Sup yall,
Lately, I've been feeling like I need to show some love to some cats that AREN'T from Los Angeles... I just have been thinking that a lot of the cats that I'm diggin' right now all seem to be from LA, but the problem is that these dudes are putting out the freshest stuff! Well, I have a few dudes that I have been trying to find the time to really profile, and most of them are from LA.... So, just deal with it - looks like the West is back!
I have been bumping
Shawn Chrystopher's IWG: I Wear Glasses Mixtape (grab it
here if you haven't), which was sponsored by
LRG, pretty heavy for a while and have been meaning to holler about dude for a minute... I really dug the concept for the tape, which centers on the idea that we are all the same. Watch the "pilot" episode of IWGtv and peep this interview with
C'est La Vie to get hip. And, listen to this interlude below from the tape to get the lowdown on the concept from Shawn Chrys himself...
The meaning behind IWG as told by the man behind IWG...
With the way that music, especially Indie Hip Hop, is moving, I think that this is a brilliant concept for an album. Music is being democratized at an alarming rate, the byproducts of which aren't always good, but it's great to see an artist realize how the playing field is being leveled. And, not only does dude recognize this early on, but he uses it as fuel for his creativity - maybe all the smart kids do wear glasses...
But, after doing a little bit of digging, I read a bio of dude that makes this all makes sense. Apparently, dude met Tom Sturges, VP of Creative for Universal Music Publishing, way back when he was a youngster and Tom recoginized something special about Shawn. Under the guidance of Sturges, Shawn started Red Summer Entertainment and has released a few products under his own imprint. Dude was on a full ride at USC to study Political Science, and is a true jack of all trades - he produces, writes, mixes, and masters all of his own stuff. I have to say that, after learning a bit about dude's story, I'm not that surprised that he is making loud noise on the Indie Hip Hop scene... According to his
blog, Shawn has rented a house out and turned it into a studio so that he can focus wholeheartedly on his upcoming album, which is entitled
A City With No Seasons...
I think that my favorite track from dude is one that he is very fond of as well. He flipped
Sam Sparro's track
Black & Gold and came up with this insane song that he calls
Not Really Here... Super dope track!!!
And, here's the video for the lead track off of the IWG Mixtape called Inglewood Hero... Shawn jumps on the Nas track and absolutely kills it. The video is dope as well...
Take a listen to the official remix to
Chester French's smash
She Loves Everybody, which also features dope verses from Shawn... I love this track and adding homey to the track just completes it...
Here is another of my faves from IWG called (Not Your) N.I.G.G.E.R. The title should be enough to entice a listen...
And, I included this one for a few reasons: 1. I absolutely love this track from
Kanye (
Common is crazy for not snatching this up when it was offered), and 2. I love when cats put out a record that is explicitly for the fans and speaks directly to them - that is exactly what
Ode To My Fans is Imeem only offers a 30-second preview, but you can hear the whole thing at Shawn's
MySpace. Again, I'm not surprised that Inglewood's hero is set to blow...
Peace yall,
-Breeze
Back in early '07, I did a "Back to the Lab" in The Source in which Cypress Hill's B-Real spoke on the album he was working on, titled "Smoke N Mirrors." Almost two years later, B and Duck Down Records are set to get this album into your ears on February 24th. I've heard the thing already and instantly told my former editor at The Source - who is homies with Xzibit - that it is classic material. I still think so, but now I have a bit more to add.
