Writing about music in lieu of human interaction
Driving While Black's Jordan Montgomery returns with Prime Real Estate, his first album since 2020. The album's lead single, "Carne Asada," rides a triumphant Big Jerm instrumental through a series of trials--bad credit, unaffordable tuition, creative dry spells, untrustworthy friends--and emerges victorious, with drums knocking and horns blaring. As Montgomery puts it, "Pain is like … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Jordan Montgomery – Carne Asada
Image provided by artist BrothaMans, a local hip-hop artist and producer who’s spent the past few years peppering the internet with singles, freestyles, and EPs, is set to release his debut album, Chapter 1, this summer, and contacted me a few months ago to propose an advance listen and write-up. I readily agreed, and then … Continue reading BrothaMans – Chapter 1
DWB labelmates Jordan Montgomery, JM the Poet, and Livefromthecity join forces for Back In Business, their first collaborative EP since 2019's Support Black Business. Like the rest of the EP, lead single "Love & Trust" is produced by Live himself, operating under his Low Key Flame tag. The track's instrumental is simple--nothing more than a … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Driving While Black Records – Love & Trust
Hardo and Deezlee, who make up one of Pittsburgh hip-hop's most formidable partnerships, deliver a painfully honest reflection on the carceral system. "Depend on Me," inspired directly by the two artists' life experiences, takes the form of a back-and-forth between close friends--one locked up and the other free. Backed by plucked acoustic guitar and ghostly … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Hardo x Deezlee – Depend on Me
Motormouthed rapper Ramon Yancey returns with something even more DIY than a mixtape: a SoundCloud playlist called Okaywein. Ever since I heard Yancey annihilating beats on "Haunting" (a 2019 collaboration with Shamar), he's reminded me of André 3000. It's not an exact one-to-one (I don't even know if Yancey has been to Atlanta before), but … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Ramon Yancey – Empathy
HUBBS's latest project, Winston Zeddemoore, contains his usual array of intricate wordplay, with bars interlocking like pieces in an astral puzzle. While Zeddemoore may be named after an everyman who famously signed on to bust ghosts in 1984, the album sees HUBBS bust rhymes instead. There aren't a ton of features on here, but when … Continue reading Daily Yinz – HUBBS – Solar Rishi (feat. Shad Ali)
Rappers Dewey Markie and BrothaMans run it back for the second installment of their Kin Folk EP series. The two emcees are natural teammates, working in tandem to create a spirited, aspirational tone that pervades Kin Folk II's eight tracks. There's a lot of striving happening here; Brotha and Dewey display a single-minded focus on … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Dewey Markie & BrothaMans – Life Is Good
Arsinel and Yorel Tifsim, two of the city's most hypnotic hip-hop artists, team up for STRICTLY4THEBUGOUTS. Arsinel handles the album's production, while Tifsim contributes pitched-down raps and voiceovers. Arsinel's instrumentals are short on percussion and long on velvety atmosphere, unfurling slowly like puffs of cigar smoke across a backroom poker table, and Tifsim's dazed musings, … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Arsinel x Yorel Tifsim – FARFETCHED
Rapper Shamar recently released the introspective "Overcasted" in support of his new album, Overcast Thoughts. "Overcasted" is one of those straight-talk tracks: no hook, no refrain, just bars, delivered in a relentlessly steady cadence and backed by a misty instrumental. Shamar touches on a lot over the course of the song's three and a half … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Shamar – Overcasted
A.D. Showcase describes itself as "a group of creatives who came together to create a space for other like minded individuals and display their art. Rather, it's music, dance, painting, etc. Our focus is the artist and their success." This Friday, November 19th, A.D. Showcase is hosting an event in Homestead called The November Project, … Continue reading A.D. Showcase – The November Project
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