INBOXication: Davinci

I know its been a while since I've done an INBOXication, sorry. But I'm sure you won't mind the layoff after you take a listen to this cat Davinci I'm going to be talking about.

Not to long ago I was talking with an associate about the stuff I choose to post on my blog. They figured since I don't post certain "street" artist that I must not like "street" music. I had to call bullshit.

For some reason over the last few years "street" music has become known as this hybrid of niggas who really can't rap, don't bother trying to flow, hardly exercise their vocabulary, rarely offer any social commentary...and do it all over generic strip club beats that are somehow radio friendly at the same time.

I grew up listening to NWA, Dayton Family, Geto Boys, Top Authority, UGK, Suave House, 8Ball & MJG and currently bump stuff like Z-Ro, The Product, and Freddie GIbbs. So what these folks consider "street" music now, I just don't get it. *stepping off soapbox*

Anyways, I was at CocaineBlunts today and came across this cat from San Francisco named Davinci. Seeing as how I try to stay abreast of everything that comes out, and have been doing so for years, I want to say that I've heard of dude before. Maybe it was from some of the interviews I've done or read with San Quinn over the last few years where he might have been named dropped. Or shit, maybe somebody from his team might've emailed me in the past and I just slept. But for right now, I really can't say that I have heard of dude. But I'm glad to say I know who he is now.

His video for "What You Finna Do" should remind you of some of your favorite reality rap, its black & white and straight to the point. It brings you into his world, but doesn't he doesn't come off as some rapper tour guide trying to show how hard he is because of his environment. This of course prompted me to investigate and find some of his music online.



Luckily, he has his entire debut album The Day The Turf Stood Still was available for free on his website. And just like Radiohead and Saul Williams before him, its also available for sale on iTunes...I encourage you to check this out and pay for it because its definitely worth the money. I mean, this is a real album with quality raps, production and all around effort, which is hard to find in a time where throwing out random mixtapes seems to be the way to go, support off that alone if not anything else.

The entire project was produced by production team Drums and Ammo, meaning that The Day The Turf Stood Still does just that, stands still and lets you enjoy it instead of getting too many producers on it trying to shine and taking the project all over the place. They kept all of the production either hard or on some soulful pimp shit as you should expect from a rapper coming from Fillmore or "Fillmoe" as its properly pronounced. Matter fact, let me try to sum things up in saying, if you listened to The Product and fuck with Willie Hen...Davinci is kinda like Willie Hen, a little slicker with the actual wordplay and with better beats. NO I'm not saying that Davinci is better than Willie or that Willie is not as good. I'm just saying Davinci's flow is a tad bit more "lyrical" when it comes to the metaphors and what not, make sense?


"The Day The Turf Stood Still"


"Real Niggaz" (Somebody)


"All I Have"

Like I said earlier...I can't consider you street if you can't analyze and break down why things are. Anybody can get on a record and RAP about selling drugs and shooting pistols. It takes talent to paint the picture and politics that revolve around those things.


"Aristocrat"

Of course there's nothing under the sun that hasn't been rapped about already, but that doesn't mean you can't find new ways to rap about things.


"Ben"

But yeah, that's all I'm going to post, I don't wanna put the man whole album up. If any of this caught your ears, you can go to Davinci's website and listen to the whole album...then decide if you want to download or purchase it.

The Day The Turf Stood Still sounds great on my laptop through my headphones...but I'm about to put it to the test in the ride as I smoke a Black...I don't expect for it to let me down there either.

INBOXication: Kristmas

See. This what I'm talking about. I like to do INBOXication off of sheer randomness and it doesn't get anymore random than this. Today this cat named Kristmas hit me out of nowhere on Twitter. I'm not always quick to listen to stuff on the spot like that, but when I clicked his page and saw his bio read: IF THEY CAN BRAG BOUT BEIN HUSTLAZ BALLAZ GANSTAZ & CRACK DEALAZ THEN CANT I BRAG BOUT BEIN A WORKIN RAP NIGGA?...I was sold.

The song he sent me "Til This Rap Shh Pop" had me rolling! Not to say that dudes music is a joke, not by any means, but I love records where the artist can take some things in life lightly and make fun of themselves without sound all depressed. One of the qualities I love about Devin the Dude. The hook on this song is classic working man ish. Buddy is rapping about working at the phone store, it gets no realer than that! For real, a video needs to be shot for this video. Check it out for yourself:

"Till This Rap Shh Pop"


After I hit dude back I asked if he could send me an MP3 and he went on ahead and sent me that song as well as a few others. For the most part, I find dudes music very entertaining.

