Enjoy Hip-Hop Responsibly

We got a really fresh press kit from Wally Boy Wonder and his record label Intolerance Records. Very well done with lots of information and some goodies. Good touch!

I shy away from anything with explicit lyrics on the site but wanted to share the Simple Life video here on the blog. Cool track and a decent video.

Colemine Records dropped a CD in my mailbox a few months ago from Tough Junkie. The first 60 seconds of vocals on the album remind me of a cross between Mos Def and Joey the Jerk. He has something of a lazy delivery. Don’t mistake that as a diss… he’s just mad laid back sounding on the mic.

“Grab What You Can” looks like what it sounds like. An earthy stripped down hip-hop album with of touch of old school jazz flavor. The beats are for the most part basic but are dope enough you can really get lost in a few of them. I’ll definitely be listening to this record again.

The honey bun dessert tip was pretty funny.

The record was a welcome departure from most of the absolute crap I get in the mail. 7.5/10

I figured I better get going on this again… Every day I get a small stack of CDs in the mail. About 98% of it is unsolicited, some good and some not so much. Some from secular and some from Christian artists. Either way it’s cool to see what’s going on out there.

In the “Stuff I Got In The Mail” category of the blog here I’ll be writing about those random projects I find in my mailbox. Don’t expect to see everything here that I get. I don’t have all day. Ha.

Sandbox Rebel sent me a CD called “Songs for Friends, Family & the Times”. It’s definitely on some indie rock tip with a bit more polish than normal. The vocals are alright. Nothing that says to me “Hey, I’m gonna listen to this a ton” or anything. One of the RIYL (recommend if you like) artists listed is Eminem. Not sure why that’s listed to be honest. Nothing on this album makes me think “rap”. 5/10

In case you missed them, here are the last week’s worth of Daily Download features from Sphere of Hip-Hop. Sphere features many different artists and styles on the site and Daily Download is a new way to discover artists. Check each track out… you might find a new artist to love.

August 3 – 8

Monday: The Runaway – Good Times part 2
Tuesday: Peace 586 – Tree Trunx feat Propaganda
Wednesday: Cas Metah – Find Time feat. BC and Playdough
Thursday: Mr. J. Medeiros – Holding On
Friday: Illustrate, Spokin 11 and Minority – Let the Muzic Play
Saturday: YSG-Timothy – Bigger

Recently we featured tracks from many artists including:

4th Avenue Jones
Ajax Starglider
Freddie Bruno
Mars ILL
muzeONE
Rootbeer
Sareem Poems
Scribbling Idiots
Sojourn
Solseekers

Change has released an EP full of new tracks worth intent listening. Plus, it’s a free download and you ain’t got nothing to lose!

Download: Change The Stimulus Plan ep

Sound off here in the comments -or- Sphere of Hip-Hop Facebook page -or- Sphere of Hip-Hop Album discussion forum

Post your comments.

Today I received a package with CDs inside for review. Every day is about the same, I get anywhere from 1-5 review packages. This one was “special” however because I had to PAY to receive it! What?!?!

POSTAGE DUE

Don’t ever ever send anyone you want support from a package without the proper and correct postage on it. I am an understanding a forgiving guy when it comes to stuff but this one made me upset. Seriously.

Don’t be like this guy.

I get so much music in the mail it is difficult to keep track of everything. Since I’ve been exposed to so much, it’s also easy to be unimpressed by the constant stream of mediocrity filling my mailbox.

When I got this one in the mail from Dunham/Daptone, it piqued my curiosity. The packaging was interesting and I dug the photograph selected for the cover art. Was I ever in for a surprise when I popped it into my CD deck. I was hooked after about a minute into the first song. When I learned it was an instrumental release, I was even more excited to pour over the whole record.

Guitars dripping with funk, great basslines, horns, on time drumming, keys… it has it all. Basically, if I had any music ability… this is the sort of record I would dream of doing. If you love dusty 45s… you certainly will dig a bunch of this album. Yes, I am gushing… it is that good.

Here is a legit and legal preview (courtesy of their PR folks at World’s Fair) of the title track Make the Road by Walking.

The album drops October 14th. Definitely buy a copy when it drops if you dig what you hear.

Two emails I received

Maybe it’s merely a product of the volume of email I receive… Today I found a message in my news submissions (only) inbox requesting information on a review. To find that inbox, the submitter needed to ignore what the button said and what the entire page said. In addition, the entire message was one run-on sentence. I’m no English Major but I do try to make it easy to read and comprehend my communication. Isn’t that the point of communicating anyway? Needless to say, I deleted it without response. I don’t have time right now to chase people down to do their job correctly.

A few days ago I received another email requesting airplay. No information, no punctuation, no full words (”yo” in place of “your”), no capitalization… very unprofessional. Deleted.

Here is the jewel…

This doesn’t work. If this is you, change. If you don’t know how to present yourself to media and radio people then by all means learn how from someone who does. Moreover, be teachable. I shake my head at artists that “have it all figured out” and yet continue to make major mistakes.

Would you go to a job interview with dirty disheveled looking clothing and with your hair all jacked up? I doubt it. Well, this is essentially the perception I get of people when receiving sloppy submissions. At least I am understanding of it and am willing to look past it. Most others will not. You’ll get the delete button or the trash can with the quickness.

Once you have something of a relationship with an organization, then you probably have a bit more grace for being casual.

If you’re not willing to spend the time to do stuff properly, don’t waste other peoples time. Keep in mind… these people are doing you a big service.