Cosm – The Aptatude Test ★★★★★

Bournemouth’s home grown hero Cosm is back, he’s not brought producer buddy Cheebo with him this time though. After two top quality releases together he’s decided he needs to break free and see other people….though hopefully it’s more open relationship than full on break up. For this outing Cosm has teamed up with the equally as awesome Aptatude, hence the title reference.

It’s not really a massive departure from his work with Cheebo, there’s still the laid back boom-bap style and lazy vibe. Aptatude seems to favour the simplistic approach to beat making; piano and drums for the most part. This is no bad thing, it suits Cosm’s carefree lyrical style and delivery perfectly. It helps to keep things chilled out….these aren’t club bangers, these are clever, more thoughtful pieces of fine hip-hop. Made for the real hip-hop heads, not necessarily the people getting down to Lil John in the clubs. It’s humble with a real world level of attitude, none of the puffed out chest bravado prevalent in the genres more mainstream offerings.

Cosm is keeping it old school, real….and he knows how to pick the right producers to compliment his style. A true hidden gem that needs to find its way in to every self respecting hip-hop fan’s collection. And this is free! Can’t go wrong!

★★★★★

FYI: This review was written by me for www.bourne2goout.co.uk. Head over there for more news, reviews and interviews!

Nova Rockafeller – PROBLEMCHILD ★★★★★

Quality over quantity.

I’m a little bit in love with this new EP from one of Hip-Hop’s best not-so-secret secrets, Nova Rockafeller. Small in stature, massive in attitude.

If you liked her full length, Insufficient Funds, this will have you freaking out under the weight of so much awesomeness. Kicking off with one of the finest weirdo beats ever in the form of Problem, Nova has seriously stepped up her game! The album was ace, then without warning she’s returned with this filler free, gigantic sounding 6 track (+ a bonus remix).

It’s a very different style to the album, but sounds a lot meatier. A much fuller, complete sound. In Young and Defiant, the fifth track here featuring Lakutis and Gavlyn, Nova has a bonafide radio bothering single….providing they don’t mind the odd naughty word. I could happily listen to the chorus alone on repeat, it’s an absolute anthem! Huge! Can not get enough of this track. Seriously, Nova growed up!

Well, I say that….the subject matter on this EP shouldn’t prove too alien to long running fans; weed, alcohol, Nova, weed, Nova, more weed. No, it’s not deep. It’s big dumb fun and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Leave the soul searching lyrics to those who do it best, Nova has her strengths and she knows it.

Anyone remember Call Me (Batman)? That elusive 3 minutes plus piece of joy Nova first put on Youtube at the end of May 2012? Well, it’s finally made it to an official release! Nobody was happier about this than me….easily my favourite Nova track to date! Catchy as hell and perfectly sums up what she’s about. It’s so freaking bouncy!!! You can’t help but smile when it comes on 🙂

So head here – http://www.audiomack.com/album/nova-rockafeller/problemchild-1, download the EP (for free!). Share it. Party hard.

★★★★★

Hell, it’s so good imma give you two videos.

Ok, one more.

Delusional Thomas – Delusional Thomas ★★★★☆

Mac Miller gets a lot of stick from the hip-hop elitists of the world. You know the type; knows more about hip-hip than you, has been listening to hip-hop longer than you, can name more 90’s rappers than you. Personally, I’ve never really got what they have against the guy. So he’s no 2Pac, he’s not trying to be. What he tries to do, he does very well….This, on the other hand, is most certainly NOT Mac Miller. This is his alter ego, Delusional Thomas, and it is dark as fuck! You may already have come across him on Mac’s album, Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Thomas guests on The Star Room, which is actually a pretty good indication of what you’re getting here.

The beats on their own would sit nicely through headphones in a dark room, all on your own. The production here perfectly suits the mood set by the lyrics, lyrics from the mouth of Mac’s character Thomas. This is not Mac Miller speaking as you may have become accustomed to. This is not light hearted. Delusional Thomas is in a strange place, with some strange desires. The free mixtape documents this, complete with pitched up vocals rendering Mac unrecognisable. In fact, he actually features on closing track Grandpa Used To Carry A Flask as himself, as if to emphasise the fact this mixtape is not a Mac Miller release….probably best considering the themes on show here. I’m tempted to compare it to Tyler, The Creator, but that would be too easy and not entirely accurate. Thematically maybe, but in terms of what sounds better, this is miles in front! Yes, the voice is weird, the music is trippy, but it flows in to great songs! Tyler can be a little too jaunty at times, a little too weird. Almost weird for the sake of weirdness. Delusional Thomas is just faultless. When I heard Mac had changed the sound of his voice on here, I was worried. But seriously, I had no reason to be! I’m not going to lie, it may put some people off, such is the extreme change of tone. It isn’t natural sounding at all. But for me at least, it works.

