Music Monday with Noa James, Guccidamus, Asend, Calligraphy, OhGoshLeotus, and Notiz Yong

The flip side to the February "Phone Rang" single, an original and sweet mood expressing stoner serenade, spark one to this.

Some crazy new beat sounds from the homie Guccidamus and his collaborator Infinity- take a walk into darkness if you dare.

                                    Chilltastic new instrumental from the I.E. vet Asend!

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

4Square: C.J. Simmons, Curtiss King, Noa James, and Ital Santos

This year we wanted to do something different at the end of the year than just more reviews, profiles and video round ups. We wanted to add a little retrospect and creativity to the pieces so we're putting our year end content under the banner of The Wrap Up. To start off 2017's Wrap Up, we bring you the first installment of a series that will explore album covers we like, 4square. We're getting quotes from the artists and the visual artists they teamed up with for their album covers about some of our favorite releases from 2017.
In this series, we're asking musicians and the visual artists that helped them with their album art for quotes and stories about the covers to their records. I'll add a little commentary and perhaps on occasion some additional relevant imagery. We haven't failed to notice that our readership has tripled in the last 2 years and we want to reward y'all for that with some fun content, so thank you for reading as always!

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MUSICIAN: CJ Simmons
ALBUM TITLE: The Transition
ALBUM ART BY: K.I.T.

King Dice Says: CJ Simmons' The Transition is the first major release after rebranding in early 2017. Simmons (formerly Young Jig) visually displays the transition of what can be interpreted as a boy to a man, an artist journey of self-discovery, or even in the grander sense of life as the simple act of being alive can be described as a series of transitions. On the far left we see an unfinished flat sketch on notebook paper; invoking memories of childhood school days. The first image transitions into a visibly taller and now more refined image with more detail and shading, but keep in mind the second image has an important "piece" of the first image stationed right over the heart (please see Young Jig's Open Heart and Black Heart projects for more information). The second image gives way to the most complete of the three figures now complete with color and sporting a more confident pose signifying CJ's newfound comfort in his artistry under the new moniker. Ultimately a sense of growth and evolution are obviously being broadcast through the art with excellent execution.

K.I.T. on the album art for Transition: "For the Transition, the artwork was a far cry from previous work I had done with CJ mainly because the focus was on him instead of the concept of the record at hand. Compared the single artwork for Be Free and Pina Colada, the Transition is an artistic rendition of not a theme, but a quality I had gotten to observe over time. The proudest moment I had taken apart of was Jig's wedding day and I've never seen him more in his element. So as the gradient of drafting increases from college ruled lined paper to a final digital render of the man himself, the middle ground where he made a commitment to the woman he wants to spend eternity with felt like the middle ground with which he will stand upon, regardless of the hardships he'll most certainly encounter in changing his moniker. That cover basically drew itself to be honest haha."

MUSICIAN: Curtiss King
ALBUM TITLE: Summer Salt
ALBUM ART BY: K.I.T.

King Dice Says: Curtiss King remains a powerful force in California's music scene. Anyone who has followed his career can attest to the level of talent on display in each project, from production to the flow to occasionally singing. With that being said, King has publicly announced Summer Salt would be his final foray into releasing projects as a rapper. His most recent album cover shows Curtiss sprinkling what could very well be the Summer Salt itself onto a dish he's preparing very much in the vein of Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe aka #SaltBae. Producer of the project OhGoshLeotus can be seen in the background seemingly looking on in disapproval. This entire scene happening in front of a circus tent, complete with flying trapeze artists, surrounded by a world on fire. It seems King has become a maser of his own destiny and managed to use the same Summer Salt described in the project's opening track as something he can now use to his advantage as opposed to being controlled by its effects. All the while the world is falling apart around him and the only part not burning is literally, and I'm assuming quite figuratively as well, a circus. 

MUSICIAN: Noa James
ALBUM TITLE: Peace of Cake
ALBUM ART BY: Deladeso

King Dice Says: Noa James' Peace of Cake is, in my humble opinion, a project responsible for giving us many of the Inland Empire's underground POSI anthems for 2017. You're taking the aggressive style Noa James is widely known for, motivational messages, super dope beats (see Orca de Tres Leche, and Serman Chocolate Cake). and mixing it all up. The cover we get for this project is a zombified Noa James who seems to have turned into a cake and is giving us, the listener, a piece of him. We are getting a piece of his "brain" as he shares his thoughts, a piece of his eye as he shares his vision, and a there is much more to be given. Simple but compelling. 

MUSICIAN: Ital Santos
ALBUM TITLE: Reflections
ALBUM ART BY: K.I.T.

King Dice Says: Ital Santos' Reflections' is the only instrumental album to make my list for this article. The cover has striking imagery that I instantly connected to. Growing up Catholic in Southern California, I couldn't help but instantly see the resemblance to the painting "Virgen de Guadalupe". Maybe its the pose, maybe its the rays of light emanating from behind Ital's head, whatever it is... it is captivating. When coupled with the project's title Reflections The sense of being God or in control of one's fate is apparent. Ital has a sort of tradition of religious iconography and imagery being present in his work (see the cover of his Sermones project), Reflections continues in that tradition. I've always viewed the image of rays coming from behind a person's head in illustrations as meaning having a message from God and maybe Ital shares that sentiment with this project as it's content being a divine message to be shared with the world.  

