RH First Look: Emilio Rojas
So time has said that our economy is to take a turn and our hip hop will follow. The broker our NYC pockets seem to get, the hungrier the emcees seem to get as well. Having personally known this guy right when he came down from his home in Rochester, it's nice to see that MTV has made room for him and the rest of the blog world as well. After recently attaining hood status on his Recession Proof mixtape, I just had to sit down and show the Chi city what Emilio was all about.
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RH First Look: TiRon
This week we put the microscope on L.A.'s TiRon. Originally from the Chicagoland area, TiRon got a break when he moved to the sunshine state, his new(er) outlook, Ketchup Mixtape, and much more are on tap. Check out the First Look below.
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RH First Look: Nez & Rio
Where would music be without the production duo? Gamble & Huff, Cool & Dre, Elton John and the dude he produced with, the Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys serving as one collective person)...Anyway, you get the picture. In this RH First Look, we turn the microscope on an emerging production duo straight out of my backyard (no Vimby)...Nez & Rio, part of Brainiac Society, are bubbling right now in Chicago's underground...Find out why in this new RH First Look.
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RH First Look: Hey Champ
I learned a few things about Lupe Fiasco's venture into Electro Rock, otherwise known as Hey Champ! over the last week. They hail from Rockford, IL, they eat a lot of Sultan's Market, and they're damn good at photo shoot ideas. You can also learn about the Chicago-based trio currently burning up Chicago's underground in this new edition of RH First Look...Check it out below.
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RH FIrst Look: Shawn Chrystopher
Ever since I've been on this earth my parents have drilled into my head the importance of education. You know how it is when you're younger and you take what they say for granted but as you grow into your own you begin to really notice how important attaining an education is. Many people believe that this concept has been abandoned in the Hip Hop community. It seems that critiques tend to draw conclusions on the entire community. Many believe that at a time in Hip Hop it wasn't "cool" to be an intellect or "cool" to have something positive going for yourself. Personally I disagree with that. Hip Hop has always been about bettering yourself as a person, whether that being mentally or socially.
With the "New Age" of Hip Hop hitting the scene, we are starting to notice a growing trend of college educated artists, artists like Wale, Asher Roth, and Shawn Chrystopher. Graduating from a California high school at the age of 16, Shawn Chrystopher then attended the University of Southern California. The kid also plays 5 different instruments, brings paintings to the studio, and says he doesn't really listen to Hip Hop at all besides Kanye and Jeezy. "Other than that I listen to Coldplay, Radiohead, Nina Simone, John Mayer, Jackson 5, Queens of the Stoneage, Brazilian Girls, and The Killers, "says Chrystopher.
Read what these influences have lead Shawn Chrystopher to cultivate in his own music and more in an in-depth First Look below.
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RH First Look: K. Salaam & Beatnick
This week we put the RH First Look microscope on the production duo of K. Salaam and Beatnick. The two have made major way for themselves in the last calendar year. With production credits ranging from Pharoahe Monch to Young Buck, the NYC base team now turn their atention towards their first proper album being released later this year. Get to know them a little bit better here.
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RH First Look: J The S
Hip Hop comes out of the Bean in hard forms like Slaine and Krumbsnatcha....and honestly, after performing up there myself, I remember getting some really hard street banging CDs that represented a city I never knew supported rap as much as their baseball team. It's quite refreshing to know there are other marketable artists out there that still represent a hometown without embodying the accent that the famous bodybuilder Mike Matarazzo had (yeah I have been following bodybuilding since like 8 because my bro was one). I met J The S in NYC and by being cool he has had much bloglicity, as well as stage time at good venues like the Middle East and acclaimed NYC Knitting Factory before it retired.
Also being named after a great WWF wrestler, I think he can take it to another level with a boa constrictor on his neck..OK..I'll stop here.
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RH First Look: Y-Love
XXL has covered many things in its time. Biggie Smalls. 50 Cent. War. Politics. Hate Love. Yeah even Flava Flav reincarnated. I'd like to introduce you to Y-Love. He is a man of an intense background and can make a simple interview look like a college thesis. Put your thinking caps on. Make sure your stomach is empty. This will take time to digest. Jewish. Proud. Black. Rap. Electro..Rock.
Baltimore. He represents Shemspeed and Modular Moods Records. More importantly he represents diversity. That's a lot different than just being diverse guys. He lives it.
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