Bottom Brick's "The Groundbreaking"

I get lots of emails with asking me to review music. Actually, it's a bit flattering as well as overwhelming. There's no rhyme or reason as to why I open one email and not another. That was the case when I received an email last week about Bottom Brick.

Visit Bottom Brick's MySpace page for more info.

This is a bit of a mellowed out project and I should add that it's not a new project. The fact that it's not new is not a big deal because it's new to me and it sounds good. Add to that that they are home boys - from the buckeye state! Love that.

It's a 16 track package and it did grab my attention from the beginning with "The Stick Up". "The Stick Up's" got a bit of a throwback feel to it. Definitely not like the empty music of today's radio hits. But that's the intentional flow of indy hip hop, right?

I like that I can listen to most of this project w/o skipping tracks. "Science" and "Sixth Sense" are two songs that stood out for me. "Science" had some beats that were ear catching and a tight flow among the three members. "Sixth Sense" has that middle of the road pace w/a little edginess and a sense of urgency in the delivery.

Hip hoppers, show some support for the indy's out here. Give a little, get a little. kfox.

Video: P.O.S. "Goodbye"

I'm a fan of P.O.S. I just like his style; his aggressive delivery.

He's got a new project out and here's the latest vid. Very cool. Luckily it's only 3 minutes because it does begin to get a bit repetitious.

As for the song, it's got P.O.S.'s signature style ... edgy delivery, some harder beats ... it's got a hook and then there's a female singer w/a bit part too.

I likes ... let me know if you like too hip hoppers ... kfox.

Video: The Alchemist "Smile" featuring Twista & Maxwell

I've been trying to catch up on music, but it's useless to try to keep up ... so I'm going to try to keep it moving.

For The Alchemist's "Smile", I was more curious than anything else when I saw the three names on this project. We all know that Twista is the quick rhymer ... Maxwell is the slow jammer and The Alchemist is the top notch producer (though on this track he's droppin some rhymes).



Nice recipe for sorta kinda killing it. Frankly, the beat is too slow for my liking. And since it starts slow, I was wondering how it would work out for Twista, but it works just fine for Twista. Shows some versatility. Nice little hook from Maxwell too.

The vid has some creativity in the transitions. I like that. The smiling pedestrians is too scripted for me.

Overall, for me, it's just okay. Still it brings something new to the table. It's the slow beat that's the attention getter.

So I need you to weigh in on this one hip hoppers ... can you bring something to the table? kfox.

Fort Knox Five "Insight"

I love discovering new hip hop artists (thought Fort Knox Five is not new; only new to me). But I must admit that my hip hop references come from a variety of places. Lately I've been getting swathed with emails.

My old stand-bys are Spectre Music and Audible Treats. Of course there's Okayplayer too.

The reference for Fort Knox Five came from Spectre.

"Insight" features Asheru. The track that I listened to was the Next Men Remix. I like the electronic feel of the track. Nice hook too though the lyrics are just okay. Overall, I think the track just takes some risk in terms of hip hop. The beats are lacking the bassline that is usually ever-present in hip hop music. It works because it's uptempo and it just keeps flowing. .. nothing flashy or fabulous. I like the way it all comes together. Reminds me of somthing that the break dancers would like. Oh, and it's produced by A Skills from the UK. Apparently, electro is his thing.

Check out Fort Knox Five on Imeem.

Hey hip hoppers ... let's expand our hip hop horizons. You down or what? Kfox.

UPDATE: The Roots "How I Got Over" Due in October

Yeah, I shoulda saw this coming. The Roots are all over the place, like usual. But you can't be all over the place and still finish a recording project. Thus The Roots' 11th studio project will hopefully drop now in October.

That's according to many sources including Okayplayer and Questlove's Twitter feed.

So whatcha gonna do now hip hoppers? Better question is what will I do now? kfox.