Ital Santos on the album art for Reflections
I finished the album first... I sent [iNanz] a picture of me and the album. told her to do what she do

inane about Reflections: Ray Ban eye wear was the fun part. It evolved from there. The vibe. I noticed his eyes are something he hides.

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Follow King Dice on his dope ass social media pages at @KingDiceSays on everything.

Wiggy Wednesdays: RiBs with CJ $immon$ and OhGoshLeotus

With The Transition, CJ $immon$ has delivered a really nice album to help end the year with- pristine, positive, intelligent but accessible it is some grown folks hip-hop but that doesn't mean boring by any stretch. In fact the straightforwardness of the album is refreshing- smooth 21st century style hip-hop production from the always outdoing himself OhGoshLeotus and pockets and flows and musings on life for days from Simmons.  He uses his team well but still knows how to seize center stage. His voice is at once husky and young, his energy is a delight to follow.

K.I.T. provides the artwork as well as some lovely choruses on several song. Leotus gives the album a consistent sound while still showing off his eclectic arsenal of funk, melody and bass. Cam Archer and Young Sincere are used to great effect on their appearances. Both singles, "Pina Colada" and "Be Free" are effective and fun ads for this life-affirming album.

 It's hard for me to find anything to not really dig about the record- it's musicality, it's set of good melodies, its repping of the IE to the 9s (pun intended), its celebration of working class grit and the prioritizing of family. Simmons' verses on love and his hopes for the future generation show a focus that shines in a way that demands ones' attention. Some say this may be Simmons' last project, I suspect it isn't. This album doesn't sound like an ending but quite the opposite.

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

So Alive: review of Spirit Gunner by Cam Archer

                     

 I mean it in the best of all ways when I say that OhGoshLeotus’ work consistently reminds me of the 2012 Channel Orange album by Frank Ocean. Certainly neo-soul sounds existed before 2012 but that year and album marked a turning point in hip-hop and R&B production in my view and I was glad to see with 2016’s Cocamania that Cam Archer & OhGoshLeotus applied much of what I loved about that aesthetic to a barsy rap album by one of the Inland Empire’s sharpest mic controllers. Archer’s Spirit Gunner, scheduled for mass release 2 days from now, is very much a sequel to Cocamania and it doesn’t waste its chance to deepen the journey that album started us on.

     It’s a neo-soul nerdcore MC’s journey into the self like that album but it actually delivers on its implications about inner revelation. To harken once more to Ocean’s Orange, that album culminates in an implication about the album protagonist’s sexuality in the song “Forrest Gump”. In Gunner, Archer goes beyond Ocean’s game of footsie with a deep admission and makes explicit what Cocamania went through meticulous pains, Rube Goldberg-esque machinery and Jungian imagery to explain: that Archer’s rap persona emerged from intense depression, insecurity and struggle with suicidal tendencies. If Leotus didn’t make it such a melodious symphony and Archer didn’t round up such a talented coterie of singers for it, you could say this album is to Cocamania what Alan Moore’s footnotes to his From Hell graphic novel are to the actual From Hell graphic novel. He explains not too long into the record that he is frustrated that people didn’t understand the cries for help in Cocamania, that the constant Nirvana references in that album and this one aren’t just coincidences. In a world where Netflix shows like 13 Reasons Why are becoming massive phenomena among the youth, Archer’s topic matter is both timely and relevant to the young people of the world who listen to hip-hop.  

          The truth is that these days I can’t talk to anyone who won’t tell me about their intense depression and inclination towards suicide within 5 minutes of our conversation beginning. Some blame Trump or late capitalism generally for this mass ennui and nihilism. I think they’d all have a point. And I’m talking to people over the age of 25. Apparently younger people are feeling the same way and they might not have a vocabulary for it. Cam Archer is here to help. His "spirit gunner" character seeks a durable and oh-so-elusive happiness for him and his lover- what teen can’t relate to that? It’s amazing to me honestly the myth that Kurt Cobain has become. Kurupt was referencing his suicide in raps in 1995, almost as a jab at spoiled weird white people who don’t understand how good they have it but by the time younger MCs like Sonnie Babble and Cam Archer are rapping about him, he was a prescient sensitive soul whose intolerance for this plane of existence foreshadowed how we all would feel about the world at this point. In this sense, Spirit Gunner has a lot of darkness both in its narrative and in what the title even means- the implication that the gun in that phrase could be used on oneself is not expressed subtly. I stress how blatant the album is on these topics because it shocked and surprised me while never compromising the muscular quality of the vocals and production. To never lose your momentum while shocking the audience is a mark of exceptional art in my opinion.

        That said, even death-and-Anime obsessed BarGawds get hungry and the same dude who seamlessly wove Highland and San Bernardino into Cocamania presents in this album a standout single which also serves as an ode to an Inland Empire Mexican food staple, "Amapola".

"Grew up on 13th where coke was harbored/now we're talkin'!"

