Category Archives: Bay Area

Cruz Azul Jerseys and Club America Tracksuits and Farms, Oh My

03 Monday Sep 2018

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ShooterGang Kony – Numba 1 Stunna

Vallejo youngster ShooterGang Kony has all the makings of a star – He’s got a great flow, some nice lines, he’s  charismatic on camera and he’s in good company with Mozzy and Nef the Pharaoh rocking with him, but perhaps most of all, what I’m most impressed by is ShooterGang Kony’s Club America tracksuit. In fact, I’m in awe of his entire crew’s impressive collection of Liga MX Sportswear, from the aforementioned title star’s Club America ensemble (which, I may add, I couldn’t even find online to buy so he definitley went to a real tienda to grab it), to his friend’s Cruz Azul jersey, to the guy’s coat at 0:15 (not sure what team that is or even if it’s a team at all from the logo). Even Nef himself is getting in on the footy-inspired sportswear with his Kappa hoodie although unfortunately he didn’t commit to a specific Mexican top flight team like his more worldly Vallejo brethren.

On a side note, I love the setting for this video, some sort of haunted/abandoned ranch or alfalfa farm outside of Vallejo? Not to mention the slick dance moves and the cameos from Nef as well as the Mozzy chain.

“I ain’t go to college I’m a blood like a Treetop, went to one class in my bag was a knee Glock”

“You Mysterio my pockets on Bautista”

“Bitch I’m King Tut, switch lanes tell em beast up”

“Nigga, fight who? I’ma give you hella heat rocks, weed stop, always in the hood like a street knock”

The chorus is of course him stunting but it’s also a message of self-reliance and individuality. “I’m the number 1 stunna I don’t need nobody’s help, you wake up every day trying to be somebody else.” This almost sounds like it could be a Nef-style brag.

You can also never go wrong with a Chif-Fil-A mention.

I’ve been bumping Kony’s new Kony Ginobli mixtape all Labor Day weekend and since he’s fairly new to me I’ve also been going back and listening to his previous tapes March Madness and Still Kony. This is my favorite song by him so far but he has plenty of other slaps, like the Rap Music Hysteria-highlighted My City, as well and I’m sure there are plenty more to come.

On a side note, is any region having a better summer output-wise than the Bay Area/general Northern California area as a whole? Between ShooterGang Kony, Nef the Pharaoh’s new album, ALLBLACK, and even a new E-40 album, (and even though he’s from LA I almost want to throw Greedo into this mix because of the other project with Nef and all his collaborations with ALLBLACK).

You Was Glad I Got Kicked Out, the Life of a Scrub

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

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Nef the Pharaoh ft. Cuban Doll, ALLBLACK – 86

It may be a bit economically reckless, but if nothing else you’ve got to respect the sheer gall of Nef’s blatant rebuke of one of his primary sources of income; “Fuck them stupid ass casinos, dumb ass clubs.” In essence, he isn’t happy with these places of commerce that serve as his sources of income because they’ll frequently throw him out for acting TOO much of a fool or for bringing weapons in.

I love the bite in Nef’s voice when he says, “Dropped a 4 in my Jones like I’m Donnell” 

But by far my favorite part is when he declares, “I saw you tuck your chains in when we were in the club, you were glad I got kicked out, the life of a scrub.” I love how he’s almost becoming this omniscient narrator here and narrating the guy’s life; the life of a scrub as his voice shifts to a mix of disdain and almost pity for the said scrub.

We always welcome ALLBLACK features here and the ALLBLACK verse was a nice added bonus. The Nef/ALLBLACK collaborations have bore some very tasty fruit before, even if unfortunately Greedo isn’t part of it this time. I’ve been listening to a bunch of Nef all summer like his Porter 2 Grape collaboration with Greedo and going back to some of his older stuff and loosies, so it was a pleasant surprise to see he has his new album ‘The Big Chang Theory’ out and get to listen to it over the weekend.

 

I Make Project Music Like Juvie

24 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Bay Area, L.A., Uncategorized

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03 Greedo ft. Nef the Pharoah, ALLBLACK, Chris O’Bannon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqqNKUhq2Vw

I’m back guys, sorry for the hiatus, the summer heat of the dog days of summer has just got the bol moving more sluggish than ever out here…

Could this new choon off the new 03 Greedo/Nef the Pharoah collaboration possibly be any flamier?

