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aion-rsa · 7 years

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Rap’s Czarface Comes to Life Through Throwback Vinyl-Comic Combo

In “First Weapon Drawn,” debuting Saturday for Record Store Day, rap and comics fans finally learn the secret origin of the dastardly hip-hop heel Czarface in an immersive audio-visual experience that resurrects a nearly forgotten storytelling format, to impressive effect.

It’s a scheme as visionary as any a mad scientist might concoct. In the real world, Czarface is the name of the hip-hop supergroup comprised of legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper Inspectah Deck and veteran underground DJ/MC duo 7L & Esoteric, whose music blends vivid lyrical sparring with equally lavish head-nodding beats. On the page, Czarface is a nefarious antihero akin to the colorful archenemies of comic book and wrestling good guys.

DJ 7L compares the Czarface character to Eddy, Black Sabbath’s mascot, inspiration and avatar. Plainly inspired by classic Jack Kirby heavies like Doctor Doom and Darkseid, artist L’Amour Supreme’s depictions of Czarface have adorned the covers of all of the group’s albums and singles. Czarface’s metallic visage, signature red glove and cape primarily function as conceptual and thematic unifying elements to the music, but the character has been realized in action figures, tie-in comics and even a real-life armor set.

Until now, however, no one has truly known the character’s canonical beginning. And to tell that secret origin, the group wanted to find a way to not only share the tale but bask in its influences.

“Czarface: First Weapon Drawn,” written by Esoteric and drawn by Gilberto Aguirre Mata. Cover, Page 1.

Instead of Inspectah Deck and Esoteric trading barbs over 7L beats, their newest project sees Czarface taking a run at multimedia storytelling. Specially offered as part of the national vinyl-appreciation retail initiative Record Store Day, Czarface’s “First Weapon Drawn” is a throwback-style book and record set that packages a treasury comic detailing the character’s rise (or fall) from a career as a professional wrestler to an energy-crackling supervillain along with a vinyl album that dramatizes and scores the adventure.

CBR has an exclusive preview of the first six pages of the comic, written by Esoteric and illustrated by Gilberto Aguirre Mata, along with a preview of Side A of the Record Store Day release.

The project was modeled after the Power Records albums of the 1970s, which adapted Marvel and DC comics into bombastic read-along stories, with radio-style effects and voice actors. Long before fans could expect to regularly see their favorite super-powered titans in theaters, these albums were what brought characters to life in many readers’ imaginations. To achieve the intended effect, listen to the “First Weapon Drawn” audio while reading the pages, and feel the Czar-force wash over you.

Year One

Almost every supervillain’s origin begins with a slight — or at least a perceived one — and Czarface is no different. 7L & Esoteric had collaborated with Inspectah Deck in the past, but it was 7L who initially suggested they formalize the partnership. Esoteric was skeptical that he and his creative partner of 20 years would be able to land the famed Wu-Tang rapper for an album-length project, but given the chemistry they had all enjoyed on previous tracks, Deck agreed. Then, after Esoteric pitched the Shaolin rhymer on his idea for the group’s potential name and didn’t hear back, he got spooked.

Pages 2-3.

“I remember just talking to him about these different names. I had ‘Czarhead,’ I just wanted to go with something ‘Czar,'” Esoteric told CBR. He grew concerned that he might have offended the rapper he’d admired since hearing the iconic lyric “Swinging through your town like the neighborhood Spider-Man” on Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck” by suggesting a name too close to a contemporary.

Pages 4-5.

“[Czarface] was the one that we thought best fit, and I was like, ‘It kind of sounds like ‘Ghostface,'” Esoteric said, referring to Wu-Tang’s Ghostface Killah. “And I’m thinking, [if] it kind of sounds like Ghostface and he’s not hitting me back … Is he mad?”

But Deck loved it. “It never even crossed his mind,” Esoteric laughed. Ghostface would even go on to be featured on the group’s eponymous first album.

The Physical Challenge

Czarface’s 7L & Esoteric at Hub Comics in Somerville, Mass. (Photo by Sam Williams)

Now, three studio albums later, and Czarface is a phenomenon. After releasing the “A Fistful of Peril” LP in November, the group set sights on their creation’s next chapter. For guidance, 7L & Esoteric looked back to the roots of their friendship. “One of the first things that we connected on, when we first started making records in the early ’90s, was [7L’s] collection of Power Records,” Esoteric said.

