#Animoss

[6i]

#Preservation #Ka #Animoss #Yasiin Bey #Mos Def #Brownsville KA #Hip Hop #Rap

[beatsforbrothels]

Chuck Strangers - Venison (ft. Navy Blue) [Prod. Animoss]

#venison #navy blue #animoss #chuck strangers #The Boys & Girls

[lunarsolitaire]

HYDRANGEA

Prod by LUNAR

#rap #nashville #hiphop #games #underground #tennessee #music #hip hop #ka #animoss #roc marciano #the alchemist #hydrangea #valentines2023 #valentines day

[therappundit]

I didn't wake up expecting 20 new Ka songs today, did you?  😲😲😲😲

The legendary scribe known as Ka - as promised - as emerged from his Brooklyn laboratory to bless us with new music in 2022.  This time, in the form of a DOUBLE FREAKIN’ ALBUM!!?!

If you’re a fan you should already know what to do: go directly to his website and purchase Languish Arts and Woeful Studies to kick off the weekend.  

https://brownsvilleka.com/

#Ka #Brownsvilleka #underground hip-hop #Metal Clergy #Woeful Studies #Languish Arts #Preservation #Animoss #Chuck Strangers #Roc Marciano

[jacobwren]

Hermit and the Recluse - Oedipus

#hermit and the recluse #animoss #ka

[dustedmagazine]

Roc Marciano — Marciology (Pimpire Records)

Roc Marciano’s music has been a bumpy ride for the last few years. Not since 2018 when he put out KAOS (fully produced by DJ Muggs) has he created anything even remotely close to his stone cold classic albums. Marcielago, Mt. Marci, even the last year’s The Elephant Man’s Bones left a bitter aftertaste. Not that they have been straight out duds, but they had only a few bangers.

Marciology is no return to form. Or more specifically, Roc Marci is in his best form right now, but he focuses more on writing poetry than songs. He almost solely produced the new CD, with some help from The Alchemist and Animoss, and as he said in his interviews he feels most comfortable on his own production. His beats suit his lyrics but work best only as soundstage for poetry, not as music per se.

Maybe that is why the second half of Marciology especially drags on. It’s not songs but huge chunks of poetry piled up, heavy on wordplay, with rhyming done nicely, almost perfectly. But not many of the tracks work as songs at all. Mediocre verses from guests only makes the material more sluggish.

This “too much poetry” effect is not new for Marciano. His last few CDs had the same downside: you praise his lyrical gift but don’t put on repeat this poetry over beats. Only the first three tracks —“Marciology,” “Goyard God,” and “Gold Crossbow” — have a clear musical feel to them. On “Gold Crossbow,” especially, Marciano makes an effort to make not just a poem over music but a rocking song. He rhymes there: “ain't gon' even hold you \ There's no room on the scrotum, you gotta keep it mobile \ That's a quotable.” And there are plenty of quotable lines all over the album, yet they don’t work if they are buried underneath the not very good songs.

On the cover of this CD under the title Marciology it says “a cult....” There is no denying that Marci created a cult following, giving life to dozens of copycats, mostly bad copies of himself with far less talent. But the irony is Marciology as a sort of tribute to his lasting legacy is too mediocre to create a cult now.

Ray Garraty

#roc marciano #marciology #pimpire #ray garraty #albumreview #dusted magazine #rap #hip hop #the alchemist

[thelensofyashunews]

ROC MARCIANO SHARES NEW ALBUM MARCIOLOGY

New York Hip-Hop multi-hyphenate Roc Marciano has just shared his highly-anticipated album Marciology, which includes features from Larry June, Flee Lord, CRIMEAPPLE, T.F, Knowledge the Pirate, and GREA8GAWD. While Roc’s latest offering is mostly self-produced, the album also boasts production credits from The Alchemist and Animoss, and is released in partnership with PIMPIRE RECORDS and Equity Distribution, the in-house distribution of Roc Nation. Marciology’s hypnotic lead single “Gold Crossbow” recently landed a spot on Pitchfork’s Selects playlist, and was hailed by BrooklynVegan as a track that finds Roc’s “eerie, post-boom bap style sounding as gripping as ever”. The Marciology rollout marks the start of a new era for the MC and producer, arriving alongside the recent announcement of a forthcoming multi-date North American and European tour. Roc Marciano is a storied emcee on the heels of a career-minting run of critically-acclaimed solo LPs, from his respective 2018 and 2019 albums Marcielago and Mt. Marci, to his 2020 instrumental project Pimpstrumentals, and The Elephant Man’s Bones in collaboration with The Alchemist. Roc Marciano has also spent the past few years sitting behind the boards, creating the soundscape for notable underground Hip-Hop projects like Stove God Cooks’ debut album Reasonable Drought and Flee Lord’s 2021 LP Delgado. Marciology serves as Roc Marci’s eleventh studio album, as he steps back into the booth and showcases why COMPLEX says he “continues to run New York’s underground scene” even at this point in his illustrious, decades-long career.