I was hyped up enough about getting a joint project (albeit a short one) from two of my favorites and as if that wasn’t enough there are multiple ALLBLACK features on here who like I said last time is quickly ascending to those ranks, as well as a wildly catchy chorus from Chris O’Bannon who I don’t know but who sounds like some sort of benevolent angel welcoming you to the pearly gates here on this song (Pause! Pause!). ‘Choosy’ just may be in the mix for my top song of 2018 so far. My favorite part is Greedo crooning ‘Make project music like Juvie’.

An added bonus here is the always-entertaining ALLBLACK comparing himself to the ‘fat nigga from D12’ because he’s not wearing a shirt. I absolutely was not expecting to get a Bizarre shoutout/reference in 2018 especially not on a banger like this, but I’ll take it.

I’m kind of down with Nef the Pharoah rocking the Spain jersey on the cover even though they disappointed me (and my wallet) when they bowed out of the World Cup early to Russia.

I’ve talked about unexpected ‘Tres Amigos’ pairings before, i.e. 3 (or in this case I guess 4) guys you would never have expected to hear on a track together working out surprisingly well i.e. Berner with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane – I don’t know if this is so much an unexpected grouping as just a dream team Tres Amigos type of combo that is not to be trifled with.

‘Blow Up Bed’ and ‘Pluto’ off this album were bangers too and Ball Out with ALLBLACK wasn’t bad. This is that California sunshine-y type of summer music we need right now. FREE GREEDO!!!

Take the Pedals off the Bike and Ima Hop on the Pegs

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Bay Area, L.A.

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ALLBLACK ft. 03 Greedo, Prada Mack – Florida Gator

Here ye here ye, your host is hereby temporarily abstaining from the Martorialist-issued embargo on listening to rappers with septum piercings, which as you know, I usually strictly adhere to as they are wise words to live by, but ALLBLACK has me breaking the embargo. (Plus, ALLBLACK actually looks pretty badass with his, unlike some rappers who get them and just end up looking like bratty kids that hang out at Hot Topic.). I originally came here for 03 Greedo’s chorus but left as a new fan of Oakland’s rose-gold-grilled ALLBLACK. (I’m definitely feeling this rose gold grill).

ALLBLACK is certainly a character, and he links up with another big personality here in 03 Greedo in this ode to Florida Gators of an entirely different nature (and nothing to do with Tim Tebow or Aaron Hernandez). ALLBLACK mixes that old school, Oakland/Bay Area attitude with the newer vibe of these Soundcloud era type guys that dress like punk rockers. I fucking love what he’s saying here in his verse… “Y’all want ALLBLACK to be like James Stacy, wouldn’t stop running if the doctor amputated my legs… grinding like Chris Cole cause I gotta keep Maxine fed… take the pedals off the bike and I’ma hop on the pegs”. (By the way I feel like Chris Cole and James Stacy are two of the most random/unexpected references ever in a rap song and here they are basically in the same line). ALLBLACK’s verse and whole flow/vibe have grown on me very quickly and now I’m blasting his verse all the time. His song Canadian Goose is a flamer as well.

Could Greedo’s hook here possibly be any more flammable? 03 Greedo on auto tune is on a whole different level. God Level perhaps? It’s just a short cameo from him here on the hook and no verse but it sounds heavenly. My only complaint is I wish they looped it in a couple more times at the end or something.

ALLBLACK is definitely adding his own spin and style to the Bay and really out of nowhere is turning into one of my new/recent favorites and this and Canadian Goose are turning into two of my most heavily-played songs of this young summer so far. I’m also just starting to delve into the new Greedo album ‘God Level’ which I’m only halfway done with but looks like it’s going to have at least a half-dozen bangers on it. FREE GREEDO!

Life Gave me Lemons I Made Lemonade, All they see’s a Nigga Shining they don’t see the Pain

13 Sunday May 2018

Posted by in Bay Area, Detroit, Dipset, Uncategorized

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Peezy, Philthy Rich ft. Jim Jones – Eastside 

I posted this one a couple of months back in one of my top 10s; this one was on Peezy’s ‘Balling Ain’t a Crime’ mixtape from last year and then on ‘East Side’ the collaboration mixtape that him and Philthy Rich put out in February. But something about the Herb Alpert ‘Making Love in the Rain’ sample, the subject matter of them talking about growing up and their moms and grandmas, maybe the NBA playoffs being back, and today being Mother’s Day has me feeling super nostalgic and I wanted to put it up because it captures that feeling.

Jim Jones has been putting out some of his all-time finest work lately and I’m glad they tapped him for this one.

“I don’t use pens but let me write about it… I got niggas in the pen doing life about it, niggas that I won’t see again lost their life about it, shit runs deep so I don’t sleep plenty nights about it. All the cold nights that we had no heater, in the lobby pumping white with a cold heater.”

