beats in recent memory.

Berner ft. Young Dolph, Gucci Mane – Knuckles

Ever the savvy businessman, Berner teased the release of Tracking Numbers with Young Dolph by serving up Knuckles, also featuring Gucci Mane, as a tasty appetizer for it. In almost any other month, when I didn’t first hear ‘4 Minutes All Me’, the unexpected duo of Bern and Dolph would have taken home the crown for top song of August. As In any case, I have a feeling that this will clock in in my top handful of songs for the year and I’m looking forward to Tracking Numbers at the end of the month. As I said at the time… 

“According to Dirty Glove Bastard, the upcoming project with Young Dolph, entitled ‘Tracking Numbers,’ will have features from Gucci Mane, Peewee Longway, OJ Da Juiceman, Juicy J, Philthy Rich, and more. I can’t wait to hear the one with Project Pat. I loved DGB’s tepid/noncommital reaction to news of the Berner/Dolph project – “Berner & Young Dolph were probably the last 2 people you’d expect to collab for an entire project, but here we are.” You’ve got to love the ‘But here we are’ as the way to end your thoughts on something that you’re just not sure what to make of. Also, are the ‘Tracking Numbers’ referred to in the title referring to shipments from the Cookies clothing line that this hard-working fashion entrepeneur is senidng out to his customers, or to ‘cookies’ of a more illicit nature? Only time will tell when the album comes out.

I was excited enough just to see an unexpected collaboration between these 3, but the beat is absolutely delicious and takes this song to a whole different level. I’m curious who made it and what the sample is from. It has me feeling like I’m at a roller rink in the 70s with Berner, Dolph and the crew just casually skating around, smoking some cookie, chatting up the roller girls.

I loved Big Bern’s opening salvo “No handouts, I got here with nothing. The bezel and band on my wrist keep busting. I got birds from the Asians, guns from the Russians, VVVS’s on my chain keep dancing all custom” BUT the part of his verse that put it over the top for me and really spoke to me, as a big introvert, was Berner’s bold declaration “Fuck the club, dog. I’d rather stay in. I’ve got stacks to count, plus this batch just came in.” We definitely need more of that attitude in the rap world I’m all for it. I mean I don’t have many stacks to count when I stay in it’s more likely that I’m just eating takeout and watching Shark Week or Drugs Inc. but I’m feeling what he’s saying.”

Ryan Hemsworth ft. Yakki, E-40 – Hunnid

Definitely one of the happiest and sunniest songs of the year so far, this unlikely group of tres amigos certainly bring the fire on Hunnid. This is another song that in some months could have plausibly took the honor of song of the month if it wasn’t such a stacked lineup already.

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