Macklemore, originally known as Ben Haggerty, is a Hip Hop artist based in Seattle, Washington. He reminds me of an edgier version of Asher Roth. I would say Macklemore is much better than Asher Roth due to the fact that he raps about more serious things: Drug addiction being one of his main issues. Macklemore being a former drug addict himself should be congratulated: both for being honest about his past, as well as having the balls to discuss it in his music.

The reason I like him so much is because when I try and think of a musician to compare him to, I can’t do it. This is because he is genuinely unique. He’s adapted a very nice style and I warmed to him immediately. He’s also humble; one of his lyrics being: “I learned from my teachers but became through my music”. Once again, I hope you enjoy what I have chosen for you guys.

‘Wings’

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now this is a BIG tune. It’s one of those songs you would want to listen to when looking for inspiration. If you play for a sports team, you probably know it’s handy to listen to something to pump you up before a game. ‘Wings’ is THE ideal song to listen to before playing against your opponent. (Heart of a Champion by Nelly is also a great one). The music video is also good – inspiring even. Watch, and you will see for yourself and appreciate the great build up to the hook.
From 1:35 it’s incredible. If your sitting down while your listening to it, you will have the urge to get up when you’ve reached that point in the song. Something that stands out to me in particular is the children singing from 2:05. I’ve always found that using children as part of a chorus always proves very effective. A great example of this is Ace Hood’s ‘Top of the World’ (another great song which you should listen to, you may recognize it if you’ve played NBA 2k10).
It is a long song, and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I would however recommend it as something to listen to before starting a long day.
Another thing I should mention about Macklemore’s music is that he has managed to maintain his greatness in every song. If you like one of his songs, chances are you will like all of them. He doesn’t do anything half done.

‘Always Winter’

Click here to view the embedded video.

River Nelson – “The Rise & Fall of River Nelson”

The story of how I discovered this guy is quite unusual.
I was in a video and record exchange shop over my Christmas vacation and saw a ‘CD’s for 50p’ section. To my annoyance there was only one album there. Perhaps I should mention it wasn’t actually an album it was a CD inside a blank CD sleeve, but I was curious and I bought it. I usually find great music in this record shop and hoped I would be pleasantly surprised…and I was… Big time! More than I’ve ever been before in my life and that is really saying something.
When I downloaded the CD onto my iTunes however, all the details that came up were all in Chinese…or Japanese, I’m not really sure. I wasn’t really bothered at the time because I had yet to actually listen to the music. I just thought I’d purchased “world” music. When I actually started listening though, I was blown away. It was obvious that the wrong information had been put on the CD. The first song from the album that I heard, was in fact ‘Always Winter’ and I fell in love with everything about it…River’s voice, the hook, the beat, the lyrics… Everything! I didn’t know who this guy was at the time, and only when I typed out some of his lyrics, was I able to somehow track him down.

The Rise & Fall of River Nelson has been described by ‘The Independent’ as “old-school hip-hop offering from the likes of Talib Kweli or Common” My reply to that statement: So true! But even better! The Independent has also described his lyrics as “evocative” making a particular reference to one of his lines: “She rose from my bed, shook the dreams from her hair”. Pretty amazing right? Especially for me, being a romantic at heart I really warmed to him even more.
I searched him on Twitter and followed him, and after mentioning him in a few on my tweets did he actually follow me back! I actually got talking to him and he was very cool. I felt like I was talking to a celebrity. One thing I will never forgot about our conversation is when I asked him his age, his reply was: “I’m young enough to be hip, but old enough to know what Hip-Hop really is”.

I genuinely feel like he could be the next big thing in Hip Hop, but the sad thing is, not that many people pay attention to Underground, and River Nelson is definitely part of that ‘Underground circuit’. I admit mainstream can be very good, the songs are catchy and they come with creative music videos. HOWEVER, my belief is that the people who only listen to mainstream don’t have a musical preference. To find a type of music you genuinely like takes time. You have to do some digging and you have to go through some horrific music to find what you’re looking for. One thing that’s for certain is that if you like anything regarding soul, Motown or Hip Hop I have no doubt you will fall in love with River Nelson.

