« Slaps Of The Week (2/5/12 - 2/11/12) »

This week the Feds put the wheels in motion to close down a lot more cannibus clubs in SF. Hopefully someone in the local government will grow some balls and stand up for what the people voted for, but in the meantime make sure you get this week's dosage of medicinal music. 

Young Gully - They Don’t Ride For Me (Produced by DJ Fresh)

There aren’t enough rappers like Young Gully in the Bay or even throughout the country. It feels like a lot of the people who spit about the same subject matter as him have little interest in being a great MC. Fortunately, Gully is the exact opposite of that. His "me against the world" mentality seems to keep him hungry and on point at all times, and as fans we’re better off for it.  This was once again on display when the East Oakland representer dropped the video for “They Don’t Ride For Me” from David, his second album with DJ Fresh. Make sure to catch Gully perform live at Thizzler’s Uncut Dope showcase at The Rockit Room on Sunday February 26th.

Buy Album - Young Gully - David (produced by DJ Fresh)

Philthy Rich - True Religion Shawty 

Philthy has been dropping exclusive leaks from Kill Zone and True Religion Shawty at Thizzler practically every other day for a few weeks now. While Kill Zone appears to be a retail album, this week Philthy laced fans with True Religion Shawty for free. Listening to this project was a great reminder of why Livewire is on top right now. Simply put: their albums slap harder than their competition. If I was an MC with some money to spend, I’d find out who mixes and masters Livewire’s music, and send every track I do in his/her direction. Because songs like the remix to “Ready To Ride” and most of the whole project made me feel like I had 10’s in the trunk despite riding around with nothing but stock speakers in the vehicle. With features from 2 Chainz, The Jacka, Messy Marv, DB Tha General, Mistah F.A.B, Los Rakas, Young L, Joe Blow, Armani Depaul, practically everyone from Livewire and more, if you are a fan of Oakland’s modern Mob Music this is well worth the download.

Free Download - Philthy Rich - True Religion Shawty 

Too Short ft. Wallpaper - Double Header

Too Short is the true definition of a hustler. The man pretty much single handedly created the model/business plan for independent hip-hop, and over a quarter of a century later he’s kept up with all of the latest marketing trends, embraced the internet, and is able to create real buzz for his upcoming album No Trespassing. Over the years he’s made making the transition from tapes to mp3’s, MTV to YouTube, and magazines to blogs seem easy. Yet it’s not just his willingness to try new things on the business end that’s allowed him to stay relevant in 2012. After all this time he’s impressively still down to experiment musically as well. The three videos he dropped this week are all good examples. On “Hey” Short gets classy and dabbles in neo-soul (or as I like to call it, music for the grown and sexy), ”What The Fuck” is aggressive with a hard rock guitar riff, but nothing is comes more out of left field than “Double Header” ft. Wallpaper. Words can’t really do justice to describing the song, just know it’s a hell of different vibe than we’ve really ever heard from Short. And who would of thought we’d see the day where Too Short is rocking full on face paint in his music video? The man isn’t afraid to get in any lane, and for that all we can do is salute. No Trespassing comes out 2/28/12. 

Moe Green - Deja Vu (Produced by Rob-E)

Musically and in real life, Moe Green is definitely one of the most genuine people we have in The Bay Area music scene. He never seems to be representing something that he’s not, and as a result his music is hell of relatable. On “Deja Vu”, from last year’s free release, Lion Heart, Moe spits about a few of the struggles he’s been going through, from relationships to this rap game. Moe’s somber tone matches the mood created by Rob-E’s soundscape (are the two of them still coming out with an album?), and Brian Storm’s black and white shots of San Francisco brings everything together. Also as Em Dub said when he originally posted the video, Moe claims to come to Thizzler every day and listen to everyone’s music. All y’all MC’s out there should reciprocate the act, and put the same effort into checking out other people’s music as Moe does. It’s that study of the game that’s helped make him a favorite of the national blog scene. 

Free Download - Moe Green - Lion Heart  

Wordup - Bobcat Freestyle 

Wordup is easily one of the most slept on MC’s in the Bay. As someone who grew up slapping Hiero, Zion I, Blackalicious and Living Legends as much as I did Mac Dre, E-40, and Too Short, I regularly find myself wondering where the next generation of Bay Area MC’s from the former end of the spectrum are. Every now and again we’re lucky enough to stumble upon one, and Wordup is definitely one of those cases. He has a classic flow, a lot of his beat selection brings listeners back to the 90’s style of sample based production, and he can freestyle forever. Last year Thizzler was proud to present Wordup’s free Photosynthesis mixtape, and this week we’re happy to be able to drop the first music video from the project. “Bobcat” takes one of my favorite beats from a surprisingly skipped over instrumental album from The People Under The Stairs’ Thes One and gives listeners a great example of why we at Thizzler respect what Wordup does on the mic. 

Free Download - Thizzler.com Presents: Photosynthesis