#young slo-be

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[ambitious-az-a-outlaw]

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Mac J — True Story (True Story Ent)

When Young Slo-Be was killed in August it was a devastating loss for all hip hop community. It only made sense that Mac J would dedicate his new tape not only to Slo-Be but to Bris as well who was killed two years ago. True Story is a tribute album by the Sacramento MC which was released with a hashtag #LongLiveDaThugs.

True Story is a departure for Mac J. His previous efforts were short and tight. This one lasts more than an hour and consists of 23 tracks. It’s not exactly a baggy monster, but it feels that it was done in haste, like Mac J has just thrown in a few tracks which laid loose on his hard drive. It’s not that Young Slo-Be and Bris don’t deserve a full blown tribute. Trimming the disc by half might provide a moving memorial. True Story is 2021′s 7-song, 20-minute Tricky Situation, Mac J’s best to date, except he’s forgotten to delete all the mediocre tracks.

Mac J’s best weapon has always been puns, but here they’re drowned out. He jokes less and less. You have to dig through whole verses to find good quotes: “I never wear hats so I never turn a cap on”, “I get them bags to your door like I’m bellboy” or “Keep your eyes on that paper, that’s what teacher said.”

It’s not surprising that his mood turns darker. He’s writing about revenge for his fallen comrades. He mourns – and barely holds himself from spraying at the opposition. On every track, he reminds the listeners that he’s ready to avenge his friends. He raps on “Talk 2 Much”: “Make sure to count me in when it’s count time \ I ain’t give a fuck ‘bout yours but about mine.” Even when the production is playful and slappy, the Sacramento rapper has little use for play. He goes straight for threats. Maybe this is the reason why the CD lacks clarity: emotions get in the way of artistry. Half of the tracks are out of focus. Only the hooks hold attention.

As a tribute to the killed partners, True Story is as genuine as it can be. As a piece of art, not so much.

Ray Garraty

[thehotboxsocial]

1. Gotham City [Baby Smoove] 2. Ouweee [Young Slo-Be feat. DaBoii] 3. Big Drake [CEO Trayle] 4. Freestyle (Leak) [Veeze & Brooks] 5. Intermission [WTM Milt feat. Brooks] 6. Pedal Pushin [ShittyBoyz] 7. 187 [ShredGang Mone] 8. Rap Hustlin' [Cashclickboog feat. Rio Da Yung OG & Bla$ta] 9. Voodoo [Bandgang Lonnie Bands] 10. Everybody Shooters Too [42 Dugg & EST Gee] 11. Round 6 [GrindHard E & YSR Gramz] 12. Bar Louie [Louie Ray] 13. Beyond Turnt [Babytron] 14. Whole Lotta Chops [AK Bandamont] 15. New Money [Babyface Ray, Los & Nutty] 16. Callin Me Kareem [Los] 17. Back Trappin [Pros AP] 18. RRKK [BandGang Masoe] 19. Dog Strong [RMC Mike] 20. YN Jay Flow [Reg]

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[raygarraty]

Best production of the year

Cypress: BandGang Lonnie Bands - Boston George

Pdot: Cash Kidd & Jaiswan - Shipping and Handling

Sav: Young Slo-Be - Asshole

Stupid Dog: Rio Da Yung Og - Free Runtz

BamOnDaBeat: Louie Ray - Success Is A Feeling

[ambitious-az-a-outlaw]

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Big Disarray: Ray Garraty’s Year in Rap Music

A prison sentence might be just as successful in ending a career of a young artist as death (although leaving a slim chance of recovery). In April the Flint underground legend Rio da Yung OG was convicted and sentenced to five years in federal prison on a bum rap. An alleged small mistake in the past was turned into a trophy case when prosecutors still continue to employ an infamous trick using rap lyrics as evidence.

While Rio managed to record an enormous amount of songs and a plentiful features before they locked him up, it caused a major disruption. His imprisonment left the Michigan rap scene with its knickers down, confused and unsure of what to do next. The biggest regional wave of 2020 died down rapidly. Rio’s songs continued to flow even after he went to jail, but Detroit and Flint had very little to show for themselves in the first three quarters of the year. Collaborations went downhill, and solo careers didn’t amount to much. Sada Baby, FMB DZ and Cash Kidd either didn’t put out new music or released mediocracies. YSR Gramz and GrindHard E showed significant improvement, yet hardly changed the game. Peezy, after coming home from prison, dropped a disappointing album. Icewear Vezzo with his Rich Off Pints and  Rich Off Pints 2 found his niche, but it’s far from revolutionary.

So the first three quarters of the year, the Michigan rap was dragging behind his last year’s success and, more importantly, California scene. Young Slo-Be and Mac J dropped their hardest tapes, while Cashclick Boog continued to release the coldest cuts, solo and in collaborations.

