Acid Rap starts off with an amazing intro that showcases Chance’s superior rhyming and sufficiently provides a preview to the wide range of styles the mixtape features. Next up, my personal favorite track, “Pusha Man/ Paranoia”. The latter of which, “Paranoia”, a track that teams Chance with Nosaj the Thing, has already been placed on the shortlist for one of the songs of the summer by many critics, including Complex magazine. “Paranoia” shows a wide range of motion for Chance, who sings the chorus and raps 3 verses, all delivered with different tones and levels of excitement. Other notable tracks include, “Cocoa Butter Kisses”, “Juice” ,”NaNa”, and “Favorite Song”, which features a noteworthy verse from rapper/ actor, Childish Gambino. The album is predictably littered with drug references, and tales a youth spent having fun on the Southside of Chicago. Chance has an odd grasp of his poise, as Acid Rap sounds more like a fourth studio album from a seasoned rapper, rather than a second mixtape from a rapper fresh out of his teen years and without a record deal. Another initial thought, Chance’s voice and delivery has a strong resemblance to one, Lil Wayne, maybe Lil Wayne if he got a college degree, but you will hear the noticeable similarity. Chance, however, has a unique characteristic that sets him apart, his spoken- word approach, to which he admits is an intentional effort, and one he has studied and practiced in the past. This approach, much like a young Kanye West, makes his flows more understandable and lyrically tangible.

As previously mentioned, Chance does not have a studio album to his credit, and Acid Rap’s release is almost sure to spark a bundle of record companies tripping over themselves to sign Chance, much like Drake and Kendrick Lamar before him with their critically- acclaimed mixtape releases. Both of those rappers had major rap icons to champion them and really segway them into the public eye and mainstream visibility. Kendrick had Dre, and Drake had Lil Wayne, of course. Lets see where this mixtape takes a rising star.

Then we have the problem plaguing beatsmiths…for all the hype and adulation versatile mainstream producers receive as geniuses, unheralded acts like The Extremities are just as deserving. The Nova Scotian DJ duo (Fresh Kils and Uncle Fester) behind 2011′s Mint Condition project return as good as ever with their Re:Fresh album. The duo decided to go the remix route this time, re-interpreting 11 different tracks.

The genius in some of their song selections comes with the realization that some of these MCs are not well-known, so the Extremities’ version of their song has the potential to become the standard rendition. The fluttering synthesizers on “Lift Off”, for instance (remixing fellow canucks The Get By) back the lyrics to tell a story all it’s own. This is not a project reliant on superficial cache, in many cases the beats carry otherwise monotonous lyrics.

The group manages to showcase their versatility while still holding true to a general principle. No matter where the musical focus sways, from moody bass on “Like This” to various jazzy, soulful samples on Ghettosocks’ Recreation, the authentically hip-hop drums underneath are the staple that keeps the project beholden to a focused dynamic.

That’s not to say the composition is lacking on this project, the duo manages to transform what could easily be a break-beat fest into the the kind of lush, progressive album hip-hop needs. Even if the DJs didn’t participate as MCs, they managed to be lyrically expeditious. From Wordsworth and Apollo tackling everyman stresses with a defiant glee on the carefree “Morning After” to the introspection on Ambition’s “Lost & Found”, the project plays like a varied work without feeling like an all over the place compilation. Considering every single track has a different artist, that’s a strong testament to the Extremities’ discernment when selecting songs to remix.

Borrowing elements from Jazz, Electro, Soul and fusing it into a Hip-Hop tour de force, this is indeed a refreshing production project.

NY dance music legend François K and Academy participants also performed at special Deep Space night

Moroder’s informative and inspiring lecture at Red Bull Music

Last night, Brooklyn’s Output was sold out and packed to brim, as fans came to witness dance music revolutionary Giorgio Moroder’s first ever live DJ set as part of the 2013 Red Bull Music Academy in New York. Joined in the booth by long-time collaborator Chris Cox, Moroder played an hour-long set featuring fully re-arranged versions and exclusive remixes of some of his greatest hits, as well as live vocals on vocoder. The set list spanned his entire career, from his seminal, synth-heavy work with Donna Summer in the mid-70s, to his much talked-about collaboration with Daft Punk, “Giorgio by Moroder”, which is out in the US today.

One of the true greats of disco and electronic music, Giorgio Moroder brought a distinctly European aesthetic to black American dance grooves in the 70s with his visionary, synthesizer-driven production work for Donna Summer (“I Feel Love”, “Love to Love You Baby”). He was also a supreme composer of soundtracks, scored an unlikely chart success with “The Chase” (the theme from Midnight Express) and won three Oscars(c), as well writing theme songs for no less than three Olympic Games.

