Listen: Get Down - @Torae (produced by @PeteRock); A Niles P. Joint

I first took notice of Torae as half of the duo Barrel Brothers (the other half being fellow BK emcee Skyzoo, more on him next Monday).

Now he’s back and prepping his Kickstarter-funded album Entitled. The Coney Island native continues his longstanding tradition of getting beats from legendary producers. This time he’s laced by Money Earnin’ Mt. Vernon’s favorite son Pete Rock on Get Down. The lyrics are a celebration of the eminent return of quality NY rap while Torae reminds everyone that he’s been spitting flames even while many others hopped on whichever trend was fashionable. Torae stayed consistent and is now reaping the benefits in this East Coast resurrection while subpar rappers have disappeared as their gimmick ran out. Check out Get Down after the break and check for my review of Entitled next month.

Review: Late Knight Special - @KirkKnight; A Niles P. Joint

Over the past few years, Hip Hop has seen a resurgence of young dual threat emcees/producers. I have been watching three in particular, and since I’ve already covered Bishop Nehru and Raz Fresco, it’s time to analyze the final section of this three headed monster. Kirk Knight cut his teeth with a membership in Brooklyn collective Pro Era, specifically producing for Joey Bada$$’ major label debut. His production style fit Pro Era’s signature Beast Coast grime and he showed skills as a budding rapper. Somewhat surprisingly, Knight decided to forego the mixtape route and dropped Late Knight Special as his debut album. My boy Ramsey previewed it earlier and now I’m here to bat cleanup and check it out in depth.

Since Knight’s body of work isn't as long as peers’ as of yet, this serves as his long-form introduction to the world on the solo tip. He starts out with a celestial sound on both Start Running and Heaven Is For Real. The former makes good use of a vocal sample about teleportation music through harps, with a standout bassline and great drums. Speaking of great drums, the snare is excellent on the latter. I think there’s also an uncredited by Kris (formerly T’Nah Apex.) Both show a great scope of his beatmaking talent. Kirk gets straight hype/gutter on Brokeland which was the first single released some time ago. It’s very ODB/Wu Tang inspired, or so it seems. The hardcore aesthetic continues on 5 Minutes which features team captain Joey Bada$$. The horror movie piano works as it creates a soundscape that is somber yet has replay value. Joey complements the song without overshadowing his boy. Thus far, the songs have stylistically come in pairs.
   
Here’s where things go off the rails though. Knight Time is a turn up type track. It has the dreaded machine gun drums that I hate and is a 180 degree turn in approach. One Knight (Kirk really likes wedging his name into song titles) has very good guitar work but the beat is too busy and is the obligatory smooth single. This would be forgivable but he goes down the same route THREE SONGS IN A ROW with Scorpio and Down. They’re almost interchangeable and mostly forgettable. At this point the album feels more like a collection of songs than anything truly cohesive. More on this later.


Mick Jenkins shows up on I Know which is decent but suffers from drums that use too many modern motifs. The hi-hats are just distracting, which is a shame because the rest of the song is dope. Chicago is in the house again along with L.A. in the form of guest spots from Noname Gypsy and Thundercat on Dead Friends. It’s just what it says it is, a sentimental reflection on dead friends. Noname continues to slay every guest appearance she sees and Thundercat lays down some glorious guitar riffs. The Future features this guy called The Mind who is apparently some sort of genetic hybrid between Kid Cudi and Chance The Rapper vocally. Despite the guest’s style biting, Kirk lays down some solid reflective bars. The album closes with All for Nothing. It’s probably the best song on the album and gives the best indication of Kirk Knight’s potential talent on the mic and behind the boards. It’s a very intricate song both instrumentally and flow-wise as he switches it up within the song without it sounding gimmicky at all.
   
I mentioned before that this album was kind of all over the place It seems like Kirk Knight was torn between pleasing the older fans who liked his crew’s classic style and the younger ones in his age bracket who enjoy trap/drill music to get them hype. It’s good that Knight strives to be versatile but at the same time you can’t help but notice that the album is almost broken up into thirds, with each one sounding different than the others. Editing and song sequencing plays a big part in this gaffe; the album as a whole doesn’t have one consistent vibe. This is compounded because he went for broke and released a studio album before wading into the treacherous waters of the rap game with a mixtape or EP first. Even his crew mates have treaded lightly instead of immediately diving in.
   
At the same time, you have to remember that Late Knight Special is still his first solo project. While ultimately disjointed, it does have some gems that show what he’s capable of both as an emcee and producer. This album is ambitious if nothing else. The wetness behind his ears will go away and the ride will be smoother the next time around. It’s a testament to the adventure of youth when the world was infinitely possible and you could try everything once before settling down. While it didn’t always work, Kirk Knight has more than enough musical prowess to hammer out an enduring berth in Hip Hop.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

#ThrowbackThursday: Doe Or Die - AZ (@QuietAZMoney); A Niles P. Joint

Believe it or not, it’s entirely possible to have a bonafide classic/genre defining album and still be one of the most criminally underrated rappers in Hip Hop history. Such is the case with AZ. 

Born Anthony Cruz, the BK emcee used his guest appearance on Nas’ Life’s A Bitch (from the legendary Illmatic) as a launching point for his own career. His 1995 debut Doe or Die celebrated its 20th birthday a week ago. It is regarded as a classic by those in the know and definitely plays a pivotal role in the genre’s history. However, despite selling a million copies, I still feel that the album mirrors AZ’s career as a whole inasmuch as it is slept on by far too many people. So for this Throwback Thursday, we’re going to revisit Doe or Die for the fans and hopefully put some new people on to a classic.

