FUCS Jones

I heard Black Milk’s latest, Tronic, was dope. Like, ebola. Have you ever seen that movie Outbreak? Yeah, like that: Beats so festering and nasty that your ears and eyeballs’ll start bleeding. So of course I got it and haven’t stopped listening. I admit to not listening to Milk aka Curtis Cross until recently (like, 2 years ago) but I’m really glad I know about him. The track I’ll share with you, “Give the Drummer Sum”, has that stutter-y percussion bit that’s a little bit like “SWU” but not at all the same idea. Then there’s this horn flash that eventually becomes a little melody to wrap things up. Excellent track and evidence of some new transformations in dude’s musical approach. With a couple exceptions this album delivers 100% bangers. Yee and don’t worry about that pic, we’re doing that now.

Black Milk - Give the Drummer Sum (zshare)

James

I’ll give myself a late pass for this one and I’m having some trouble collecting my jaw from the floor so I need a hand with this one. Invincible is Ilana Weaver, an MC from Detroit. I’m fascinated by the way she works with the figure of a sledgehammer. I’m pretty satisfied with the way cokemachineglow’s Mark Abraham puts it:

“Imagine a hip hop artist rapping from the union pulpit, advising that sledgehammers (a central metaphor) are both a symbol of the displacement of the urban population and employment for the urban poor and a means of active resistance.”
Couple this with extraordinary production and legitimate flow. I don’t really have the focus to list off all the things she talks about that caught my attention but I encourage you to check this one out.

myspace

video for “sledgehammer”

This track is pretty on point and gives you a good idea what she’s about. Great American Beauty quote too by the way. I get the feeling that rap was at one point about this kind of music and now it’s gone all commercial blah blah autotuner blah blah. I don’t feel like having that conversation now but, this remains true: Invincible has made an exciting album full of energy that has defined this music for me. She deploys a thick conceptualization of Detroit and the world generally that becomes a fierce commentary on our predicament, a topic that nobody else has really got the balls to rap about. Clearly recommended.

James