Akenya Shares New Track "Decay"
For years Akenya has been the secret ingredient that has added jazz-fueled soulful vocals on some of Chicago's hottest artists songs. She went on tour with Noname last year and has recorded with Saba, Smino, Elton and more. She just released her first track as a solo artist in two years. Check it out.
Ajani Jones Takes Another Step Forward with "Bloom" Video
"Spitting at these open mics, I was killing."
Ajani Jones is special. I'm not even going to front like I am not invested in his career, like I didn't discover his music through my AEMMP Hip Hop Class, like I didn't connect with Ajani on a personal level, and like I didn't sign him to Closed Sessions. We're not idiots, and the handful millions of you reading this are not stupid. So that's out of the way...
Last night, as the music industry was in Wyoming or watching the playoffs, Ajani Jones released his new video for "Bloom", a beautiful track off his recently released EP, Cocoons. As Ajani says in the second verse, "I spit it for the people that's on EBT". That message is at the heart of "Bloom", a track that is about keeping your head up, and waiting for the time when everything pays off. Ajani is certainly ready for that time, and Strpmall did an excellent job of bringing this record to life visually, packing Ajani's theme of self-discovery into this video.
I'm out of words... Watch this clip below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAHGsP7FqQY
Kanye West's New LP Is Set In This Moment, And All The Moments Come Before It
"It was all part of the story, even the scary parts."
Last night, Kanye West flew a lot of people out to Wyoming and live streamed his new album, aptly titled, Ye. We already knew the LP would be seven songs (the God number), and that it was the second in a full line of new releases from the G.O.O.D. Music roster. There was a lot of skepticism heading into this album, much of it centered on if this album would truly appear on time. I think that Pusha-T's LP arrival last week set aside some of the doubts on the Kanye's album hitting properly on June 1st. But alas, following Mike Dean's promise of defecation everywhere, Kanye hit play, streamed his LP and now it is on streaming services everywhere.
Admittedly, I'm only on my second listen to the LP, probably too early to make a real judgment or in-depth review. One thing I know, The LP is set in the present and will stand as a capsule of what will be remembered as an odd and significant year for Kanye West. "I got dirt on my name, I got white on my beard, I had debt on my books, it's been a shaky ass year", he raps on "No Mistakes". Self-titled LPs are personal and exploratory by default. On Ye, Kanye embraces his impulsiveness and continues a theme brought up in his interview with Charlamagne The God that he feels his mental breakdown was in fact a "break through". He raps on "Wouldn't Leave", "I used the same attitude that done got us here, I live for now, I don't know what happened after here."
I think that's a good line to symbolize a lot of the album, and Kanye's career. He's built a huge fan base and influence off voicing his opinion. When that opinion matches his fans and what we think, he has tremendous success. When it goes against common ideas, he suffers huge setbacks and is abandoned. That is another theme running throughout the album as he talks about former friends, and others that have written him off - also something that can be found as early as College Dropout. It's clear that no matter how high Kanye ascends, he still sees himself as the underdog, still struggling to get out his ideas, "Thinking like George Jetson, but sounding like George Jefferson."
Through it all, Kanye is still game for it. "No Mistake" uses a Slick Rick sample to illustrate that point - "tell all my dogs that been down, we're back up again." I woke up and scanned through the Twitter Moments (I kind of just threw up in my mouth writing that), someone wrote that this LP sounds like much of his back catalog all fused together, and I can see that a little bit. "No Mistakes" and "Wouldn't Leave" sound a lot like "the old Kanye", that many fans yearn for. "Yikes" draws parallels to MBDTF a little bit and also enforces that theme that he accepts the good and the bad of himself and this journey, and I think this album is somewhat telling the public that they must accept all the parts as well. But to me, Ye is a new work meant to be evaluated in the now, in the time since Kanye "turned TMZ to Smack DVD". Much of the project is reflective, he speaks a bit on recent events, his growth on how he perceives and interacts with women, and his struggles with mental health that kick off the LP on "I Thought About Killing You".
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how everything that's happened outside of the music influences how I started listening to this album. I still don't know what to make of the last few months and seeing Kanye in that MAGA hat. That shit hurt, for sure. But there's part of me that is still a fan of Kanye's music and wants this album to be excellent, and to really speak on things. There's a surface level commentary on recent events, but Kanye does not give us any "aha moment" or at least it not presented clearly and easily where all of his actions are now clear. Perhaps he is still working through that. Perhaps he wants us to work harder to understand. Perhaps it's just not coming. There's a lot to go through in only seven songs, and if you've been a Kanye fan since the early days like I have, this one will take multiple listens to process.
