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Marky – Blue Jeans (Video)

DJ Heat — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:40:23 +0000

Being Established vs. Being “Hot” – Real Talk on 2012 for DC Hip-Hop

DJ Heat — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:06:48 +0000

By Marcus K. Dowling

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There’s probably nothing worse than being a veteran rapper in a city finally seeing the mainstream’s spotlight. When a tree falls in an empty forest, it doesn’t make a sound. When a tree falls in a forest filled with people, everyone screams. This issue is at the crux of an issue plaguing the movement towards recognition for a significant portion of DMV emcees at the present time.

Imagine for a moment that you’re Gods’Illa. The trio of DC brothers are impressive lyricists, stalwarts of the local scene. Holding things down both before and after the rise, fall and glass-ceiling shattering performance by Wale, when WKYS’ inaugural “Hottest Rapper” list was unveiled, the dominant group’s name was nowhere to be found. Fast forward to 2011. Gods’Illa’s major release for the year was the CPR The Blend mixtape, hosted by DJ Low Down Loretta Brown, aka Erykah Badu. A canny move that stayed well within their indie/neo-soul/backpacker market while aligning them with a name that resonates with mainstream ears, they made the 2011 list, though only at number five. The group has received a WAMMY nomination for their successful year, but as far as really hitting the next level and garnering significantly more respect, it has to be considered a disappointment.

Time and chance has happened to the local hip-hop establishment, and for a large percentage of local emcees, it’s time to seriously reconsider marketing and strategy before become a respected dreamer instead of an established professional. It’s not as easy as hitting up the blogs. Even here at DCMumboSauce you’re an artist in competition with probably 30 other regularly posted performers, all with the prerequisite “cool” visuals, “dope” movement and a social media campaign. If you’re older though, all of these avenues do you no favors, as if not already significantly established on the underground, you run the risk of appearing anachronistic and chronically un-hip, a stranger in a strange land.

Maybe the goal shouldn’t be to even want to be on “hot” lists. You don’t have to be “hot” to be content in the city, as if you speak to veteran producers like Judah, constantly internationally touring emcees like Kokayi or dominant international underground artists like Substantial, floating beneath the radar is absolutely fine by them. Did we hear anything from Oddisee for finishing at #10 with well-respected independent release Rock Creek Park in his 2011 credits? Absolutely not. He’s entrenched and established, healthy, wealthy and wiser for having a larger scope than just being the hottest dude in the DMV.

Even on the independent level, pop stardom is a strange beast. If a rapper like SmCity, Lyriciss, Pro’Verb, Boobe or any number of others either just below the curve, past the mark or a step earlier than mainstream trends, it’s likely wisest to stay the course as a performer, but market your material differently. Lyricism without gimmicks isn’t really hot right now to the record buying and MP3 downloading populace. Considering video games or licensing songs for commercial use might not make you the most dapped up man at U Street Music Hall, but it WILL make you a professional emcee. If the former is REALLY your goal, then, well, you only have yourself to blame.

So many also attempt to change themselves as people or pander to trends and demographics. Yeah, that will probably garner you radio airplay, and if lucky, a local hit. Getting that hit to trend nationally in a ClearChannel environment is damn near impossible, so, at the end of the day, you’re on the hottest rapper list, you’re getting regular bookings, but what are you doing next? Exactly. Mortgaging the cow without keeping some milk reeks of ignorance, yet is also commonplace.

Yes, DC’s on the rise. However, many are not on the rise with it. If angry that this is the case? Don’t be. You don’t have to be cool to get stupid paid or be wildly successful. And if you’re not playing the game for those reasons? You don’t know the rules, and you’re going to lose.

Shelly Bell – Memory Lane (Teen Pregnancy)

DJ Heat — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:26:06 +0000

Some spoken word for your brains…

Scouting Report – A Kid Named Breezy

DJ Heat — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:38:52 +0000

by Marcus K. Dowling

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Life is busy, and rap music is more plentiful than ever. Marcus Dowling listens to local rappers, and makes it easier for you to find a favorite new artist.

SOUNDS LIKE

My description: Mike Posner hanging out in the Pentagon City Mall food court, in the best way possible.