Tapping in with a crew of familiar favorites, Marciology boasts contributions from frequent collaborators Larry June, Jay Worthy, Flee Lord, CRIMEAPPLE, T.F, Knowledge the Pirate, and GREA8GAWD, as well as beats from The Alchemist and Animoss. Marciology’s recently-released lead single “Gold Crossbow” highlighted Roc’s signature razor-sharp bravado and clear-eyed realism – setting the grimy tone for the remainder of the album. With dark instrumentals to compliment his cold-blooded bar work, Marciology is proof that the legendary emcee continues to adapt to the times while only improving his imaginative storytelling. Highlighted by Roc Marciano’s signature urgent flow and contemplative raps splashed across a canvas of nostalgic, old-school production, the long-awaited Marciology marks his first solo album in nearly four years – a staunch reminder that the producer and emcee is as hungry as he’s ever been. Widely hailed as a godfather of underground Hip-Hop, Roc Marciano is continuing to shape the sound of the next generation, playing a key role in the resurgence of contemporary Hip-Hop.

#roc marciano #marciology #spotify #youtube #music #artist #musician #soundcloud #rapper #culture #rap #art #hempstead #long island #nyclife #nyc rap #nyc rapper #nyc #nyc music #what new york sounds like #new york rapper #new york #Spotify

[rcmndedlisten]

Like all music these days, there is an entire sea of new rap music being released to dive into on a pretty much near-daily basis. These pages can’t profess to going as deep as the diehards do on that scene, but where it does pay attention are the words of rhyme making their way up from the alternative underground scene as well as those big, artful blockbusters that etch new mile markers in its culture. Here’s 2022′s best moments in those corners of the game...

AKAI SOLO - Spirit Roaming [Backwoodz Studioz]

Spirit Roaming, AKAI SOLO’s first release in collaboration with Armand Hammer’s Backwoodz Studioz, may be the 27-year-old Brooklyn’s rhymer’s most audibly compelling yet. Across a spectrum of color-and-mood-immersed production by the likes of established progressive beatmakers Preservation, Animoss, Messiah Musik and August Fanon as well as those being discovered in Theravada, ibliss, WifiGawd, Roper Williams and JUNIE creates a complimentary canvas for AKAI’s think bubbles, wrapping deep processing in prose inside a steep haze and self-designed spiritual ladder hell bent on ascending.

Backxwash - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING [Self-released]

Backxwash’s 2020 breakthrough God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It and last year’s I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES heard the Montreal-by-way-of-Zambia noise rapper tearing through her skin and soul with her own process of faith, trauma, vice and addiction, all while unspooling her identity, and the trilogy’s conclusion, HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING, goes an additional layer deep in her therapeutic catharsis by looking even further beyond her own timeline and understanding the plague of debts generationally burdened onto the individual by history with a siphoned rage.

billy woods - Aethiopes [Backwoodz Studios]

These days, listeners are probably more familiar with billy woods as one half of Armand Hammer, but Aethiopes, his latest solo effort recorded alongside underground producer Preservation, deservedly reaps what he began to sew a decade ago in NYC’s alternative rap scene with an even finer skill set in beautiful rhymes and progressive beat-making that’s nearly gothic in its darkness, creaking in with minimalist structure as well as global influences, all while woods sets scenes fictional yet blurred into past and present realities.

Earl Sweatshirt - SICK! [Tan Cressida / Columbia Records]

SICK! is another example of how when the rest of the world of rhyming goes left, Thebe Kgositsile is already swerving into the right lane. Comprised of 10 songs in just 24 minutes manifested during the lowest points of a global pandemic, going through the motions of grief and anxiety of it all are right in Sweatshirt’s wheelhouse, but the murkier, fragmented production that once tattered his prose behind a curtain on 2018′s Some Rap Songs or 2019′s EP Feet of Clay doesn’t need any outer coverage here.