You can start that process below.
Mamby On The Beach Preview
Summer in Chicago means one thing, it's festival season. Mamby On The Beach is arguably the festival that embraces the season the most, with attendees partying all day on the beach with their favorite artists. There's a good mix of local and national talent on the bill this year and here's who we're excited for.
Saturday
Common
Sunday
Mamby On The Beach, happening June 23 and 24, 2018 at Oakwood Beach.
Sebastian Kamae Links Chicago And The Netherlands With "Precious"
A few days ago Sebastian Kamae released a new track called "Precious" featuring Ajani Jones, Shao Doja and King Khamen. It's a celebration of love with melodic rap over a dusty lo-fi beat from the Dutch producer. This isn't his first time working with artists in Chicago, he produced "Bloom" off of Ajani Jones' album Cocoons and on "Precious" he brings the same light soul vibes that made "Bloom" so striking. Last year Sebastian Kamae was an intern at SoundScape Studios here in Chicago and on this track he brings together two Chicago artists with Dutch rapper King Khamen. Check it out here.
Sterling Hayes Delivers a Haunting New LP in SideFX
People want authenticity. I often ask my students, 'what don't you like about music?' One of the biggest responses is the lack of honesty they perceive from artists of all genres who pretend everything is always going well. It's a common theme, and a common criticism. In recent years though - and many younger people credit Kid Cudi in this regard - subjects such as depression, drug abuse, and just feeling shitty have taken a more prominent role in Hip Hop music. If you are searching for something raw, emotional, and honest (almost to a fault), then I highly suggest SideFX, the new album from SaveMoney's Sterling Hayes.
From the start, SideFX removes all barriers and at times is downright scary and hard to listen to. Hayes' delivery is gruff and even chill-invoking as he howls "Chicago is killing me" on the album's third track, "Suicide". A few themes run throughout SideFX, maybe none more prominent than Hayes' ownership of his own problems and his resolve to conquer them. He is worried about being a bad son, being a bad friend, doing too many drugs, not being able to stop doing too many drugs, being hurt by his girlfriend, the violence in Chicago, allowing blogs to dictate his self-worth and generally wasting away. His parents also play a prominent role on this record as he tackles their marriage, their divorce, and the realization that many young adults come to abruptly that one day they will die, and you can find yourself alone. In that regard, SideFX plays out somewhat like a manifesto for Hayes who commits to counting on himself, and at the end of the day making himself proud as a conduit to doing right by others.
This is a haunting and honest LP from a Chicago artist often overlooked alongside his "friends with Grammys". And while his friends such as Smoko Ono, Malcolm London, Via Rosa, and Chance The Rapper all make cameos, it is Hayes who maintains centerstage on this LP. With SideFX, Sterling Hayes clearly establishes how he is different from his peers and at the same time, like so many of his listeners going through similar situations. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for Hayes, and hopefully this album makes it a shine a little brighter.
https://soundcloud.com/sterlinghayes-1/sets/sidefx
[RH Interview] Lil House Phone
When the name Lil House Phone is brought up in discussion what comes first to your mind? Another 'lil' rapper that's part of the new wave of music? That dude from the No Jumper Podcast? Or that hysterical guy dissing Pacsun and tossing burgers on Twitter?
Regardless, the LA native is making his own lane in the rap community. From serious tracks about depression and drug abuse, to lighthearted videos like "Juice", House Phone has a lot of new material to look out for in 2018. When speaking with the humble entertainer this weekend, he enlightened me on his perspective of the industry, what makes him want to make music, and about the three projects he will be releasing in the near future.
Check out the full interview below:
rubyhornet: Where does the name Lil House Phone come from?
Lil House Phone: It was a joke my friends had. My friends would tease me since I never had a working cell phone. I would always sell them or lose them and they had no way of contacting me, so they had to call my house phone. So it was like a joke from my friends and I kind of ran with it.
rubyhornet: Has that always been your stage name?
Lil House Phone: Yeah, when I decided to start rapping that was what I thought of. My friends were already calling me that. I thought it was so ridiculous it would stand out and be funny. Complex did a whole article with the 10 most ridiculous rap names, and I was all over that shit. I guess it was kind of a good thing.
rubyhornet: What’s your favorite late night food?