But the final months turned the tables, quite unexpectedly. BandGang Lonnie Bands outdid himself with the H2K on the Way EP (and less focused Hard 2 Kill LP), Rio dropped Fiend Lives Matter EP from behind bars, and Louie Ray, after a string of mediocre solo CDs, gave us his best yet, Still Unsigned. It’s hard to say now if the Michigan scene finally has found a solid ground after the disruption, or it was just a contingency, and the Detroit/Flint rap as event will not recover. As they say, there is a great disorder under the Heavens and the situation is excellent. Who knows?  

Disappointment of the year: Roc Marciano produced albums (Bronze Nazareth’s Ekphrasis and Flee Lord’s Delgado). Roc Marci hasn’t put an album this year but he singlehandedly produced two for Bronze Nazareth and Flee Lord. Both artists are hopelessly boring on any beat, so Marci’s efforts have been wasted. He says he has the best ear in hip hop. He better check his hearing before he produces another CD for an artist with a lack of talent.

Best EP of the year: Nuez x Rio Da Yung OG’s Life of a Yung Og. Rio linked up quite suddenly with a Southern producer Nuez who made Rio rap over early Scarface-like beats. The result was Rio’s most personal tape this year.

Old Man Rap of the year: Soulful Distance by Devin the Dude. Almost unsurpassable achievement: during his 30 years in hip hop Devin’s never put out a bad CD. Soulful Distance is jammed with ironic witticisms and jokes about younger generations of rap artists, too focused on money and designer clothes.

Non-Rap album of the year: Awakening Of Nordic Storm by Diaboli. Nothing revolutionary or trendy or even for a bit experimental here. Just one of the ugliest, dirtiest, unfriendliest pieces of music released in 2021 from these Finnish barbarians. For a new Covid-like plague of woke black metal, this is a true cure.

Best releases of the year

Rio Da Yung OG loosies 2021 (unofficial)

Young Slo-Be — Red Mamba

BandGang Lonnie Bands — H2K on the Way

Mac J — Tricky Situation

Ka — A Martyr’s Reward 

Best production of the year

Cypress: BandGang Lonnie Bands — Boston George

Pdot: Cash Kidd & Jaiswan — Shipping and Handling

Sav: Young Slo-Be — Asshole

Stupid Dog: Rio Da Yung OG — Free Runtz

BamOnDaBeat: Louie Ray — Success Is A Feeling

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Young Slo-Be — Slo-Be Bryant 3 (KoldGreedy Enternainment \ Thizzler on the Roof)

After a string of short tapes Young Slo-Be comes back with a behemoth of an album, the third part in his Slo-Be Bryant series. Fifty minutes of “killer music” (as he describes it) would be enough for two shorter releases. Do we need so much murder on wax?

Slo-Be Bryant 2 and Red Mamba put this Stockton, California artist on the radar, but major labels and commercial music media continue to ignore Young Slo-Be and his Stockton, CA scene. The reason for this taboo is quite simple: “no deals where they gettin' slain over music,” as the late Bay Area rapper Jacka put it. Young Slo-Be deals with all types of violence in his songs, and even when he is trying to relax, the danger looms over him. He’s a poet of one theme, and that already poses a challenge: can he pull through 50 minutes of music by himself, focusing solely on his violence-centered world?

The tape can be divided into three parts: a very strong beginning, a sagging middle, and a punchy second half where he gets a second wind. The failures in the middle come when he ventures into new territory, using Auto-Tune or spinning a love story (not very convincing as on the rest of the album he has nothing but disdain for women, especially “low character” ones). But when Young Slo-Be is on familiar ground, nobody can top him. Hundreds of hip hop artists do this type of rap, yet nobody sounds as crisp and scary as Slo-Be. On tracks like “Southeast Demons”, “Make It Home” and “Unforgivable,” he half-whispers over quiet beats, as if he records in the middle of the night in the darkest alley, this minute at the mic, the next ready for an ambush. He’s never hysterical, always matter-of-factly calm and threatening in an odd way. The sometimes needed refreshment is brought guests including AO Meally, Mac J, EBKTrey B and EBK Jaaybo. AiritOut JuJu, loud and artless, delivers the most reckless lines: “We won’t leave the scene until blood stains and yellow tapes.” By comparison, Young Slo-Be seems like a ghetto artisan, honing his every line. His superb skills at making a stellar hook can be found on, for example, “Overtime” where he uses homonymic rhymes: “If she ain’t mine I ain’t got time/ Free the thugs, you know they got time.”

A large part of Young Slo-Be’s success is built on his selection of beats. Among rap fans, Westside Gunn is considered the beat connoisseur, but Slo-Be can be even better. For his previous album Red Mamba he recruited Michigan-based rising star Sav, but on the new tape he manages with mostly local producers. Legend as a sort of in-house beatmaker stands out among them. The beats alone, especially from the first part of the tape, can make you crawl under the sheets. And that’s a compliment.

Ray Garraty