ELUCID - I Told Bessie [Backwoodz Studioz]

I Told Bessie, the third solo effort from Armand Hammer’s other half, ELUCID, is a personal document from the NYC rapper inspired by his paternal grandmother and doubles as an origin story from the roots up. The listen positions ELUCID in a headier space as he shifts through timelines with a jazz-rock fusion in its beat production that forms more psychedelic orbs to project abstract memories into. billy woods and Pink Siifu are close to his back throughout, but its ELUCID cutting through the daze that gives us a clear portrait of the energy that’s surrounded him.

Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers [Aftermath / Interscope / pgLang / Top Dawg Entertainment]

Even at his messiest, Kendrick Lamar is still miles ahead of the rest in the rap game on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. An introverted nightmare where he feeds into his inner villain’s origin story, his pain, shame, and everything in his life that’s trying to kill him, Lamar at his ugliest can’t stop the Compton rhymer from being even more agile in his flow with full-on art in its production as his prose teeters disjointed bouts of soul and funk that jostles the brain and always knows when to bring a moment back into a banger.

MAVI - Laughing so Hard, it Hurts [Self-released]

MAVI’s way of rhyme is a very insular one, but the way the Carolina rapper and neuroscience student projects his singular experience brings his corner of the underground into a scope as big as his life is getting itself on his sophomore effort, Laughing so Hard, it Hurts. His flow here moves over a masterclass cast in beat production rich with soulful, spliced woozy textures as he peers into balancing the struggle introspectively. He’s got a lot to say in figuring this life (and it’s “jokes”) out, and with that, we’re privy to be a part of that journey with him, cracks in the sidewalk, and all.

Pusha T - It’s Almost Dry [G.O.O.D. / Def Jam]

It’s no surprise that It’s Always Dry plays out like another master class from one of rap’s most gifted rhyme articulators who isn’t afraid to put his ugly side on full display. A certain someone’s shadow behind the boards looms, but its Pharrell’s light that shines most, and it’s here where It’s Almost Dry gets most of its veneer of experimental freshness within its air. Where there’s plenty of wealthy to brag of, there’s also been plenty of bullets dodged. A true villain never apologizes, however, and as long as he keeps danger at bay, we can expect to hear Pusha T staying hungrier than the rest.

Vince Staples - Ramona Park Broke My Heart [Blacksmith / Motown Records]

The passion of Vince Staples is even more illustrious on Ramona Park Broke My Heart, the counterpart to the Long Beach rapper’s excellent 2021 eponymous self-reflection, with beats shifting away from the overt rumination of last year’s Kenny Beats production in a more finessed sense despite working with a collective of names familiar and not in the studio. It complements the richness in Staples’ style as he continues letting his life story from the darkened street corners be seen out in the open.

Wicca Phase Springs Eternal - Full Moon Mystery Garden [Self-released]

Adam McIlwee has had a prolific run since putting behind his emo rock days as the vocalist of Tigers Jaw and forging ahead with his emo rap moniker Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, but his latest effort, Full Moon Mystery Garden, may be the most cohesive statement from the genre-transcending rhymer. The sprawling 23-track listen has no filler and features Wicca Phase’s GothBoiClique cohorts in one of their most collaborative visibilities and hears the beat behind his morbid flow at its most compellingly absorbing, layering accessible patterns in rap-pop and trap with shoegaze and experimental electronic flashes in the dark.

#best of 2022 #akai solo #backxwash #billy woods #earl sweatshirt #elucid #kendrick lamar #mavi #pusha t #vince staples #wicca phase springs eternal

[eyeamthat]

#Hermit and the Recluse #Ka #Orpheus #Orpheus vs the Sirens #music #hip hop #abstract hip hop #hip hop lyrics #lyricism #poetry #greek mythology #greece #hip hop artist #Animoss #ha #the odyssey #mythology #street life #criminality #hip hop head

[neww0rld]

#2020 #confort #bored #animoss #world

[chillgawds]

#roc marciano #marcielago #animoss

[wyattvsmusic]

