Lunatock's Blog - Underground at its finest.

Praverb - The Gospel is Free Mixtape [free]

2008-01-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

The Gospel is FREE is a statement directed at how some people use
the bible as a monetary platform, it also correlates with the sale
of mixtapes with copyrighted material (for example: Dj Drama). The
Gospel is FREE is a 15 track offering that is composed of freeverses,
freestyles, and songs. I am offering this mixtape as a free download
and eventually it will be available in CD form (for FREE). I would
love for you to share this mixtape with at least 3-5 people and if
you are willing to review it great (I am open for criticism). All I ask is that you listen
to the words. I would like to thank all the people that have been
supportive of the music so far, continue to support and help spread
the name.
Please be on the lookout for "The Center of Attention", which will
drop digitally on Domination Recordings.
peace and blessings,
Praverb
Click here to download

Input - A Radio With Guts

2008-01-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

(Copy-pasted from MySpace.com/inputhiphop)

"A Radio With Guts" is now available HERE FOR $12.00 (INCLUDING SHIPPING). 15 of the sexiest tracks for 2007. Full production by Abstrakt. Now available on iTunes. Thank you for your time and your ears. - (input.)

CLICK BUY NOW!!! TO PURCHASE "A RADIO WITH GUTS" FOR $12.00

OR CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO BUY THE ALBUM DIRECTLY FROM ITUNES!!!

Okwerdz - Rush Hour EP [free]

2008-01-09T05:26:00.000-08:00

Download Link

Buck 65 - Dirty Work EP [free]

2008-01-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

5 song digital EP called "Dirty Work".

It was released over a month long campaign, adding one song per week for free download via his

Myspace page.

01_IndestructableSam.
02_DaysOnEnd.
03_DeathOfMe.
04_HeatherNights.
05_DirtyWork.

http://rapidshare.com/files/82287209/Buck_65_-_Dirtywork_Ep.rar

Restoring Poetry in Music - Pyramids in Moscow

2008-01-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

myspace.com/restoringpoetryinmusic

01. Grandpa
02. Intro
03. Life Is Change
04. Less Is More
05. Sliders
06. Momenterlude
07. A Quiet Taste
08. Soul Pouch
09. There You Are
10. And Another One
11. Interlude II
12. Winning Losses
13. Sleep Walkers
Buy:
Here

Blue Scholars - Blue Scholars LP

2008-01-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

MySpace.com/Bluescholars

TRACK LISTING
1 Solstice: Reintroduction
2 Blue School
3 Bruise Brothers
4 Motion Movement
5 selfPortrait
6 Freewheelin
7 The Inkwell
8 Burnt Offering
9 Evening Chai
10 Blink
11 Sagaba
12 The Ave
13 Life & Debt
14 No Rest For The Weary

Buy:
Here

Grynch - How The Grynch Stole HipHop vol.1 [Free mixtape]

2008-01-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

Grynch & DJ Stylz - How The Grynch Stole Hip-Hop Vol. 1 (2006)

http://www.myspace.com/grynchmusic

01. Intro
02. I Want You To Know
03. Here I Go Again
04. Real Life
05. Unexpected Arrival Interlude
06. Get Your Mind Straight (Unexpected Arrival Feat. Grynch)
07. I Stay Hungry
08. Speedy Gonzalez Interlude
09. Spit Your Game (Remix) (Feat. Speedy Gonzalez)
10. Touch The Sky
11. Tonight's The Night
12. Billy The Fridge Interlude
13. Unstoppable (Feat. Stefo)
14. Keep Their Heads Ringin' (Feat. B-Ill, Unexpected Arrival & Stefo)
15. A Good Man Is Gone (C-Nik Feat. Grynch)
16. Walk The Walk
17. Dead End Street
18. KUBE 93 Interlude
19. So Free (Feat. Samantha Hiatt)
20. The Future (Live)
21. The Gregster
22. Pet Peeves (Feat. Tru-ID, Ricky Pharoe & Macklemore)

DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://www.mediafire.com/?64atymbtx14

Grynch - Heat [Free mixtape]

