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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ohhhhhhh yeah. Stop the presses, stop the presses! We interrupt this broadcast to bring you good tidings and news of Berner’s new collaboration with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane, ‘Knuckles’. Seriously could there be any better news for an erstwhile, newly out of the closet Berner fan such as myself than news that not only does he have a new song with The King of Memphis and Wop, but that he has a whole EP coming out with Dolph? (Berner is carving out quite the niche market for himself with these ‘collaboration’ albums/mixtapes he’s got projects out with everyone from Cam’ron to The Jacka, including his most recent ‘Vibes’ project with Styles P which was a very solid release). I feel like Big Bern’s stock is at an all-time high right now. Ask the rap gods for new Berner material and ye shall receive. Honestly at this point I may need to make a new category on this blog for Just Berner. At this point it’s too early to say but Knuckles may be my favorite Berner song, and you’re talking to a man who listened to a good 4 Berner albums on a long drive last night.
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 by TraxxFDR (who has collaborated with Berner previously and whipped up some magic with him on my previous favorite Berner song) 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. If I do a ‘beats of the year’ type article at the end of the year this one has staked a strong claim to the top of the list.
File this one under unlikelist of trios I would have expected to link up and make a song together. Not only do these guys join forces, but unlike some other unexpected combinations where the actual track underwhelms and is less interesting than the combination of names itself, these tres amigos bring the fire on Hunnid.
Yakki (nee Yakki Divoshi) absolutely manhandles the chorus on this one as he gleefully booms out ‘I can make a hundred in a daayyyyyy’ and between Hemsworth’s bouncy, summery beat and Yakki’s catchy chorus this song really should get big and be one of the songs of the summer. I feel like Yakki should start blowing up to and start getting even more buzz than he already has, with a couple of bangers under his name now like ‘Trust Issues’ with PNB Rock and the Lil Uzi-assisted ‘Xans’ from his recent album ‘Yakkistick’ which was a pretty enjoyable project. “Every night I’m eating steak and shrimp ’cause I ain’t going back to Church’s”, howls Big Yak at the end of his verse about grinding day and night and then ungrateful people wanting things from you.
Approaching 50, E-40 has shown an amazing knack for longevity and staying relevant in the rap game. I’d imagine life is pretty good for the Sik Wid It CEO right now, with his young bols on the label like OMB Peezy and Nef the Pharaoh making a ton of noise over the past year, but on ‘Hunnid’, like a grizzled player-coach that can still step off the bench and hit a few 3’s in a pinch, E-40 shows that he’s still got it. I’m feeling the Backwoods hoodie E-40 is rocking here too; as one of rap’s elder statesmen he’s not out here rocking skinny moto jeans or some designer shirt with sparkles and rhinestones on it, he’s just keeping it simple and relaxed wearing a comfortable hoodie and winter hat with shades, which is more befitting of a legend of his stature at this point. Shout out to E-40 for the casual, self-aware swagger.
I don’t know much about this dude Hemsworth aside from the fact that he’s from Canada, he produced this sick beat, and apparently he’s one of Yakki’s coworkers at the autobody in the video. From the looks of it this song is from his own album that he’s working on. It looks like he does work both inside and outside the rap genre, which I actually think is a good thing because it gives artists different types of beats to work with and brings in some different perspectives, and between this and working with Adamn Killa on his other recent rap foray ‘Commas’ I’ve definitely got to give the guy credit for having good taste in rappers.
I also like the choice of the yellow Firebird for the car in the video; an underrated American icon in my humble opinion, and the Nef the Pharaoh cameo rocking out with the Sik Wid It chain. I wish they added in a verse from Nef at the end since he was there anyway, but I guess we can’t get TOO greedy since it was already a great song.
