damnthatnoise

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New double single from the #RIPTA crew. Bloodmoney Perez, IL Subliminal, Rich Jones, and the legendary Kool Keith!!! Produced, mixed, and mastered by MJC!!!! Go grab it up!

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Thank u to everyone who’s listened this year!!!! Feedback like this makes it all worthwhile.

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Peace y’all. Bloodmoney Perez here letting you know that the debut beat tape from Specter Gadget (my producer alias) just dropped over on Filthybroke Recordings for $7. It’s an ode to 80s r&b and dedicated to my wife. Some groovy, head nodding ass joints to throw on and chill to.

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http://damnthatnoise.net/

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Welcome back to the a new life for Damn That Noise as a label. We’ve released two albums this inaugural year. My second record of the year with Messiah Musik & Iceberg Theory + guests, as well as the debut from Aurora, CO MC ManDaMyth. We have so much more on the horizon for 2023 so follow the page here, and follow www.damn-that-noise.bandcamp.com

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Cunabear | Spirit Animal Club-House | New Music

A site favorite, Cubabear, has released a brand new album entitled Spirit Animal Club-House today and as always it is a must-listen. Cuna tackles uncertainty in a world that, prior to the pandemic was already filled with death, destruction, pain, and loss, and well....Spirit Animal Club-House feels like the shit you put on to have a moment to share in the fear and nod your head and get lost in the lyrics to try and shut out the chaos around you for a little while. With dynamic production handled by sp00ks throughout, and Cunabear handling all of the lyrical duties you are left with an album that is something you can leave on repeat and get lost inside of. 

You can head over to the Bandcamp page below and pick up the record now. 

Spirit Animal Club-House by cunabear

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AKAI SOLO | RAFT | Album Review

AKAI SOLO is an MC Hailing from the Hip Hop epicenter of NY. A Member of the creative collective TASEGRIP, he has been pushing his craft consistently dropping numerous loosies and projects for the past couple of years. Recently gaining the much-deserved attention of a few larger mainstream publications, AKAI has continued to evolve in both depth and articulation while maintaining his Artistic poise, which is evident in his latest offering RAFT ( Ride Alone, Fly Together). 

For those new to AKAI SOLO’s music (and those that are already familiar), you should take note that there maintains a sense of Afrofuturism throughout his works. The survival of the Black mind in a dystopian setting. Very appropriate for the everyday plight of the Melanated Man/Woman in North America let alone this global pandemic situation that we are all currently experiencing. 

On RAFT, AKAI's gritty choice of production and cadences evoke the imagery of a wise young wanderer reflecting on his insights and describing his environment. An Immediate stand out "Full Blunt Alchemist" shows the hypnotic production of Iblss coupled with AKAI’s haunting harmonization to create an other-worldly, banging anthem with uplifting mantra's sprinkled throughout. 

Ride Alone, Fly Together by AKAI SOLO

Another example of this is the floating "Get It Together" produced by Flowclark and the Producer alter ego of Pink Siifu that is iiye, where AKAI implies what we all need to hear at times while simultaneously riding the beat with a bouncing, head-nod inducing delivery. The Neo-Soul reminiscent, dusty production by the likes of the forementioned Iblss holds down a majority of the album's soundscape, giving plenty room for the stream of consciousness type of stylings we hear AKAI come with throughout. 

During a time where a lot of us are being forced to sit with self, RAFT is a great album to take in and listen to the wax poetics of an MC who is delving into both perspective and self-awareness in the form of an audio treatment for us all to absorb.

Written By: A. Madlock

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Moodie Black | No Mames | Music Video

Moodie Black has been a long favorite here going back to when we first found the bands music via Fake Four Inc and their self-titled debut EP all the way through now where we’re eagerly anticipating the brand new album F U Z Z which is on the cusp of release (3/27/20). They’ve unleashed a new video for the bouncy, firey, massively distorted track “No Mames” off of the upcoming F U Z Z and if this and the recently released “Jesus Bound” are any indication it promises to be their best record to date. Lead vocalist K-Death spits some personal bars throughout the uptempo “No Mames” breaking down her upbringing as a young person of color who was dealing with being trans and trying to navigate those dynamics as a child. It's personal, it's incredible writing, and the production is superbly heavy, raucous and full of fire. 

