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Category Archives: California

Whole House Smelling like Pressing Comb… And a Little bit of Flat Iron

17 Friday May 2019

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Suga Free ft. Kokane – Hole in My Heart 

It’s always a JOY… when Suga Free blesses us with a new album full of heaters.

Is that Suga Free moshing at 1:23??

I’ve been meaning to post this forever so now will finally use the video coming out as an excuse to put it up. Like the homie Icebergsweater said, the whole Suga Free album slaps.  Suga Free is pushing 50 but this is definitley on the shortlist for album of the year so far in my book. Another great production by L-Finguz, who it seems like pretty much produced this entire album save for a song or two, I love the beat and the flourishes of talkbox thrown in. As my boy Onmirestig points out, L-Finguz is having a big year, producing the lion’s share of this album and a bunch of joints on the new Mistah Fab album as well and probably a bunch of other stuff I’m overlooking at the moment. At some point soon I want to sit down and put together a list cataloging all of the L-Finguz productions from this year.

On a related note, I’m usually not a huge Vlad TV guy but his most recent interview with Suga Free is non-stop entertainment, because it’s Suga Free, and even Vlad can’t get in the way of that. Even just the introduction itself is hilarious, where Suga Free is like ‘Nice to be here, right on’ and ‘I get to meet the man behind the magic’ to Vlad and it’s a mix of friendly, intimidating and somewhat troll-y all at once, or when Vlad is asking him about the secret to success in pimping and Suga Free takes a long pause and then just asks ‘Why?’. It’s also a 14-part interview so you have to really carve out some time to sit down and watch it. The shirt he’s rocking for it as wild too.

Suga Free is keeping up the pressure on the simps all 2019.

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Stepped Out of Prison Going Brazy

10 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Bay Area, California

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Mistah FAB ft. CML Lavish D, Philthy Rich – U Feel Me 

Front Row Fabby linking up with King Lavish D and Philthy for this absolute banger.Was about to post ‘taking a break from Bay beef for a day’ and post a different song today but then I was hyped when I saw that the video for U Feel Me came out a couple of hours ago since I’ve been bumping it all week. Weirdly it appears on both Fab’s new ‘Gold Chains and Taco Meat’ album as well as CML and Philthy’s ‘Political Ties’ project but it slaps so I don’t mind hearing it on both. The song/concept is so simple but just goes so hard. It reminds me of Lav’s ‘What Else’ i.e. the pattern of saying ‘What Else’ and then a short line being repeated over the course of the song/rapping a short line and then asking ‘U Feel Me?’. Not sure who handled the beat for this one but it knocks.

Everybody here is good and their resumes speak for themselves but Lav steals the show which I feel like is becoming a common theme lately. I love the ‘Stepped out of prison going brazy’ line. The ‘I’m a Livewire like Shady’ part was an unexpected surprise since I thought Lav funking with Shady back in the day was how his original feud with all of the One Mob guys started (as my boy Onmirestig explained) but as we’ve seen, you never know what to expect in these ever-shifting Sacramento/Oakland politics; enemies can become allies quickly and vice versa.

I always figured Mistah FAB was friendly with Mozzy and they’ve done a bunch of songs together (including with Philthy Rich on the same track) back when everyone was still  friends so I’m not sure if this appearance is a statement on where he stands by Fab or if he just wanted to get two of the hottest names in the game right now on a track he knew was going to be a banger. I’m going to assume the latter because I feel like Fab is too friendly and positive of a dude for that type of beef.

How about getting a mega-mix of this one where they add Suga Free and let’s say… Cookie Money, and ALLBLACK why the hell not?

P.S. I got a chance to bump Fab’s new album ‘Gold Chains and Taco Meat’ (what a name lol) a couple of times on a long drive this week and as usual you can count on Fabby to deliver with at least a couple of bangers; so far I like U Feel Me, Hey Baby, Time 4 U, and of course Playa Shit at the end with Suga Free and Too $hort.

