« Slaps Of The Week (1/22/12 - 1/28/12) »

After a weekend full of rain, and a devastating loss by the 49ers, this week was filled with great weather, and even better music. Peep my Slaps of The Week after the jump.

Too $hort ft. E-40 - Money On The Floor

In the rap game, it seems like nothing is constant or reliable. Groups break up, record labels close, artists pass away or get locked up, people start beefing, and others just flat out quit making music. Yet one thing that has remained the same since the early 90’s has been the relationship and the presence of E-40 and Too $hort. They’ve combined to release over 30 albums throughout their careers, collaborated an uncountable number of times,  and despite both of them being well in their 40’s, it doesn’t look like they’re gonna stop anytime soon. E-Feezy is dropping 3 volumes of The Block Brochure in March, and Too $hort is releasing No Trespassing in February. “Money On The Floor” is the strip club ready lead single for $hort, and as would be expected, there is a lot to look at in the video. 

Armani Cooper - Bad Dream City (Free Album)

Anyone from The Bay who has talked to hip-hop fans from other parts of the country knows, that most of them do not see Northern California as a place where lyricists reside. Obviously they’re wrong, and that’s one of the reasons why Thizzler was started in the first place. Yet over the past year or so, TeamBackPack has also done a great job of shining light on the lyricism that exists in The Bay, and encouraging local rappers to be competitive with their bars. Both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, Armani Cooper has been one of the main driving forces for TeamBackPack, but up until this week, he hadn’t released that much music. With Bad Dream City, fans can hear Armani on a full project por gratis. Bad Dream City is late night music full of reflection and questions about our values, where we stand today as people, and what our future might look like. The album features Shark Sinatra, Emoney, Meanzy, Duckworth and Xiomara as well as production by Nel™, Billion Coast, Jae Hoon and more.

Free Download: Bad Dream City 

Livewire - Mafia (Album) 

The other day I saw DJ Fresh tweet “odd future is la, asap is harlem, livewire is the bay”, and he’s pretty much right. There’s a lot of new artists emerging out here, but over the past 3 years or so, Livewire has been the most talked about and the most supported group of MC’s in the Bay. The label’s lineup and affiliates seems to shift a lot, but the music is consistent. They get beats that bang, have them mixed correctly so that their knock is a step above the rest of the Bay, and when it comes to spitting, rest assured it’s always gritty and for the streets. Essentially they’ve updated the Mob sound of the 90’s and made it relevant again for this generation. On Tuesday they released the collaboration album, Livewire Mafia, and it’s exactly what fans of the label have come to expect. J. Stalin, Philthy Rich, Shady Nate, Stevie Joe, Lil Blood, Jay Jonah, Lil Goofy, Mayback, L’Jay and the rest of the label all spit throughout the project, in addition to features from Keak Da Sneak, Armani Depaul and more. 

 

Philthy Rich ft. Sam - All I Have (Thizzler Exclusive)

Speaking of Livewire, Philthy Rich was dropping Thizzler exclusives all week long. Fans of Philthy got to peep 5 tracks from his upcoming albums True Religion Shawty  and Kill Zone, and we had them first. My favorite from the leaks is “All I Have” ft. Sam, which is gonna be on Kill Zone. On this track Philthy gets really honest about who he is, where he comes from, and where he wants to go. He comes off really genuine and sounds hungry on the mic, which will always be a combination that can’t fail. Not to mention that  the song features the type of beat that’ll get you motivated to get on your own grind. 

Free Download: All I Have 

Final Four - Gota Go

Left Lane is one of the unsung heroes over here at Thizzler. He’s our go to videographer, who’s already dropped a handful of really dope Thizzler exclusives, and you can all expect to see many more videos from Thizzler and Left Lane in the near future. Yet on top of that he’s a producer, an occasional MC and singer, a studio engineer, a photographer, an ill skater, and he has a regular spot DJ’ing at John Collins in San Francisco. He really does it all, as is exemplified by the first video from his group Final Four (Yarrow Slaps, Maine Event, Cali Love and Left Lane). “Gota Go” was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Left Lane, and he directed the video. Yet that’s not to take away from the rest of the group, they all did their thing on this track too. Expect more from Final Four including a new street album sometime in the near future. 

Free Download: Gota Go