Five songs that Breezy uses to define himself: Fresh Prince “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble,” A Tribe Called Quest “Can I Kick It,” The Pharcyde “She Said,” A Tribe Called Quest “Scenario”

INTRODUCTION

Easily the biggest outlier in all of DMV hip-hop, Alexandria-born and currently McLean, VA resident, A Kid Named Breezy is a future national star worthy of our local time and appreciation. The concept of “DMV hip-hop” is a complete misnomer. (Northern) Virginia’s third of the equation? Largely a non-fertile locale to most insiders, rather than a boom-bap haven, it’s a collection of stations along Metro’s Orange, Blue and Yellow lines. The Board Administration’s Black Cobain is an Alexandria native, though nothing about the emcee’s subject matter could identify him as uniquely linked to the area. A Kid Named Breezy? For a plethora of reasons he’s Northern Virginia raised and Northern Virginia pure, and by the end of 2012? Likely a key piece to the re-defining puzzle of local hip-hop music.

THE BRAND

Breezy’s appeal is a multi-faceted attack at the confluence of finance and serendipity. McLean, VA is in Fairfax County, Virginia. The region’s most recent national acclaim comes from being the first national county to have a six-figure median household income. The emcee’s mother was killed by a drunk driver, forcing the young rapper to be raised by his father, an independent entrepreneur and musician who has achieved significant self-made success. His father’s connection with Tony Draper, the founder of respected hip-hop label Suave House Records, led to Breezy’s current management by the legendary magnate. Draper also managing the Clipse’s Pusha T? A boon as well, Breezy’s first indie blog hit, “See About Us” featured Pusha and gained him considerable support. The DMV has yet to find an emcee who is a comfortable champion for for its moneyed, hip-hop adoring suburbs. A rapper that won’t scare mom and dad while not feeling out of place in a U Street showcase? A recipe for success.

As a rhymer, Breezy’s appeal isn’t about having Kendrick Lamar’s ice-cold flow or Lil B’s scatterbrained style. Instead, it’s a story based, as the rapper himself states, in being “hungry, driven and enthusiastic.” His “LIFERS” brand? A story of “living life and having a drive for success,” delightfully commonplace aspirations delivered with populist charisma. This charisma isn’t by accident, as between childhood success as a poet and high school years spent as a varsity member of O’Connel High School’s basketball team, he’s accustomed to living and excelling in the spotlight.

THE SOUNDS – THE VISUALS

Celebrating “the era of the old school coming back with funny interludes and true life stories,” Snapback with a Life Full is Breezy’s latest mixtape project. The pushed lead single is “Whoa There,” a 808 heavy club banger presently getting spins at Stadium, currently DC’s most baller-tastic night spot. Feeling aurally and lyrically comfortable to J. Cole’s “Dance A$$,” it’s a radio ready and contemporary entry. “It was the last track, (mixtape producer) Jigg told me we needed ‘a hit, a club banger,’ and we knocked this one out. We’re going to push this one as long as we can.” A suburban kid who claims A Tribe Called Quest and Prince amongst his inspirations, Breezy’s answer regarding getting renown from a clubbier downtown sound is instantaneous and telling. “I’m just making hip-hop music. Sometimes it’s going to be for people to have fun, with a bit of lyricism included.”

Check out his Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/BreezingtonTV. His “A Kids Life” episodes detail his senior year in high school compounded by a burgeoning hip hop career. It’s a typical grind for the rhymer. “I’ve been balancing this since freshman year. As long as I hold up my end and my street team does their job, I’m not too worried.” From seeing scores of teenage girls squealing at his mere presence, to quiet moments hanging out and goofing off, it has an aspirational essence for some, and is a truly connective story for a woefully underrated local demographic.

THE FUTURE

“I just had a meeting with BET International, and I expect to be doing some work with them. I didn’t expect it, but it was really cool to see how (BET) operates behind the scenes.” Breezy’s 2012 touring schedule is already busy, as he performs on January 31st at Springfield, VA’s Jaxx Nightclub. The longtime heavy metal venue is now, as the emcee himself states, “the best place to hear what Northern Virginia is doing in hip hop. They’ve had performances from Fat Trel, Black Cobain and a few others. I’d like to open up my own venue when I am able to, but yeah. Jaxx is the place to go.” Rocking the stage in DC? Breezy performs on February 3rd at Liv Nightclub at the launch party for the House of Paradise clothing brand.