They decided to recreate the Power Records sonics-meet-sequential-art experience that they had mutually dug in their youths. “We kind of always toyed with the idea that it would be a cool idea to do one of those,” 7L told CBR. When they began work on what would become “First Weapon Draw,” they had their model. “We tried to craft it, pattern it, model it after the things that inspired us back then.”

As with the action figures and limited-edition CDs they’ve made in the past, the project’s physical element held particular appeal. “We come from that,” 7L explained. “Collecting things and having things, you know — the latest issue comes out, the newest release, or just finding back issues or finding old records. That’s like in our fabric.”

While they understand the realities and conveniences of digital media and delivery, the Czarface guys are decidedly the types to appreciate a good dig in the crates, and the rare treasures that can turn up.

Page 6.

“Me, personally,” Esoteric said, “I don’t want to do anything if it doesn’t come with the physical copy.” Both his music and his comics have their places. “I want to have it and put it in the vault next to the other ones.”

A limited release aimed at drawing people’s focus off their digital devices and toward something decidedly more analogue held special appeal to the group, who had considered limiting their early music to underground, unofficial releases. 7L, the team’s resident vinyl-head, realized Record Store Day would present a unique opportunity to release something their diehards would truly appreciate.

Photo by Sam Williams.

“When we talked about the idea, [we realized] it’d be cool to do something that’s so limited that’s kind of different and specific that it’ll be this collector’s item,” he explained. To craft something worthy of the attention, they split the duties. Esoteric would pen the comic and radio script that told Czarface’s backstory (and lend his voice to the cast), 7L would compose the accompaniment, including a signature “Czarface Theme,” and all three would executive produce the effort.

If any musicians’ work lent itself to such play, it’s Czarface. Their songs are not only littered with shout-outs to the Spandex set, they’re punctuated with audio clips from old records and cartoons and otherwise. 7L cites De La Soul producer Prince Paul as an influence, noting an appreciation for his use of interesting vocal samples. “I think the humor of it with the seriousness of it is a little bit of, not a template, but an inspiration for me as far as approaching certain things,” he explained.

They committed to capturing an authentic feel for the story. “Musically, we really wanted to nail that element of it sounding like it was from back then,” 7L said. “And not being your typical rap beat — more like the source of what people would sample in hip-hop.”

Marvel honored the cover to Czarface’s “Every Hero Needs A Villain,” left, with a hip-hop variant to “Thanos” #1 by Mike Del Mundo

A Hero’s Return

Already at work on their next album, the members of Czarface were given reason to reflect recently when they were included among Marvel’s Black Panther Nation initiative, which saw them profiled in the pages of Ta-Nahesi Coates’ “Black Panther,” and released an accordingly themed song, “All In Together Now.” Not long after, Marvel paid homage to the cover to their second album, “Every Hero Needs A Villain,” with Mike Del Mundo’s hip-hop variant to “Thanos” #1. For a group who grew up loving Marvel comics, it was a significant recognition. Marvel Assistant Editor Chris Robinson even told Esoteric that with the exception of a possible Kid ‘n Play interview in the ’90s, theirs was the first hip-hop artist interview in a Marvel comic.

Appearing in a Marvel comic, and especially having the opportunity to see his son find his father among the the pages, struck a resonant chord with Esoteric. Long before his musical success, the lifelong comics fan had parted with portions of his prized collection to further his creative dreams. “I sold ‘X-Men’ #94, #95, #96 and #97 to pay for studio time,” he shared, referring to the first four issues of writer Chris Claremont’s seminal run on the title.

Then last week, following a European tour, Esoteric returned home to find a box from Marvel containing “X-Men: Blue” #1, “X-Men: Gold” #1 and “Weapon X” #1. The MC said it felt like his creative life had come full circle. Maybe the new issues weren’t worth quite as much as the ones the he sold all those years ago, but it’s difficult to imagine anything more mint and valuable than the way they got there. Better still, his super co-creation could take on those puny X-Men, any day.

Czarface’s “First Weapon Drawn” Book and Record Set can be found through participating Record Store Day retailers.

The post Rap’s Czarface Comes to Life Through Throwback Vinyl-Comic Combo appeared first on CBR.

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dreamsarefuel · 8 years

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#NowPlaying A Fistful of Peril by CZARFACE

#music #spotify

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younggandalflistens · 8 years

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My favourite albums of 2016

Outside the top ten the order is sort of meaningless. I listened to a lot of music this year. I’ll probably write about some of it soon cuz why not.