As much as I love Mac Miller’s music as himself, I really hope he comes back with some more Delusional Thomas. I do have a soft spot for the darker stuff….

Get the whole mixtape for free at http://delusionalthomas.com

★★★★☆

Hard Target – Everything You’re Not ★★★★☆

Like your hip-hop with flannel shirts and a Southern twang? Then Hard Target is the best thing you may never have heard of!

With a style that is entirely his own, he has been creating something of a refreshingly different take on the genre over the years he has been making music. Lyrically, his heart is worn proudly on his sleeve, an approach that is mostly lacking with hip-hop these days. This makes for some touching moments amongst the hard beats and guitars. Most notably on album closer, Waiting, which just found it’s place on my list of most emotional songs ever! With it’s toned down, quieter delivery, it comes across as if he’s speaking directly to his daughter. Seriously, I had goosebumps. If you have kids, and you love them, you’ll relate. If you don’t have kids, you’ll want them a.s.a.p.

Hard Target looks like a Southern rocker, his vocals fit the same bill, and he’s found a way to make it work in a hip-hop casing. You have country, rock and rap all under the same roof here, and it works way better than it should! This is a man who could easily adapt himself to the same mould as the majority of rappers at the moment, but chooses not to. With a raised middle finger aimed directly at convention, Hard Target is doing his own thing with no hidden agenda. This is music made from love. It’s deep, it’s personal, and it asks for nothing in return but your ears.

With a mountain of mixtapes in his portfolio, and now this album, maybe it’s time people sat up and noticed this guy. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit certainly has, which could provide him with the push he needs. Not that it’d make much difference, you get the impression that Hard Target doesn’t care much for fame. But it’d be nice to see such a talented artist rewarded in a world where anyone with the right connections and a bit of auto-tune can make it big.

If you haven’t heard any of his stuff before, you can get some of his old mixtapes for free on his website www.hardtargetmusic.com. But honestly, get this album too. It’s the only music where he’s asked for money, and it’s worth every penny. Support real music.

★★★★☆

Selling Out: The Myth

Ok, so when I started this blog, I had no intention of writing anything other than music reviews. But today I read something that made me re-think this policy. Today, I discovered that people are stupid. They’re either stupid, or they’re so far up their own anus they’ve forgotten what sunlight looks like.

Maybe that’s a bit harsh….Not ALL people are stupid, I mean, look at me, I’m not stupid. The people I’m referring to are those who seem to have a totally warped sense of what the term “selling out” means. In fact, to best illustrate the moment these stupid people pushed me over the edge, here is a short re-enactment.

“Trash Talk are sell outs”

What the fuck sort of planet are you on where a band like Trash Talk can be considered as sell outs!? It’s quite obvious what has lead this idiot to his/her conclusion, that being when the band signed to Odd Future Records. Now, Odd Future Records are an INDEPENDENT record label. Albeit an independent label with a bit more exposure thanks to it’s masterminds, Hip-Hop collective OFWGKTA, beginning to make a name for themselves. All I can think is that maybe this misinformed cretin is under the impression that all Hip-Hop is mainstream, therefore unable to be connected to the term independent. But I’m sorry, just listen to some Odd Future stuff….Seriously. I mean, I think they’re pretty cool. But mainstream, they ain’t.

Tyler, The Creator and his cohorts write songs that are hard to digest. Weird beats, disturbing lyrics with such parent friendly lyrical themes as drugs, rape and murder. All strewn with profanities. OFWGKTA are not mainstream. Odd Future Records in turn, is not mainstream. Trash Talk are sure as hell not mainstream. I mean, can you imagine this being played on prime time radio?

I can’t.

This accusation was just bizarre, but it is not uncommon. Bands are forever being labelled as sell outs, particularly punk bands. There are times I can see what may have triggered it, for example if a band makes a much catchier album than their previous output. But in the case of Trash Talk…..What are you on? The new album under the new label is no less aggressive than their old stuff. My parents will still hate it, I’m sure yours will too. Maybe it was the addition of Tyler, The Creator and Hodgy Beats for Blossom and Burn? But that’s no excuse, after all, punk and Hip-Hop are the same thing. Different strokes on the same painting.

“Oh no he didn’t!!” cried the pissy whiney purist punk kids.