Ka - Descendants Of Cain ALBUM REVIEW

Ka is in a world of his own when it comes to his music in the entire landscape of Hip Hop. Even though he’s known for working with guys like Roc Marciano, Ka’s music exists in its own lane. I personally think he is one of the best lyricists of all time and every time he puts out a project, that opinion grows much stronger. This new album is his seventh project overall and for the majority of his discography, Ka’s albums have taken on a certain theme to them which he applies to his own life. On his 2013 album The Night’s Gambit, Ka’s life was like a game of chess. He’s told stories of his life in parallel to the life of a samurai on 2016′s Honor Killed The Samurai and applied stories from Greek mythology to his life on 2018′s Orpheus vs. The Sirens. Also, his 2015 collab album with preservation, Dr. Yen Lo was a concept album based off a book called The Manchurian Candidate. His latest album, aptly titled Descendants Of Cain is yet another album where Ka tells more stories of his life in Brownsville but this time it follows the story of Cain and Abel from The Bible. Every time a Ka album drops, I always have to listen to it many times in order to unpack all the complexity and brilliance that lies in Ka’s lyrics. Whether it’s related to the concept or just a clever punchline, Ka’s lyrics often go over my head and if you’re not paying attention, you might miss it. One of the first things I noticed was the name “Cain” in the title can also be spelled as “caine” like cocaine. After I made that connection, I heard a line on Solitude Of Enoch where Ka says “Brothers killing brothers, descendants of Cain.” What I took from that line was that Cain’s son Enoch descended from him, while cocaine is the source of a lot of the violence that surrounds Ka so the violence between black people in Ka’s neighborhood all stems from “caine.” Of course the line about brothers killing brothers is about Cain killing his brother Abel as well. All the lyrics from every song on this album are intertwined and I connected Solitude Of Enoch to the song Land Of Nod, which is where Enoch was born. When you look up Land Of Nod on Wikipedia, it says that “Cain continued his wickedness in Nod: resorting to violence and robbery” which made me connect that violence and robbery in Nod to what goes on in Brownsville according to Ka. Another example of lyrics being related to each other throughout the album is the song My Brother’s Keeper, which talks about Cain and Abel being brothers but Abel ends up dying in the story. The whole song made me think about the song The Eye Of A Needle where Ka has a line where he says “Would've told Kev I love him if knew he was next to leave us.” Ka was in a duo called Nightbreed with a rapper named Kev before he passed away in 2015, who Ka definitely viewed as a “brother.” The whole idea of Cain and Abel being brothers and Ka and Kev being brothers (even though Kev passed away in an accident) really stood out to me. In the story of Cain and Abel, the ground plays a significant role in the story and there’s a line on Every Now And Then that really stood out to me about it. Ka raps, “People I love blood is in the soil that I walk.” That line is very similar to the one in the Bible where the ground “opens its mouth to take the blood." That was super interesting to me. These are just a few lyrics that really stood out to me in terms of lyrics that directly apply to the concept. One thing I really appreciate about Ka’s music aside from the fact that there’s always a brilliant concept is that even if you don’t want to do all this extra work into deciphering lyrics and breaking down the concept, there are plenty of clever bars in general that have to be acknowledged. On Old Justice, there’s a line where he says “The cypher's muddy, the cycle bloody till all my men straight.” That line was so dope because it compares a cycle of violence to a menstrual cycle (men straight/menstruate). One of my favorite lines on the album is on Unto The Dust where he raps “On a path for power, when half a dollar was hated by many men.” Half of a dollar is 50 Cents and 50 Cent has an album called Power Of A Dollar and a song called Many Men. The wordplay in that one line is so dope to me. There was another dope bar on Land Of Nod where Ka says “Least one foot in the square's what we revere as boxin'” which means he has a foot in the drug game selling “squares” is like having a foot in a square boxing ring. Yes, the lyrics on this album are incredible and that is to be expected from Ka but the music itself is dope as well. Ka usually handles most of his production aside from doing entire albums with producers like Preservation and Animoss. Ka produced most of this album aside from Animoss and Roc Marciano producing a few songs. Speaking of Roc Marciano, I have to talk about Sins Of The Father. I could not have been happier when I heard Roc Marciano pop up on that song. The beat he did for that song is so dope and the hook where Roc and Ka go back and forth was amazing. It makes me want the Metal Clergy collaborative album that they have been teasing forever even though Ka hinted it wasn’t coming out. Not too long ago, Ka tweeted a list of every song he and Roc Marciano have done together and said "You may be asking for something we already gave you." Roc said in a Rap Radar interview that it’s coming out so I’m hoping it comes out eventually because we need that. One of the most interesting beats on this album was P.R.A.Y. because it’s not really a beat, it’s sort of Ka rapping over some noises. It’s barely a beat and Ka managed to find his pocket which speaks to how good a rapper he is. Very few rappers could do that. Roc Marciano, Danny Brown and Your Old Droog come to mind as some of the only others that could flow over that. This album is fantastic and I’m sure that I’ll have made plenty more connections to the concept and found lyrics that went over my head even after I post this review. There’s always so much to break down when Ka drops an album so take your time with it and appreciate the intricacy within the lyrics from one of the best to ever do it.