You thought we were done with the Berner exploration journey over here? Nah bruh we stay on this Berner grind all summer long, can’t stop won’t stop. I’m not sure if I should thank or blame The Martorialist for inspiring me to go down this treacherous but also sometimes rewarding path. About 10 Berner albums deep, imagine my surprise and pleasure when I saw that his 2015 album ‘Harvest Season’ featured not one but two separate tracks featuring both The Jacka (RIP) and Mozzy on each, along with two other songs featuring the Jacka and one more with Mozzy. Say what you want about this affable Urban Farmer, but the man has an undeniable talent for getting great rappers to work with him and join his projects, as well as getting great verses out of them. I didn’t even know who Mozzy was in 2015 showing that as usual, Berner was ahead of his time.
‘Gone’ has the added bonus of not only featuring the Jacka and Mozzy but also one of my favorite Nor Cal artists who I had gotten into for a while and completely forgotten about, Lil Rue, so it was good to hear him again as well. (Push It and Self Made were both in heavy rotation five or six winters ago I remember bumping them on a New Year’s Eve).
Mozzy raps a bit slower on this track and seems like he has a little bit of a different flow, and it sounds great over the triumphant, battle-ready beat. It actually might be one of my favorite two or three Mozzy verses to date, he absolutely bodies this one…
There are few greater pleasures in life than two of your favorite up and coming rappers unexpectedly coming together to link up for a new track (OK, I can think of a few, but you know what I mean). OMB Peezy has quietly become arguably the king of the blogosphere this year and Yhung T.O has been making plenty of noise of his own both as a part of SOB X RBE and increasingly as a solo artist. His solo debut On My Momma from May was a pretty dope project. Sometimes when two artists you like link up for a track the end result doesn’t live up to the sum of its parts, but ‘Try Sumthin’ is an exception as it’s definitely a slap.
A couple of notes and thoughts on this one…
The ‘Sick Wid It Records’ chain with the pig greedily eating money out of a trough is one of the coldest chains in the rap game (also as a side note, how much momentum does Sick Wid It have right now, with OMB Peezy AND Nef the Pharaoh? They’re like the rap game Golden State Warriors with E40 in the background as like a wizened player-coach.)
The abandoned gas station setting for the video looks so dystopian and sick
The bouncy, melodic beat for this one slaps so hard
Alright Peezy I see you in those Jordan 13’s
I love the red and gold box Chevy (Wow we’re only 19 seconds into the video and already 5 things that I liked)
I have no idea what that sweatshirt with the cat on it that Yhung T.O is wearing is but I’m kind of feeling it (This site is really starting to inadvertently feel like a rap fashion blog these days!)
OMB Peezy – “F*ck all of that typing/twitter beefing b*tch I’m pulling up, playa sh*t, eating steak and shrimp it got me full as f*ck” hell yeah
I like the way Yhung T.O’s voice/flow kind of changes the vibe a bit, his voice goes well with the beat
Yhung T.O – “Ain’t no sympathy for no opps nigga, glock .23 with air holes for a hot nigga” this song is hard af
Cameo from Da Boii from SOB X RBE!
These guys just keep getting better and better and are already two of the best artists out right now
After chilling out listening to ‘4 Minutes All Me’ all week I decided to check out some more aggressive OMB Shawniebo cuts before I turned into some sort of happy lazy walrus or sloth or some other lazy animal. His newest track, ‘I’m Gr8’ certainly fit the bill.
Shawniebo’s Mozzy-esque voice is perfect for an aggressive track like this. A couple of highlights and quick notes here…
THE RETURN OF WOLF MASK! This guy is quickly becoming my favorite rap video cameo
I’m feeling the Arizona Diamondbacks hat that Shawnie is rocking
Great chorus/hook. You are Gr8 Shawniebo don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Anyone know what the deal with the lanyard with what looks like laminated photos on it is that Shawnie is rocking around his neck? I noticed he was also wearing these in the ‘4 Minutes All Me’ video. I’m speculating that it could be photos of fallen friends and he’s wearing it like a chain as a tribute to them?
One minor quibble I had here is that I wish he got rid of that producer tag that you hear numerous times in the video; I checked out his full project ‘Problem Child’ today too and it was a pretty hard mixtape overall but for some reason a lot of the tracks on it had that same tag over and over again.
In any case, good new song from OMB Shawniebo as he builds on his recent momentum and continues to quickly move up the power rankings of bay area rappers.
PINK CHARDONNAY 