“jokes are like bullets when it comes to the skull it was burning at my panties I was seven years old there was blaming seeing devils in the widows and walls so my parents called a shrink i said i'm wearing moms clothes “

K-Death has always been one of the more adept and open writers around and I am glad that she’s digging deeper and let us peek behind the curtain even more because it provides us with some incredible music. 

You can pre-order F U Z Z below! But act fast cuz it looks like shirts and other merch are running low. 

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F U Z Z by Moodie Black

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Defame | Happy Accidents Vol.1 | New Music

There are a lot of beat tapes out there to choose from and a lot of super dope producers making these beat tapes but few are as engaging and regularly dynamic as Indiana Producer Defame who just dropped his new tape Happy Accidents Vol.1. As a master of the sp404/303 Defame takes the ghost of Bob Ross and lets his artistic ethos guide his ability to chop, layer, and freak every pad pushed and knob turned to give us quirky, hard-hitting, and head-nodding tracks. If you have a tape player or not you should run over to the Bandcamp below to grab a limited copy of Defame’s cassette or get the digital copy if that’s more your speed. 

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Happy Accidents, Vol.1 by defame

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ShrapKnel | ShrapKnel | New Music

Def Jux owned a very specific and important place in time and important place sonically as a beacon of the next shit, Backwoodz Studioz as a label and group of creatives is probably the truest carrier of that Jux torch we have and they just released one of their best projects which is saying a lot. Long time friends and crew mates PremRock & Curly Castro (who along with Zilla Rocca and SmallPro makes up Wrecking Crew) have joined forces to become ShrapKnel and if you've not gotten ready for your pandemic lockdown I suggest you get rations and put your headphones on because you're in for a fucking ride as ELUCID (along with Willie fucking Green) man the boards to give us the sonic and lyrical experience that will cause many a ugly face and rewind.

From the moment "Ghostface Targaryen" hits to the last bit of excellence on "Red Herring" Castro, Prem, and ELUCID take us on the wildest of rides and solidify the greatness of Backwoodz as not just a label or community of indelible MCs but as beacons of greatness and one of the few remaining stables consistently delivering bar setting albums.

Well done fellas.

You can purchase the digital and limited vinyl copies of the album here:

http://shrapknel.bandcamp.com/album/shrapknel

Or at www.backwoodzstudioz.com

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LT Headtrip | Pressure of The Tempest | New Music

Karma Kids have long been a favorite for us here for many reasons and the years have seen all of them grow artistically into some really incredible folks, and today marks the return of Karma Kids member LT Headtrip who drops off his dope new album Pressure of The Tempest. Headtrip has always been one of my favorite new New York MC’s because not only can he write his ass off but his songs ooze personality, pain, humor, and all of the ups and downs of life effortlessly. Pressure of The Tempest proves that not only is he a dynamic voice but an excellent writer who’s willing to expose all the painful areas of life for everyone to see and relate to. 

You can pick up a copy of the album at the Bandcamp page, and don’t miss out on catching him on the Old Couch Tour’s remaining dates. 

Pressure of the Tempest by Lt Headtrip

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Iceberg Theory & August Fanon | Rinpoche | New Music

New Jersey MC Iceberg Theory has dropped a new piece once again backed by the incredible production work of August Fanon entitled Rinpoche, and it is 15 tracks of stark, descriptive, and heavy-hitting shit. These two have developed some of the nicest chemistry we’ve seen in underground hip-hop as Fanon manages to provide soundscapes that not only compliment Theory’s gruff and grimy vocal tone, but it highlights the skillset he has as a storyteller. 

Go grab the new shit below, and get caught up on all the projects they’ve delivered. 

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Rinpoche by Iceberg Theory & August Fanon

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Darko The Super | Of Dogs & Devils | An Interview

Hip Hop has long been about bravado, skill, and how your personality can capture and pull the listener in even further than just your skillset. There have been many an MC who’s personality sometimes outshined the lyrical prowess for better or worse, but when I sit back and think of some of my favorite MC’s growing up (Redman, Slick Rick, Kool Keith, E-40, and Del to name a few) the personality often was near cartoonish with no real effort from the MC to make it appear that way. Enter MC Darko The Super who since first coming across his music via Already Dead Tapes has oozed oddball personality, and ever evolving skills as an MC. Darko is no joke rapper though, instead he is adept at delivering some stark reality raps littered with glints of humor we often use to cope with the pain of existence. 

