Speaking of I.E. vets, Calligraphy has always been a distinctive quirky and intellectual voice in the community and I am happy to hear this OhGoshLeotus produced gem of a single recently dropped to add some flavor and rhythm to your winter nights.
I love the double meaning Notiz employs here as he figuratively journeys his way to fatherhood on the track- peep the blood vessels on this self-produced piece. Tristan "Tanjint Wiggy" Acker is staff writer for JooseBoxx, a youth hip-hop and poetry tutor, 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
This week a lot of new videos, songs and albums came out so we had to share a few of them with our fine readers, check it:
NOA JAMES produced by ELIAS & AYE BROOK- KEEP THAT SHITTY ENERGY TO YOURSELF
Noa James' new single is an aggressive banger that shows the flip side to the philosophy he's been espousing on records like his latest E.P. "Peace of Cake". Over a face-stompingly hard beat, Noa implores his listeners to only come with that pleasantness, ya dig? "Be Majestic" magazine coming soon, stay tuned to all things BTYF for the latest!
VIDEO by MIGHTY MUDS ONE
Muds changes it up for a stylish L.A. visual to accompany the bonus track from Kiddo's debut album. The chorus here is undefeated as EOTR's march to L.A. supremacy continues! Peep it!
REAL JOY - ITAL SANTOS
VIDEO BY ITAL SANTOS & GEORGE BURNS
Ital Santos' new single, video and album dropped this week so peep part 1 of a day in the life of the artist formerly known as Jynxx! This chapter depicts a father and daughter adventure that should warm any hip-hop head's heart!
The artist formerly known as Jig is back with a message about being free while you are on earth! Armed with wisdom and airtight flow, his new album just dropped so be sure to hear his new jams!
A gritty yet silly LA area hip-hop duo, Altered Change are thinkers who don't take themselves too seriously. Peep their new record and find out why they are ya mamma's new favorite!
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
As critical fans of popular music, we get annoyed when
artists who’ve covered a lot of ground don’t find new ground to cover. Noa
James does not disappoint with his latest project, the Peace of Cake EP. His embrace of his own weirdness is as charming
as it’s ever been as the Orca’s evolution continues to unfold before our very
eyes. With each album, Noa sheds a bit of the growl that marks his earlier
works. It’s a bold move, one that comes from love and confidence growing.
This and Mescal’s new Weird
Turn Pro are the most atmospherically consistent albums I’ve heard this
year, both albums emanating a chill knowing from song to song. I admire that
Noa James goes out on a limb with his own brand of posi-waves, influenced by
but on different wavelength than fellow I.E. contemporary Cam Gnarly.
Each song is a recipe for a different kind of cake with
ingredients like self-love, confidence, and other positive abstract concepts.
It doesn’t sound like any other album I’ve ever heard, the closest cousin to
such a concept in music that I’m familiar with would be found in rock albums by
bands like The Fiery Furnaces and Tool. The Cam Gnarly song on the record has a
different slower almost darker feel and shows growth and diversity from each of
them. The Faimkills collab “Better than hate cake” might be my favorite Faimie
song, undulating between experiment and familiar modern hip-hop song. The last
song on the album, “Cake Buffet” is the barsiest I.E.-est song I’ve heard from
James or anyone in a while and again- feels boom-bappy but new and experimental
at the same time.
Producers like Ca$h Only of New Culture Media Group, Aye
Brook and more contributed to this album’s trippy banquet of bangers. Kudos to
a successful artist not just sticking to their comfort zone, to pushing their
own envelope and backing up their ideals with their music. I say this because
in person for the last couple years Noa James has often talked about the ideas
he is putting to work here in the Peace
of Cake EP and the follow-through is refreshing. The ideals give him a
message of love worth sharing and the chill production and sense of music make
it all work. The artistic pay-off and uniqueness of this project has me quite
curious as to what he’ll be talking about on later projects and what stage of
butterfly metamorphosis we’ll find the Young Orca in next.
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.
Welcome to our first installment of
“WHO GOT THA JOOSE NOW?!” , a new monthly
column dedicated to shining the spotlight on stellar individuals within the
Inland Empire music scene. Sometimes there are people who you might notice at
different shows but you don’t really know much about them or what exactly they
do. For example, any performing artist or excited supporter heading into the
Common Ground, on a Sunday night, will first be asked to show I.D by a friendly
security guard and then will be greeted by a petite young lady collecting the cover
charge for the night’s festivities. After completing the entrance process ,
most show-goers then get lost in a whirlwind of handshakes, hugs, $3 shots, and
crowd participation but don’t you ever wonder more about that two-person
welcome committee? Who are they? ….Well I still don’t know much about the
security guards *note to self – Ask the Security Guards their names* but I do
have the EXCLUSIVES on the stylish girl we slide our money to every blue moon.
She
is none other than Desiree Rene Thompkins but you can call her
Desi The
Designer ( DESITHE[DESI]GNER to be exact ) .
