Always the most prolific of New Orleans musicians when it comes to new recordings, the city’s hip-hop community has been on a tear since Mardi Gras, with a bounty of new albums, mixtapes, songs and videos pouring out into the internets. Here’s a round-up of the post-Carnival Lenten offerings—most are free, so download away.
Our March issue’s article on the state of local record labels in 2011 featured Lawrence Parker, whose Supreme Street collective issued three new albums in as many weeks: high schooler Cooly Wright’s The Wright Way and Parker’s own Live and Maintain. Both feature beats produced by Parker, most synth-heavy of spacey-funk variety, but interesting is to hear the difference between the two—Wright’s young, brash swag vs. Parker’s own brand of swag born of wisdom of experience.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMV46R8PNG8[/youtube]
I was glad to hear one of my favorite beats of the past year—Ski Beatz’ “Taxi”—on the third Supreme Street release, Moe Money‘s Hustle Hard. As used on the second track “Cruise Control” it makes a fitting bed for Money’s precise flow. At only seven tracks, Hustle Hard is easy to digest, and makes an excellent quick, tasty treat.
Affiliated with Supreme Street is regular concert host Shiny Green. His latest, “Lottery Pick”, was one of the catchiest of the bunch, with Green sounding at ease on top of the Minnie Riperton “Take a Little Trip” sample. The song features a guest verse from well-known rapper Stalley.
Parker wasn’t the only local producer making noise post-Mardi Gras. 504Dubb, owner of The Hut recording studio, released Hip-Hop Since Birth, which alternates Dubb talking about how he came to love and play hip-hop with tracks of his dotted by guest MCs from fellow Soundclash buddies Lyrikill, Quest, and A. Levy to Hollygrove’s Da U Boys. The album is available for purchase on iTunes.
From the laboratory of friend-of-Soundclash Inner Recess Studio came Truth Universal‘s latest album, Resistance Vol. 2: Polygraph. Truth continues to fight the good fight of spreading conscious political hip-hop, and gets a lot of help in the battle from some of the best beats he’s gotten in recent memory. “Immigrant” is a standout, with a guest verse from Mexico City MC Bocafloja.
Fellow veteran Impulss is preparing his own new album, Bronx, New Orleans: Respect Where it Started, which pairs the local rapper/Mr. Mom radio host with Bronx, NY-based producer DJ Bazooka Joe. If the first single, “Live Online”, is any indication, it’s going to be a winning pairing.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KdtVAnUd0g[/youtube]
MC/producer/graphic designer/Loyola student G-Eazy released, “Dear Ms. Rose”, a paean to the Wiz Khalifa by-way-of-Kanye belle Amber Rose that rides on the beefed-up drums below a sample of the Phenomenal Handclap Band’s “Baby”. The song follows in the classic tradition of pleas for the unattainable, with lines like, “The only person I can see myself with is / you Ms. Rose but I’m trying to make you Mrs.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57AZcc3FPiA[/youtube]
From the bounce side of the room came Big Freedia‘s amazing first official music video. Fellow rapper Sissy Nobby, who had claimed on Twitter to be quitting hip-hop, seems to be going back on the claim, with new track “Psycho (Tear Me Up)”.
And although the 8-9 Boyz‘ “More Than Friends” was released earlier, it’s starting to get more radio airplay post-Mardi Gras. Will it be the latest bounce hit?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKSmbRYWvgs[/youtube]
Rising star Curren$y seems to set the bar for the his rate of output, and he hasn’t slowed down yet. The latest from his J.E.T.S. camp is mixtape Jet Life to the Next Life, which features Spitta sharing tracks with his proteges Young Roddy and Trademark da Skydiver over his favorite style of jazz-heavy productions.
Finally, there were two tracks in particular that deserve special mention. One is “Ooh La La La”, the first single released by a new rap “supergroup”, The Rap Pack, made up of K. Gates, Y. Luck, Dappa and The Show. The Fugees-influenced song is good, but I expect even better things to come from the group.
The other is by a local I’d never heard of, J.R., who provided a moment of hilarity with his new song “I Freaked Your Girlfriend”, which claims to be the first single from an upcoming EP with the seemingly-incongruous title The Southern Gentleman. This may signal the true end of chivalry, but the minimalist beat is catchy, and that’s good enough for me.