Fresh off delivering one of my personal favorites last year in the form of Card Tricks For Dogs, he returns with his friend Steel Tipped Dove to give us The Devil Defeated, and makes a claim as one of the indie hiphop scenes freshest, most colorful, and promising voices making music. 

You can order the digital, cassette and SUPER vinyl copies of The Devil Defeated here, as well as all Darko The Super Items. 

The Devil Defeated by Darko The Super & steel tipped dove

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Damn That Noise: Darko The Super. What’s the origin of that name and what’s it come to mean to you now? 

Darko: I think Darko The Super was my gamertag on Xbox Live before it was my official artist alias. I did two albums as Evan Darko after I seen Donnie Darko in high school. It had a big impact on adolescent me. The Super comes from another big influence on me at the time, MF Doom. My favorite song my senior year was "Dead Bent". I thought the ending of Operation Doomsday was really cool. The way it let you decide between hero or villain. I was big into vigilante justice at the time. I wanted to be like my favorite superheroes. So that's where the name came from. Nowadays it's just a name. More people know me as Darko than my real name these days, so it'd be silly to change it. Name's don't define you. It doesn't matter much to me. Though I like it. 

DTN: You’ve had a pretty prolific young career given that you’ve dropped 10+ projects since 2011, but when we were taking recently you said you’ve just now started to feel like you now know your voice. What’s changed in the last couple of years to get you to that place? 

Darko: Since 2011 I may have done nearly 100 albums. Most haven't lasted. I've deleted and erased most of my material pre 2014 from the face of the internet. (If anyone has a Loser CD, please destroy it.) I put out 10 albums in 2018 alone. All better than the previous. "Watered Down Demon Fuzz" from 2017 is the album I truly found my voice on. I listened back to "Oh, No! It's Darko" for nostalgic purposes and it seems more like a comedy album than anything, and not that good of a comedy album either. I was 18 when I made the first album I put on cd and gave to everyone at shows when I was starting to go out and perform. It was called Loser, inspired by Beck. Next cd I made was a compilation, also terrible, but somehow it's going for $75 on Discogs. I personally don't like anything prior to 2016. "Carve a Happy Face  on my Tombstone" had a few good songs. Those were transformative years. My perspective on life has changed severely. It's hard to be happy with things you create when you're not even happy with who you are. I think in finding myself, I found my voice too. Life will always be a mystery. But at least I'm more comfortable in my own skin at the moment. Therefore more comfortable in my art. 

DTN: Why erase the evidence of growth though? If anything that could show folks the rapid progression of Darko? 

Darko: I'd prefer to leave a better first impression. Maybe I'm too insecure to show people my progression. It's also just a matter of that not being the way I feel anymore as far as the way I wrote back then. 

DTN: Your style is a bit unorthodox in that you kind of dance all over the pocket of the beats, and your inflections seem to change at the drop of a hat. I know E-40 and DOOM are a couple favorites of yours but who else’s impressed a young Darko and helped give us the man we have now? Who made you say “I think this is something I want to do!!”?

Darko: Murdoc and MyGrane McNastee from Orlando, Florida were a couple of the first independent rappers I got into from watching the Wake Up Show freestyles on Youtube. They were big influences on me. From there I got into MF Doom, Madlib, and J Dilla. During the datpiff era, I got really into Charles Hamilton's mixtapes. I was a big fan of a web series around that time called Internet Celebrities. Through them I found out about Das Racist. I remember listening to them for the first time on MySpace. I saw Big Baby Gandhi in a video with them. Later on his Debut would become one of my favorite albums. I was really into going on hip hop blogs. I remember watching Open Mike Eagle rap "Qualifiers" in a laundromat and having my mind blown. He told me Serengeti was his favorite rapper which had me watching every Kenny Dennis video I could find. Dennehy became my favorite album. I got into Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire from seeing the Last Huzzah video with Das Racist, El-P, Despot, and Danny Brown. That's still my favorite posse cut. From checking out rap battles I got into Soul Khan who I remember posting about Homeboy Sandman's album The Good Sun. Blogs also got me listening to every Blu song. Her Favorite Color was something special to me. All those artists were huge in developing my approach. Nowadays my favorite rappers of all time are E-40, Serengeti, and Kool Keith

DTN: Card Tricks for Dogs feels like your most fully formed artistic statement yet and The Devil Defeated feels like the exclamation point showing folks you’re a real force. What helped bring those two records to life?

