Being December, most people already have their best of lists and top tens of the year set in stone. But 2016 is the year that just keeps on giving as all hell broke loose in the last week, especially for hip-hop fans. The release of no less than four absolutely cracking albums from Childish Gambino, Smoke DZA and Pete Rock, J. Cole and Ab-Soul all filling our stockings with early Christmas gifts.
Childish Gambino – Awaken, My Love!
Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino threw everyone a curve ball two weeks ago when he dropped his slick AF LP Awaken, My Love! No one believed him when said he was going to ditch hip-hop, but as the psychedelic yearning melodies revealed to us in single Me and Your Mama which were expanded upon throughout his entire release. It’s already drawn comparisons to Tame Impala and Radiohead but I think that takes a little a bit away from what Glover has achieved himself on this album. The level of production is sublime, really sublime. Second single Redbone pulsates with electro synth that transcends both the artist and listener to unfamiliar places. From the ambient and uplifting high end to the downright funky on the low end, you find yourself engulfed in the album. California blips and bops all over the shop and Riot sort of feels like a poor man’s James Brown interpretation resulting in the album being a little disjointed, but don’t let that take away from the record. Baby Boy drips with soul and although some might call cringe-worthy the hook in Stand Tall is as catchy and bumpy as anything. Despite the commercial success commercial success of his last two attempts at hip-hop records, this album is one Gambino can really claim as his first real crack at making something his own. Many will love it and many will hate it. I did have a sceptical predisposition but I think this is pretty fucking good album.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8&w=560&h=315]
Smoke DZA & Pete Rock – Don’t Smoke Rock
It may have been a little overshadowed by the former, but Smoke DZA teamed up with beatmaker Pete Rock to drop a stomper of an album on the same day, Don’t Smoke Rock. With names like BJ The Chicago Kid, Dom Kennedy and Wale appearing on a record, it melds old-school beat architecture with new-wave ideas and flows. Black Car Superhero featuring Rick Ross bangs like the classics of the 90s and Royce Da 5’9”, along with DZA, impressively hold it down on the skinless Hold The Drums. The most refreshing part about this album is that Smoke DZA has managed to escape the weed smoking bravado stereotype on this LP. A topic he has done to death, this album has more substance and punch, making it a really engaging listen. I do realise my own hypocrisy as I point to the awesome collaboration with Mac Miller on the album closer Until Then, which kicks off with a quote from classic stoner movie Friday, but the flow on the album closer is undeniable.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTCrE0C8v54&w=560&h=315]
J. Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only
The entirely solo 10 track follow up project to 2014’s Forest Hills Drive has been eagerly anticipated; with rumours of potential collaborations throwing around names like Kanye, Kendrick and Wale how could it not be? But 4 Your Eyez Only is once again a J. Cole only affair.
The intense intro tune For Whom The Bell Tolls immediately shapes the album as a product of a hopeless and self-depreciating headspace, also showing us Jermaine putting his pipes to the test. The 31 year-old continues to pick away at select heart-strings in Change. A message of self-realisation converted into a cry for a switch in community attitudes over a funky beat with the help of Ari Lennox (signed to Cole’s label) on the melodic bridge.
Both She’s Mine tracks, Part 1 and Part 2, consolidate Cole’s mind state as his spoken word delves into his own life and love in comparison to everyone else over stripped back classical keys. So given the album context you can understand why a track like Foldin’ Clothes was included, but you can’t help but giggle to yourself at the cheesy lyrics. Sometimes its grounding to be relatable, and sometimes it’s just plain boring. “Raisin brand in my bowl with bananas and some almond milk / I never thought I’d see the day I’m drinking almond milk.”….. nah.
Ab-Soul – Do What Thou Wilt
We already had some insight into what to expect from the TDE member’s fourth studio album Do What Thou Wilt, with the release of singles Huey Knew, Braille featuring Bas and D.R.U.G.S, and last week we received the whole damn thing.
Straight off the bat, the often slept-on Black Hippy trash talker calls a (Raw) Backwards on all rappers over an ambient and building beat which fills you with the same real intensity as playing the James Bond: Golden Eye on your ‘Tendo ’64. The kind of intensity the album really feeds off as sometimes it can lyrically go begging.
