Hip Hop February Selection

After at least three years of announcements and high expectations, Conway The Machine releases his debut album under major label Eminem’s Shady Records, the one who first believed and set his sights on Buffalo’s “machine” and Griselda Records. The endless postponements that “God Don’t Make Mistakes” has undergone in recent months are due to a troubled label relationship rather than a strategy to create hype: the bond between Conway and Shady ended even before they released the album. Probably, because of the delays due to these differences of opinion and the problems related to the permissions on the rights of the samples, we will never know how the initial version of this album was conceived.

The Buffalo rapper himself has stated in interviews that the album has been handled and retouched several times. Despite the troubled conception, God Don’t Make Mistakes certainly did not disappoint our expectations. Conway the Machine has in fact given birth to his most intimate and personal album, showing not only his already widely known lyrical skills, but also his own human side and the weaknesses that have accompanied him in his incredible and miraculous story of redemption.

As the title suggests, Conway’s personal story would, in fact, make waver the beliefs of an already convinced atheist: a musical career apparently smashed like that by a bullet behind the head and in the neck (which will cause him a permanent facial paralysis) and the consequent depression, would have made 99% of the people give up. Conway, on the other hand, managed to transform this story into a miraculous parable, which led him to the elite of Hip-Hop, giving him the status of Legend. God Don’t Make Mistakes.

Blame Kansas is the third “official” album by T.F , Los Angeles’s recruit of the Lord Mobb, a crew / label founded by the Queens rapper, Flee Lord, and man very close to Schoolboy Q. Produced excellently by Roc Marciano and Mephux, Lord Mobb’s home producer, this short jewel will make it clear to you very quickly why T.F. already has the favor of these important individuals.  The South Central rapper, with a past in the 50s (crip’s gang), as they say legitimately “talk that shit”: with his “spoken” flow, in fact, he paints episodes from his past life and, as in sermons, enunciates principles on which the life of a man of honor is based, even once he has retired from that life. Also the collaborations featured on the album are excellent, from Conway The Machine to Roc Marciano, via Flee Lord and Crimeapple. As far as we’re concerned, Blame Kansas is already one of the albums we liked the most this year and T.F. one of the most interesting names of the moment!

Those who follow our pages will already be aware of the amazing movement that animates the Richmond (Virginia) underground Hip-Hop scene. Here, in our opinion, some of the best and original producers and MC’s of the American scene compose their notes and rhymes. In fact, several times we have written here about the Mutant Academy crew, Fly Anakin ( also featured on this album), Big Kahuna OG, Koncept Jack$on and producers such as Ohbliv, Shyco Sid (present here as well) and others.

Also from Richmond, 3wayslim, member of Scheme Team crew, fits perfectly into this trend and thanks to a fantastically produced project, characterized by the wide use of soul samples ( trademark of the aforementioned movement), and by the sincere and introspective rhymes. of its protagonist.

There isn’t much information around about Monroe Flow yet, but we strongly recommend you to start tuning into its frequencies. What we know till now is that he was born in 1996, resides in Atlanta and is closely connected with the San Francisco rapper, Larry June, with whom he often collaborates, included with this new project titled “Scarred For Life”.

This actually makes sense, despite the geographic distance,  given Larry June’s long period in the city of Georgia. We hope to be able to give you more information on our pages later, because Monroe Flow is an artist we bet on for the future. As demonstrated with Scarred For Life, this rapper from Atlanta has in his baggage some  talent, charisma, experience and topics to tell about, combined with an excellent musical ear and taste for productions. In fact, in this new project, he showed his versatility, managing to adapt his flow to the wide spectrum of influences, which range (generalizing) from the hyphy sounds of Oakland to those of Atlanta, and thus avoiding a too tight dress, that would limit the possibilities of expressing his art.

Chicago’s Hip-Hop scene is, in our opinion, the one with the widest and most varied spectrum of styles and sounds. They range from the extremes of gangster drill to the conscious lyrics and jazz influences of the Common’s or emerging rappers such as Saba or Mick Jenkins, passing through sounds closer to the “boom bap” and lightning-fast rapping in the manner of Twista. Then there is Chris Crack who, thanks to the eccentricity of his personality and style, finds it difficult to place himself in any of these sub-genres. In his prolific discography he was able to touch different kinds of sounds and contents, without conforming to them, but maintaining his original, personal and immediately recognizable way to interface with his listeners. In Growthfully Developed he shows again his versatility, using, without efforts, different flows and dealing with the most varied topics

Da Flyy Hooligan is one of the most important representatives of the London underground Hip-Hop scene, if not the most important. As evidence of this, the North West London rapper and CEO of the independent label Gourmet Deluxxx, over the years has managed to build a solid relationship with some of the prominent elements of the corresponding American scene. After having previously collaborated with people of the caliber of Sean Price (RIP), Westside Gunn or Thirstin Howl III, in the new project in question, entitled Ben Kingsley, he can count on the support from Dom Pachino ( Wu Tang Clan affiliated and Killarmy’s member) and D.V. Alias ​​Khryst. As he has already accustomed us in the past, Da Flyy Hooligan offers us his refined taste in terms of rhymes and choice of productions, serving us an Hip-Hop gourmet version with some British sauce.

In Italy, at the moment, when it comes to bars and samples, the collective MxRxGxA has taken the spotlight. To confirm this trend also in 2022, here comes Gran Turismo, the Gentle T’s debut project for the crew founded by Gionni Gioielli, in which the talented rapper from Lecce also shares the ring exchanging blows with the other crew’s members . In addition to the Gentle T’s and the rest of the squad microphone skills, as often happens in the projects signed by MxRxGxA, we must underline the sublime musical carpet, which in Gran Turismo is mostly tailored by The Departed Beats.

One of the hottest crews of the moment in France is undoubtedly the Ekip 667, also known as Ligue dés Ombres or MangeMort Squad, which has its most prominent man in Freeze Corleone. A collective that counts within it, however, different individuals and equally interesting and talented rappers. One of these is the rapper, born in 1995, from Lille (France), with Cameroonian origins, Osirus Jack. Nouvelle Ère is his second official album. Although the drill sounds are widely inflated also in France, Osirus Jack and the Ekip 667 producers team interpret the spirit in the best possible way, managing to return the most raw and interesting version of this sub-genre and creating a homogeneous project, where Osirus Jack also manages to show off his lyrical skills.