Rue The Poet – “Creative Space & Other Stuff”

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Title : Creative Space & Other Stuff
Release Date : January 1, 2017

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.

Mike Regal – “Premoniitions”

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Title : Premoniitions
Release Date : June 20, 2016

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”

Mike Regal Premoniitions album cover art tracklist Basement Made

Cleo Fox – “Tomorrow Is Today” EP

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Title : Tomorrow Is Today
Release Date : June 1, 2016

Some think he’s from Chicago, others think he’s a New York emcee with the new digital sound, but this cunning Cleo Fox is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has a cool vibe and brings out his message over smooth samples and 90s vibes on Tomorrow Is Today. Government name Cleo Fox III began writing and deejaying at a young age. He knows how to put a project together. Cleo is also a well-known area engineer and manages Nefelibeta. That’s good business. “I’m not a turnt rapper,” Cleo Fox told Basement Made last week. He’s got a different approach. “I’m lyrical and I’m smooth, I’m a fox,” he says.

Cleo crafted Tomorrow Is Today for himself. “I made a project that was the music I like,” he says. He wants to relate too, though. He has an marketable uptempo style and talks plenty about his life in Milwaukee, utilizes this climbing flow that many emcees out there are doing now, and drops some colorful sketches in between the music. Cleo Fox has an easy-going style and keeps it moving. He hits to a few trap beats at the start, then it’s “Like I’m Jigga”, onto a few jazzier tracks and ending on “GOLDEN”. Cleo Fox gives us a taste of what he’s capable of on his debut EP. He’s dropped before but not as a complete project as this. Straight steez on this shid.

The artist has been working on finding his place in music for a while. “When I was young, when I came up and got into the music, I wanted to be a DJ,” says the multi. “I always used to go to poetry camps and just write, just chill, and that taught me a lot but I wanted to be a DJ so bad because I thought turn tables were so cool.” At the end of the day, the DJ decided to go the lyrical route. “I got into battle rapping too a little bit,” he says. “That’s what got me more punchlines.” Cleo goes at the music in a whole new way.

Jay-Z and Fabolous are two of Cleo’s biggest influences. He has the Jay-Z business mindset and 90s-influenced fashion of Fab. Cleo manages Nefelibeta (Ty$o Supreme x Drúdini), so he has plenty more work with them on the way, as well as some with Bankx and Danny Lanes. “You’re only as good as your engineer,” says Fox, who later shows love to his inner-city competition too, saying “Mammyth made me confident to go public.”

Cleo did “Big Talk”, “Ever Since”, “Home Team” and “Page Three” off Wave Chapelle’s W project, and just did one with Nimbus Cool. Really, the engineer has been making his rounds about the city. “If I haven’t got to record them yet, they’re coming in the next couple weeks,” he says. “That’s just how it’s been.” The young mogul is slinging music and Fox Hats too. That’s strap backs, no snapbacks.

Cleo Fox III - Fox Hat Basement Made Cleo Fox III white fox hat merch Basement Made
The local Hip Hop scene is taking off in Milwaukee. “We need to make our have our own SXSW, and then have people fly down to us,” the manager says. I brought up Summerfest. “They don’t really fuck with Hip Hop like that,” Cleo says. He recognizes “The World’s Largest Music Festival” for bringing Kendrick Lamarr, Nelly, Ludacris, T-Pain and other big names in the past but wants to see more local culture on stage. I agree. There are far too few Wisconsin natives on stage at Summerfest. Let’s get the Fox up there. He can do it all.

“People always say tomorrow isn’t promised… I say Tomorrow Is Today”

– Cleo Fox

L-R – “The Giver”

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Title : The Giver
Release Date : May 27, 2016
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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”

Reggie Bonds – “From The Norf$ide w/ Love” Cover Art, Tracklist

Reggie Bonds prepares to drop a 3 part From The Norf$ide w/ Love album. There’s an “Introduction” x “Body” x “Conclusion”. Looks like he’s been cooking with Mike Regal. Chicago artist Supa Bwe is set to appear on a Bruus-made collab.

Reggie Bonds - From the Norf$ide w Love tracklist cover art Basement Made

Ar Wesley – “The Self Portrait: Part 1”

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Title : The Self Portrait: Part 1
Release Date : March 30, 2016

Ar Wesley dropped an impressive project today titled The Self Portrait: Part 1 (March 30, 2016). He’s meticulous over the jazzy boom bap production from Mike Regal and Ekstoluke (who also did cover art). This is the first installment in a 3-part series, according to the premiere. Ar is calling this one “Reality”, which will be followed by “Love” and “Hope”.

I’m really a fan of the piano and bass guitar this “Midwest Coast Love” record, as well as the equally as smooth Time Is Millmatic EP.

“It’s murder in the street, that’s how it go, yea
I hear niggas creeping on the low, yea
I can feel your pain, I know you ain’t got it
I was sleeping in a shelter, don’t you damn think I forgot it, hold up”

– Ar Wesley

Premiered by DJ Booth.

Nefelibata – “Nefelibata” EP

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Title : Nefelibata
Release Date : February 26, 2016

It won’t take long for me to learn how say this one. For now, I can just type Nefelibata (Februrary 26, 2016). Drúdini – a self-described magician, recording artist and college athlete – pairs up with emcee Tyson Spears to form the cloud-walking duo. We premiered “Lo$t/Alone” on Basement Made, which was super lit. The final product is even better. Dru and T$ are providing a new wavy kind of R&B from Cream City. The flows are quick but the vibe is slow. Young Cleo Fox III mixed it.

On “XTC” :

“Can ya tell me what ya like
See the angel in your skin
Got the devil in your eyes
All these drugs you recommend”

YL64 – “the dark side has cookies”

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Title : the dark side has cookies
Release Date : February 17, 2016

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.