Gems Ashore: Wave Runners & 3rd Person w/ Rokem & Friends

I’ve known Rokem for about a decade, at least 5 years longer than I’ve known most of the I.E. hip-hop community due to my group’s longstanding friendship with the boys from Chamber Records, who he was affiliated with when we met him (if I recall correctly…). By the time we did stumble into the Inland music community Rokem was among the CLDMKRS crew with Thesis (now Theez), Kid Presentable, Besatree and more. Throughout all that time, he has simply never stopped. Now with seemingly countless collaborative albums and beat tapes under his belt, new releases with Kid Presentable and the EOTR Network shine a light on what the next phase of his musical career may sound like.

Rokem's dynamism and rep as a producer rests on his ability to balance proficiency with experimentation. Left to his own devices I've heard him make some noisy avant-garde stuff with unconventional time-structures and busy layers but he can also produce jazzy cuts like "Win or Lose" and "Bad Habit" from this record with stunning polish and frequency. On this album Presentable's maturity and gameness allows Rokem to surf the gamut of his styles within their collab.

Wave Runners breaks years-long patterns for Kid Presentable, a cat I’ve known albeit not well since high school, who has always been the Southwest’s Latino answer to Anticon in my mind in his consistent delivering of fresh but often somber raps about inner turmoil and love over boom-bap beats with spidery guitar melodies and haunting piano loops. On Wave Runners we find Kid Presentable playing with limerick, with modern styles of production, with brightness and pop in a way that he never has before all while riding some of Rokem’s most experimental beats since Jazz Spectrum with Bone-Solyd. If KP reminded me of Slug and Eyedea before, this brief and upbeat yet pensive album reminds me more of MC Chris and Drake with its masterful grasp of the balance of hip-hop substance and ephemeral pop particularly on songs like "Cobretti" where Presentable sounds like he's teasing while he weaves a catchy refrain. On "JohnHughesOG" its apparent that his elder millennial stoner persona is more relatable every year; "maybe I should write something a bit more uplifting" he says portending this project itself. It really is impressive how KP takes what some MCs just hear as “hard” and to shape it into a project’s sound. Kid Presentable told me he asked Rokem to challenge him with beats the other rappers wouldn’t take- this immediately conjured an image in my mind of a surfer tackling a gnarly wave that other surfers dare not – an image of the wave runners…

While Rokem’s latest album release is Wave Runners, his latest single release is 3^rd Person with EOTR Network’s Don’t Sleep & Mad Macks. While 3^rd Person’s Full LP is forthcoming, their self-titled debut is a music video for a single that is not on said LP. They introduce themselves in an attic-style art gallery surrounded by local luminaries like Sista Eyerie and Vel the Wonder. Smoke billows through the gallery and the visually arresting silhouette-with-white-background shots that I find to be the piece’s signature. Muds is great at trying new things without smacking you upside the head with it. The effect meshes perfectly with the subtle, chill and arty video. Don’t Sleep’s OutKast tribute chorus is a wonderful reminiscent touch that reminds one that 3^rd Person is shooting for high atmospheric levels. Rokem’s beat is seasoned yet sizzling, Macks’ struts his gusto like a dog he loves over this down-tempo treasure of a track, the first of many heat-rocks to come from the Rarest Ones.  

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

Reviews in Brief: Local Heroes by Chamber Records and Beats 4 Breakfast by Beezy & Faja

                     The long-awaited Chamber Records supergroup album has finally come- in the form of a G-funk nerdcore magnum opus that finds the Chamber Crew in peak form despite not having released an album together in most of a decade. Namek's verses are so air tight and in the pocket that it's easy to take his consistency for granted- don't, there's gems in all of his rhymes. Josiah remains an expert MC but his easy transitions into funky choruses and vocal melodies throughout the album shows a maturity and songwriting sophistication befitting the resume of these accomplished musicians.

 I've heard most Chamber albums and this might be my favorite showing from Malathion whose creative wordplay and vocab refuse to be ignored. Hearing how hard Arkyve tears shit up here, it's just mindboggling to think that his dude hasn't missed a beat in two decades. The album showcases its diverse production while also putting forth a coherent snapshot of the larger than life Chamber Boys and the living myths they have become. The real magic of the project is that the legends are true...the dudes still have the goods and they execute. The record was worth the wait- and that's rare.

With funky production from Spok, Rokem, West Coast Avengers' RasJosh and more, the Chamber crew attacks verses with topical discipline but always with the flair of the extra hip-hop mile- their music is made with love and we're all lucky for how much we can hear the fun they're having bursting through the speakers on this rollickingly funky but still smooth album full of lyrics and west coast tunes for a new stony, nerdy generation that also needs to know about the 626's longtime champions. 

Full disclosure, Chamber Records is a bunch of my crew's oldest friends and allies and this album felt like the logical emotional and artistic culmination of everything we've seen them do over the last 2 decades- but that don't mean they're done. I suspect they'll be back to save us from monotony and whack beats whenever our cities call for them.

Breakfast begins with chill pensive statements of purpose from Faja and Beezy respectively. Faja describes his aspirations for his family in the I.E. and for artistic validation. Beezy is the id to these wholesome desires as he shits on whack bitches and expresses burning disdain for those who would dare sleep on the new wave. Beezy is thoughtful and disrespectful at the same time, Faja’s chill deep voice expresses earnestness- both seek artistic excellence, hence the musical Wheaties.