See you all soon
Sophia Topsy…

CLICK HERE TO READ ENTIRE JOURNAL

It’s been a tough week on the daddy tip for me; my son King Noah has been sick since last Friday, so I am
working on little sleep. It’s hard to see an infant sick as oppose to an adult because you can only do so
much for them; mainly comfort. Not to gross anybody out, but the snot that I have pulled from this little
boy’s nose seems to gush like a waterfall. Hearing him struggle during the night while he tries to sleep
keeps my ears at peak listening volume, so sometimes when it hits 4:45 AM

I’m very proud of this album because it’s
personal, but really showcases my songwriting skills. It’s crazy I kind of look at this as my first official
release, one because I am shooting for physical distribution,

For now, you can look forward to my “Prelude to the King” Mixtape dropping March 5th, 2012 and that is
the first time I have released a date. My last release from the project is called “The Limit,” which talked
about warring with suicide or living for a better day. Yesterday I released “A Hero’s Welcome,” which
I wrote for all the soldiers that sacrifice their life for the greater good of our nation yearly. My pops
retired as a Full Colonel in the Army, so this track is for him, a buddy of mine named Jerry Doby and any
troops I don’t know. The beat has a nice cadence to it, the hook is catchy and the lyrics are deep and
hit home for the soldiers. This mixtape is full of life music as I really want to get my fans mind frames
in the correct mode for my “King Noah” LP. In 3 weeks I’ll be doing a double release called “Get What
you Love & Define Me Classic,” which my homie DJ Frankie Paige from Sirius/XM The Foxxhole did cuts
on. Those will be the final releases from the Mixtape before it drops on MARCH 5TH, I REPEAT MARCH

In closing, I like to thank my team of CuzOH! Black, DJ Nominal, Strada, Capish, Professa and Diallo for
their continued backing as we move forward this year. Shout to our newest blogger on Revolt Radio
Sofia Topsy; mannnn this girl can’t write her butt off, so make sure you hit www.revoltradio.com
and send music to musicsubmissions@revoltradio.com for airplay/blog posting via @cuzohblack and
@djnominal on twitter.

Final shout to 730 and J Pizzle for continuing to let my mouth run wild on their site, no censors needed
here fella’s….!!! See ya’ll next week !

CLICK HERE TO READ ENTIRE JOURNAL

“Vice Souletric handles production duties, blending slow-rolling percussion, gritty string/brass loops and retro cuts as the NYC underground mainstay (AWKWORD) offers a critical perspective on the homogenous, corporate and profit-driven nature of mainstream rap… Great old school, 90′s era hip hop feel on the record, which is solidified by the legendary vocals of KRS” — DJ Booth

DOWNLOAD — FREE or NAME YOUR PRICE — and DONATE 100% to Aim to Live, World View’s 501c3-registered nonprofit recipient:

http://awkword.bandcamp.com/track/radio-20-ft-krs-one-dug-infinite-brimstone127-prod-vice-souletric

[Aim to Live (a.k.a. Guns 4 Cameras) is dedicated to eradicating gun violence through the Hip Hop-inspired education and empowerment of our youth.]

Sullee relinquishes this dope new video for “Inception” off his latest mixtape “John Nash: A Beautiful Mind” available for free download HERE

Click HERE to download!!!

Track List
01 MYSONNE – 2 BAD BITCHES
02 ROCCETT FT CHEVY JONES – CAME FROM NOTHING
03 EMILO ROJAS – CLASSIC
04 SHA STIMULI – THE CALLING
05 MYSONNE – SHOT CALLER
06 BISHOP LAMONT FT BUSTA RHYMES – YOU AINT FRESH REMIX
07 KENO MC FT KNIGHTSTALKER – FIGHT FOR FREEDOM (PROD ASHEN SPARK)
08 MCGRUFF, DOT, MYSONNE & EL VARIUS – DA FEVER (PROD RALPH RANDOM)
09 LO KEYS – SPREAD MY WINGS
10 MYSONNE – STAY SCHEMIN
11 KAY L – YES I DID (PROD BY BANGLADESH)
12 40 CAL FT SU DA BOSS – BEEN SKEMING FREESTYLE
13 SONJA BLADE FT SMIF-N-WESSUN – BROOKLYN KEEPS TAKIN IT
14 MISS CHEE FT MASTER P -FLATLINE
15 JO BUDDEN – NO CHURCH IN THE WILD FREESTYLE
16 DULA-MITE FT SAMSON – G5 (PROD PROPHET THE PRODUCER)
17 LEE KID – IM ON IT
18 Q DA KID – STRIP TEASE FREESTYLE
19 MAINO – I STILL LOVE YOU
20 THE VILL – I WANT IT ALL
21 EMILO ROJAS FT EMANNY – ONE LAST TIME
22 JON CONNOR – NO APOLOGIES
23 MAINO FT YO GOTTI – KEY TO THE CITY

BONUS TRACKS (CHOICE CUTS)

24 JAKK FROST – DIRTY UGGS
25 SHAH CYPHA – HOOD HOMEBOYYY
26 WORDSMITH – A HEROS WELCOME (PROD RAFPAK)
27 DARQ RAW – AHH MAN
28 WUNDA – LIAR
29 MOTRESANTANA – SUPAMAN
30 TWO FIVE – IM BOUT MY GREEN

Click HERE to download!!!

