WIGGY WEDNESDAYS: RIBs for the week of 10/11/2017 featuring Slick C, Atman, Curtiss King & more

THE PHOENIX BY ATMAN

What happens when God has chosen you for artistic greatness but your demons want a say in your fate as well? The Phoenix by Atman, the artist formerly known as Coii, is a thoughtful and forward looking indie hip-hop E.P. about rebirth after rock bottom. Almost fully produced by Curtiss King, every beat packs intensity and emotional heights, “The present is the most precious moment of all time…” Atman croons on the title track.

“Lost Control” has probably my favorite verse yet from 626-area staple ImagineThat, a stop and start confessional that helps Atman set the tone for this album, a thinking man’s set of electronic meditations. "The Phoenix" is a beautiful and layered poem about rebirth and coming back stronger.

“The Moment” is my favorite track from the record, a high energy song that bridges the divide between club bangers and album closers summing up an artist’s whole philosophy. 

 Atman's style is introspective and frank, his stage show and public presentation intense and strange. It's worth investigating his mysteries. Frankly, The Phoenix makes me wonder what lives his characters lived before the life, death and rebirth cycle depicted here.

PROGRESSIVE WAVES BY SLICK C

Slick C’s latest beat tape “Progressive Waves” is an unheralded joy to bump. Its funky textures, its emotional peaks and valleys are addictive and you’ll find yourself bangin’ and freestyling to them again and again.  Designed for blazing and cruising, Slick’s ear for a sample never disappoints. Chopped with scenes from blaxploitation classics, Slick offers his modern I.E. take on Cadillac music. The songs strut with a bossy confidence from the beginning to end, the melody is matched by the boom of the bass. Like so many adult hip-hop fans, Slick clearly grew up on the G-Funk so many of us love. On Progressive Waves, he recreates and modernizes it with a heavy authority. 

Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is a staff writer for JooseBoxx, youth hip-hop writing instructor with CHORDS Enrichment Youth program (chordseyp.org) and member of the Inland Empire nerdcore hip-hop group the West Coast Avengers. Catch more of their work at westcoastavengers.com, follow Tristan on Twitter @Tanjint or e-mail him at tristanacker@gmail.com

RIBs: Reviews in Brief for the week of 09/27/2017 featuring Noreik Thascool & WiseFacts

                                               Noreik Thascool - The Night Before

I recently met Noreik at Serious Cartoons record shop in San Bernardino and puffed one with him and Phantom Thrett; he got me so high I teared up during Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” as I gazed out of the store’s glass window while Thrett played it on the turntable. This was not a bad introduction to him and his work that I checked out immediately after, “The Night Before”, a dreamy modern but over-all very positive, smart and forward thinking hip-hop EP from the I.E. “If you take a look for a second you will see we are all connected…” he poeticizes wisely on “Wavelength.” His bars are solid, his voice pleasant and choice of production is more than apt. His message of a connected hedonist people is one I can relate to. His topics are often his passion for friends, family, women and connection. The alternating between poetic refrains and radio-friendly R&B style hooks help create the spacy yet warm feel the whole album has. Halfway through the record I noticed a little bit more of the “I get hoes...” stuff I hear in too many records but disclaimer as always, I am aging at what feels like a more rapid pace every day so take my noticing of subtle hip-hop misogyny with a grain of salt: on the spectrum of that kind of thing, Noreik is a saint. The Night Before’s words and music do blend together beautifully to create a nocturnal feel with which to soundtrack a nice night cruising or chillin’. Either way, super positive and chill but still barsy EP with hella profesh and fresh production- peep it! 

WiseFacts - The Bronze Child

Full disclosure as ever, WiseFacts has rocked with me and my crew WCA with his crew Caterpillar Flight on multiple occasions and it’s always a delight to hear what they are working on. I find them kindred in their nerdcore and positivity. I was surprised to hear his album, The Bronze Child, tackle darker topics, like a youth misguided by parents with poor judgement, youthful drug addiction and mistakes. Even these darker songs play with a nerd culture influenced frame of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde or Dr. Frankenstein to both express hip-hop sickness and horror at how far man can fall. The beats are busy and hard boom-bap that allow WiseFacts to earn his name- with impeccable delivery and projection, he speaks of spirituality, of rejoicing in family, of rejoicing in art and hip-hop skill exercise. There is much to unpack to the record and his verses are layered while still being assertive and clear. WiseFacts flow and voice are nice on the ear and he’s never saying something you’ve heard before. His views on Babylon and the soul are not the same pabulum we are used to hearing and he doesn’t sugarcoat it. The way he constantly checks his own ego within the bars is a fascinating truth to behold; peep The Bronze Child and observe an artist expressing poetry and hip-hop deftly and simultaneously, working on the path he walks always honestly and nakedly for all to see.

Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is a staff writer for JooseBoxx, youth hip-hop writing instructor with CHORDS Enrichment Youth program (chordseyp.org) and member of the Inland Empire nerdcore hip-hop group the West Coast Avengers. Catch more of their work at westcoastavengers.com, follow Tristan on Twitter @Tanjint or e-mail him at tristanacker@gmail.com

RIBs: Reviews in Brief for week of 09/20/2017 featuring King Arthur & Tru Speech

Been catching up on new and not-so-new albums so I'll be bringing back RiBs for a couple weeks, let's see how it goes.

King Arthur of Thee Brown Plague’s Revenge of the Mixtape Rapper is a super fun romp through classic and modern hip-hop beats from a confident MC who speaks in crisp rhymes and fresh flows. I prefer the positive songs to the ones about sexcapades but I am becoming an old dude and ultimately think that it’s all executed very well. There’s a lot of both on this tape; I particularly enjoy how some of the beats are exact replicas while some are slightly rearranged versions of the beats the tape borrows from. Arthur’s flexibility of cadence on both old school boom-bap and nu-rap tracks is seamless. Something else I like about this tape is how Arthur’s performances makes all the production sound of one era even though these beats traverse decades. Don’t sleep on King Arthur and his squad Thee Brown Plague, a live act that has energy and cooperation unlike any other.

Tru Speech’s Forgetting Tomorrow is a nocturnal dreamy adventure soundtrack about desires, whimsy and clashing against what other people in one’s life want from you. While many albums I’ve listened to lately have smartly and gamely tackled depression holding people back from their lives, Speech’s record is about, it seems to me, how his protagonist persona’s lackadaisical way of life throws off people in it, particularly the women pursuing him. Just when you think the pressure of I.E. life (that pressure being to set yourself up economically, be a good friend to your squad, to not be so flaky with the girls you date and more) is going to get him to focus outside of himself he gets lost in another wordy daydream of tangents and fantasy. It could almost be a metaphor for the kind of diabetic that lapses into hallucinogenic realms when blood-sugar is low. Speech’s similes are delightful and amusing in their cleverness and I.E. specificity (“blow up on YouTube like super hot fire…”) but what I find even more entertaining is his tendency to play with every formulation of a word and similar sounding syllables as he tumbles through a rhyme-scheme. It’s nonchalance and baritone delivery remind me of the Herbalistic’s Greaseball but the values expressed and the instrumentals used (made by all-stars like Nabeyin, Curtiss King, OhGoshLeotus and more ) are certainly consistent with those usually expressed by members of the Over Everything crew, whose members C.J. Westley and Cam Archer, show up at various points for perfectly executed appearances. I’m aware that JooseBoxx has pretty thoroughly covered this album before but like everything on Wiggy Wednesdays, this weekly column just kind of reflects my recent ear-diet.  It’s impressive that each Over Everything project feels of one brand while exhibiting different flavors. Enjoy this throwback!

Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is a staff writer for JooseBoxx, youth hip-hop writing instructor with CHORDS Enrichment Youth program (chordseyp.org) and member of the Inland Empire nerdcore hip-hop group the West Coast Avengers. Catch more of their work at westcoastavengers.com, follow Tristan on Twitter @Tanjint or e-mail him at tristanacker@gmail.com

It Was The World: Review in Brief of MC Lyfe's Efyl EP

                                         https://soundcloud.com/mc-lyfe-the-herbalistics/sets/mc-lyfe
                     
                                                        "This music brings you life."

         Anyone that knows me knows Herbalistics was the group that pulled me into fervent study of and participation in the Inland Empire hip-hop scene so I was delighted to see MC Lyfe played to his core audience when crafting his long-awaited debut album. Lyfe weaves his fence-hopping blunt-smoking show-rocking tales over handpicked boom-bap delicacies by local masters like Skuse Beats, Pigeon Do, Kordisepz and more.

          Joined by masterful practitioners like Notiz Yong and Greaseball, Lyfe’s work drips with Riverside directness and earnest vulnerability. More than alot of up-and-coming artists, Lyfe understands that it is the personality he and Greaseball of ‘listics exhibit that addicts his audience after Mando the DJ's prime cuts bring them in. The melodies are on-point and infectious. The album delivers the culmination of the leaked tracks and demos the Herbalistics crew have let slip in the years between the release of Greaseball's Bad Cat EP and now. The lo-fi sound is still very charming, creating a warm blanket for the earworms within.

         Mixing engineer Suplex does a hell of a job making sure the aesthetic doesn’t obscure the clarity of a single lyric while also keeping the snares crisp and bass drums emboldened. I love that Lyfe's fantasy about having children with a girlfriend in “Love this Life” takes the form of painting poets coloring walls, shattering the expectations of the gray-brown palette socio-economically pre-selected for Inland Empire kids. “All This Time I’m Wasting”, a Kordisepz track Lyfe has been previewing for some time now, catchily solidifies his brand as the Bart Simpson of rap, expressing a relatable stony brattiness, further ensnaring the listener in his simple but extremely amusing personal mythos.