"Cheerleader"


After hearing those two tracks I was scratching my head as to who he mildly reminded me of and I thought of Shawn Jay from Field Mob or some 2006-ish B.o.B. They have similar voices and dialects that allow them to inject alot of personality into their lyrics.

"Screens Fall"--("it ain't fair, but I'm riding ferris wheels"...hey I thought that was clever)


But yeah, if either of these songs piqued your interest at all, you can find more at Kristmas' myspace page.

INBOXication: Freddie Gibbs

When I saw the homies over at The Smoking Section bigging up Gary, Indiana lyricist Freddie Gibbs over the last couple of weeks, I'll be honest, I never got around to listening to everything they posted. Hell, he even had a couple songs with Devin the Dude that I didn't click on immediately. Sorry, its just so much damn music out there. Add that to the umpteen other things I distract myself with on the internet as well as a temperamental computer, me clicking on any of Mr. Gibbs' music in a timely fashion was not very promising.

After while though, I had to realize that judging from as much as I talk to the homies Gotty and TC, and my interactions with the crew and community over there, that they would never co-sign no bullshit. So, I finally clicked on one of their Freddie Gibbs links and...

I instantly became a fan of this dude's music. So much that not only did I download his The Miseduation of Freddie Gibbs mixtape and listen to damn near each song at least twice before moving on to the next one, I scoured YouTube looking for some of his older tracks and I can't say that I was disappointed at all.

After doing some more digging around I saw that he was signed to Interscope 2-3 years ago. Of course we all know that label is a place where they just throw a bunch of pictures on the wall and rolls with what sticks. So needless to say, Freddie didn't stick, but ever since, dude has been on a mission to get his music out there and put his city on the map.

The above song, "From the G" is the first thing I saw and I was won over just 1/4 into the song. Crazy, about a week or so ago I remember reading Mistah F.A.B. tweeting about how artists, especially ones from Oakland, shouldn't try remaking 2Pac songs. Well, Gibbs isn't from the O so I guess he gets a pass on that. But I feel where Fab is coming from. Especially after the Ja Rule's and Master P's of the world have made such mockeries out of 'Pac's music. But, Freddie did his damn thing on the "Bury Me A G" beat. Hell (ducks chairs) he might have ripped it better than at least two of the Thug Life cats that were on the original.

Of course with any up and coming artist, they're going to be compared to someone before them. Not necessarily because of any glaring similarities, but just as a frame of reference. With Gibbs, he reminds me of Z-Ro (which will remind you of 'Pac by default), except he's not as emotional or mean. That's not to say that you can't hear struggle, pain or emotion in his music though, because theirs plenty of it in there.

"Neverending Cycle" (prod. by JR Rotem)


Another thing that sticks out to me about Gibbs is how he is able to speak from the perspective of someone trapped in a miserable environment who is trying to survive, but at the same time tell you why its miserable beyond just coming with a "shit fucked up, it is what it is" type mentality in his approach.

"G.I. Pride" (prod. by Just Blaze)


He also shows that even when you're talking about the "hood" you can still make it jam and talk about regular shit outside of busting every gun and banging every broad.

"In My Hood" (prod. by JR Rotem)


At the end of the day, the thing that impressed me most about Gibbs was his delivery. Being that he's from Gary (which is to Chicago what Missouri City is to Houston, meaning its pretty much the part of town that the city cops don't bother coming to) he has that Midwest patented Snipe style embedded in his flow. But, he doesn't rely on it to a fault like Do or Die and Twista did and do at times. Instead, Gibbs just slows it down and freaks it depending on what beat he's on. Example, his nimble (and focused) wordplay over Big L's "Flamboyant" beat.

"Flamboyant (freestyle)"


Even though the song is about heartbreak, he also snaps on this old Souls of Mischief too.

"How We Do (93 To Infinity freestyle)"


Of course, no emcee is complete without being able to tell stories and Gibbs does that well. On "Queen" he goes in similar to how Nas did on "Undying Love" except here he captures lighting in a bottle and makes you feel like you are the character in the story.

