New York Hip Hop – September 2015 Lookback

It was summertime, and the living was not easy.

In our quest to document the best of New York hip hop music and culture, we wear many hats. In particular, our founding editor, Manny Faces, who does the bulk of the work around here: designing the sites, dealing with email correspondence, conducting a weekly hip hop talk show (The NY Hip Hop Report), putting together a bi-weekly interview radio show/podcast (The Manny Faces Show), writing most of the posts on BirthplaceMag.com, including those he writes in third person…

And then there is that secret project that is taking up a lot of my.. er.. I mean… HIS energy, that should be unveiled soon.

We think it’s pretty groundbreaking, so we’re going to give Manny a pass.

However, the show must always go on, lest folks think New York hip hop has fallen back into the doldrums that people used to say it was in, even though it wasn’t and they were just too lazy to look past the surface. Which still happens a lot.

Which is why we’re here.

So, without further ado, here is a recap/rundown of a bunch of New York-area hip hop music that crossed out paths during the month of September.

Our apologies to the artists who all undoubtedly deserve their own individual posts, but since everyone who thinks about writing for a hip hop site seems to only want to do it for backstage passes to top 40 rap events, and advertisers still stubbornly think that the big radio stations are where all the “hip hop heads” are at, and we actually concern ourselves with quality and journalism rather than regurgitated posts and clickbait, it takes a lot to get the proper assistance.

But if you want to work with us, reach out.

Anyway, September was off to a good start. One of the early emails we received was from Chris Rivers who many know is the son of the late Big Pun. Rivers had been dropping joints every Friday, and on the firstofthemonnnnnnth (sung in Bone Thugs style), Rivers joined the vivacious and vicious spitress, Ms. Nitty Scott, MC for “I Just Wanna Rap,” the first project off of Rivers’ Medicated Consumption project. With a smooth R&B-stylee produced by Data and Whispers crooning on the track, the vibe was a nice blend of styles and eras.

Even though Complex caught (deserved) flack late in the month for their troll-heavy dig at rap purists, they came through early with the premiere of Sean Price’s “Figure More,” featuring the ill Illa Ghee. While the world was still reeling at the loss of the beloved Duck Down vet, Mike Mega 2K put together superb visuals to go with Price’s classic flow. “Figure More” and Sean Price live on his posthumously released Songs In The Key of Price. Man. What a loss.

A Canibus loop appears on “Be Original” by New Jersey group The Fourth Reich, off of their album Unnoticed Poets, while contenders in the Most Original Name department, B.I.C. (Bitches Is Crazy) drop their trademark gritty, infinite-energy flow on “On Deck,” produced by DJ DNA. Their charisma is always front and center, and “On Deck” is no different.

We’ve been bigging up The Audible Doctor for years for his eloquent ear for dope samples and soulful headnodders, and “I Can Tell You,” is no different. This Young Joey track, full of gritty sexual braggadocio, features Jeremy Austin and none other than the G.O.A.T. himself, LL Cool J.

Speaking of gritty flow, Eff Yoo’s “The Trouble Child” teams the underground vet up with Aye Wun, and is one of a slew of classic NY-flavored boom bap joints on his Papa Dios album, which features guest appearances from the likes of Thirstin Howl III, Nems, Tragedy Khadafi, Godilla and more.

Shouts to smartphone music discovery app Platformz by the way. If you’re a fan of indie/underground hip hop, you should have that loaded up.

Just FLoW hails from Queens, by way of Nigeria, and alsong with MaVnificent on the track (and a verse), “What It Feels Like” feels like the kind of thing we want to hear more of — sparse but brash, with a confident flow. Just FLoW has a project slated for the Fall, we’ll definitiely be checking for it.

Salute the G! Mic Handz, who we spoke to on The NY Hip Hop Report a little ways back, drops a heavy-handed, Ran Reed-produced neckcracker, “Street Regulator.” The Boot Camp Clik affiliate and Writter’s Block General will drop Hell On My Back soon, so chew on this joint while you wait.

Veteran beatsmith Marco Polo blesses Brooklyn’s Saga with a spaceysmooth track for “Tell Me,” a drop from Saga’s latest full-length project From Out Of The Shadows. Staten Island got into the mix, with Jared Xavier rocking over “Nobody,” a bass-heavy Bo Beatz creation featuring Bunky.

We finally got the anticipated release from the mighty DJ Premier and his band, unofficially monikered “The Badder,” featuring a gaggle of hugely talented musicians. “BPATTER” is the first video emerging from the collective, who have been on tour overseas honing their sound and show. Now, we’ve been spoiled watching folks like Lenny “The Ox” Reece rock in New York City because I know where good hip hop bands are, but we’re definitely excited to see how this concept plays out.

Eclectic Bronx wordsmith Mickey Factz emerged with a full mixtape project, entitled Y-3, with a video for “Qasa” accompanying it. The mixtape features guests including Charles Hamilton, Emilio Rojas, Velous, Nikki Jean, CyHi The Prince. Unless we missed something, it really didn’t get much fanfare, but Factz has always been an interesting artist who works hard to push boundaries and artistry. “Qasa” shows this, and the rest of the mixtape should follow suit.