With a whole new generation of dance music artists turning to his motorik disco sound for inspiration, the Italian-born producer is currently kick-starting a new career as a performer. His New York appearance, hosted by the Red Bull Music Academy in conjunction with local club scene fixture Deep Space, was his “first ever live DJ set” and his first performance in the US. Other artists to perform on the night included New York dance music legend and Deep Space resident DJ, François K, as well as 2013 Academy participants T.Williams (London) and Benjamin Damage (Berlin) who have both been making major waves recently with their respective takes on soulful house and twisted techno.

Earlier on the day, Giorgio Moroder gave a private lecture to a select set of 31 music makers from around the globe at the Red Bull Music Academy, which is currently residing in a custom-built studio space in New York’s Chelsea district. In the two-hour conversation, Moroder touched on everything from his inspiration behind the Scarface soundtrack to being sampled by the hip hop generation and his surprising return to the limelight. ”I was quite happy just doing my crosswords,” he commented with a smile. “And then Daft Punk came and pulled me back in.”

A video of the entire conversation and the full audio of Moroder’s set will be available soon on www.redbullmusicacademy.com

Swedish singer LUNE will release her hauntingly beautiful interpretation of “LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND” on May 31st on Astralwerks. Originally recorded by the Swedish House Mafia trio of Axwell , Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello with Laidback Luke, and featuring the vocals of Deborah Cox , it was one of the defining club anthems of summer 2009.

This imaginative acoustic cover is synched with a huge VOLVO XC60 advertising campaign also starring Swedish House Mafia which premiered on TV in Sweden on Friday May 17th (and will roll out globally throughout the rest of the year). The ad features Sebastian, Axwell and Steve leaving the world they shared together behind after the hectic four years as Swedish House Mafia shot against some incredible Swedish landscapes. VEVO have the exclusive premiere of the full length video, which also stars SHM, following the Swedish advert premiere. Watch the video here:

LUNE is a music project fronted by Linnéa Martinsson. Rooted in the dance and performance world she first began to write songs with two chords and simple, direct lyrics before teaming up with various collaborators. ‘LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND” is not her first foray into the world of dance music as Martinsson also provided the vocals for Adrian Lux’s huge dancefloor hit “Teenage Crime.”

There are some real gems on the album. “Favorite Rap Stars” is set to a beat straight out of 1995 and features solid rhymes from Styles P and Raekwon. “Get Busy” has a nice flow from Havoc over a great instrumental while “Already Tomorrow” shows him at his most reflective and creative. Royce da 5’9” absolutely rips the beat in half on “Tell Me to My Face” to the point where Havoc’s rhymes are almost irrelevant. “Hear Dat” sports the most artistic beat on the album and can be considered one of Havoc’s best.

The problems of the album are more big picture issues. Havoc’s rhymes are not bad by any means but some of the songs can run together when the content matter is so similar. This becomes problematic when featured artist come though and outshine him on tracks such as Royce mentioned above. There are other minor gripes. “Colder Days” is a song that goes on for two minutes too long and features the laziest rhyming from Havoc. “Eyes Open” does have a great verse from Twista but the beat itself feels out of place when compared to other songs on the album.

At the end of the day, 13 is another entry in the long running discography of one of rap’s most famous artists. Havoc presents more of what fans love and shows no signs of slowing down in the future.

It’s only right that a Jay-Z track opens up the album as he also doubles as the soundtrack’s executive producer, though the privilege of this position was likely more for his relevance in pop culture and less about his extensive knowledge of 20^th century literature and the Age of Prohibition. “100$ Bill” is an embodiment of the film and album concept and even serves as a slight juxtaposition of nouveau riche culture both now and then—what will always remain is the insecurity and incessant desire for relative significance masked by opulence, bravado, and greed. How apropos that Jay-Z’s (or do we mean Jay Gatsby’s) post American Gangster narrative fits this bill.  And “100$ Bill” doesn’t slip through the cracks. On the surface lies minutes of mindless chatter, bragging, and trash talk, but there’s an inkling that beneath the boom-boom-kat’s there may be raw feeling we’re not allowed to see. Even with empty lyrics, when the bass hits and the staccato snares clap with the ominous opera vocals that precede the jazz era horn solo, you’ll realize that “100$ Bill” is undoubtedly the hottest, most significant record on the soundtrack.

The recurring themes on the album are of the ornate, illustrious, and showy, and you’ll find The Great Gatsby includes some odd features to convey this. Q-Tip even makes an appearance on “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” albeit with Fergie and GoonRock on an EDM track. It’s fun.

