I know y'all remember those boys that met at Western Kentucky University in 1995 and blew up with the song Awnaw... Well, the fellas are back for their third album, entitled The Humdinger. I haven't had a chance to really dig into it yet, but the boys are previewing it on their MySpace page leading up to the album release on August 5th- check it out....
Peace yall,
-Breeze
When Andre 3000 first started out, he dressed and acted like any other rapper. Once OutKast made it into the mainstream music channels, dude went off the deep end- I mean, he shot the video for Rosa Parks wearing a furry hat, baggy hammer pants, and football shoulder pads. Since then, more and more hip hop artists have begun to feel comfortable in their own skin (or clothes) and have given up the standard emcee uniform of a fitted, white tee, and baggy designer jeans. Meet Virus Oprstu ("O-per-stu")...
![[photo by nicholas martinez]](http://hotlink.myspacecdn.com/images01/48/cb801b2d0e1ffb58219eeb2c6cf36a5e/m.jpg)
This cat is pretty green and doesn't have a ton of material available to hear, but the 15-20 or so tracks that I have heard are pretty fucking cool. Dude is very unique and crafts his bars very carefully, and I learned that he graduated from the Art Institute in 2007 through a little stalking on Facebook. He reps Van Nuys and has a debut album, Biohazard, coming soon. Listening to the track 1 2 3 4, I was really impressed with the opening bars...
"I move through the streets, with the smoothest speech, over groovy beats.
If you step to my crew with beef, we'll leave you deceased.
Or you'll lose your teeth. Like old men... at Zuma beach."
This dude puts a lot of thought into every lyric and is very particular with his delivery. I feel like this dude is very concerned with every specific detail of his music and he takes time to ensure that his flow sounds exactly how he wants. But, maybe he's just really dope and the shit is easy for him. I am a big fan of technically sound lyrics, and cool structural nuances within an artist's delivery, and Virus definitely delivers on this. Homey claims Eminem as an influence, among many, many others, which makes sense as Em is one of the best ever in terms of rhyme scheme/structure, internal rhyming, use of slant rhyme, etc... Check out dudes MySpace and SoundClick pages to hear the music, as I can't find any tracks that I can embed here... URL's below. Check the Tracks 1 2 3 4 and Colors... What do yall think?
MySpace- www.myspace.com/virusoprstu
Facebook- www.new.facebook.com/pages/Virus-Oprstu/13983906050?ref=s
Soundclick- www.soundclick.com/virusoprstu
Peace yall,
Breeze
I came across a group yesterday that really piqued my interest, and when I popped over to MySpace to check out more tracks, I was pretty impressed. Now, I've been beating y'all over the head with my theory of musical convergence and how popular music is increasingly drawing from different genres. Furthermore, another one of my notions is that, as electronica elements are beginning to drip into hip hop, rock, pop, and many other tracks, electronica is an impending movement in popular music, especially hip hop. Consider artists like Santogold, Girl Talk, and even Lil' Weezy- all are influenced by electronica, as well as numerous other genres, and these influences are apparent in tracks like Lollipop and L.E.S. Artistes. Well, this all makes sense to me- our generation, again I'm 25, is marked with this desire for uniqueness. Not only do we want to do interesting, cool, different things, but we also want to be recognized and praised for our uniqueness. Maybe it has something to do with Little Leagues across the country giving a trophy to fucking everyone who "competes" or our parents always telling us that we are "special," but a positive outcome of all of this is the increasingly "out-there" music that is being produced. And with increasing technological advances, everyone who wants to can make music that is "special." It's fucking great, I think, except that you have to wade through way more shit than ever before to find something good. But, after wading through some shit, I was hipped to the Millionaires and Hyper Crush- and a completely unknown to me: they are touring together! Hyper Crush has been opening for the Millionaires on a national tour...
The Millionaires- Alcohol
So I came across the Millionaires a bit back and was definitely interested as their music is self-defined as Club/Electro Pop and is just that. If you are looking for some super insightful lyrics or a political statement, then this is not a group to check in to. But, if you want to find some tracks that will definitely get people shaking their asses and that are funny and cool at the same time, look no further than these three ladies: Melissa Marie, Allison, and Dani. Lines like "I'm so turned off by all these boys, who never fucking dance. When I see a boy just standing there, he won't get in my pants," let the fellas know that these chicks are down to get down and their music definitely conveys this vibe. The tracks are fun, semi-witty, and actually hilarious at times and draw heavily on electronica and techno sounds sprinkled with a poppy sensibility that is actually kinda refreshing at times. The girls' music sounds like the new generation of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and a lot of the lyrics, while not delivered in any particularly interesting manner, are about shit that we all think about: what do chicks think about dudes and how can we get some... But, honestly, check the tracks I Move It and I Like Money (below) and the video for Alcohol (above) by these lovely ladies, whose outfits/personas are as lively and fly as the music- I mean, how cool are chicks that wear grillz??? The ladies were on TRL yesterday (July 30th) so they are obviously on someone's radar, but their myspace says that they are still unsigned- visit www.myspace.com/millionaires. If someone doesn't scoop them up soon, I will be really surprised as teenagers all across the US will eat this up...
I Move It
I Like Money
Now, the group that opens for the Millionaires is actually a little bit flier to me- Hyper Crush is made up of Danny Fontaine, Holly Valentine, and Preston Moronie. Danny spits, Holly sings for the most part, and Preston plays the Keytar and DJ's. The sound that is created when these three put their heads together is not all that different from the millionaires- synth heavy, vocoder samples, electronica and techno elements- but Hyper Crush's lyrics are a BIT more serious and most of the tracks borrow sounds from old Nintendo games- peep The Arcade's Super Mario Bros. and Zelda samples. The subject matter is similar- partying, sexual encounters, drugs & alcohol- but the lyrics delivered by Hyper Crush are delivered a little less in jest than their counterparts. It almost sounds to me like the Millionaires know they are saying shit, so they make it fun so people won't pay as much attention to the lyrics. But, Hyper Crush's delivery just seems more self-assured... The coolest thing about Hyper Crush, to me, is that their emcee is a semi-dorky, clean-cut cat whose flow seems like a major juxtaposition to his look. He has a good tone, and sounds like a dude that would kick the shit out of the face staring back at him in the mirror. According to their myspace, they are "all time greatest 50's Doo-Hop, Electro, Hip Hop Group from the 80's. Three shit-faced extra terrestrials known amongst the elite simply as Donny, Preston and Holly." Check em out at www.myspace.com/hypercrush. But, first check out the vid for The Arcade and the tracks Sex and Drugs and The Candy Store below. This is what generation X and Y are sounding like today...
And for good measure, peep this review of Hyper Crush at
http://www.clubplanet.com/Articles/2251/Video-Killed-the-Electro-Star-Hyper-Crush
The Arcade
Sex and Drugs
The Candy Store
What's good, bad, and ugly about the Millionaires and Hyper Crush?
Peace yall,
-Breeze
Your weather forecast for hot new hip hop artists.