“Exit off Del Rosa…Might get snatched out your corolla…” Beezy shoots warnings about San Bernardino on the album’s second track “California Soul”, followed by Faja calling out sectors of the I.E. city by city. “Crop Tops” is a chill but banging west coast cut featuring RNB that has Beezy telling outlandishly surreal hood tales of braggadocio reminiscent of Eazy-E and Adrock of the Beasties. The “Old school music” theme punctuated by the recurring image of “crop tops” helps these artists build in simple but effective ways while still drawing on west coast rap’s rich legacy.

A message I get from the persona that Beezy presents is that this is a dude whose raunchy lyrics and shocking wordplay are a defense mechanism for a soul like a satellite that actually receives signals from everything. Faja’s MC persona is much more good-natured and the contrast of the facetiousness with the straightforwardness with a common I.E. demeanor is an alchemical pairing that reminds me (biasedly of course) of Stone X Sober or myself w/ Sham of WCA, Skruf and Fresh Raheem of Poetik Prophets and many other multi-racial MC duo pairings the So Cal region has seen in the last decade. 

On “Hold the Applause”, Beezy explains how MCing helps him shine besides being a white boy who can’t dance per his own admission. Kasai and Tru Speech deliver on all these features. Every one who touched this project is overly dedicated to craft and it shows. I keep hearing Faja talk about helping his parents and I don’t hear this enough in music, particularly from this area. It’s refreshing to hear MCs who understand priorities. “Hold the Applause” and “Breakfast” both have an air of potency and melancholy- this is these artist’s shot but I hope they are not discouraged if it does not hit every target- sometimes the win we seek takes firing off a few rounds. That’s not to say this album isn’t wonderful- it’s damn near perfect with a coherent thematic and musical feel- but sometimes densely crafted hip-hop doesn’t get the immediate success and attention it deserves. Having dropped the first music video for the project, let’s hope that changes from this point. Faja and Beezy are like angels and devils on your shoulder, like Jay and Silent Bob- the solemn poet and the rude rapidfire spitter, their combination is electric- grab a plate.

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

Fatfinger Forever: Nick Croom tribute and appreciation post

    

     Only in retrospect can you see the fuller picture. The great comic book scribe Grant Morrison wrote in the Invisibles about how your true body is the caterpillar across the earth that your life story is, the sum total of everything you’ve done, looked upon without the illusion of time to obfuscate as one big picture from a helicopter or spaceship perspective. This is how I feel about Nick Croom right now. Croom or Fatfinger as many of us knew him was a talented producer, teacher, MC, friend, partner and father with an enormous heart that we lost this last weekend and the Inland Empire music community is still processing it. We’re still in shock and anger to be perfectly honest at having lost someone so genuine and positive so soon. 

        It didn’t occur to me just how many of us had created with him until everyone stood up in the wake of his passing to share their sense of astonishment and loss. I didn’t know he grew up with the people he grew up with, or had been doing things for so long with so many corners of the community. He was one of those people you feel like was just finally getting his due. 
          
           Even within the realm of my own little life, it took Nick’s passing for me to grasp how much I actually did with him in the brief time we spent together. We met at a Sunny Days & Vibes show; he was one of our first friends in the community. Now I know that that wasn’t a coincidence…he was friendly and nice and didn’t hide if he liked what you did at all because he was real and kind. He sent us a few beats almost right after we met and he asked for nothing in return. My first video cypher was produced by him. He headlined a New Year’s Eve show my crew threw as 2015 became 2016 because I fell in love with a beat he dropped on New Year’s eve the year before. He taught kids with me with Edwin Johnson and the CHORDS program. We dropped a summer single with him in 2016. He saw The Force Awakens with me and my best friend on the opening weekend. Studio sessions at Dean’s, playing MC Lyfe shows together...he was always just down and was hella cool to chill out with. 

        It feels foolish and cliché to say things that were obvious truths about him so let me try to do better: he was so kind, talented and humble that you could miss how talented, smart and prolific he was. I knew him for less than 5 years. I enjoyed his company immensely and I think he liked my crew the West Coast Avengers and I but we weren’t close friends that hung out a lot; I regret that now. He was generous of spirit, aid and music to his friends, to kids, to the world. He had great taste; he was always up on something you were into whether it was super heroes, teaching, sports, or cannabis and music culture. 

      I’ve lost family members as many of us have but given his very young age I personally cannot imagine what his family must be going through and I won’t pretend to. You can help his family and donate to his legacy fund here. This post broadly was intended as a tribute and memorial post to him from a few of his hip-hop friends in addition to all of the lovely words folks are sharing for Nick on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and in personal conversations.

     IE staple Notiz Yong released this pretty and thoughtful beat in Croom’s honor as well as providing Jooseboxx with this statement: Nick always went out of his way to check up on you during hard times, or to congratulate you on your latest accomplishments. The most giving person the world had to offer. He will be missed by everybody that was blessed to have met him. Love ya brotha!

                                                    Art by Isaac “knamean” Asimoff 

Veteran producer Rok3m also made a tribute production that particularly made me think of Nick at the beginning and end but is a beautiful and wide-ranging piece throughout. 

Friend of Croom’s Jay Bester aka JB Swift provided Jooseboxx with dedication for Nick:

The King of Metaphors. There will never be another Nick Neech. 
RIP Bro. Primexample Forever.

There will be more hip-hop community tributes, works, and shows for Fatfinger in the weeks and months to come and I’ll do my best to share them on here and online in general. Many musicians I know including myself are gathering unfinished works we had produced by and featuring Nick for release in the hopefully near future so I expect that to be the form a lot of the forthcoming tributes may take and look forward to hearing the sweet melodies in his mind once more. Rest in Peace Nick, my friend. Fatfinger forever. 

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