DC Hip-Hop Indie/Underground 2012 Preview

DJ Heat — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:08:30 +0000

by Marcus K. Dowling

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Though all signs would show that DC area hip hop is prepared for unprecedented mainstream exposure, the heart of DC’s rap history is undoubtedly based in the underground and independent realm. Obstinate local residents have an inherent chip-on-the-shoulder mentality, largely related to the words “taxation without representation.” This manifests itself in the hip hop world with an overcrowded scene of extraordinarily lyrically gifted performers, all yearning for an instant of mainstream recognition that they’ll turn into a career-defining moment. When contemplating 2012 for the local area, Washington’s underground remains as talented as ever. But just as DC’s population has radically changed, the rules for success have as well.

Top local Tabi Bonney and Oddisee now have far more of a tangential relationship to the area’s underground scene, .Bonney now comfortably resides on Capitol Hill, connections with Ski Beats and Damon Dash proving beneficial. Oddisee? The DC native is now a resident of planet Brooklyn, his style and grind better suited to the highest levels of the independent realm. Though well respected, neither emcee bears any level of direct and impacting relevance to the city’s current situation. Having crossed over and reached financial success, to compare their grind to that of the rest of the city, on any level, is entirely unfair. Does this leave the market wide open? Seemingly, but upon further review, the area’s next great underground star now shines brighter than ever before.

It’s not Phil Ade. The earliest adopter of the values DC’s present blipster/hipster population surge, the PG County native’s most significant shortcoming was that the city was not comfortable with these new cultural values at the start of his rise. Ade’s earliest mixtape material would be a magnificent soundtrack for DC in 2012. Positive and culturally aware pop blended with intellectually stimulating lyricism mirror the aims of new-to-DC gentrifiers and the area’s cultural creatives. Instead, stalled as a performer, his latest track “P.O.P. Music” with left coast stoner performer Casey Veggies makes the performer feel like a lyrically adept trend chaser, instead of a hot artist in a hot city with an organic movement. It’s unfortunate, and hopefully the 368 Music team can solve the issue.

It’s not Phil da Phuture, Kingpen Slim, Fatz da Big Fella, Boobe or any of the city’s other more radio friendly performers, either. It’s time that these artists realize that DC is a refreshed scene filled with a bounty of new opportunities. There is such a thing now as “commercially successful pop rap” in the city, and these rappers, with their hook friendly radio material feel cheapened and less than impressive when showcased as “underground.” So many square pegs filling so many round holes, promoters would do well to promote these artists with far more prominence in nightclubs and more glamorous spaces, as their personalities deserve the limelight. Relatedly, poor matches between performers and venues must be eradicated for DC to ascend to the space it has recently been afforded in the national consciousness.

It’s not coming from East of the River…yet. Performers like Topdolla Sweizy, the Slutty Boyz, Shy Glizzy and others barely old enough to carry firearms and drink legally are next. It’s ultimately extremely important for both rappers and promoters alike to both nurture them and welcome their talents into the underground mainstream. As party rappers, they’re capable at the moment of being one hit wonders. But the difference between being Young Dro and T.I. comes from having the depth and breadth as an artist to excel. Giving these hungry young men these chances is imperative.

The next great underground rapper from Washington, DC? It’s obviously Uptown X.O. Combining the honest lyrical sharpness of Pro’Verb or Lyriciss with the griot-like nature of Black Indian, the pop sensibilities of Kingpen Slim and Wale’s indomitable spirit. Simply put, the Georgia Avenue, NW native is the city’s next great thing. Differentiating him from others is not only his level of respect from both the old and new order of DC culture. XO excels because he seems not so much caught up with getting on, but consistently staying great. From tracks “For Real Niggas Only” to Diamond District’s “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill” and consistently excellent mixtape projects, he sets a standard for always being on point, and now leads the pack.