The single's second verse has some incredible insights about working class life about the I.E. and all within one of the album’s bouncier singles. The above line and others about growing up on San Bernardino’s infamous west side reiterate an idea I gleaned from Cocamania and that many great MCs have in common- lack of middle class comfort early in life leading to an intense drive for success as an adult. The milieu Archer paints in his songs that speak positively but honestly about his youth are odes to working class perseverance and the struggles of single mothers. I love the bangin’ Leotus production on “Amapola” for claiming G-Funk for the I.E., something I always wanted for the region as I grew up listening to Dr. Dre and DPG. Also the idea of celebrating a Latino business in the I.E. is dope, I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t harp on the working class just to do it; we are ignored by the political and cultural elite. Artists like Archer and Leotus are changing that.

“Songs about You” is a clever riff on the idea of sexual partners that want to be muses and not getting it twisted; Archer doesn’t just shit on floozies here though but rather delves into his own evolution from someone who was not confident with women to someone perceived by some as a player. This deepens the whole album’s thesis of explaining the Phoenix that rose from insecurity and depression which was in Cocamania but more subtly than this and apparently less understood than Archer hoped based on his lyrics in this record.

"Snake Road" and "Super Saiyan 2" are more melodic bangers and example of how you never quite know if you’re in the I.E., an anime, a video game or a combination of all of the above as you listen to Archer’s work. More strong songs, "Namaste" and "Nights" continue to balance the badassery and growing zen of our hero, depicting his journey towards peace and being able to let things go.

The closer, "BarGawds IV", is the most ambitious of the Over Everything BG series yet with multiple producers (Nabeyin on the second beat) providing a different hard and tony beat for each rapper. Each MC delivers but Kit’s verse, the final, shows that the singer has more Goodie Mob in him than most can handle. Always lovely to hear Stone x Sober together on a new track.

                 “If I’m not the king by 2019 then I swear on my life with this music I’m done”.

      The whole album but particularly “Savin’ Up” (the sole track not by OhGoshLeotus, a Nabeyin production) and “Amapola” touch on working class Inland Empire, California life exquisitely and in a way that pushes the visceral impact past where Cam took it on Cocamania. On a record that in my view is less misogynistic than his last in general anyway (I like to think this happens to us modern thinkers as we age…), “Savin’ Up” gets specific and eloquent about the relatable and common struggle of balancing one's love life and the pursuit of artistic dreams. Even this idea of particularly talking about the simple but ubiquitous concept of “saving money” takes humility to discuss- a lot of rappers like to rap from a persona that has always been and will always be rich, high above the hoi polloi. Hell, even the ones that don’t tend not to laud the virtue of frugality- to me this is I.E. as hell. Our reality is working class. Our parents had to save to survive and so will we to thrive. Life was not handed to us in some already dope city- we, the independent artist community, are among the ones building what is dope here. The tenderness, passion and sincerity with which Gunner’s protagonist speaks to his life partner is palpable and effective in a song that was really a vulnerable and risky moment in my opinion. In another move that I think is more I.E. than the swingy open-relationship lifestyles of major metro areas (not that I’m hating, just observing), the song implies a desire to spend the rest of life’s moments with one’s lover. Marriage, monogamy….these are working class values that cultural elites and privileged hipsters increasingly sneer at and I love that Archer is unaffected by that.         

                          "I've waited my whole life now I feel so Alive"

The two “Holographic” songs catch the O.E. / Chill Palace combo at their most OddFuturish except you don’t have to squint for Cam’s verses to hit. To me the songs symbolize the deepening journey of the hero but I am sure there is more to mine there. Another thing they symbolize is the distorted chronology of the album, with the first "Holographic" being "part 2" and the second one "part 1". Our narrators are letting us know the order of events is not necessarily precise and when I think of the two songs that actually culminate the album's through lines it makes sense. On "The Shooter", our hero breaks it all down for us: what "Nirvana" meant in Cocamania and the triple meaning of the gun in Gunner: everyone loves the shooter who scores the last points in the game, everyone loves the gunslinger in the movies, and when we're honest everyone seems to loves the angsty artist that shoots himself in the head only to be glorified posthumously while they dwell in Nirvana. Archer confronts all three ideas and if you care about what he started in Cocamania, you've got to hear this resolution. I like to think of "Alive", the catchiest and most cathartic life-affirming track on the record to me, as where the character ends up, the lyric quoted above feels like a satisfying conclusion to the angst and depression we've seen him trudge through in the stories before. That's certainly a reductionist take but it's satisfying. Certainly Archer's work is more textured in the end- an ongoing discussion of the good and the bad in life and the truth is most people that deal with depression have intense highs and lows.

Technically speaking, the album finds MC Cam Archer and primary producer Oh Gosh Leotus in peak form but the musical aspect that is new here is Cam's singing. Particularly on "Alive", he renders choruses confidently and in smooth complement to his verses. All the guest vocalists are transcendent and the way the album plays like an out of order movie is why this review is so extensive: it's an album length nerdcore-tinged neo-soul hip-hop story of a moody yet reborn love-struck gunslinger that speaks to a multiple generation-spanning global sadness that most struggle to express- and everybody loves a shooter.

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