We’re happiest about Coco. O of Quadron appearing on the soundtrack. “Where The Wind Blows” is a little boring, but her vocals deserve mention.

“Back to Black” is Andre 3000 and Beyoncé’s audacious cover of Amy Winehouse’s track and it’s a pleasant surprise to hear Queen B. lull in a softer indie voice and not the usual overbearing, vibrato laden belt. Dare we say that it’s actually quite good? The song could still do without the extra bit of runs and natural roundedness of Beyoncé’s vocals that she likely had trouble killing, though.

In terms of the real indie (not indie imposters, sorry, Bey) Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” may be the core of the album. It so evocatively represents the yearning and emptiness that symbolizes anything Gatsby. The xx’s “Together” is similar. The breathy vocals on both tracks give you the sense of unbearable longing for something beyond reach. And as a body of work, that’s what The Great Gatsby represents.

This soundtrack adequately illustrates the emotional range of the film and its characters by use of randomized artists and abrupt tempo and mood changes that signify the many ups and downs of the painfully wealthy. At times, the songs may seem incongruent and inconsistent, but embedded within the fluctuating instrumentation remains the sentiments of conceit, opulence, self-absorption, and self-consciousness of the hideously affluent.

Like most debut albums, Hokey Fright struggles at times to claim an identity. However, their identity can be an extremely ambiguous topic considering their completely different backgrounds. Aesop, known for his unique voice and intellectual wordplay, has been delivering excellent rap productions for a select group of alternative underground rap fans, closely associated with the likes of Atmosphere and Living Legends. Meanwhile Kimya Dawson, has released a critically acclaimed children’s folk album, ALPHABUTT, but got her big break when her music was featured in the breakout movie, Juno. The duo’s different backgrounds is, of course, the major catalyst for the album, as evident on the second track, “Delicate Cycle”, which is unquestionably Hokey Fright’s best track. “Delicate Cycle” starts off with Aesop coming in strong with an urbane rhyme, over a soothing guitar strum, presumably by Kimya, who delivers a folk-inspired rap towards the latter half of the song. Although a significant portion of the album follows this gaffe- proof formula, it is when the duo deviates from that recipe where Hokey Fright runs into a few problems. One must remind themselves when listening to Hokey Fright, there just are not many, if any, folk/ rap groups out there, making this album by definition, experimental. The Uncluded used this album as a springboard for creative material, however, with that musical leap, comes head-scratching tracks such as, “Superheroes” , “WYHUOM”, and their attempt at more traditional hip hop track, “Tits Up”.

The Uncluded will be spending all of their summer touring the United States, and hip hop fans should feel privileged, as listeners, to hear this combination of sound at a live venue. Another resulting component will be the duo continuing to contract chemistry and grow as a group, as one would hope further collaborations are in store. Hokey Fright is a great debut showing for The Uncluded, and will be interesting to see if other alternative rappers will seek to mimic this combination on a larger scale, such as an album in the vein of Hokey Fright. One thing’s for sure, Rhymesavers, already considered one of the most critically acclaimed underground rap labels, has another artful showpiece to add to its stellar catalogue.

The debut effort from Rittz is unlikely to disappoint his fans, touting consistent production values and Rittz’s signature rapid-fire rhymes, but it might not so easily win over a casual listener. What limits this album’s appeal is a number of thematic contradictions. And although it’s an extremely polished product, the music just doesn’t make the right kind of impact for an MC’s debut.

As far as the overall sound experience of the album, it sounds really crisp. Rittz’s vocals always come through loud and clear, showcasing the rapper’s blazing fast choppity-chop rapping style. Rittz’s fast but not hurried delivery dices up an inky black backdrop of clean bass tones and tight synths. His rapping competes with the speed and precision of double-time kicks and tick-tick snares. I have to be honest though, I felt the slickness of the tracks losing luster pretty early in the album. Maybe it was the straight up sex jam “Sober,” but I couldn’t help but imagine some of these songs playing out in a beat up after-hours strip club.

Three quarters of the way through the hour-long album, Rittz’s machine gun flow started to wear me down as well. I found myself practically begging for featured artists to come in and break up some of the monotony. While I usually respect the sparing use of features on a solo album, especially a debut, I wish Rittz had given up the mic a little more often. The guest verses from MCs like Tech N9ne, Yelawolf and Big K.R.I.T., are a much-needed change of pace on Jonny Valiant.