Noname - Telefon

Jamila Woods – HEAVN

Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION Side B

Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book

Frank Ocean - Blonde

Aesop Rock - Impossible Kid

Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

Homeboy Sandman - Kindness for Weakness

Chairlift - Moth

Sheer Mag - III EP

Kevin Gates - Islah

A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service

Beyonce – Lemonade

Vince Staples - Prima Donna

Dinosaur Jr - Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not

Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai

The Hotelier - Goodness

G.L.O.S.S. - Trans Day of Revenge

Young Thug – JEFFERY

John K Sampson – Winter Wheat

Xenia Rubinos – Black Terry Cat

Mitski - Puberty 2

Kweku Collins – Nat Love

Mismor – Yodh

Charles Bradley – Changes

Cam & China – s/t

Joey Purp - iiidrops

Swet Shop boyz

Cheap Girls – god’s ex-Wife

Astronoid - air

Anderson .Paak - Malibu

Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component

Blood Orange - Freetown Sound

Pup - The Dream Is Over

Kamaiyah - A Good night in the ghetto

Solange - A Seat at the Table

Ad & Sorry Jaynari – by The Way

Beach Slang - A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings

Dawn Richard - Redemption

James Blake - The Colour in Anything

The Range - Potential

Oathbreaker – Rheia

Kaytranada - 99.9%

Kendrick Lamar - Untitled unmastered

Lydia Loveless – Real

Jeff Rosenstock - WORRY.

Angel Olsen - My woman

Czarface - A fistful of peril

YG - Still Brazy

Andy Stott - Too Many Voices

JAPANESE BREAKFAST – Psychopomp

Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us

Schoolboy Q - Blank Face LP

Whitney - Light Upon the Lake

Pure disgust – s/t

Katie Dey - Flood Network

Rae Sremmurd - Sremmlife 2

a.chal - Welcome to GIZA

Muncie Girls - From Caplan to Belsize

Brian Fallon – Painkillers

Elysia crampton – demon city

tacocat - lost time

Joyce Manor - Cody

Modern Baseball - Holy Ghost

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä

Nao - For All We Know

Pinegrove - Cardinal

Western Skies Motel - Settlers

Cavern Of Anti-Matter - Void Beats/Invocation Trex

Bon Iver - 22, a Million

Jessy Lanza - Oh No

Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity

Denzel Curry - Ultimate

Open Mike Eagle – Hella Personal Film Festival

Mannequin Pussy - Romantic

Clams casino - 32 levels

A$ap ferg - Always strive and prosper

Savages - Adore Life

White Lung - Paradise

Anohni - Hopelessness

Skepta - Konnichiwa

The 1975 – ‘I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

Crying – beyong the Fleeing Gales

Demdike Stare – Wonderland on Modern Love

Descendents – hypercaffium spazzinate

DJ Earl – Open You Eyes

Equiknoxx – Bird Sound Power

The gotobeds – Blood // Sugar // Secs // Traffic

Lil Boosie – miscellanous

Martha – Blisters in the pit of My Heart

Rorcal - Creon

Sumac – What One Becomes

Taking back Sunday

The Thermals – We Disappear

Ty Dolla Sign - campaign

Vanishing Twin – Choose Your Own Adventure

Powell - Sports

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pvpxrswvg · 7 years

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Top 25 Albums of 2016

Like a normal rational human being, I've left my end of year list to the start of January due to the fact that, as seemingly unbeknownst to most publications, there are still albums being released as late as December 31st; shocking I know. It also helps the format of my blog, as the 30th was expectedly pretty dull, so it's a great time to skip a week and get on that revision game.

This list is basically what I'm expecting to listen to most in the future, based on my past listening habits and how sustainable those listens seem. It's slightly different to just listing what I've been bumping the most in 2016, as there's a couple noticeable cases where albums I played pretty consistently throughout the year are starting to feel stale.

While this is a top 25 list, 25-11 I'm going to group together as I don't really feel like splitting hairs that thoroughly. I've listed them in alphabetical order as well so that nobody will get confused. There is also a pretty noticeable gap in quality between 10 and 11, so it's a pretty great place to divide the list. The top 10 albums I know I'll be playing in the future, whilst it's going to be kind of random as to which of the other albums I'll be going back to the most.