Lil House Phone: Some good LA street tacos from a small Mexican lady on the corner. Always a good go to.
rubyhornet: Your newest project has a lot of turn up tracks. Do you plan on making more songs like "Lil Sad Phone" in the future?
Lil House Phone: I am an emotional roller coaster of a person so it’s really how I’m feeling. A lot of the times I make music for me going out. I keep the turn up tracks in mind for performing. I’m all over the place though, so I definitely have to touch on where I am at the moment. I got some new shit, a new album that’s all over the place.
This kid got "Lights Off" tattooed on his knee (a song off my first album about depression). That makes me want to keep making music. That’s really what you do it for, to get that kind of reaction from people. I was honored.
rubyhornet: You have an A$AP Yams inspired Xanax tattoo on your knee. Do you believe the Xanax culture is more prevalent now than in the past, or are people just more aware now?
Lil House Phone: It’s a mixture of both, its more relevant and more in your face because everyone is talking about it. They are talking about the good parts, and not the bad parts necessarily. I feel like a lot of rappers just put in these words, like drinking lean, because it sounds good in the song. I don’t think a lot of these people are actually doing this like that. They aren’t thinking about the impact they are having on these kids either. They are making the kids more likely to try this shit. If I'm listening to a Juicy J song every day, and he's talking about dipping my blunt in lean, I'm going to get some lean and dip my blunt in it, not releasing shit doesn’t even work like that. Like that has actually happened to me. I dipped a whole swisher in an entire pint of lean and we tried to spark it and didn’t even light. It was all sticky and wet. At that point I was like maybe I shouldn’t listen to rappers.
rubyhornet: Do you feel responsible for what you say in your songs, or do you feel like you’re clearly just having fun and people shouldn’t take you serious?
Lil House Phone: I would hope people understand I'm just having fun with it and they wouldn’t take the same path as me, but impressionable minds are going to be impressionable. I talk about my drug consumption openly. I have kids that DM me saying, you make me want to try coke or whatever. I always DM back saying this isn’t the path you want to go down. This shit isn't cool. Even in my personal life if I'm kicking it with someone who hasn’t tried a drug before I'm not going to encourage them to do it. That’s not a path you want to take someone down.
As I'm getting older, I realize I have kids in high school and even younger looking up to me. I don’t think I'm a role model, but when these kids are looking up to you, you have to take some type of responsibility.
rubyhornet: How important do you believe your relationship with Adam & No Jumper was in getting attention to your music?
Lil House Phone: It all kind of happened at the same time so I never really got a chance to take a step back and adsorb what was going on. No Jumper wasn’t at the level, that it is now, when I started being a guest. It was really just me hanging out with Adam, his friends, and doing a podcast now and then. I started making music around the same time. Then No Jumper started getting to the level like where it is now. Both were progressing simultaneously.
It went from people only knowing me from that dude on the No Jumper Blog, to people saying I rock with your music. I thought people only knew me from the podcast, but more recently a lot of people have been reaching out who know my music and have no idea I was affiliated with No Jumper.
rubyhornet: What is your favorite place to shop (besides Pacsun)?
Lil House Phone: I'm more of an in-house brand type of dude. I would rather find some random cool brands no one knows about and hit them up in Instagram. I'm really into random workmen wear like Carhartt. I'm wearing some tree camo wranglers right now.
rubyhornet: Any new music to let the fans know about?
Lil House Phone: My album Voice Mails 2 is on the way. I'm also doing two other side projects. I want to do this whole west coast style project called 310, since I'm from LA but I'm known for making trap sounding music. Nedarb and I are going to put out a 5-6 song EP pretty soon also.
Jay Rock Wins With New Video
Jay Rock has released the visual for his track "Win" and it just confirms that T.D.E. isn't going away any time soon. With adlibs from Kendrick Lamar throughout the song and cameo appearances from Isaiah Rashad, SZA, Ab-Soul and other Top Dawg heavy hitters Jay Rock proves that he is part of the upper tier of rappers.
The video is directed by Dave Meyers and Dave Free (of The Little Homies) who also directed the Humble video. "Win" is the first single off of Jay Rock's upcoming album Redemption, which will come out June 15th. Watch the video below.