His flow aside, Rittz is at his lyrical best when he keeps it strictly personal, like in the song “Interview.” Here he faces down skeptics, critics, and public interrogation in the form of rapped responses to a fictional interview. However Rittz stumbles when the focus becomes less individual and he resorts to glorifying excessive lifestyles filled with drugs, booze and sexual exploits (see: “Sober”). To further complicate things, Rittz seems very determined to remind the listener of his no-nonsense ethos with songs like “Fuck Swag,” and “For Real.”

Ultimately, I couldn’t fully get over these missteps. An MCs debut album is a rite of passage that should make an unmistakable statement representing the sum of everything in the artists life that went into the creation of the album. Not only is Rittz’s statement a little contradictory, the album fails to create a lasting impact musically. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an unbelievably consistent effort from an MC in a debut, and it could probably serve as a great soundtrack for your next drugged driving excursion. Unfortunately, the punch that The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant packs will wear off a lot quicker than the buzz you’re catching to it.

As Doomtree collective’s only female emcee, Dessa has established herself as a highly literate and imaginative lyricist, earning praise from NPR, Rolling Stone, Billboard, MTV, and many more with her previous LP. Now, on ‘Parts of Speech,’ the Twin Cities native strikes a compelling balance between the electronic and organic, combining innovative hip-hop beats with multi-layered instrumentation and laying the groundwork for her uniquely expressive rap-sing and whip-smart songwriting. As for Dessa’s live shows, New York’s Village Voice says “Dessa’s fluid, dynamic presence beautifully blends rap and poetry, and does the difficult job of humanizing the explosive beats.”

Watch the lyric video for “dark, hard-stomping” (Billboard) single “Warsaw” from Parts of Speech

Dessa Tour Dates:
6/22 – St. Paul, MN – Fitzgerald Theater (SOLD OUT)
6/29 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue (SOLD OUT)
7/08 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
7/09 – Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep
7/11 – Phoenix, AZ – Cresent Ballroom
7/12 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
7/13 – West Hollywood, CA – The Trobadour
7/15 – Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
7/16 – San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord
7/17 – Santa Cruz, CA – Catalyst Atrium
7/19 – Bellingham, WA – The Shakedown
7/20 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
7/21 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
7/22 – Boise, ID – Nuerolux
7/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
7/25 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre
7/26 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
7/27 – Kansas City, MO – The Record Bar
7/29 – Chicago, IL – Millenium Park, Jay Pritzker Pavilion
7/30 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird

There may not be a more fitting title for this album, as Kweli strays from his typical social commentary and goes for more commercial appeal…but shows he’s very conscious of the line that represents full mainstream accessibility and acceptance and stands far from it.

It’s not as if the Brooklyn wordsmith is less lyrically inclined, his trademark rapid-fire rasp is still in full force throughout the 15 track effort. He still drops metaphors with the deft of LeBron James dropping the ball into the cup, and still relentlessly mows through drums with astounding assonance.

On the Melanie Fiona assisted “Ready Set Go” Kweli openly ponders, “What if I listened to haters and never bothered hittin’ high water marks ’cause the markets flooded with garbage?” in a dazzling display that accentuates his reputation as a top notch lyricist.

The “Paid in Full” inspired “Turnt Up” finds Kweli ripping through those famous drums (augmented with an entrancing vocal harmony) with vigor, staking his claim and preventing the song from being a novelty. On “Push Thru” he outflows Currensy and goes toe to toe with Compton kingpin Kendrick Lamar, he who’s widely considered the best lyricist in Hip-Hop.

It’s not that Kweli has declined in any sense of the word, when he’s on, he’s ON. It’s just that on this album those moments are few and far between. The album spends a notable amount of time trying to grab the fairer sex’s attention. In one instance Talib discusses the highs and lows of courting with R&B ingenue Miguel on “Come Here“, and he tackles relationship issues on “Hamster Wheel”. Each are lyrically dense narratives, but therein lies the problem.

As versatile as Kweli has proven himself content wise through the years, he’s also historically maintained the same delivery no matter the beat. When one is straying from their artistic comfort zone, it’d seem like they’d go all the way. Talib Kweli just doesn’t have the charisma to consistently and engage the top 40 listener. That’s not a bad thing, but it is when you spend the core of an album trying to.

The production consistently delivers, however Talib doesn’t always. When it comes to mass appeal in 2013 the cold truth is that there is just more to it than lyrics alone, and Kweli seems unwilling to experiment with his flow or delivery, and that results in a lopsided album. Most artists would accept an album containing a bulk of tracks successful due to their trademark qualities with a few reachers that may not connect, but this is just the opposite.

Unfortunately Talib Kweli’s attempted prison break from consciousness wasn’t entirely successful.