A Couple of Stray Musings on Lavish D/King Lavish D/CML Lavish D

30 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by in Bay Area, California

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As a long-ago Lavish D convert I wanted to take the opportunity of the new Lav/Philthy Rich mixtape and this heightening Philthy/Mozzy feud to post a few loose thoughts on King Lav that have been on my mind…

  • If I could get access to a time machine one of my highest priorities would be to go back in time to like 2016-2017 to the height of the ‘One Mob’ vs Lav beef and blow a few Bay Area rap fans’ minds by showing them this Lav/Philthy collaboration album from the future and then hop back in the time machine and leave back for the future without explaining the whole context of what led to it
  • My favorite aspect of the Mozzy/Philthy beef is the fact that Messy Marv is certainly the centerpiece of the beef – Philthy is mad that Mozzy linked up with Messy – so he then linked up Mozzy’s archenemy Lav – who featured Messy himself on the remix for arguably his biggest song (Speak My Mind/What Else remix).
  • Lav may be THE most elusive artist to conveniently find the complete discography of in all of rap, which is saying something  – I had been on a bit of a Lav kick after not listening to him in a while after seeing his cameo in the San Quinn video and I found albums/mixtapes by him on Spotify listed under Lavish D, King Lavish D, CML Lavish D, and even just CML. Given the all-over the place nature of his catalogue I might need to compile a top 10 Lav songs here in the future.
  • I guess Lav is signed to Cash Money or Cash Money West now so congrats to him on that. I wonder if that means we’ll get a Lav/Blueface collaboration some time soon.
  • Sadly I have to admit I was super hyped when I saw that this project was out but unfortunately even though I am a fan of both, I didn’t feel like any specific track really jumped out at me as a highlight and wasn’t really as good as both of their recent solo work. (I just posted the title track for this article since it’s the title track and has a new video).  That being said I’ll give it another listen and maybe that will change over time. But I felt like a lot of tracks on here were just remixes thrown together of their previous songs etc. Maybe we can get a second collaboration from them because I’m definitley still intrigued by the idea even if the execution didn’t live up to it in this case.
  • I wonder where out of town allies like Yung Cat and A-Wax will line up in this whole battle because on the one hand probably the only thing that united them on tracks like Diamonds Dancing was obviously their mutual dislike of Mozzy but on the other hand I would have to imagine none of them were like wildly in favor of Philthy either.

In all seriousness though let’s hope that this Philthy/Mozzy beef stays on wax and no one gets hurt over it

P.S. here’s what I wrote at the time after I first checked out Lav and posted about it as a young blogger still trying to come up in the blog game, not as bad as I thought…

“As a Mozzy fan I almost felt a bit sneaky and slimey deciding to check out Lavish D’s last couple of mixtapes but much like a cheating spouse eventually the curisoity and temptation got the better of me and I decided to delve into it. He has some pretty good songs and my favorite of all of them was last year’s ‘Iraq’…You’ve also got to tip your hat to any video where the actual rapper isn’t in the video because he’s behind bars so everyone is wearing shirts saying ‘Free Cash Money Lavish’ on them. After listening to a couple of mixtapes I would say that Mozzy has a bit more star power than Lavish D but Lavish D certainly isn’t just a neighborhood rapper looking to get famous by dissing Mozzy, he has a bit of star power and quite a few good songs in his own right. My other favorite by him so far is ‘Speak My Mind‘. Now that he is free I’m going to keep an eye out for his new material as it comes out.”

California Kid Like Tom Brady

19 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in Bay Area, California

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San Quinn – Ain’t Nobody Thugging 

San Quinn has got over 25 years in the game at this point and he’s still putting out heat. This beat is slapping like a San Fran pimp when the money ain’t right. That voice singing the hook is so dope. I love the video too with the shots of the bridge and the waterfront.

“Big wads, new cars, move around with 10 large, for a verse 10 large after this I’m finna charge”

“We ain’t sippin Hen we sippin’ Dom Perignon, move along square nigga let the mob carry on”

I haven’t kept up with this whole ever-evolving Mozzy/CML/Messy Marv/Philthy etc. beef because all the moving parts make it like a multi-generational multi-city Northern California Game of Thrones and your host is too much of a square and doesn’t have the attention span for all that he just wants to enjoy the slaps, but it looks like Lavish D has a cameo here so I guess San Quinn is down with him. Wouldn’t mind getting a remix of this with Lavish on here and maybe a couple of Frisco rappers – dare I suggest Berner anyone?

These Songs are the Spirituals I Swam Against the Waves With: RIP Nipsey Hussle

03 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by in California, Crip, L.A.

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Man I wish I didn’t have to post this/can’t believe I’m posting it but RIP Nipsey. I know I’m a couple of days late but wanted to just pay my respects to a west coast legend who was really pushing the envelope and setting a great example for the next generation in terms of entrepreneurship and giving back to your community. There are a lot of good choices but the above is probably my favorite song by him and one of the most profound.