"Queen"


But yeah, I don't want to mess around the whole damn mixtape, I want to leave something for you to listen to on your own. I walked away with a sense that Freddie reps for the dudes in the hood who have common sense and believe in themselves enough to make it out of tough situations, but just still get caught up from time to time. Hense the appropriately borrowed "miseducation" theme with GD and VL signs placed around him. But yeah, if you are a fan of Dayton Family, Z-Ro and just some reality based G-shit in general, you will dig Freddie Gibbs. If you are a fan of swift deliveries and focused lyricism, you will dig Freddie Gibbs. Matter fact, if you come around these parts often and dig the most of the music that I share here, you'll dig Freddie Gibbs. I spoke with him briefly and he insisted that this mixtape is just a taste of what he has to offer.

DOWNLOAD: Freddie Gibbs-The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs

BONUS: Here's some of his older stuff that I found and enjoyed on YouTube

"Summer Breezing"


"Live From Gary"

INBOXication: Sean Falyon-"Big City Nights"

Here's a new video from the homie and fellow PA to GA jetsetter Sean Falyon. Its the first single from his new project that dropped today, Mr. Falyon Meets SMKA, which is pretty damn jammin. I've been rocking with dude's music for a minute and he hasn't dispapointed yet. Staying true to his Philly roots Falyon rides on some of that classic Teddy P./Gamble & Huff ish with some knock provided by SMKA producer Blake 808. Think Ahmad "Back In The Day" with some bump for the trunk.

Falyon been leaking joints over the last couple of weeks to whet appitites, if you missed the jam he has with Bonecrusher and Joe Scudda, here it is:

Sean Falyon feat. Bonecrusher and Joe Scudda


Like I said, Falyon been jamming for a minute. To this day I'm kinda salty with myself that I didn't get around to showing him love on my old XXL blog last year when I was putting some shine on other artists in the untapped Atlanta music scene. They shut me down right before I was gonna do it. Anyways, spilled milk. But just to put you up on game, I'm going to link you to his Fashionably Dope Musik mixtape he did with DJ Wreckineyez last year, dope ish for real.

If you're in the A fall through the Metropolitan Lofts for Sean's EP release party at tonight's Broke & Boujee party.

Once again, if you missed the links in the paragraphs, here they are:

Sean Falyon: Mr. Falyon Meets SKMA

Sean Falyon: FashionablyDopeMusik Vol.1

Oh yeah, the video is yet another Motion Family creation.

INBOXication: Prynce

Prynce-"Georgia"


So after talking about rappers from Texas and New York the last couple of days, I'm about to just talk about a dude from my side of town, hell, around the corner actually. Which is something that I don't mind doing.

See, for as long as I could remember East Atlanta and Decatur have kinda been the bastard children of the Atlanta Hip Hop scene. When people think of Atlanta Hip Hop most of what they identify with comes from either the Southside or Westside. Not hating or complaining, just saying.

I remember when I'd go out of town to visit family they'd always ask me if I ever just saw Kriss Kross or Outkast or anyone in the Dungeon Family walking around in the neighborhood. When I'd reply with "no, but I saw Ghetto Mafia at South Dekalb Mall" or "no but me and Kizzy Rock go to the same barber shop" they'd look at me all crazy and befuddled because they had absolutely no idea who I was talking about.

Same thing applies to the last few years as really The Eastside Boys (SMH) are the only cats from my side that really got any worldwide recognition, if that shit even counts. Well, I guess you can count I-20 too, but I mean, I ain't about to sit here and act like folks didn't literally speed past I-20 to get to whatever Luda was talking about.

People slept on Da Backwudz. My nigga Noah never even came out. Baby D locked up in Ohio somewhere. But I can at least say that with B.o.B., Playboy Tre, Yung LA, Gucci Mane and OJ Da Juiceman people are paying attention to rappers from my side of town as of late.

So I say all of that to say, pay attention to this cat named Prynce. Dude is dope as hell to me and I always thought so. Yeah he went to my high school alma mater. Yeah he's from right around the damn corner. But that's not the only reason why, I genuinely like dude's music.

He used to be in this group called Hoodlum a couple years ago. They were signed to Jazze Pha's Shonuff Records. I was hired to write their bio (sup Donald) and really looked forward to their music coming out. All six of them could rap, offered different perspectives and they were very, very conceptual...even to a fault at times. But, I say that's a good problem to have.

Hoodlum put a couple records and a mixtape or two out, but pretty much disappeared. I ran into Prynce a couple times at the QuikTrip on Panola (the same one he namedrops on "Georgia") and when I'd ask him what happened he's just say they was messing with Akon now. So I guess his new mixtape with Greg Street is the first fruit of that relationship. I gave the tape a listen this morning and its pretty good. Granted it has some moments that I could do without, but that's mainly due to him rapping over other people's beats, not because he came with wack verses. As evidenced by "Georgia" and what I said about Hoodlum earlier, Prynce's conceptual game is still on par.