I love the interlude in the middle before Peezy’s verse; “Sometimes shit gets a little rough in life; but you know you gotta stand strong and fight through it all my baby. Shit get greater later.”

Peezy then lays down just a real, heartfelt moving verse…

“Knew I was special when they birthed me, I moved out my mama’s crib at 13. Roaches in the Fruity Pebbles when we go to the eat, you ain’t seen no shit like this in your worst dreams. Moved to my granny’s Crib on the West, she ain’t have a lot but she did her best. Going to school smelling like kerosene, fuck this there gotta be a better way for me. Only East Side nigga in the whole school, I was forced to share clothes with my old dude, hardest times of my life and they got harder too… Life gave me lemons I made lemonade, all they see’s a nigga shining but don’t see the pain.”

Obviously real life is more important than music as I’ve unfortunately had to say a couple of times on this site lately, so I’m just happy Peezy survived the recent shooting for his own well-being, but from a music perspective, I’m hyped he’s going to still be out here making music like this. The first couple of times I heard him he didn’t grab me as a fan right away but as I’ve went through his whole catalogue and listened to him more and more over time he’s become one of my favorites not just out of Detroit but out of current artists in general; he’s amongst the most prolific and productive out of Detroit in terms of sheer volume of releases, he brings that certain motivational sense of hustle and hunger, he has tons of great lines, and he puts a lot of heart and soul into his music. Now we just have to hope that his recent indictments he’s been hit with don’t jam him up and slow down his grind.

P.S. he also just put up this song last week the intro is a little long but he slams this one…

“Will I make it out the streets you will never know, I got court in the morning I don’t want to go. Got some niggas doing life and they on level 4, but they all rooting for me they just hope I blow.”

The album intro ‘Ain’t Fair’ also went hard AF as did the third track, Tied In, which featured an always-welcome verse from FMB DZ and a nice contribution from All Star Lee.

“All My Chains On I Don’t Tuck None, Call Me Simba Bitch You Fucking with the King’s Son”

07 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Cookie Money – Pops Died Last Week

An intense and heartfelt song by East Oakland’s Cookie Money about the death of his father. You can really feel both the sense of sadness and loss as well as the feeling of resolute determination to carry on the family legacy and shouldering the burden of making sure that the rest of his family is straight no matter what it takes. You can really feel where he’s coming from with the unique mix of angry defiance and deep sadness that’s hard to describe. Apparently his father was a serious hustler during the crack epidemic of the 1980s and then spent a lot of time in prison but he and Cook remained very close. I usually don’t watch Vlad TV that frequently but the Cookie Money interview on it was pretty good and delved more into Cookie Money’s background/life story etc it’s long but I would definitely recommend it.  It seems like he’s lost a lot of people close to him recently over the last few months from his dad to his grandmother to some of his homies so hopefully he can find some peace and things get better for him soon.

I don’t think Cookie is doing anything crazy lyrically but he’s a real, genuine artist who can really make you feel what he’s saying, which makes it even more impressive. He’s not doing it with crazy wordplay or rhyme schemes he’s just doing this with pure heart.

“All my chains on I don’t tuck none, I’m tryna tell them that they fucking with the wrong one, call me Simba bitch you fucking with the king’s son.”

“My daddy died last week bruh this shit hurt. I never thought he’d be the one who had to leave first. I gotta hold my brother down I gotta take the torch, show these niggas what this East Oakland shit is worth.”

“Ready to kill any pussy nigga that look at me wrong. Broad day, no mask, whole clip to his dome. I would never question God I can’t say that he wrong, you were more than my father bruh it’s hard to move on. How the fuck you tell (???) that her Papa is gone, I hear your voice late night ‘Lil nigga be strong, same name do your thing keep the legacy going’, I lost my best friend bruh y’all didn’t even know him.”

Gucci’d Down to the Tube Socks

11 Thursday Jan 2018

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Willie Joe, Benny, YL Next Up – Mo Guap Mo Problems 

You wouldn’t think that attempting a remake of ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’ in late 2017 with a bunch of youngins from Cali and adding in a whole lot of auto tune would be a good idea… but it’s actually kind of fire?!?! Yhung T.O -nemesis Benny and his merry gang of DripSquad cohorts fucking kill it here (The DripSquad logo of the anthromorphic water droplet is actually pretty dope). I’ve always been a sucker for this beat and remember the original Biggie version being one of the first songs that ever caught my attention/that I liked as an earnest young elementary schooler.

I can’t lie, I’m definitely a little jelly of the guy at 0:27 that’s rocking that super clean long-sleeve Samoa rugby 7’s pullover.

