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This week I'm feelin a little Queezy...

This week I'm slappin' the latest from San Francisco's own Equipto, Ilyich. Equipto has solidified his place in the Bay Area rap scene with his work with Bored Stiff, Andre Nickatina, Michael Marshall and countless others, and Ilyich is the centerpiece to his rap collage. Released on Solidarity Records on August 9th, Ilyich features such artist as San Quinn, Spank Pops, Mike Marshall, Z-man, Sunspot Jonz, Sick Yg, and ton of others, but don't get it twisted: this isn't a record that is cluttered with features, it's still an Equipto record. Ilyich starts off with a poem by Equipto's mom Maria Cristina Gutuerrez which expresses her love and admiration for her son and also gives the "thesis" to Ilyich. The Intro is some real deep stuff, don't skip over it. Game Of Death kicks off the rhyming in a real fresh way with an up tempo beat and sport samples Equipto still manages to spit some knowledge on the track. Queezy ask the question "do these kids in the game have the heart?", it takes some balls and some experience to call these cats out; I applaud that. I was really excited to hear the Z-man and Kirby Dominant track Slapbox and I wasn't disappointed. Slapbox has that three MC passin' the mic feel. With a simplistic yet, rich piano loop Equipto, Z-man, and Kirby split the verses and "lyrically trash talk". Slapbox has that 88' rap feel to it; call it the dozens, call it trash talk, I call it dope. On another note when are Z-man and Queezy going to do an album together? If ya'll reading this, we waiting...So we all know that Equipto is from the SFC and we have heard him do some tracks about the city by the Bay, but you have never heard a track like Heart and Soul featuring Michael Marshall. Heart and Soul is one of the most passionate San Francisco tracks I have heard; you can really feel Equipto's love for the city. On Heart and Soul Queezy calls out all the classic spots, classic rappers, and even makes the call to unite and free Mac Minister. Mike Marshall lays his usual soulful vocals for the hook and completes the record. I promise you live, have ever lived, visited, and even wanted to come to San Francisco Heart and Soul with strike a cord in you. Equipto has a San Francisco classic on his hands with Heart and Soul. Other slappers on Ilyich include Ryhmes 2 Funky featuring Sick Yg, The Ram, Miracle featuring Sunspot Jonz, and Ef You featuring Shag Nasty and Agentstricknine. Really though with 20 tracks on Ilyich there really isn't a track to skip over. Ilyich is hands down Equipto's best solo project, it really showcases his range as an mc and cements his place in the upper echelons of San Francisco rappers. Go out and cop Ilyich and be exposed to some of the realest Hip Hop comin' out of the Bay.