There is no denying the production on this record and the West-Coast rappers ability to create a party, which was oh so evident in all three singles. Threatening Nature (leaked a few days ago) also boasts a crisp drum line which leaves room for Soulo to make his mark vocally. On Beat The Case///Straight Cooked featuring ScHoolboy Q, the track really shines toward the end, when the beat switches up to a synthy boom bap and Ab-Soul really lays down some bars with some substance beyond his high-life living.
Even in Now You Know, Ab-Soul shows glimpses of his ability to spit verses with wistful clarity but as many of the numbers on this LP do it leaves quite a bit to the imagination. The stabby snares cutting in and fading out periodically will make a crowd bounce but to release a 16-track piece of work there needs to be a level of cohesion which I cannot seem to grasp on this record. He is definitely not a dude to be slept on, this album will be big but I expected more.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uphiZ2tcTv0&w=560&h=315]
Let’s hope this roll keeps on keeping on into 2017.
The Grammy Hall of Fame for musical recordings has been around for 44 years, and, including 2017’s new entries, will now boast an incredible 1038 songs in an incredible heritage list of sorts. Many of these are certified classics beyond just their melodies; they shaped political movements, whole genres, popular culture, social change and technological growth.
Similar to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a song has to be 25 years old to be inducted, meaning that R&R and Grammy inductions are often similar. N.W.A were inducted into the Hall of Fame back in April, which rounded off an incredible resurgence for the game-changing five-piece, who last year were the subject of blockbuster biopic Straight Outta Compton.
2016 marked quarter-century anniversaries for a bunch of classics, notably including N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton, which remains as relevant ever 25 years on. It appears alongside Nirvana’s revolutionary Smells Like Teen Spirit as well as R.E.M for Losing My Religion. Household names Elvis, Bowie and the Jackson 5 were all listed, along with the Deep Purple track that every budding young guitarist will know how to play blindfolded and upside down, Smoke On The Water.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMZi25Pq3T8&w=560&h=315]
It’s also worth mentioning the theme song to Mission Impossible by Lalo Schifrin will also be inducted. Make of that what you will. Check out this lit live performance of said tune from the jazz-master general below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjgjU9C8UUc&w=560&h=315]
Grammy Hall of Fame inductees in alphabetical order:
Arlo Guthrie – “The City of New Orleans”
The Beach Boys – “I Get Around”
Billie Holiday – Lady Sings the Blues
Blind Willie McTell – “Statesboro Blues”
Bonnie Raitt – “I Can’t Make Your Love Me”
Cab Calloway And His Orchestra – “(Hep-Hep!) The Jumpin’ Jive”
David Bowie – “Changes”
Deep Purple – “Smoke of the Water”
Dion – “The Wanderer”
Elvis Presley – “Jailhouse Rock”
The Everly Brothers – “Wake Up Little Susie”
Jackson 5 – “ABC”
Lalo Schifrin – “Mission Impossible”
Lesley Gore – “You Don’t Own Me”
Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra – “When the Saints Go Marching In”
Merle Haggard – Okie From Muskogee
Mills Brothers – “You Always Hurt the One You Love”
Mississippi John Hurt – “Stack O’Lee Blues”
N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton
Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Prince – Sign ‘O’ the Times
R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion”
Rod Stewart – “Maggie May”
Sly & The Family Stone – “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”
Sonny & Cher – “I Got You Babe”
Image: Grammy
It’s been less than a week since A.B Original released Reclaim Australia. The collaborative project between Trials and Briggs has blown the roof off Australian music, with rave reviews coming in from pretty much every single publication across the country – including this one.
Now, the hip-hop heavyweights have followed up on the release with the video clip for I C U featuring Thelma Plum. It is just one of the album’s many in-your-face confrontations, with incredible production and aggressive, spitfire lyrics sweetened around the edges by Plum’s honeyed lilt. The video sees Trials and Briggs shut it down from inside a security booth, while Thelma phones it in through a camera live feed. Holding absolutely nothing back, the video tackles casual racism in Australia head-on. It makes you stop, think, watch, listen and most importantly, learn.
Continuing their roll, last week the pair also delivered one of the best Triple J Like A Version’s in recent memory, teaming up with Dan Sultan and the great Paul Kelly for a cover of Kelly’s iDumb Things, as well as a rendition of their phenomenal January 26. Watch it here.
Read more: Dialogue Is Great, Action Is Better: The Case For Moving triple j’s Hottest 100
A.B Original will be touring Australia with the 2017 St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival.