I’ll try to explain a bit about why I liked these albums, however this will mainly be contained to albums that I haven’t already reviewed. This looks like being the longest post I’ve ever made so I’ll be cutting as many corners as I can.

Finally, this is a hip-hop list, which means no Frank Ocean, no Anderson Paak and no Childish Gambino.

Alright here we go:

25-11:

A$AP Mob – Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends

One of the low key bangers of the year with incredibly consistent vibes and continually solid rapping. There’s nothing special about this album that’s able to hook me into loving it, but the quality of the tape is undeniable.

This project is also notable for getting me to recognize the talent of A$AP Rocky again, as he comes across as an absolute superstar on this tape. A$AP Nast also announced himself as one to watch, as he was also a class above his fellow A$AP brethren.

De La Soul – and the Anonymous Nobody

Employing a live band, De La Soul were able to capture some really impressive sounds, including the deliciously funky Pain and the tangibly melancholic Greyhounds. While this tape was a little all over the place and I’m still not sure how I feel about the rock influences, Plug 1-3 are all good enough rappers that this tape is consistently entertaining.

Desiigner – New English

New English feels like the rap equivalent of a grindcore album, with short energetic bursts of wild erratic melodies that end at the perfect moment. I’m not going to pretend that this is a classic or anything, but what Desiigner does well here is enough for me to keep coming back to it.

Future – EVOL

It seems that in a lot of circles 2016 is being viewed as the year that Future fell off. While his 2015 was never going to be topped, EVOL was enough for me to be satisfied with Future’s year. The opening four tracks are all prime Future and Low Life deserves all of its popularity.

Probably my second favorite Future release overall.

Gucci Mane – Everybody Looking

Despite being incarcerated for the first five months, 2016 was the year of Gucci Mane. While this album isn’t the best of the year, if we’re measuring albums based on importance this is easily number one. No Sleep is an unforgettable introduction to the first post-prison Gucci Album, while tracks such as Guwop Home and 1st Day Out Tha Feds show that this project was well and truly worth the hype.

Ka – Honor Killed the Samurai

While Ka isn’t an artist that I can listen to all the time, whenever I do give Honor Killed the Samurai a spin I am blown away by the sheer talent on display. While the lack of rhythm and hooks prevent me from being able to fully enjoy this record, the fact that Ka can be so entertaining with his monotone style and minimal production, goes to show just how talented a rapper he is.

I’m going to debut my support blog soon, which I’ll be doing a top artists of 2016 post on. Ka will definitely feature on that list, as in 2016 Ka capitalized on the success of Dr. Yen Lo and turned himself into one of the most respected names in underground hip-hop.

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

The more I listen to The Life of Pablo, the more I think that Kanye was really close to releasing another classic album. 30 Hours, No More Parties In LA, Real Friends, Fade, Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1, Saint Pablo and Ultralight Beam are all some of my favorite Kanye songs, but as a front to back project this is an absolute mess.

Lil Yachty – Lil Boat the Mixtape

While a lot of people hate Yachty, the style that he has developed here is truly innovative and captured a sound that a lot of people wanted to hear. If you go into this album looking to check off the boxes of what makes a great hip-hop album, you’re going to have a bad time, in fact I’d compare this to something like the new Negative Gemini album, before I’d put Yachty’s name in the same sentence as Kendrick Lamar.

This project has its large and obvious flaws, but there are some genuine classics here as Lil Yachty stumbled upon a truly unique and truly great sound.

Rae Sremmurd – SremmLife 2

In my opinion, this was really close to being an absolutely phenomenal album. After already proving themselves to be the king of hooks, the brother’s rapping ability took a huge step forward on this project, while Mike Will once again brought the heat.

The Look Alive to Set the Roof stretch is AOTY material, but the rest of this project leaves a lot to be desired as a lot of tracks fall just short of hitting their mark.

Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3

Although I wasn’t kind to it in my review, this was still a pretty great release and all of my gripes with it are kind of superficial. I have a ton of respect for both Killer Mike and El-P, so while this isn’t the first album that I’ll be going to in order to get my fix from those artists, I’ll still go back to this occasionally.

Schoolboy Q – Blank Face LP

While I absolutely loved this when it first came out, there are about 25 minutes that easily could have been cut from this project, which ultimately makes it kind of hard to get through. Once my hype for the stronger tracks on this album dissipated, I lost a lot of enthusiasm for the project and I haven’t been going back to it much since. The production here is still phenomenal; there will be a long summer’s drive in 2018 where I give this another chance and I’m guaranteed to have the time of my life.

