The Indie 500 project from Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder is finally here, featuring a killer line-up of guest emcees that includes Pharoahe Monch, Slug, Planet Asia and more, plus beats from Nottz, Hi-Tek and 9th himself.
Category: Pharoahe Monch
Talib Kweli & 9th Wonder – ‘Every Ghetto’ feat. Rapsody
The first fruits from the Indy 500 movement are coming soon, thanks to a new compilation project on the way. It will feature this one from Talib Kweli and Rapsody, riding perfectly over a beat from 9th Wonder. Hear it on the link below.
Listen here (H/T Miss Info).
Album Review: Blasphemy – a record of two halves from Ras Kass & Apollo Brown
Ah, Ras Kass. He started off so well with his first solo records, the Golden State Warriors projects and all those other great features. Then came all the legal drama, and those promising albums that never saw the light of day.
All that seems to be in the past now though, with Rassy back making good music. Blasphemy sees his team up with Apollo Brown, a talented producer who’s released a steady run of quality material over the last few years, collaborating with Guilty Simpson, OC and others.
Unfortunately, Blasphemy is an album of two different halves: one good, the other a bit boring. The first half is the good one, with impressive beats from Brown, and some sharp observations from Ras, plus features from always reliable artists like Pharoahe Monch, Rakaa and Xzibit.
Then we get to the second half. The way most people listen to music these days means albums don’t tend to flow in a sequence like they used to. But some thought still needs to go into how tracks are ordered. With Blasphemy, all the good stuff has been put up front, with the lesser tracks dumped in the back.
There isn’t anything badly wrong with those lesser tracks, they just lack the same punch and urgency of the first few. Apollo’s beats also tend to sound the same after more than a handful of tracks, and the cross-over attempt Too Much of a Good Thing doesnt suit Ras’ style one bit.
Not a bad project overall then, but unlikely to be bothering the top spot come album of the year retrospectives in a couple of months time.
Blasphemy it out now on Mello Music Group.
Legends of the game combine as Indie 500
Heavyweights Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and 9th Wonder today announced a new collaborative venture named Indie 500. It’s not clear yet if it’s set to be a record label, a group or just a movement, but with these three involved, only good things can come from it.
The aim seems to be to uphold the quality and tradition of the Native Tongues and that classic A Tribe Called Quest/De La Soul vibe, and the legacy of it that has lived on through artists associated with the good people at Okayplayer (J Dilla, the Roots, Little Brother, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Common, Slum Village and others).
All three artists have spent their careers in and around this creative circle anyway, so it’s likely just a case of quality business as usual. Which of course is no bad thing. Any project that combines two of the most gifted rappers of all time with one of the best producers will definitely equal incredible music.
Watch the video below from Okayplayer for the full lowdown.