This man has bars. Spark up n play this shit. I just did. Or not… either way this is some upper echelon Hip Hop music. There are no limitations as to where this emcee takes it. Rue The Poet raps straight through these tracks on his debut album, rhyming like crazy over the new wave Milwaukee Boom Bap sound.
This is Cream City music – Smooth, Jazzy, Smart, Tough, Soulful Music. Rue The Poet goes hand n hand with Mike Regal and Abby Jeane on the project. The artist impresses with Creative & Other Stuff. He’s got the skits and acapella in there too, and I, at least, always appreciate those. Rue is also going after Coasties (“Seinfelds”). This is quality rap.
On “Mista Nice To Meet Ya” :
“Maybe you can feel how I feel, you Seinfelds Juggling a life of brief excitement and rhyme skill Now that time’s still… I’m serving burgers, let these fries chill I’m ill”
Mike Regal and Sofa King on the beats. Mammyth with the mix.
Vincent VanGREAT is one of my favorite artists outta The 4. He’s been consistently dope for years now and this project really speaks to his incredible artistry as a Hip Hop musician. Take a listen for yourself. Breakdown coming soon… Bless up.
Three eyes – eyes open. The standout producer delivers his heavily anticipated Premoniitions album. We’ve been hearing a lot about this project… At first listen, I can hear the emcee’s experimentation in his flow. He has several smooth collaborations as well.
Mike Regal is influenced by the East Coast Boom Bap production style, but often goes outside the box, and certainly doesn’t lack in lyrical content on the project. The prevailing message: stay focused on your business, hard for your affiliates and help no one else. We placed the artist on DX and kicked off his “Eyes Open Series” last year.
On the title track:
“When it come to the flows, I’ma specialist I don’t need a pirate to treasure this You can tell I’m the future when present My gift is a gift to the present Been a while since I rolled up the regular I switch up my style on the regular You boys be moving too regular She loving my wave, it ain’t regular”
L-R steps off the cold Milwaukee streets for a minute to lace up The Giver for his fans. The creative emcee innovates through this gift album, cutting it up with flows and heartfelt stories that go perfectly with the funky, upbeat, Houston-influenced beats from Mike Regal. L-R is a conscious emcee but he’s a composer as well. He has a vivid imagination on his debut project The Giver.
Wisco artists are known for having out-of-the-box approaches to Hip Hop. “I really just want you to say what you think,” L-R recently told Basement Made. I think independent artists like LyricsnRhythm are giving their listeners more time to absorb their music after each drop, before putting out another single or the full project. This is in contrast to the Southern mass production strategy, kicked off by Lil Wayne and the mixtape rappers in the 00’s era. Taking that time gives The Giver more hype than if L-R had dropped the tape without any marketing beforehand.
The Midwest has always created a lot, but we’re also deep thinkers. Artists are getting educated on key industry strategies and employing them outside the labels. If you haven’t heard of LyricsnRhythm through his collabs with Mike Regal, Ar Wesley and Cool Tay, now’s your chance to hear a boom bap wordsmith with a smooth nuance. “This is my gift from me to my supporters and to introduce myself to the game,” says L-R. Mammyth mixed it. Bless.
On “Better Days” :
“Growing up in the city, we knew only God could keep us Imaginations took us away, so violence wouldn’t reach us OGs were still players, nobody on them bleachers And we actually sat and listened and valued lessons they’d teach us”
YL64 debuted his first full length. The emcee is a fan of Star Wars and sweet desserts – not your typical rapper shit. YL64 needs to practice his flow more but I like his alternative direction. The roster on [the dark side has cookies] is pretty dope too, and includes Dee Phr3sh, Mike Regal and Tito The Scumbag. The Mil can’t be stopped.
Tito The Scumbag dropped sumn scummy tonight (January 28, 2016). The grimy Brew City rapper keeps an experimental nature on Laced With The Scum and it works for him. I like where Tito’s music is heading. His beats are all over the place on Vol. 1 but he finds a way to match up his flow on each of Weekend’s beats. Dee Phr3sh pops in for a feature too. This is just the first EP of seven he’s dropping this year. Here’s Sleep Walker: The EP from last year. Keep up, Tito is set up for a big year. Hippy Trap.
J.J. Jabber is a threat. The Milwaukeeland producer-emcee mixes Hip Hop with Rock to create an unmatched twisted Metal sound on his debut EP. While the Grime style has been in The Midwest for a minute, Jabber comes at the records in an even more widely appealing sense on [Insert Title Here]. Tech 9 nem birthed the Midwest Grime but there have been few standouts to follow up until now.
We kicked off the #JabberSeason promo with a deadly “[Girl Next Door]” record that sounded like a walk to the electric chair. The follow up hit just as hard. Jabber smacked the “[White Collar]” beat with a K Dot flow. “Come up round n get lit”, he repeated in that high and tight intonation that we’ve all come to appreciate. Then of course we premiered “[Patterns]” right here on da Basement Made site. The emcee is good at mixing other styles with his own. “I learned all I know from my headphones”, he raps.
No features necessary. This is one of the best produced albums I’ve ever heard outta The 4. Mammyth mixed it. I want to hear the artist rap more about himself, though. There are a lot of general ideas going on here, not enough on his personal experiences.
“This EP is for anyone who has been stuck on the seesaw their entire life. Teetering on the edge of sanity, blinded by perfectionism and self-doubt. While those aspects of my life have been overwhelmingly prominent, I combat my downfall through a confident approach, shown specifically through my art”.
Premiered by Earmilk, who came out with “There is not a lot that I can say about J.J. at the moment, honestly”. And these people call themselves journalists…
UPDATE: Dad contacted me on da book because this piece “doesn’t represent [him] correctly” (June 20, 2016). The emcee deleted his old profile, so there’s no trace of his previous comments, but now assures the following:
“The part about me proclaiming to be a role model to urban youth… I don’t think I ever worded it like that at all and it’s pretty cringey… I think I said something along the lines but definitely was worded differently… Definitely never called myself a role model dude… And you said self proclaimed as if I said that… I said something about giving advice to my younger friends not about being a role model to inner city kids or whatever, so it’s just about how you worded it I guess… I don’t want kids to follow in my footsteps I want them to learn from my mistakes like a true dad ya feel me, no role model here.”
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This Milwaukee, Wisconsin based emcee loves that H Town sound. He hits with a leaned out flow and Mammyth mixes his records in the Chopped n Screwed fashion. Dad has the right voice for it too. His laid-back vibes are a saucy change of pace for Cream City.
When we spoke at the end November, Dad said “I was just meant to be dad man it chose me I didn’t choose it”. The emcee proclaims himself a role model for the urban youth of Milwaukee, although judging off all the people calling him Dad, it’s hard to tell who chose who.
The Brew City living, Houston-influenced emcee dropped Father Figure EP according to plan on December 6. The rapper has a couple more projects on the way…