Darko: Both albums took a long time to come together, which usually isn't the case for me. I remember writing some of those Card Tricks for Dogs tracks while on vacation with my girlfriend and her family. I had tons of beats from my good friend and longtime collaborator Phil Ford aka BLKrKRT (Blacker Karat) loaded on my phone for those trips. I started it shortly after meeting Steel Tipped Dove for the first time. I released an album of his on my label and he offered to mix and master some tracks for me. So this was the first solo album of mine I let someone else do all the mixing for. I took my time with it and let it come together naturally. I believe everything happens at it's own time. As for The Devil Defeated, that album started out as a project called Contemplating Lonely Stuff, inspired by a Serengeti lyric. It was for the most part produced by Height Keech and Steel Tipped Dove. Eventually I decided to do albums with each of them separately. The album with Dove was pretty far along in the process and originally I wanted to call it "Playing Skee-Ball With Zev Love X" but we both agreed that was kinda corny and not many people would get what we were referencing. Then I heard the news of Daniel Johnston passing away, who is a hero of mine. I listened to nothing but Daniel for a few days straight and a few lyrics in particular stuck out to me. The one that landed was "The Devil Defeated" another possibility was My Yolk is Heavy. Me and Dove made over 20 songs for this album and eventually narrowed it down to the most cohesive project we could. We'll be doing a follow up of course. That's in the works now. I'm very proud of this album. My favorite track is a story I wrote based on a song called "Suzy's Face" by my favorite punk band, The Spits. I had to convince Dove on that one. There's another track I tried to convince him about too, but that will never see the light of day since I ended up agreeing with him. 

DTN: You’ve has a chance to work with a lot of interesting and well loved folks. How the hell did the tracks with Lil’B, Charles Hamilton, Denmark Vessey and others come about? 

Darko: I did an album called “Thank You BasedGod” dedicated to Lil B. I produced a track for him way back in 2014. He reached out to me after TYBG and offered to do a track together. So I sent him a couple  Steel Tipped Dove beats and he chose the one that ended up on the album. Later I saw Charles Hamilton posting about doing features. I sent him the Lil B track since that’s a dream collaboration of mine. Lil B is a big Charles Hamilton fan, and they’re both internet gurus of their eras. Charles conquered the blog era by releasing tons of free albums on his own blog, landing on all the mixtape sites. Lil B mastered social media and became a marketing genius, even transpiring music. I’m proud to say the first time they worked together was with me. As for getting Denmark Vessey on the album, he had already worked with Dove and toured with my good friends, The Difference Machine. I was the one who showed them his album Buy Muy Drugs while I was out in Atlanta for a week. That album’s my favorite of the decade. He had posted about doing features so I sent him an email and made it happen. 

DTN: You’ve released a lot of projects via Already Dead Tapes as well as starting UDDTBA. What is the connection with ADT and why start your own label? What have you learned from ADT and how has the played into how you run your label?

Darko: Already Dead Tapes taught me everything I need to know about running a record label. I met them in 2014 when I sent over my latest at the time “Oh, No! It’s Darko.” They were nice enough to release that on cassette. Soon after they invited me to play their weekend long festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I brought along ialive and we booked our first tour. Staying in Kalamazoo at the Knights Inn we recorded an album together and formed the now infamous duo The Hell Hole Store. From there we’ve played the Already Dead fest every year and I’ve released quite a few albums on Already Dead Tapes. U Don’t Deserve This Beautiful Art was grown out of wanting to support my friends and artists I admire. I brought on my best buds Steel Tipped Dove and Harvey Cliff to help me run things. Now the sky’s the limit. 

DTN: “Suzy” is life a very interesting record as is “lo-fi princess” off of The Devil Defeated. You mentioned the influence for “Suzy” came from another artists song...how’d this end up on your record and why? Also what’s the idea behind “Lo-Fi..”? 