Strong Island jumped into the inbox with a frenzied Statik Selektah-produced joint from Typ-Ill. The appropriately named “Typ Statik” is off of the veteran — in the rap game as well as the U.S. Army — artist’s upcoming release, Veteran’s Day.

We got the single early in the month, and the video later, and since to us, Homeboy Sandman can do no wrong, we would have put either up without even checking it. But we did. And we’re definitely putting it up, as well as running it back several times. “Finding A New Balance On A Boogie Board” is a Grizzly Gato track that features Boy Sand, with jazzy production by Grizzly Grimace and cuts by Nate Da Great. For more from Grizzly Gato, catch the latest release While You Were Sleeping. And stop sleeping.

Like banging beats? Beat battling Brooklyn beatsmith MentPlus dropped “All My Friends,” from his newly released Stormy Nights EP. Dig this, cop that. Shouts to High Water Music.

Eddie James came through to big up his Woodside, Queens hometown in his video for the appropriately titled, “Dedicated to Woodside,” while Lucky Tatt enlists veterans Royal Flush and Fame from M.O.P. for the fiery “More Fire,” off of his upcoming mixtape Between Poverty Lane and Front Street.

More veterans blaze the track as XL (Brand Nubian’s Sadat X and The Artifacts’ El Da Sensei) smash a 9th Wonder-produced gem, “We Must Stand.” Expect a full album from these two soon. Shouts to the always-sending-over-hot-stuff Diamond Media.

From veterans to leaders of the new school, the Flatbush Zombies brought a disturbingly fresh visual onslaught to go along with the frenetic flow of “Blacktivist.” Crazy.

HEY LADIES! Your girl Tamara Bubble got something for ya with this bouncy, catchy eye-candy-filled video for “Towel Boy.”

We don’t know who Komplex Kai is, but we know who Pacewon is, and the NJ vet jumped on Kai’s track “Warning,” so we wanted to pass that along for any Outsidaz fans out there. Both MCs definitely rumble over this energetic track. We DO know who Von Pea is, because we’re big fans of Tanya Morgan, so we were happy to see him appear on Oakland-based J.Lately‘s Oops-produced joint, “Can’t Go For That,” along with Bambu. Spacey raw.

And if that’s too nicey nice for you, Sheek Louch and Pusha T let them verbal hammers go on “Bang Bang.” Short banger (ha, see what we did there), and more of a tease than anything, but stay tuned for Sheek’s Silverback Gorilla 2 if you want more. It’s coming soon.

Earl Patrick McNease, aka Praverb aka P the Wyse was a beloved member of the New York City independent hip hop music scene, touching the lives of thousands. His 2014 death was a shock to those who knew him, and those who he touched, and many continue to keep his legacy alive. “Cruel Intentions” is the lead single off of the upcoming Kyle W. Knapp Creative x HipHopDX collaborative tribute album. Skyzoo, Rapper Big Pooh and AWKWORD appear on this Jakk Wonders-produced track, with DJ Fonz Solo on the cuts. Keep an eye out for that #PTheWyseVol2 album.

P.SO and 2 Hungry Bros must win the hot chicken wing eating contest with “Fire In The Hole!” Will they? Find out!

We remember when New York cats had to bring Atlanta onto their tracks to get on. Times have changed. ATL’s Young Cypher enlists Red Cafe & Fabolous to try and form a “Winning Team.” We kept in the New York state of mind with Mpire‘s Dax and Murda Mook, AG Da Coroner, A.L. and RRose RRome on the Scram Jones-produced “Smack (Remix).” Ah man AG, not the dog!

Chris Rivers and Whispers swung back through the inbox, this time bringing the Tan Boy General Bodega Bamz on “Presidential.” Breeze Embalm dropped a bouncy lyric video to the bouncy “Not so baD,” featuring Dessy Hinds from Pro Era.

A-B-E’s upcoming A South Bronx Tale LP looks to be an intriguing, stylistically versatile project, after checking out three advance tracks.

A couple of mighty fine EPs dropped in August from a couple of mighty dope artists, and we just got around to checking them, so we’re including them here. Silent Knight adds to his consistently dope catalog, both as a soloist and as frontman to the incredibly talented The Band Called FUSE, with his newest project, the 6-track Weaknd, while the clever, gritty spitter Nems drops the 7-track Planet Of The Apes: Water, with a couple folks like Spit Gemz, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Nutso, Blacastan and CF dropping by.

Shouts to the married dope throwback-inspired, still sounding-fresh duo of M-Tri and DJ Leecy T, keeping that Golden Era sound alive. This dynamic duo is currently pushing their recent release, Monday Morning Music on an overseas tour! Check out the video for their latest, “She’s The DJ, He’s The MC”

Lastly, but not leastly, the drop of the month should be the latest from New York hip hop journeyman Sav Killz. SK just dropped the Immovable Kings EP along with help from DJ J-Ronin, 
Planet Asia, Reef the Lost Cauze, Illa Ghee, Math Hoffa, Ruste Juxx & more… Cop that at iTunes and support some of the hardest working men in indie, underground NY hip hop.

https://soundcloud.com/jronin/sav-killz-a-murder-of-crows-prod-by-vokab