This Ain’t Entertainment, this for niggas on the slave ship, these songs are the spirituals I swam against the waves with, made it to the shore to their amazement.” 

I saw a couple of awesome paintings/drawings of Nipsey, somedone by his peers and fellow rappers, in the days following his passing, so wanted to include some of my favorites below.

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💯💯💯💯🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

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🙏🏾🙏🏾✌🏾👍🏾#4ever

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Nipsey Hussle Dr Sebi Poster

P.S. You’ve got to love this from Russell Westbrook

Ten Niggas Ten Straps We Ain’t Fighting

17 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by in Bay Area, California

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Offset Jim – No Pressure

Saw this one on Ray Garraty a couple weeks back. I remember seeing this guy in those Thizzler end of the year cypher videos too. This beat is so crunchy and ALLBLACK’s homie acquits himself nicely here. “Knock a nigga’s lights out like I’m Tyson, ten niggas ten straps we ain’t fighting.” I love the look on his face and the dismissive wave of the hand when he informs you that ‘we ain’t fighting’. I’m always down for an ALLBLACK cameo in a video and here he’s styling in that black Chris Webber jersey. Would it be too bold of a claim to say Offset Jim > Offset from Migos at this point in time?

ME TIME

10 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by in Bay Area, California

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Chippass, ALLBLACK, E40 – Me 

It’s only right that ALLBLACK and E-40 would finally link up; two off-kilter flowing Bay Area P’s from overlapping but different eras with their own eccentric senses of humor. Even better that these kindred spirits are spitting over this monstrous Bay beat from Sho Nuff. This beat is nasty I can’t wait to put this on full blast in the whip. Add in a verse from the always-reliable Chippass and you’ve got a perfect Tres Amigos track. ALLBLACK is one of the best out right now. You’ve got to love the fact that he’s one of the hottest names in the game but he’s still grateful on every song still humbly thanking everyone for fucking with him. For every E-40 line nowadays that makes you say, “come on E-40” he has a simple but dope line like “If I go broke I’m selling the car that I’m driving” or “If you jump ship there ain’t no getting back on my boat.” ALLBLACK’s whole verse is filthy as you’d come to expect at this point.

P.S. Ray Garraty put together a nice compilation of ALLBLACK loosies over the weekend

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We don’t do Drive-bys We Gon Bounce Up Out the Whip

03 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by in Bay Area, California

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Lazy-Boy – No Way 

Happy New Year’s everyone. Starting the year off with some serious heat from Lazy-Boy. Lazy basically continues his power of morphing into a spectacularly face-tatted Noteno version of Chris Brown or Ty Dolla $ign on this one, making magic over a wildly catchy beat. I have to admit that after listening to a ton of Lazy-Boy in 2016 and 2017 I really slept on him this past year and didn’t realize he put out so much new material. I finally caught up on all of his 2018 releases over the holidays and this was my favorite song. It’s a shame I heard it so late otherwise this would have definitely displaced something else on my 2018 top 50 list. Lazy-Boy really has a gift for these half-rapped, half-sung infectious joints over these bouncy Bay beats. There’s just something about hearing Lazy singing ‘I’ll turn a new Glock into a throwaway” or talking about calling his “brothers in the pen” over summery production like this.

Grown Ass Man, Feed My Family

22 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in California, Crip, L.A.

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Blueface – Respect My Crypn

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first when I first heard about him but hadn’t listened to him yet, but Blueface is starting to grow on me. The ‘mop the floor and hide the wet sign just to catch him slippin’ line’ is genius; I can’t believe no one came up with that before. And to his credit apparently he really does ‘pull up and bounce out with a briefcase when it’s time to handle business,’ according to recent news reports.

I love his tone on the ‘I’m an alpha male, ain’t no bitch in me. Grown ass man, feed my family” line, like he’s incredulous that someone is even questioning if that’s the case. The ‘Give a fuck if he like it, he gon respect this Crippin’ hook is also strangely infectious. Blueface is almost sounding like a less artsy/creative but more Crip west Coast Young Thug. And while he can be a bit over the top, he actually has the charisma and personality to pull it off.

By the way Happy Thanksgiving all! I wonder what Blueface is thankful for today.

Edit: I wish Blueface was the halftime entertainment for this Cowboys/Redskins Thanskgiving game instead of Meghan Trainor smh