Laneway 2017 dates:
Saturday 21 January: The Meadow, Gardens By The Bay, Singapore
Thursday 26 January: Brisbane Showgrounds, Bowen Hills, Brisbane (16+)
Saturday 28 January: Footscray Community Arts Centre and the River’s Edge, Melbourne
Monday 30 January: Albert Park Precinct, Auckland
Friday 3 February: Hart’s Mill, Port Adelaide, Adelaide (16+)
Saturday 4 February: Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle, Sydney
Sunday 5 February: Esplanade Reserve and West End, Fremantle
Image: Golden Era
He has been warning us all year that 2016 was to be his last in the music industry, but now Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) has officially called time, announcing the dates for his last live shows.
It has been a strange year for Bey, and Bey fans. In January, he was charged with “producing an unrecognised ‘world passport’ which was declined by immigration officials” when attempting to travel from Cape Town in South Africa. Apparently a “world passport” is a real thing, but is not generally accepted by, well, anyone.
The 42-year-old then posted a message/freestyle via Kanye West’s website which sounded as if it was recorded on a Motorola RAZR V3 outlining his plans to hang up the boots.
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Although the bizarre message did proclaim that his retirement was “effective immediately,” the Brooklyn born legend has played numerous gigs throughout the year after he apologised to officials and the charges were dropped.
His farewell US performances will be in New York and Washington on both sides of the new year with his last ever gig in the ‘States to be at The Kennedy Centre in D.C. on the 2nd of January, 2017. As reported on Billboard the events will be a celebratory party for one of hip-hop greats and will feature a host of surprise special guests.
He is also playing two shows at the 02 Forum in London on the 26th and 27th of January.
Image: Redferns via Getty Images
“It’s the most futuristic thing you’ve ever heard. Like… what? A drum… inside a machine?” – Questlove.
Assembled by director Alex Dunn, 808 is the documentary that pays homage to the instrument that changed music.
The feature length presentation details the rise and influence of the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer or Drum Machine which has shaped the sound of popular music since its invention by two Japanese technicians in the early 80s.
The impact the instrument has had on not just hip-hop, where it found its initial niche, but on almost every genre of music that came after it, has not gone unnoticed. Hell, Kanye West even named a whole album after it. This documentary reaches out to legends from far and wide, who heap their thanks on a rectangular box of wires and noise that changed the game. Zane Lowe of Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio acts as narrator, guiding the audience through the instrument’s history, tapping into the positively undivided opinions and experiences of Questlove, Pharrell Williams, Rick Rubin, Diplo, Armand Van Helden, Phil Collins, Damon Albarn just to name a few.
The documentary has already done the rounds at film festivals across the world. As for the rest of us, it will be available to enjoy in just a few weeks time, when it will be released for streaming via Apple Music on December 9. For now check out the trailer below, and get excited:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMPzuRWoNgE&w=560&h=315]
Image: Musicismysanctuary
It’s now been over a week since the new orange overlord of the free world was voted into power, and the backlash has hasn’t let up one bit. After his arresting Jimmy Kimmel performance just before the election, Vic Mensa has spoken out again, penning an open letter with a strong and familiar message to his fans and wider community.
Mensa wasn’t immune to the initial shock of the result, but identifies that this is an opportunity to inflict change in the movement.
“Then, when I woke up in the morning, I realized that this had to happen because we’ve been pacified by having Barack [Obama] in office. That pacification would have only continued by having Hillary elected.”
The Chicago-born rapper implores unity in fighting for a positive cause and a change in motivation behind all movements against oppression. Mensa goes on to say that this alteration to the revolution won’t happen “until we can regroup and re-identify the real issues in our society”
He cites the catch twenty-two of an imperialist and capitalist system that thrive on hatred and limiting the power of the masses.
“For us to make real change, we’re gonna need everyone and people of all different walks of life to recognize the part that they play and how these powers at hand affect them too. I feel like these ideas of racism, bigotry, xenophobia, Islamophobia and homophobia are so damaging to both the hater and the hated because having that type of energy on your heart and on your mind [is hard]”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAfr5cuJOxE&w=560&h=315]
Trumps campaign thrived on a message of ‘Yes, this is the answer to our problems!’, unfortunately the answer’s he has to offer are horribly misguided.