Darko: During my commute one day I listened to The Spits first self titled album. I hadn’t played it in a while and instantly remembered why they’re the best. One song in particular stuck with me throughout that ride, “Suzy’s Face”. I decided to write a song building off of their track. Almost like taking a short story and creating a movie. I tried to describe in detail about why someone would shoot Suzy in the face at a high school dance. So that’s what I came up with. Lo-fi princess 2 is a sequel to the original from “Watered Down Demon Fuzz” both love songs to my girlfriend, Alora. I liked the phrase cos it reminded me of “Bow-tie Daddy” by Frank Zappa. Now that I think of it, an actual Lo-fi princess would be an anime babe trapped in the track art of a SoundCloud beat. We’d have to defeat the chill hop brigade to save her. 

DTN: You and iAlive have a really dope chemistry and have two very different styles but similar energies that work so well off of each other. What makes that partnership work and why’d you guys want to keep it going after the one hotel infused brainstorming session?

Card Tricks For Dogs by Darko The Super & BLKrKRT

Darko: We kept it going cos there were more hotel sessions to be had. On tour you’re on the highway with a lot of time on your hands. That’s where most of our songs and ideas come from. We set up shop where ever we’re staying and start to bring these ideas to life. The people seem to like us and we enjoy performing together. That’s what keeps the hell hole going. We survive off friendship and fun times. 

DTN: Okay sir Darko. You can only eat at two fast food places for the next year because you lost a bet. Where you going??

Darko: Obviously Taco Bell is numero uno, I’m a big Taco Bell enthusiast. Next would be Wendy’s, best fast food burgers by me, and they got those spicy nuggets. Plus I heard their salads are good too, which I would need a salad every now and then. I don’t think this is too far off from my normal diet. Worst thing that could happen is I have a heart attack. But I’m on that path anyway. Maybe I’ll start exercising. Maybe. 

DTN: What are you picking if you only have Thor and Spider-Man as costumes for Halloween?!

Darko: Spider-Man of course. I could pull off a husky Spider-Man. Family Guy made it look good. I’d need the fake muscles for Thor. Fake muscles never look good. I don’t have the luxurious hair either. 

DTN: What’s the writing process like for you?! Do you let the beat decide the direction? Do you have an idea or some lyrics written and you locate a beat that fits?

Darko: Either or. Writing always comes to me. It’s second nature. If it doesn’t come to me, I don’t write. That’s all there is to it. I only write when I’m inspired. That’s an easy way to go about it. My number one thing is creativity, I don’t wanna be complex or even an intellectual. I want my lyrics to be universally understood. 

DTN: So what’s next on the horizon for Darko The Super?

Darko: Next up I’m working on an album with skits from a comedian friend of mine. He does tons of great characters and videos as Hot Talent Buffet. I think he’s a comedic genius. I’m also working on an album sampling nothing but my favorite band 10cc, titled “Strawberry Studios Jam ‘72” and another album sampling one of my favorite songwriters, Dean Friedman. The Dean and I have a 7” record on the way with my remix of his classic “McDonald’s Girl” on the B side with the original on the A side. I have a couple other collaborative albums coming along. The artist they’re with wants me to hold off announcing it until they’re ready, but I will say it’s a dream collaboration and I’m very excited for it. 

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SCVTTERBRVIN & Messiah Musik | The Theatre of The Absurd | New Music

New York by way of San Diego MC/Producer SCVTTERBRVIN is back with his new EP produced entirely by friend of the site Messiah Musik entitled The Theatre of The Absurd. SCVTTERBRVIN is well loved around these parts and was actually the first person we ever interviewed here, and since then has unleashed project after project himself as well as others through his Red Lotus Klan imprint. The Theatre of The Absurd connects one of the underground’s most intrepid MCs with one of underground’s most intrepid producers and the end result is the sonic equivalent of doing LSD and dissecting/discussing paranoid political and social theories while rhyming your ass off.

“I’m sonic youth mixed with sonic sum”.

You can get the album on CD at the redlotusklan.com and at his Bandcamp below page HERE: 

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The Theatre of the Absurd by SCVTTERBRVIN