21 Monday May 2018
Posted in Detroit, Uncategorized
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Allstar Lee – Cash Money
Could this one from Detroit’s Allstar Lee be any flamey-er? First saw Allstar Lee on The Martorialist almost a year ago in a Fresh Prince homage. This is a fucking hit. I love the soulja rags and the Orlando Magic jerseys. The flow and beat are top notch.
13 Sunday May 2018
Posted 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.
25 Monday Dec 2017
Posted in Detroit
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OuttaTown ft. Gucci Mane – Yamaguchi
There’s just something hilarious but simultaneously amazing that I can def get behind about a group of otherwise tough-looking grown-ass men yelling about how they’re Kristi Yamaguchi, a petite, female Asian-American figure skater of ’92 Winter Olympics fame. I love how this video just comes out swinging full force, with OuttaTown and his cohorts wasting no time, already rocking out yelling the anthemic chorus as soon as the video starts. I feel like it would have been more convenient and perhaps more macho to just use an NHL player’s name for the chorus/title to serve the purpose of showing how icy they are but using Yamagucchi just makes it even more over the top ridiculous. (One question based on the chorus – why is Yamaguchi ‘what these niggas don’t like’? I feel like she cut a fairly innocuous and uncontroversial public persona). I also like the fact that Yamaguchi sounds kind of like ‘I’m a Gucci’ or at least rhymes with Gucci’s first name.
Also of note… Who is the guy on the right at 0:23???
I love the dance move OuttaTown executes at about 1:05 as he lets you know, “This is real life, this is not a movie. Skating on this ice – KRISTINA YAMAGUCHI” as well as the dramatic shot of him and Gucci marching down the hallway after.
There’s few things better than seeing Gucci make an unexpected cameo in a video with a rapper you’re not expecting to see him with, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Gucci’s sweater game/wardrobe is perhaps more on-point than ever, with this stylish narco-chic sweather with a needlepoint depiction of the Virgin Mary and of course an appropriate amount of icy jewelery befitting a song mainly about how icy he and OuttaTown are.
All comedic value aside, Yamaguchi bumps really hard and is a perfect song to blast from the car. OuttaTown has a nice Gucci-assisted hit here to follow up on his banger 2 Sistas with FMB DZ from a couple of months ago. I first heard this a couple of weeks ago just clicking around and largely forgot about it, but then woke up this morning with the chorus in my head and now I can’t stop listening to it.
24 Sunday Dec 2017
Posted in Detroit, Uncategorized
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FMB DZ – All the Smoke
FMB DZ comes out firing on ‘All the Smoke’ off of his new mixtape ‘The Gift’ just bringing the heat verse after verse. A perfect Yuletide gift indeed from a gun-wielding Santa Clause who never takes his Cartiers off …
“Nigga ain’t my man if he ain’t riding with me, I fuck with the BandGang I got Mas with me. My nigga (?) got a sleeve and a 550, I got popped I could have died I had God with me. A nigga gotta die if a nigga want beef. Free my nigga 80’s I’m good in the East. You know this bitch a classic with Ant on the beat. Niggas know that I’m gonna shoot so they pass it to me.”
“You’ve got guns I got guns we can shoot it out. I’m aiming for a nigga’s head I ain’t killing clouds. Lord forgive me always been a wild child, two FNs and two chopsticks cost me five thou. Nigga telling me I’m next bitch I’m up now, I’m in Houston making plays bitch I feel like Yao.”
“Put a nigga on your block so we can find the house, firebomb will chop y’all down while you’re running out”
‘Washington DZ’ was already one of the best mixtapes of the year and now FMB DZ beats the shot clock right before the end of the year and the holidays with another very impressive project under his belt. The Detroit rapper is on a ridiculous run lately, with about a year’s worth of slaps for a normal artist in just the last few weeks, including ‘Back to Back‘ with frequent collaborator Tay B, the Joseph McFashion-compiled ‘Raw 2’ in October to follow up on the success of ‘Raw‘, and ‘On Go’ which is still only a couple of months old. I have to listen to ‘The Gift’ a couple of more times over the next few days but so far it definitley is one of the strongest projects of the year giving FMB DZ two of the top albums/tapes of 2017. I’m looking forward to seeing him keep the pressure up in 2018!
15 Friday Dec 2017
Posted in Detroit, Midwest, Uncategorized
Allstar JR ft. Steven B the Great – Felony Warrant
Monster verse by Allstar JR out of Detroit over a nice raw instrumental; this song comes out firing. I love these types of beats.
“Look how the feds gettin my dog boxed with them, took them to a bench trial, they gave him 20, now he looking for a pen pal, called home all he said was this shit wild. All my niggas got fed cases, single parents raised them to be some headcases.”
“Remember I was riding in stolies, free Bud he a savage he would shoot at the police.” (And of course its ‘po-lice’ in that midwest accent so it rhymes with stolies).
I like the cartoonishly over the top ‘Skrrt skrrt’ adlibs someone screeches out while the Hellcat is doing donuts in the parking lot.
Also, I’m probably too broke to credibly pull it off but I’m also feeling the satin Richie Rich jacket he’s rocking
24 Friday Nov 2017
Posted in Detroit
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Joseph McFashion ft. FMB DZ – On Go
Soooooo smooooooth.
Detroit’s FMB DZ is starting to really blow up right now and here he demonstrates why, doing some of his finest work over this silky beat (definitely in the running for best production of 2017). I love the flow and the great lines coupled with all the Detroit-specific references…
“Oh you need a job nigga? Come and sell that cling cling. One spot 3 cell phones and they all ring, If it ain’t about no money bitch it don’t involve me. Had to change my number, weird hoes tryna stalk me, gotta keep that stick can’t let a nigga chalk me”
“Niggas really soft, FMB you fuckin with the boss, I be playing golf, down my way I be ducked off, at Asiancorn beef tell them I need some more duck sauce, go to Au Corant ask them boys how much my Buffs cost”
“Hope you can read between the lines well read these, these red bottoms I got on exclusive you ain’t seen these”
“Used to ride shooters now we pulling up in Porsches now”