The 23-year-old’s poignant essay is summarised beautifully in a concluding paragraph that recognises positivity and a clear unified direction as the most necessary weapons in the fight against systematic oppression.
“We need to unify and decide what it is that we really believe in — that’s what we need to fight for. We can’t just fight against injustice. We gotta fight for justice.”
You can read Vic Mensa’s full essay here.
Image: Vic Mensa
Common is a constant presence; he’s always doing something. Releasing an album here, writing poetry with Michelle Obama there, producing and acting in film and TV somewhere in between. Last week, the Chicago-born man, a man markedly uncommon, released an amazingly relevant and vital album. Black America Again is his eleventh album, and it is everything it promised to be.
Common’s lazy flow and pinpoint metrics have been his gift to us since day one, dating back to his days with the Soulquarians, where he plied a trade rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mos Def, Q-Tip, J Dilla and Talib Kweli to name a few. It was with the Soulquarians that he really learned to wind his words around the rhythm and infuse beats with melodies. This month’s release embodies all of Common’s past and blows the top off with its powerful content. He answered the call of another member of the neo-soul supergroup, Questlove, who cried out for more protest music in response to the ongoing oppression of minorities in the US. We’ve since seen Kendrick, D’Angelo, Knowles’ Beyoncé and Solange, all asking big questions and telling big truths. Black America Again is Common’s contribution to this proud, creative environment within the Black Lives Matter movement.
Album opener Joy and Peace featuring Bilal is uplifting, positive and poignant. The rhythmic, plucky bassline is constant and takes nothing away from the lyrics or Bilal’s homely soul-searching. The song fades out to “turn your light on, turn your light on,” setting up the record perfectly.
Title track Black America Again is unbridled, undisguised protest. The keys that dabble over the top of the boom-bap build an epic, euphoric feel that captures the importance and power of Common’s message. A James Brown excerpt is chopped up for the bridge: “You know, you know, you know, one way of solving a lot of problems that we’ve got is to let a person feel like somebody. And a man can’t get himself together until he knows who he is, and be proud of what and who he is and where he come from, and where he come from.”
Later, Stevie Wonder is heard in the outro, repeating “We are rewriting the black American story” no less than 12 times. It’s almost symbolic of the fact that no matter how many times it’s brought up, the people who matter and can create change don’t seem to get the message.
The song’s video is an ambient 21-minute procession of raw passion which shows intermittent clips of Common dropping his verses over a stripped back beatbox and drum.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMNyCNdgayE&w=560&h=315]
Syd of Odd Future/The Internet and vocalist Elena Pinderhughes both feature on Red Wine, a tune layered with high note synths and stabby perks; it is melodic to the moon and back. Each artist has their own verse, while Common uses the opportunity to make amends, having left Oprah Winfrey hanging after winning an Academy Award. “On a plane drinking wine with Oprah/when I missed the dap I ain’t mean to insult her.”
Syd and Bilal both feature again on A Bigger Picture Called Free, about the struggle and melancholy in enlightenment. Common paints a picture of growing older in an environment where perception is seemingly everything, and Syd and Bilal are harrowingly beautiful.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9miZhXiLYBY&w=560&h=315]
Sometimes protest albums can go from good to great due to relevance to world events. It really strikes a timely nerve and capture the emotion of a moment. Common’s album has come at that moment. A beautiful, strong, electrifying protest, Black America Again is fighting the cause with love. It’s Common’s best album in a long while, one that will undoubtedly remain bright in the minds (and ears) of many.
Iraq-born, Australia-based producer and consistent party tune provider Motez has had a big year. On top of putting out killer remixes of Flight Facilities and Panama tracks respectively, he released and toured his EP The Vibe earlier in 2016 which included Tryna Shake It and the stomper collab with Tkay Maidza, Down Like This.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Jc9IobnVk&w=560&h=315]
It’s a big year for Motez in a more personal sense also, marking his tenth year in Australia after immigrating from Baghdad to Adelaide. To celebrate the milestone he is throwing a hometown day party on December 3rd with fellow locals Flamingo and Meryl Creep.
The event will be raising funds for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, to support their incredible work integrating refugees into our communities, a cause incredibly close to Motez.
“I strongly believe that it is time to not only celebrate those who came, and are coming, to Australia to find a new and better life, but also to celebrate our beautiful city of Adelaide in the heart of the one of the best wine regions in the world. We want to generate as much money possible to support ASRC as they play, in my opinion, a vital role in helping those seeking asylum and resettling in Australia.” He said in an interview.