Benny brings the heat on the melodic hook which goes surprisingly well with the Mo Money Mo Problems beat; “Blue paint on the new drop, too hot Gucci’d down to the tube socks, 19 young nigga with a bank roll, mo money ain’t a problem with a draco”. Props to Benny for making the motion of fanning himself off when he says ‘too hot’.

I like how Willie Joe changes the ‘no info for the DEA’ from the OG version to just ‘no info for the DA.’ “N-O, S-O nigga, D-A, H20 no info for the DA, Yanni got the draco got you running like a relay, bruh locked up his BM had us on 3-way. It’s Joey though, started from the bottom like we OVO, somebody sleeping in the bed it ain’t Nokio, rappers doing all this lying like Pinocchio, I’m a fly nigga rocking Bape straight from Tokyo.” (Side note – first time I heard Willie Joe was on ‘Top Ramen‘ this time last year which had a great hook from Lazy Boy). I’ like how DripSquad henchman YL Next Up just keeps snapping harder and harder as his short verse goes on. (Side side note – most of these same guys Willie Joe, YL Next Up etc. are in another dope song ‘Cruisin’ that Corolla Club highlighted in his monthly top 10, which also features another pretty sick Samoa rugby jersey).

The white dude with the dreads and the gnarly beard isn’t even named in the title of the video but through EXTENSIVE research (me lazily clicking around on Youtube while I’m supposed to be working) I believe his name is ‘Stony Bobby’ and he seems to be a DripSquad affiliate. (Is Stony Bobby the Bay Area’s answer to Kid Rock?) (Edit/Update: After more Youtubing, it’s also possible that the white dude with dreads and the black dude with dreads are called YL Next Up as a group, and Stony Bobby is someone else entirely?! Very mysterious). What he lacks in shaving skills he certainly more than makes up for in the sheer energy he brings to the track and his general over the top theatrics he uses to act out what he’s saying. Come on, look at the look on his face at 2:47 or the exaggerated running motion at 2:56; how could you not love this guy? And like he says, he’s just trying to push that Porsche Panamera with the leather, and who can begrudge him of that?

 

 

 

Smoking Cookie, and my Baby Mama Hating Tryna Jugg Me

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Lazy Boy ft. Snootie Wild – Kinda Famous 

Another highlight from the new Lazy Boy mixtape, this one the eponymous intro track featuring an unexpected cameo from Snootie Wild of ‘Yayo’ fame from a few years ago.

Best Lazy Boy line – “Got the draco on the seat when I’m in the car, I’m going hard for my brothers on the prison yard.”

I had basically completely forgotten about Snootie and didn’t expect to hear from him again especially not on a mixtape by Lazy Boy but I’m enjoying his feature on here as he plays more of a Fetty Wap type role, contributing a sing-song verse where he details how he’s ‘Famous Amos smoking cookie, and my baby mama hating tryna jugg me’ which I love because of how ridiculous it sounds. There’s also a very unexpected Al Bundy reference that works. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Snootie make a comeback in this type of a role going forward let’s see some more rappers utilize him on tracks in this fashion.

Had to Fall Off Before I Came Up, Every Single Pic I’ma Throw the Gang Up

13 Monday Nov 2017

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Lazy Boy – Not the Same 

I’m feeling this understated slap off of San Jose’s Lazy Boy’s new Kinda Famous project. I love the melodic, lazy (sorry I had to!) unassuming way he sort of half-raps, half-whispers great lines like these as he lilts over the beat…

“Doubting on me I came a long way, glizzy on me keep it on me all day, ‘Lazy Boy I fuck with you’ is what they all say, but they ain’t ride with me when I went the wrong way. Forty on my hip, gauge in the trunk, speaking on my name I’ll hit his face up. Had to fall off before I came up, every single pic I’ma throw the gang up.”

“I let 100 in the K go, they know my face so it’s kind of hard to lay low. One call have the gang on its Halo.”

“Homie this is real shit, tear drops on my face from the field trips.”

The way Lazy raps some of these lines is basically the same as the tone/timing he uses when he raps “I’m rocking Ralph Lauren, hella missed calls when I wake up in the morning” and gives him a unique flow.

I was a fan of last year’s In My Hood, his debut full-length, and Kinda Famous is shorter but a good release as well. As an added bonus there’s a pretty wild mix of unexpected features from anyone from Snootie Wild to A-Wax. If you’re looking to listen to something by a rapper with some bold face tattoos that ISN’T Tekashi I would highly recommend Lazy Boy.

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

06 Friday Oct 2017

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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??