       The album delivers an arc in the sense that the stony adventures then veer into girl problems which culminates in “Taken Out My Anger” where Lyfe unleashes some of his hardest bar patterns that I’ve ever heard. After this release, the album sails out smoothly and nostalgically with its sole Herbalistics song, "The Rain" and damn, it delivers. Our young scalawags are sounding jaded; wise but still effervescent and wide-eyed about life as they sing to the audience about controlling the moodiness of the rain in your life and in your city. The song is a beautiful cap to a fun, chill and endlessly listenable debut project from Lyfe.

Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is a staff writer for JooseBoxx, youth hip-hop writing instructor with CHORDS Enrichment Youth program (chordseyp.org) and member of the Inland Empire nerdcore hip-hop group the West Coast Avengers. Catch more of their work at westcoastavengers.com, follow Tristan on Twitter @Tanjint or e-mail him at tristanacker@gmail.com.

R.I.B. of N I G H T T I D E by 86 Joon

Review in Brief  of N I G H T T I D E by 86 Joon
Written by King Dice

From the streets of Pomona, California to Paris, France the globetrotting 86 Joon has delivered a composition of some of his favorite songs recorded while touring. NIGHTTIDE is an all-you-can-listen buffet of sounds ranging from experimental tempo-warping soul flows like the song Do it For The Love to live drum kit driven songs a la No ID like the song KURT (Po'Up). Most of the production is handled by GS the Genius and Maine_Beatz (with mixing by GS on most if not all of the tracks) but we do hear Soon, B.A.S.E., and HiddenVanilla lend a hand. The features on this project are sparse and I think that's a great thing although Noa James, Apollo, and RamirV make appearances that do add to the overall feel of the work. I also must mention Alone on the Moon for being one of the gret standout tracks on NIGHTTIDE. The SBTRKT sample of Sampha's voice is flame. I see you GS!

Extra: Tell Me (Ft. Apollo) (Prod. By HiddenVanilla)- Easily my favorite song on the project. The sample compliments the beat which compliments the flow which compliments the singing. I would dare to say this song epitomizes the perfect recipe. Apollo and 86 Joon killed this!

Hold the: Efflictim RMX - Kid Cudi & Joon Speaks (Prod. By @GStheGenius)-  On a project where we get to experience 86 Joon raw, the splash of Kid Cudi in the mix dilutes what otherwise would be 86 Joon uncut and unfiltered from beginning to end. With songs like Hotel in London that feel so real and personal, the last thing I want (even if it is just as pure) is the 86 Joon story as told by Kid Cudi.


 

RIBS for the Week of 9/23/2015 featuring Epyk, Evil P, RasJosh Beats, Ars N Nay, Spok Beats, Rokem and more

                                        Reviews In Brief from staff writer Tristan Douglas’ week

1. Evil P x RasJosh Beats collabo

This instrumental collaboration between Patrick Placentia and RasJosh speaks for itself. But I’d like to add that this track makes me think of Ice Cube maddogging people in a lowrider.

2. Epyk- Feeler

 

Epyk is a really nice guy but you wouldn't know it from his raps

3.

Bone Solyd and Rokem – Jazz Spectrum

Really enjoyed this EP. Fresh, melodic, chill stuff. Check it out!

https://audiohustler.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-spectrum-ep

 

4.

Ars N Nay - The Launch

Just bumped this whole album; great stuff. Ars n Nay are confident without being cocky, smart without being boring, hard-hitting but still chill. Both MCs are solid and engaging, their beat choices are always on point. I appreciate their depiction of working class life in the I.E. and the 626.

        https://arsnnay.bandcamp.com/album/the-launch25

 

5. Spok Beats – Lions9

https://chamberrecords.bandcamp.com/album/spok-beats-lions9

Real beat heat here folks ‪#‎chamberrecords


*****************************************************Tristan “Tanjint Wiggy” Acker is a staff writer for JooseBoxx and member of the Inland Empire’s West Coast Avengers. Catch more of their work at westcoastavengers.com, follow Tristan on twitter @Wiggism or e-mail him at tristanacker@gmail.com.

 

Reviews in Brief Week of 04/27/2015 feat. Zach Welch, Hephty, TheProblmChild, Wonders Trillions, EZdig, Stanley Ipkis, The Herbalistics, RasJosh, Sham, & GL Kool

Tristan Douglas is back with a new Review in Brief. This weeks highlights include some Halloween themed favorites from Zach Welch, Hephty, TheProblmChild, Wonders Trillions, EZdig, Stanley Ipkis, The Herbalistics, RasJosh, Sham, GL Kool,

Reviews in Brief Week of 03/02/2015 feat. Geronimo X, Soul Define, The Herbalistics, TheProblmChild, Wonders Trillions, & Zach Welch

Reviews In Brief from staff writer Tristan Douglas

I hope our readers are as excited about our new column as we are, Tristan Douglas' newest endeavor is called Reviews in Brief or RiBs. Read through this weeks highlights featuring The Herbalistics, Zach Welch, Wonders Trillions, TheProblmChild, Geronimo X, and Soul Define. Check it out after the break.