Tory Lanez – I Told You

This might have been the worst timed release in the history of music. You almost have to wonder if Frank Ocean has some kind of beef with Daystar Peterson, as the surprise Blonde drop fucking destroyed this album. Anyway, this is one of the funnest albums of 2016. From the admittedly hard tracks like Another One and Flex where Tory showcases some truly infectious flows (I don’t care what anyone says, the delivery on “458, I dropped it in the Winter//Big homie asked a nigga what I'm down for//Looked him in the eye and said to do it 'til I'm bigger than ya”” is dope as fuck), to the poppier tracks like Cold Hard Love and Luv, this album has some really great highlights; although 80 minutes is way too long for this type of project. Still I’m a sucker for changing up flows to ride a beat, which Tory does phenomenally, so I’m pretty excited to see what he does going forward (I’m still yet to listen to the two tapes he recently dropped, but I’m pretty stoked).

Vince Staples – Prima Donna

I’m probably being a bit too harsh leaving this out of my top 10, but I was really disappointed in this project. I said in my review that this felt like a throwaway release to get his tracks with James Blake out there to the public and I still strongly believe that. From rushed tracks to Summertime 06 b-sides and the aforementioned James Blake tracks, there isn’t really a lot here to go back to; especially when his discography is as solid as it is.

I’m a huge Vince Staples fan, so I’ll probably turn around on this eventually, but there’s definitely better projects from this year.

YG – Still Brazy

I really never expected anything from YG as an artist, yet on this project YG showed a ton of potential as he dropped a project that was oozing west coast funk while showing a surprising amount of lyrical density. When you listen to the bouncy west coast bangers such as Why You Always Hating and the phenomenal Twist My Fingaz, you’d assume YG would be spitting ignorant lyrics that you can tune out while cruising in the whip. Yet tracks like the hard hitting Who Shot Me? show an artist that is just as good at penning a verse. While this was a project that I thought didn’t play that well front to back, what it does well is well and truly stunning.

Z-Ro – Drankin & Drivin'

Z-Ro is a god damn legend. Just like other legends from the Houston scene, Z-Ro makes album that is absolute prime driving music, as there’s nothing I’d rather hear coming home from work on a hot day than Z-Ro’s smooth pimp ass singing. Devil Ass City in particular may be one of the tracks of the year (I’m probably never going to get the Curtis line out of my head), while the rest of the project is some of the smoothest shit I’ve heard.

10. Czarface – A Fistful of Peril

When writing reviews, I try to approach from the perspective of a non hip-hop listener.

It kind of bugs me when people dismiss an artist like Lil Uzi Vert by saying that they don’t have insane rhyme schemes or interesting subject matter, as they are cheap criticisms that are only used against people in the hip-hop genre. A band like Radiohead doesn’t have dope multi-syllabic rhyme schemes, but nobody cares because they aren’t part of the culture.

Therefore, I like to approach hip-hop music as if it weren’t hip-hop. 21 Savage should be judged as he is, not compared to verbose poets such as Nas and Andre 3000. When listening to Czarface, I kind of question my previous viewpoint, as Esoteric and The Rebel INS put on an absolute clinic of wordplay, rhyme schemes and pure fucking rapping. It’s an absolute delight to listen to and the dirty electronic production of 7L was enough to elevate their sound to something truly heavenly.

9. Noname - Telefone

Noname might have the best flow in all of hip-hop at the moment. With a soft style that has Andre 3000 levels of smoothness, Noname rides her production creating infectious melodies that often outshine her mostly forgettable production. Her rapping focuses on repeating inflections with her continually reusing the same delivery each line to creative a hypnotic repetitive flow that is undeniably groovy. With witty one liners and vivid storytelling, Noname also proves herself to be an interesting MC as well.

Ultimately with the combination of her unbelievably pleasant delivery and interesting subject matter, Noname is perhaps the rapper that I was most interested in hearing actually rap in 2016.

8. Gucci Mane - Woptober

While Everybody Looking was a bigger and more important release, Woptober was simply better. Featuring a dark, heavy and designed for skrip clubs sound, Woptober manages to be an incredibly competent album with zero dull moments and some pretty great highlights such as Money Machine and Hi-Five.

