Curren$y Does His Thing When It Comes To Rap
Curren$y has made a habit of releasing free projects on a moment's notice. And when it comes to giving fans a consistent product, he's one of the best. He's so good at that, the The Spring Collection isn't just new music, but also features Curren$y curating the listening experience. On the intro, he clearly states the purpose of the project and the best ways to enjoy it. He gives his fans a chance to get ready, grab their "supplies", and enjoy. He interjects through the project as well, coaching them along on where they should be in their consumption of said "supplies".
The theme of Curren$y being ill at this rap shit runs throughout the project, and perhaps is best illustrated on "4 Phantoms" a crash course in how Curren$y has maintained when several of his peers are no longer really doing it. He spits effortlessly, "I do my thing when it come to rap, I buy more jewelry because of that."
Well done, Spitta. Well done.
Ruby Hornet Weekly Playlist Volume 3
Our favorite songs from the last week or so that we didn’t get a chance to cover:
Mick Jenkins - Earl Sweatshirt Type Beat
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A genius wordsmith, the originality of Mick's bars continue to defy conventional wisdom.
Nafets - Blue Skies
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An infectious hook makes Blue Skies irresistible.
CrazyJaZz - Harmonious
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An absolute gem of an instrumental with a beautiful piano lead.
Seneca B - Spartacus
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A chilled head knocker.
Towkio - Forever Ft. Vic Mensa
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Stand out cut about pain and self-medication. Vic and Towkio tackle deep topics against a happy backdrop that only adds to the message.
Matt Muse - Getting To It
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Matt Muse delivers a powerful track with a strong unique delivery.
Chase Alex - Madonna Ft. Sydny August
An emotional instrumental and wavy chorus plus a beautiful feature from Sydny August.
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Kiraly Payne - Wide Awake
A strong percussion section and motivated lyricism with Kiraly Payne trying to do better in his life make for a potent track on Wide Awake.
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Caleborate - Real Person
The title track to Caleborate’s 2017 LP, it is criminally slept on and so is this Berkely-born emcee. He hits Evanston 3/28.
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Stream TOWKIO's New LP, WWW
It's finally here. TOWKIO formerly Toyko Shawn fomerly Preston San has dropped his debut album, WWW. The LP is years in the making, and TOWKIO has grown tremendously since he started making music. Congrats are in order for the kid, for sure.
Earlier this week, DJBooth released a pretty in-depth interview with TOWKIO where he discussed the inspiration for the album, and the ties to space in theme and feeling. He took everything a step further, and actually went 92,000 feet in the air to get the full experience of his music. You can watch that unfold in the video below as well.
Vic Mensa, Sza, Carter Lang, Teddy Jackson, and others appear on the project. As I type this, I'm listening to "Forever" featuring Vic Mensa, and it's fucking awesome. Enjoy.
Watch Bishop Nehru's New Video for "Rooftops" (prod by DOOM)
Bishop Nehru is aiming high, and for very good reason. The young emcee with a strong resume is gearing up to release Elevators, a conceptual project that carries production exclusively handled by DOOM and Kaytranada. On paper, this is going to be fantastic. But, music is made on paper and eventually, every tracklist has to show and prove.
Nehru took a big step forward in that regard with his new video for "Rooftops", which premiered yesterday via Complex. The visuals don't disappoint, and the song is horn driven and very jazzy as Bishop tells the story of his life as an artist, where he is, where he's been, and where he wants to be. That's at the heart of Elevators as well. Bishop told Complex that it is feeling-based, and his attempt at something like Pet Sounds, by the Beach Boys.
Peep the video below.
Elevators releases 3/16.
Watch Caleborate's Excellent New Video for "Bank Robber"
"To make it big in this world, you can't be in your sorrow, fuck what happened yesterday, you could blow up tomorrow."
Before coming back to rubyhornet, I was kind of in a music bubble - only really listening to and aware of new sounds coming out of Closed Sessions. In the time since coming back to RH, I've gotten out of my tunnel-vision, and discovered a slew of new music from artists new and old that is quite fucking good.
In the "quite fucking good" category is the Bay Area's Caleborate. He released a project called Real Person last October, and as soon as I'm done here, that's what I'm about to go listen to. Yesterday, he released a video for the album cut, "Bank Robber". The video and the record showcase multiple perspectives, and the speak on the way we may want to live vs the way we are living. There is a lot of cleverness in the lyrics, but it's all super simple and super honest. I hate to use the cliche, "it's a real record", but that's the best way to describe. A perfect one to check out if you've never heard of Caleborate, which was me before this video, and look where I am now.
Peep the video below, and if you wan to learn more check out this interview he did with Pigeons and Planes, where he also premiered this clip.
Extra side-note, he is going to be at SPACE in Evanston on 3/28. I will be there.
Ruby Hornet Weekly Playlist Volume 2
Our favorite songs from the last week or so that we didn't get a chance to cover:
1. Dabrye Feat. Guilty Simpson - Tunnel Vision
A synth led musical trip with some bars on top.
2. Chuck Strangers Ft. Joey Badass - Style Wars
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A gritty track with longing lyrics of times past, Strangers and Badass approach the beat with a calm collected delivery.
3. YGTUT Ft. Isaiah Rashad - Trill Dreams
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Although technically not a new song, Trill Dreams is an absolutely perfect cut for blasting in the whip, and it was recently freed from YGTUT's vault.
4. Kembe X - Goofass
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Kembe is on his lyrical shit, calling out the goofys of the industry, he tears apart the slow paced production like a rabid dog.
5. God - God-Right Now
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An impressive lyrical display from God, he wields a confident delivery that instantly grabs the listeners attention.
6. Human - Alive
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An aggressive demeanor and witty punchlines put over a dirty beat.
7. Eliana - All4U
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A beautiful voice, a great rhythm section, and great song arrangement from singer Eliana.
8. Papi Beatz - Saturday Night Fevers
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An honest hardrock/punk ballad, Papi Beatz really impresses with a barebones production and solid mic presence.
DJ Luna's "Sunday Morning" EP Is Actually Good On Monday Too
After playing and replaying and replaying Chuck Strangers' new join, "Style Wars", I went to Spotify to listen to as much of Chuck's music as I could find. Spoiler alert, he doesn't have much. I'm thinking Chuck might work real well for our coming revive of Digital Freshness, but that's a post for another time.
Anyway, my search took me to DJ Luna's new EP, Sunday Morning. The sound is what you would expect from the title, hazy, laid back, and reflective in nature. Chuck Strangers appears on the first track, "Sunday", and each song carries the next day of the week for its title. Luna did not produce the music as much as curate and arrange it, more like DJ Khaled, Drama and other DJ constructed project. The vibes are good throughout and cohesive statement that showcases emerging artists. A job well-done.
This EP has a surprising lack of shine. I genuinely hope more people discover and listen to this project. Peep it below.
Dr. Octagon Gets Ubiquitous in "Octagon Octagon"
"Octagon posters made Octagon famous."
All Octagon Everything. On "Octagon Octagon" Kool Keith envisions a world where Dr. Octagon is everywhere, and functioning like a bizarro-world Target as they provide every type of product imaginable. It's not all smiles and convenience though. Dark cover the instrumental, and Kool Keith's delivery of Octagon everything starts to feel like his own take on 1984.
The song is from their sophomore LP, Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation. It is their first LP since 1996, and will drop April 6th.
GetOnDown is also selling a limited edition picture disc featuring this new single.