Fav Tracks: Unto The Dust, My Brother’s Keeper, Solitude Of Enoch, Land Of Nod, Sins Of The Father

#Ka #Descendants Of Cain #Brownsville Ka #Roc Marciano #Animoss

[therappundit]

Seemingly unsatisfied with dropping one of the best hip-hop albums of 2020 (Àdá Irin), MC/producer Navy Blue decided to close out the year with yet another AOTY-worthy project, Song of Sage: Post Panic! .

I have not had a chance to fully absorb this one yet, but upon first listen, I love everything that I heard. Flexing assistance from the likes Evidence, Chuck Strangers, Billy Woods, Maxo and Yasiin Bey (yes, that Yasiin Bey!), you should be heading to Bandcamp right now to add this one to your collection.

#Navy Blue #Most Def #Ka #Billy Woods #Chuck Strangers #Animoss #yasiin bey #Evidence #nicholas craven #MAXO #Zeroh #earl sweatshirt #Merry Christmas

[beatsforbrothels]

Mind you what I’m tryna do, bring pride to the gutter The times ripe to shine light, just might widen your shutter

#hermit & the recluse #ka #animoss #orpheus vs the sirens #hades

[rexilla]

I think it's fine to relinquish mine for the life of our seeds For the weak moves these dudes eat your food like harpies Not just car thieves, large pleas, came home hardened murderers By the death toll, would've thought the threshold was guarded by Cerberus It's hard to love, and if only God can judge, who needs juries? Weighing the crime, still paying for mine, haunted by the Three Furies Should discover y'all brothers instead of throwing signs that divide you Here they never sue you, just headed to you with 9s It's the Hydra Being deprived of the papes made a lot of mistakes in my era Hard life course you needed white horse to defeat the Chimera Every morning wake, never caught a break, revealed I was jinxed To be the man deciphers life's riddle or get killed by the Sphinx Quietly spoke volume of my drama, since then I've been at war It's no bull, my lab was in a labyrinth like the Minotaur Rose from the pavement unaided, negotiated like the sly fox I told son, won't be fooled by no one, like the Cyclops The more static, the more tatted, you would've thought yakuza Large crops or hard rocks, it's like we all saw Medusa Till the roar of the silence, we at war with the tyrants Blocks of outlaws, but all we watch out for is the Sirens

#hermit and the recluse #ka #animoss #alina popescu #orpheus vs the sirens #this album is almost a year old already

[dustedmagazine]

Roc Marciano & The Alchemist — The Elephant Man’s Bones (Self-released)

Roc Marciano took almost two years to make another an album produced by The Alchemist. Unfortunately, The Elephant Man’s Bones is a step back for both the artist and the producer.

Ironically, between his last album Mt Marci and The Elephant Man’s Bones, Marciano has been producing CDs for other artists, including Flee Lord and Stove God Cooks, and it needs to be said that it was a waste of beats. After Marciano stopped using Arch Druids and Animoss as producers, he proved capable of making music for himself, and his own beats are where he feels most comfortable.

So why did Marci need The Alchemist for his new album? Possibly Alc needed Marci more than Marci needed The Alchemist. Marciano remains one of the best lyricists in hip hop now, while The Alchemist has spread himself too thin, making beats for all kinds of artists. A generic Alchemist production makes for a generic Marciano verse. In short, there is no chemistry between The Alchemist and Marciano (pun intended). With his lazy lounge jazz type of beats, Alc can barely wake a beast in Marci. It’s not even that there are no bangers (“The Horn of Abraxas” resembles one, with an intro and outro by Ice-T), it’s that even a sleepy Marc can outrap anybody. Not on The Elephant Man’s Bones, where he even recycles some of his lines from the past albums. It still can be gory and quotable (“I'm standing over your dead parents fanning flies \ The Porsche Panamera, it flies”) but good lines don’t glue together in good songs.

The Elephant Man’s Bones sparks hope in the middle with “Quantum Leap” and “Bubble Bath” but after that it regresses again into a second rate lounge-y Marciano. Where he remains supreme is making fun of other rappers. On “Quantum Leap” he spits: “Your favorite rapper send fan mail to me \ Your lil' LP ain't worth twelve pennies.” And on “Bubble Bath” Marci is disgusted with the state of hip hop: “After your songs I wash my ears with peroxide, with a cotton swab.”

On the same “Bubble Bath” Roc Marciano says: “Ask my top five, bet I reply "Me" five times.” He remains in top five but not on an Alchemist beat.

Ray Garraty

#roc marciano #the alchemist #the elephant man's bones #ray garraty #albumreview #dusted magazine #hip hop #rap