Gucci Mane using his respect to get all of the big names in ATL production to come together and create one cohesive project is one of the best things to happen in 2016, seeing this much talent work together is truly stunning.

7. 21 Savage – Savage Mode

Both of these artists had a tremendous 2016. Metro Boomin had genuine hits in Low Life, Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1, and Bad and Boujee, while 21 Savage became one of the most popular rappers in the game and a must have feature.

This tape exemplifies why these guys were so popular, as they both bring their A game and play off each other tremendously. Metro catered his production perfectly to 21 Savage’s subtle style while still putting in one of the best production efforts of the year. While a lot of people don’t get it, there is a reason 21 Savage blew up on this tape, as his endearingly gangsta lyrics and slow leaned out style is genuinely dope as fuck.

6. Danny Brown – The Atrocity Exhibition

Perhaps the most progressive record of 2016, as Paul White experimented with a lot of elements that would have felt completely out of place behind any other rapper. While an instrumental version of this album would be amazing, I fear that I’d spend all of my listens bewildered at how Danny Brown made these beats work.

5. Maxo Kream – The Persona Tape

The Persona Tape is the most Houston album that’s come out in an incredibly long time.

As someone who spent most of 2016 listening to a variety of Houston Legends, having Maxo Kream drop his love letter to the golden age of Southern Hip-Hop was truly a blessing. While Trap music is great, when listening to a track like Coming Dine you can’t help but feel nostalgia for the g-funk influenced, crack selling, pimping, and leaned out sounds of 90s Houston.

This album isn’t all Houston nostalgia, as tracks like Smoke Break and Out The Front Door show an artist who is capable of creating dope tracks in a variety of fresh and innovative styles. Speaking of Smoke Break, the parts where the beat drops out and Maxo is rapping over just the percussion is some of my favorite rapping of all of 2016.

Overall this is an incredibly fun project by an incredibly talented rapping employing beats that make me genuinely happy. Tremendous release.

4. Denzel Curry - Imperial

While Denzel is guilty of rapping some absolute gibberish in the name of hype verses with insane rhyme schemes, as you’re rapping along and going HAM alongside the most energetic rapper in the game all is forgiven as Denzel continually crafts some of the funnest flows that you can’t help but rap along with (See Sick and Tired).

This album was recently updated by his label, dropping Pure Enough and Narcotics for the anthemic Me Now and the upbeat Good Night, which is one of the few album edits that I 100% got behind. Perhaps it was the fact that it made an album I had played to death feel fresh again, but I really got behind this change and it really elevated my opinion of this release.

3. A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service

The first disc of this album is perfect. While I like the second disc a lot more than when I reviewed it, if the whole project was at the level of the first disc then this would be a legitimate album of the decade contender.

This album is really well blended with incredibly interesting beat shifts and rappers talented enough to ride them perfectly. Busta Rhyme’s verse on Mobius is pretty legendary, but the beat changing before he comes in elevates it to another level and the album is full of great moments like that. Too many times in hip-hop you’ll see the beat show you everything it has to offer in the first 10 seconds, so the refusal of basic loops really makes this an especially memorable album.

2. Kendrick Lamar – Untitled Unmastered

I am comfortable admitting that I am an unabashed gigantic Kendrick fanatic who considers K-Dot to be without question the most talented spitter to debut after the year 2000. So it should come as no surprise that I would rate an album of his unmastered outtakes so highly.

2 (Get Top On The Phone) and 7 (Levitate) are genuinely great, while the rest is Kendrick coasting and producing shit that’s better than 99% of the rap game.

This also marks the second straight year that Kendrick has had the runner up spot for my AOTY, with him obviously releasing the much stronger and much more polished To Pimp A Butterfly last year. While that would suggest that I preferred 2015, while I did really enjoy its top end I think 2016 edges it from a pure depth perspective.

1. Isaiah Rashad – The Sun's Tirade

Honestly, nothing came close to this.

This is pretty much everything I want in a hip-hop record, as Isaiah Rashad blends the west coast sounds of Kendrick with his Southern roots that are influenced by legends such as Scarface and Andre 3000. The way Isaiah rides the phenomenal production with his lazy southern drawl makes this an album that I can play at any time.

Jay Rock also drops the verse of the year here, in another effort that nobody came close to, besides Three Stacks of course.