I’ll make a very brief disclaimer before I start:
All views are my own, I am not factualising anything (and if I do it is only because I got carried away) Everyone is allowed to have their own thoughts which is why I am completely open to listen to anyone else’s opinions.

So here goes…
I HATE NICKI MINAJ

First of all, we already have Lil Kim so I don’t know what Nicki’s motive is. At the end of the day, all she has is an ass I would kill for. Even so, if I did happen to have her ass I would always be scared of turning around! She could easily knock out a little kid all the way to the ground with her booty.

She’s an entertainer, but that’s where her talents end. If she was in my school and performed at talent shows, or as part of experimental art projects for psychos, I would say she’s good. Unfortunately due to the ridiculous amount of YouTube views she has, the majority undoubtedly cancels out my view, and all I can do is tell people to wake up and realise she is terrible! All Nicki is, is an act, and all her songs sound the same to me. If it’s Nicki’s ‘feisty’ style you’re after, go listen to Lil Kim because that girl has talent! Not to mention her ‘Nicki Minaj Diss ‘ delivered BIG TIME!

These are some of my favourite lines from the Nicki diss.

“Aight you Lil Kim clone clown since you putting on a show, you gon’ get the applause” – Okay? So it has been confirmed by one more source she is purely there for entertainment purposes. Not a real musician.

“See the fact is, what you doing I did it…that’s cool, I was the first one with it…you deluded Kim wannabe you just hate to admit it” – Copy cat! Like I said, it’s been done before. I see nothing original looking at her, just a desperate attempt to be unique by adapting the most annoying voice in the world. Extending the end of every word that ends in with a ‘y’ and instead making it an AYYYYY. You’re not a pirate- shut up. Go and do a collab with Ke$ha. With her yodeling and your obsession with “ayy” you’d both be great together.

“Sweetie, you going on your 14th minute of fame, I’m over 10 years strong still running the game cut the comparisons, I’m in the legendary lane” – Self explanatory. She will never be Lil Kim or anything like her! The Barbie thing has been done. She could have at least gone with a different angle to Lil Kim with her personas. Has superheroes been used yet as a persona? That seems like a pretty cool idea to me.

Everything Nicki does annoys the absolute crap out of me. The way she has to constantly blink for starters. I mean, how is it possible to get annoyed at someone for blinking? —Because she does it so often. Is it one of her selling points or unique attributes? I can’t fathom a logical explanation. It’s not creative. She just looks like an idiot.

Reading up on her on Wikipedia I learned that she… moved to Queens when she was five…Right, so is that why she’s classified as Hip Hop? Being from Queens/Brooklyn/Bronx automatically makes a musician Hip-Hop? They even described her as “commercial express”. That completely goes against the whole concept of Hip Hop. Common’s song on the subject expressed that Hip Hop was part of an “inner city circle…But once the man got to her, he altered the native” (the man being the media). “Told her if she got an image and a gimmick: That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy. Now I see her in commercials, she’s universal…” Hip Hop is dead? Not exactly, there are still some great current rappers/groups around at the moment who have maintained that old-school feel. Elzhi being one I am extremely passionate about at the moment. It’s just people like Nicki who are giving it a bad name.

In an interview I read about her she said that: “I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined… you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it.” Right… Cos making a head throbbing video ‘rapping’ “You a stoopid hoe” is just so ‘freedom of speech’.

Another thing; how insecure does she need to be if she has to have all these stupid alter egos. Where are they coming from? All she does is change a wig. At least Tupac’s alias ‘Makaveli’ had a good meaning with a story behind it. When Pac was in prison, he was reading a book called ‘The Prince’ by Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. After he was released, and his fourth album ‘All Eyez on Me’ came out, he changed his stage name to Makaveli. How much more interesting is that?

I honestly think she is better off doing car commercials and keeping her mouth shut.

Till next time…
Sofia Topsy

Check out these heater by up and comer Rizon Derron… He keep bringing it like that, he is going to be a problem…Dope visuals

The Taylor Gang crew releases the visual to their latest freestyle over a Fugees beat. Good freestyle but I am still trying to figure out Juicy J’s purpose on it.

Click here to view the embedded video.