Grow up. Both genres are products of the streets they grew up on. Both are aggressive in nature in their purest forms. Both have a lot to say. Lil Wayne doesn’t, but who can really take him seriously? It’s interesting actually, how I’ve generally found Hip-Hop fans to be far more accepting of alternative music. Why is it that the punk rockers, with all their preaching about freedom of expression and the like, can’t accept Hip-Hop as a valid music genre? I grew up on rock music, these days Hip-Hop is equally as important to me. There is so much to love!!

Anyway, maybe I’m focusing too much on the Trash Talk/Odd Future connection. Basically, what I’m trying to get at is that some people can be far too quick to label bands as sell outs for something that really has no relation to what it means to actually sell out. It’s just become the standard insult to throw at a band/artist for doing something on their album you didn’t like. That doesn’t mean they’ve sold out.

The act of selling out, by definition, is to accept large amounts of money/favours in return for changing your sound to suit the direction laid out by whoever is paying. Generally, this means making a less commercial act become more commercial. What gets me is how on earth these whiners know what affected a band’s new direction. Artists try new things all the time! Who’s to say they did it for the money? “Oh, well it’s blatently obvious they did.” Is it fuck! Unless they issued a statement, wrote you a letter or phoned you up to let you know that the reason they changed their sound was because of the huge amounts of cash they were being offered, you don’t know shit. So shut up, stop complaining and go listen to some underground band that no one’s heard of. That is, until they get signed and you accuse them of selling out because five more people know their name.

The fact is, no one knows if a band has actually sold out apart from those involved in the selling out itself. Lots of stupid people believe they know, but they don’t. Must be the lack of sunlight getting to their heads. Trash Talk are obviously open minded individuals, not afraid to show their love for Hip-Hop. If I was in a hardcore/punk band, I’d jump at the chance to do a song with a rapper or two! It’d be awesome!! I’d do it for free, no selling out. So why is the assumption that Trash Talk did it for the wrong reasons? Because you didn’t like it, probably.

Punk bands (or any other acts) should not be afraid of signing to a major label, playing bigger venues and making more money, just because some pale faced dick is going to accuse them of being sell outs, when actually they’re just getting paid more to do what they love. Lets be honest….If you got offered a promotion at work, with more money, would you say no? No. Well, what makes it ok for you?

Rant over. Nothing to see here.

Listen to rap music.

An0maly – Underrated ★★★★☆

What I want to know is, is there anything An0maly can’t do? On his latest mixtape, Underrated, he seems to try his hand at every kind of hip-hop sound going. From the chilled out, lyrically deep tracks he made a name for himself with on Youtube, to spitting over heavy dubstep beats, he executes everything with ease. He hasn’t tried black metal yet. That could be interesting. An0maly vs. Immortal? Maybe not, but you get the idea.

As ever, his flow and his wordplay are just incredible. Lyrics pouring out of his brain in one smooth stream of high in fibre, lyrical goodness. An0maly needs to be part of every hip-hop fans healthy diet. The An0maly that fans know and love is still on display here, in particular on Times New Roman, a track dealing with the  stifling of creativity in both school and the music business in favour of more commercially viable directions. Thank God they didn’t get to this guy. You’re going to get some snobbery from the purists and some (not all) of the people who have been following him from his Unknown Lyricist days, when he was just rapping in to his computer. But these people don’t know as much as they think they do. They’ll complain if an artist spreads their wings to try new things, they’ll complain if an artist does the same thing on everything they release. So yeah, basically they’re wrong. So wrong.

As seen on Acid Dreams, the “proper” production is back. Some real life studio shizzle. An0maly has come so far with his sound and his talent hasn’t wained one bit. Now he has the production to match his skills, he has real songs. Radio bothering singles. He’s on an upward trajectory, he’s not slowing down, he’s not looking back. He’s doing whatever the fuck he wants, with a spliff in one hand and a mic in the other. He’s obviously not short on ideas either, with this mixtape boasting 21 tracks, plus 3 instrumentals. Also, it’s a free download, so you really don’t have an excuse. In fact, while you’re at it, download Acid Dreams if you haven’t already. If you love this, you’ll love that one too.

An0maly is underrated. But with quality as consistent as his, it’s only a matter of time before he gets the recognition he deserves. Deep, fun, clever. What else do you want!?

Download. Listen. Tell a friend.

www.extremelyfaded.com

www.facebook.com/An0misill

www.hotnewhiphop.com/an0maly-underrated-mixtape.63535.html (Download link)

★★★★☆