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mediathequedevincennes · 8 years

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Rétro 2016 soul, rap & reggae

Les coups de coeur de l’Espace musique de la Médiathèque de Vincennes pour l’année 2016. Tous les morceaux de nos playlists sont à retrouver dans nos collections.

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L’année a été marquée par l’afro-jazz-funk des Italiens de Mop Mop. Leur album Lunar love est un voyage mystique entre Afrique, Caraïbes et contrées interstellaires, avec le chanteur Anthony Joseph en copilote sur 3 titres.

Marquant également, le retour de l’Anglais Michael Kiwanuka. Débutant par un long titre symphonique, Love & hate s’affiche comme un album ambitieux sur lequel planent les ombres de Curtis Mayfield et Marvin Gaye. Un futur classique.

Plus qu’un retour, c’est une véritable renaissance qu’a connue Xavier Dphrepaulezz. Accident, coma, rééducation ; il aura fallu 16 ans de patience et de travail à l’ex-espoir de la soul américaine pour sortir son second album. Sous le nom de Fantastic Negrito, il publie The Last days of Oakland, un disque sombre et puissant au carrefour du blues, de la soul et du rock.

Martha High est longtemps restée dans l’ombre de James Brown, dont elle fut choriste pendant 35 ans. Après un passage auprès de Maceo Parker, elle enregistre depuis quelques années sous son nom des albums d’une soul classique mais terriblement efficace. Singing for the good times est le dernier en date.

Dans le même style intemporel, Nicole Wray prolonge sans Terri Walker l'aventure entamée au sein du duo Lady. Après un début de carrière chaotique, on espère que le très recommandable Queen alone remettra la chanteuse, rebaptisée Lady Wray, sur le chemin du succès. La présence de Thomas Brenneck et de sa fine équipe de musiciens pourrait l'y aider.

Le devant de la scène rap américaine a été occupé par quelques vétérans de l’âge d’or du genre : De La Soul (And the anonymous nobody), A Tribe Called Quest (We got it from here... thank you 4 your service) et Common (Black America again) ont effectué un retour plutôt convaincant, affichant une volonté de s’impliquer dans l’actualité politico-sociale de leur pays.

Czarface, réunion de 7L & Esoteric et d’un ex-Wu Tang Clan (Inspectah Deck), annonce la couleur sur la pochette de A fistful of peril : c’est l’univers des comics qui a nourri ce nouvel album. Un univers visiblement très stimulant dans lequel les amoureux de rap old school se plongeront avec bonheur.

Textes alambiqués, instrumentaux menaçants, flow nerveux que rien ne semble pouvoir arrêter… Il n’est pas toujours facile d’entrer dans le monde de Aesop Rock. Sombre et personnel, The Impossible kid est le second disque du New Yorkais paru chez Rhymesayer.

Beaucoup plus nonchalant, Charles X balade sa voix légèrement éraillée entre rap jazzy et soul bancale avec un truc qui fait trop souvent défaut à nombre de ses confrères : le charme. "Hey world", "New way of life", “Rise”… autant de tubes en puissance à retrouver sur Sounds of the yesteryear.

Les amateurs de reggae roots ne rateront pas le nouvel album de Clinton Fearon. L’infatigable ex-bassiste des Gladiators continue de propager son message de paix et de justice avec l’énergie et la bonne humeur qui le caractérisent. This morning est l’un de ses tous meilleurs albums en solo.

Autre événement de l’année, la parution d’un nouveau disque des Anglais de Resonators. Quatre ans après l’inusable The Constant, Imaginary people bénéficie de la même recette : un parfait équilibre entre reggae et dub, auquel les voix de deux chanteuses apportent une touche très soul. De quoi patienter quatre ans de plus sans se lasser !

Toujours sur la scène anglaise, l’aventure familiale de Dub Dynasty s’enrichit d’un nouvel opus très inspiré, Holy cow. Le groupe, composé du duo Alpha & Omega et de Alpha Steppa propose un savant mélange de dub à l’ancienne et de vibrations digitales, de textes conscients (le thème de la nature est omniprésent) et de pulsations plus urbaines.

Terminons avec le label soul Daptone, qui s’ouvre aux musiques jamaïcaines en accueillant le groupe new yorkais The Frightnrs. Nothing more to say est un disque tout en harmonies vocales, à la fois ensoleillé et mélancolique, qui nous replonge avec bonheur dans l'époque du rock steady (genre précurseur du reggae).

Bonne écoute !

Jérôme, janvier 2017

#musique

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