The album actually starts on a gritty note, as the intro soliloquy spills into Uncut Raw which is the darkest song on the album. The gun sound effects built into the beat make it the musical version of rolling up on your enemy with a black hoody on.The scene shifts completely with Gimme Yours. Nas comes through on the intro and chorus while AZ raps about his desire for the finer things in life. As a kid listening to this I always imagined this song playing while you were laid up with a naked chick in some expensive ass hotel room eating lobster provided by room service. That still applies as this song is the epitome of decadence, albeit peppered with AZ’s trademark wisdom. Speaking of which, the Buckwild produced Ho Happy Jackie works as a story of a fictional gold digger and how to avoid real ones. Peep game because the money saved might be your own.

Rather Unique has AZ flexing lyrically over an easygoing Pete Rock beat. Every rapper needs a track where he both tells and also shows you how ill he is with the wordplay. This is that track. The tempo kicks up a few notches on I Feel For You.  Erica Scott provides omnipresent backing vocals and AZ takes a moment to briefly feel sorry for the competition. The instrumental fits his multi syllables like a glove, mostly incorporating fast paced drums and a periodic bell. Sugar Hill was the album’s most popular single as far as charts and radio goes. Appropriately enough, it features legendary NYC radio personality, Miss Jones and very capable singer on the hook. This is another one that gave me visualizations of a champagne-induced pool party at a Spanish-style villa. Those thoughts were triggered as soon as I heard the beat (exquisitely concocted by L.E.S.). The album contains a wonderful paradox in Mo Money, Mo Murder, Mo Homicide because while the lyrics are violent in nature, DR Period cooks up a swanky beat built around an O’Jays sample. They contradict in theme but it ultimately works, especially when you have AZ and Nas trading bars.  As an added bonus, a short song called Born Alone, Die Alone is hidden within the song. The title says it all when it comes to the lyrics, as it’s the most dour track on the album in mood, with rain sound effects and simple drums.

The title track invokes feelings of the old show “NY Undercover” partially because AZ mentions it in the song intro. Overall, the vibe would fit right at home on any 90’s cop and crime-related tv show.  We Can’t Win is a thematic departure of sorts because it deals with Five Percent Nation ideology in addition to conspiracy theory type bars in order to explain the plight of the Black community. Amar Pep provides the beat, intro, first verse, and chorus. While I wouldn’t necessarily label this song as conscious rap, it definitely fits as the proverbial change-of-pace track. Ski laces Your World Don’t Stop with a popping snare drum and pulsating piano chords. AZ raps from the perspective of a prisoner and details the harsh realities of life behind bars. In spite of rugged conditions he remains optimistic that life will go on, hence the title. This would be the perfect closing track, but instead it becomes the penultimate one as we get another added bonus in the remix to Sugar Hill. This one is tougher than the original but still excellent and stands the test of time.

This album is a classic not only in sheer quality of music but because of where it stands in Hip Hop’s timeline. It’s a companion piece to Illmatic and essentially bridges the gap between that and It Was Written, gradually taking the setting from the projects to a lavish life. It’s also the thematic cousin to Raekwon’s masterpiece Only Built 4 Cuban Linx as they both came out in 1995 and popularized Mafioso rap, which was a staple that later gave way to the bling era and whatnot. Viewed as a singular project, Doe or Die is absolutely sensational. AZ manages to walk a very thin line between the streets and a more opulent lifestyle, all while staying believable. His bars have substance and he manages to fit multi syllables into every song without falling into the realm of becoming the dreaded “Rappin-Ass-Rapper” who says things just because they fit schematically without having much relevance. Throughout his career AZ has had one of the best ears for beats in the business, and it all started here as nothing is out of place musically. Doe or Die was the starting point for a very solid career for one of the most unfairly slept on emcees in the rap game. In recent years, there have been talks about releasing a sequel to his debut album (something that’s been popular lately in rap). No matter what happens though, AZ can take pride in the fact that he made a perfect album. Take a trip with me and revist the classic Doe or Die below.

Listen: College Sport - @JoeCollege010; A Niles P. Joint

Awhile back after WTM wrapped up a couple interviews at CIVxSAV headquarters, Joe College played us a few tracks he was working on. 

The dopest one of the batch used a slowed down sample of Hardrive’s classic House track Deep Inside as a backdrop for College’s placid yet supremely self assured flow. He explained to us that he liked house music but didn’t want to rap over a fast paced track. At the time I thought it was genius and was amped for the song to come out.

It was released under the title College Sport on Friday night. I liked the rough version I initially heard, but I LOVE the way the new version is mastered and mixed. Producer TyLetThatShitKnock takes a time-honored song from a different yet similar genre and rebuilds it while still retaining enough hallmarks from the original. Deep Inside was an upbeat dance track. College Sport is equal parts mellow and tough. This could be played at a summer cookout or in the car on the way to a rap show in the cold ass East Coast winter. The last third of the song takes it further and muffles the chorus and adds backing vocals, which sounds like you're stepping either outside of the party to catch a breather or into a back room to discuss business while others dance. It's a masterful effect from the producer and engineer.  

Check out College Sport after the break. If this shit doesn't make you want to hit the Polo and Nike stores (peep the Agassi joints on the song’s artwork) to get some flavorful new gear for the grimy ass cold months, I don’t know what to tell you.