It also marks as the opening event of the Day Club Summer Series which returns for 2016, to be set in the beautiful McLaren Vale wine district at Alpha Box and Dice Winery.
You can hear Motez speaking to Triple J earlier this year on his background and why this event is so much more than just a party.
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Day Club 0004 Date
Saturday December 3rd – ADELAIDE – Alpha Box & Dice Winery
Image: Stoney Roads
It’s November now, so it’s time to start reflecting on how much you have achieved this year. Pause. Think. Okay, now compare your accomplishments to Kool A.D. and curl up in a ball of self-loathing and underachievement.
Introducing Kool A.D.’s (Victor Vasquez) eighth release of 2016. Yes, his eighth release this calendar year, Have A Nice Dream. The former Das Racist member has gone ham on twenty sixteen, with the announcement of his latest album following on from back to back 100 track mixtapes which he dropped in July (ZIG ZAG ZIG) and September (Peyote Karaoke). And this is on top of publishing a highly entertaining parenting advice column for VICE and slapping sticks for another side-project, hardcore punk group Party Animal.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1618111204 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
This release is a bit on the lighter side, a more conservative 7 tracks and features works with electronic swooner Toro Y Moi and collaboration enigma Francis And The Lights. Coupled with the not so surprising release is the super psychedelic/epileptic/transcending/narcotics inspired video for tune Visualise with Toro.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzxg34Btvk&w=560&h=315]
A.D. is putting out quantity and each release is in one way or another a form of experimental clinical trial. This time there is an abundance of Yeezy-esque auto-tune, stabby snares and dreamy melodies to accompany Vasquez’s sing-raps. Check it out here.
Thanks to the masterminds behind Beyond The Valley and Novel, as well as Matt Bonner (the creative director of Let Them Eat Cake festival) who will be overseeing Pitch’s arts direction, Victoria has yet another stupidly good festival to look forward to on its calendar. The Pitch Music & Arts Festival is a brand spanking new all ages event that will be held from March 10 – 13 2017. Oh, and the line up is an absolute cracker.
The bill has been curated to a spine-tingling degree, showcasing the best, and most eclectic, of local and international acts from all across the electronic spectrum. There is a mixture of European electronic dons of the game, such as UK house-head Julio Bashmore, Germany’s Dixon and Berghain resident Ben Klock and the mellifluous Spanish John Talabot. The raw, stripped back electronic sounds of Toro Y Moi and Omar S will also be in tow from the USA, along with a plethora of live acts, from the all-day dance vibes of Henrik Schwarz (GER) and the synthy Fatima Yamaha (NETH). Some of the most promising Australian acts will be representing home territory, including the soulful grooves of Victoria local’s Big Words, Perth resident and Flume collaborator Kucka, KLLO and Client Liaison among many, many more.
From afternoon chill-out vibes to early hours of the morning roof-punchers, this brand spanking new addition to the Australian festival scene will have you sorted.
Tickets begin at $250, with earlybird offers available for subscribers. Head to the official website for more details!
Pitch Music & Arts Festival: March 10th – March 13th, 2017
Line Up
ABRA (Live)
Adana Twins
Âme
Andrés
Answer Code Request
Axel Boman
Ben Klock
Big Words (Live)
B.Traits
Chrome Sparks (Live)
Client Liaison (Live)
Cyril Hahn
Detroit Swindle
Dixon
DJ Tennis
Dominik Eulberg
Donato Dozzy
Enzo Siragusa
Fatima Yamaha (Live)
Francesca Lombardo
Gabriel Ananda
Gerd Janson
Gold Panda (Live)
Head High
Henrik Schwarz (Live)
Jakubi (Live)
Job Jobse
John Talabot
Julio Bashmore
Kiasmos (Live)
KLLO (Live)
KUČKA (Live)
Kollektiv Turmstrasse
Midland
Mike Servito
Mind Against
Nathan Fake (Live)
Octave One (Live)
Oliver Koletzki
Omar-S
Paula Temple
Recondite (Live)
Red Axes
Seb Zito
Soul Clap
Stimming (Live)
The Field (Live)
Toro Y Moi (Live)
Voices From The Lake (Live)
Wolf + Lamb
Image: Supplied