"Competition"


Here's another joint called "Dear Def Jam" where he briefly speaks on what happened over at Shonuff. I for one would like to know what's really good over there? They either let talent slip through their hands or just get bogarded for it. What gives?

"Dear Def Jam"


If you like what you've heard check out the rest and download his mixtape What The Dec Been Missing.

INBOXication: Siya

So, INBOXication got alot of positive feedback yesterday, so why not keep it going full throttle.

Right around the time I was working on yesterday's post, the homie Kei of Lavish Life Social Club hit me to get my opinion on this new artist she's working with named Siya. I'd seen a few twits about Siya here and there but never just felt compelled to investigate. I mean, who just goes exploring what other folks on Twitter are talking about all the time? Granted, the convos are on public display, but at the end of the day, it is still kinda their business.

Well, I'm kinda kicking myself for not being nosy because the songs Kei hit me with are dope. Funny thing is that Kei thought I wouldn't like the music because she's a female emcee. I'm not too too mad at that, because from what I've noticed most women assume that dudes don't like female rappers. Now, I can't speak for all male listeners, but for me...I like female rappers as much as I like male rappers. Dope is dope. Wack is wack. Annoying is annoying.

As far as female rappers go, I think I can speak for most males in saying that we just don't want to hear all of that "eat my coochie, buy me Gucci" shit. Nor do we want to hear those "positive, empowering" (for lack of a better word) female rappers where they think that just because they are NOT doing the "eat my coochie, buy me Gucci" raps that they are automatically dope. Hell, you may not like Terrell Owens attitude sometimes, but that don't mean you just walking around this b*tch rooting for Brian Finnerman simply because he just catches the ball. Hell no, you want to be entertained at the end of the day. Did ya'll follow me with that one?

But yeah, back to Siya. She pretty much fits that "she raps harder than most dudes" mold, which really, ain't that hard to do these days, but still. Its been said that that she hasn't gotten her props in the music biz because guys are intimidated by her "appearance." (yes, I'm being PC) I mean, shit. It is what is.

Its on you if you listen, like or loathe the music based on her "appearance." I myself was impressed by the way her songs were produced and executed on top of her straight spitting on them. Especially on on "Hustler." The way the dude in the hook was kinda communicating with her and actually leading into the verses sorta reminded me of how AMG and Bo$$ went back and forth during moments on "My Sister Is A Bitch." And yeah, since I brought her up, I think I like Siya because she kinda reminds me of Bo$$. Just as she does Mia X and Gangsta Boo & La Chat on their good days. Shawty is just spitting. Can't be mad at that. Anyways, here are a couple of her songs, check them out and speak on it in the comments.

"Hustler" (prod. by Black Metaphore)


"Control" feat. Sean Falyon (prod. by The Olympicks*)


*The Olympicks are deep as hell. I suggest a central website fellas.

INBOXication: Dustin Prestige

Ok. I have another scatterbrained series I'm introducing. I'm calling it INBOXication I'm just gonna start posting stuff that I get in my inbox from different artists that I stumble upon or stumble upon me. I'm sure someone is gonna come along and abuse this or simply annoy me, so, we'll see how this goes.

Anyways, I was on twitter earlier and saw a couple tweets from the homie B.Dot of Rap Radar and my potna Killer Mike. Both of them we're cosigning an artist named Dustin Prestige. Prior to today, I'd never heard of dude, but seeing two dudes I talk to frequently and have musical opinions that I respect (sometimes, haha) I had to see what was up. On top of that, he's from Mo'City, Texas...home of one of my favorite rappers.

I'm not gonna lie, when I clicked on Dustin's twitter page, he got me interested instantly and it had nothing to do with the music. It was that trill ass logo that he has. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a 'Lo Life and seeing how dude identifies himself with a Polo man toting an AK, I was sure I was gonna like at least some of what he was talking about.

Well, after hitting him up, Dustin was kind enough to email me some of his music and his EP that I will be sharing with you. My personal favorites of the moment are:

"Polo Groove"


and

"Funny Valentine"


Ya'll check him out and let me know what you think.

DOWNLOAD: Dustin Prestige: The Prestige EP

Oh yeah, shout out to his producer Jett-I-Masstyr, he put his foot in these beats.