2008-01-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

Grynch And DJ Nphared - Heat (2007)

http://www.myspace.com/grynchmusic

01. Intro
02. The Answer
03. Seatown's Savior
04. Listen
05. The Champ
06. DJ B-Mello Interlude
07. Street Sounds Freestyle
08. Jay Barz Interlude
09. Dear Grynch
10. D.Black Interlude
11. Triangle Offense (Feat. D.Black & Neema)
12. How I Move
13. Gangsta Muzik (Mr.Xquisit Feat. J Brown & Grynch)
14. None Bout Me (Remix) (Rubio Feat. Grynch, Neema & Latin Rose)
15. Grynch Interlude 1
16. My Second Wind (Snippet)
17. Better Than I've Ever Been (Feat. C-Nik & Acent)
18. History Lessons (Feat. Soul The Interrogator, Gameboy & Fatal Lucciauno)
19. So Good, So Right (Feat. Mr.Xquisit)
20. DJ Hyphen & J. Moore Interlude
21. That's Hip-Hop
22. Grynch Interlude 2
23. Home (Snippet)
24. Sunday Night Love Session
25. Outro (Why You Hate The Grynch)

DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fndq4zbusod

Symmetry - Dusty Pickup [Free]

2008-01-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

http://www.myspace.com/symmetryhiphop

Dusty Pickup is the second full-length CD from North Providence-bred rapper, Symmetry. The 18-track album is the latest release from Poorly Drawn People, the Rhode Island-based hip hop label also home to Storm Davis and Reason.
Produced entirely by label mate dox, Dusty Pickup represents a more personal, mature effort from Symmetry, who jump started his career with 2005's Cat Drop Complex. Shunning the clichés that have become staples of hip hop music, Symmetry tackles concepts including failed love, a friend's drug addiction and his own mortality.

01- Intro [01:21]
02- Hater [04:41]
03- I Mean [03:12]
04- Angel Eyes [04:05]
05- Idiosyncratic [03:05]
06- Back There [04:32]
07- I Need You [03:32]
08- She Asked [04:00]
09- Our Land [04:29]
10- the Time [04:16]
11- Intrepid Approach [05:59]
12- Go Head [03:05]
13- Little Girl [05:00]
14- That's Enough [05:23]
15- Lying Down [03:16]
16- Our Dear [05:03]
17- Bye Bye [02:54]
18- Kill it... [06:08]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/w8ptzd
or
http://rapidshare.com/files/80373567/symmetry-dusty_pickup-retail-2007-cms.rar

Hard Target - Shut Up & Rap vol2

2008-01-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.myspace.com/hardtarget

Canto I - Entry Level/Elements

2007-12-30T04:55:00.000-08:00

-Effect-
www.myspace.com/effectus

-Joe Fury-
www.myspace.com/joefuryy

The two form:
"Canto I" (Pronounced 'Canto-Eye')
www.myspace.com/cantoihiphop

Joe Fury and Effect are brothers who have lived in Vegas their whole lives. Both were rappers for a long time and would occasionally collaborate until they decided to drop their solo careers and go at it together as Canto I.

Buy:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/cantoi

Track List:

1 Entry Level
2 First Things First
3 The Shining
4 Route {95} (ft. The Chapter)
5 Fear & Loathing
6 Sidewalk Cypher
7 Elements
8 Day Dream
9 Burning Bridges
10 Skullyosis
11 All I Know
12 Thirty Five 15

Danny! - Danny Is Dead EP

2007-12-30T04:17:00.000-08:00

http://myspace.com/mcdanny

Danny! has tried several times to retire, but never succeeds because everyone wants him to come back. Recently being signed to Def Jux, he is soon releasing the album "And I Love H.E.R."
But until then, this'll hold us over. This album released around July '07, and the next album will be slated for Jan.22.08.

Buy:
Billboard.com
Danny!'s Store
Amazon.com
OkayPlayer

Tracklisting:

1. Now You're Back
2. The World Is Yours
3. Rhyme Writer Crime Fighter
4. Press Conference
5. Cafe Surreal, Pt. 2
6. Fly, Pt. 2
7. Check It Out
8. Outro (...Dead?)

Oldominion - Negative One and a Half

2007-12-30T03:16:00.001-08:00

Artist: Oldominion
Title: Negative One And A Half
Year: 2004
Label: Oldominion
Duration: 00:45:51

Buy:
http://www.oldominion.net/store.php

Tracks:

01. Riots - Nyqwil,Pale,Onry
02. Here It Is - Onry,NyQwil,Destro,JFK
03. It Goes Down - PeGee 13,Anax,JFK
04. Cast Le Van I A Magic - Sleep,Syndel,Onry,Destro,Bishop I
05. Lawyer Media President - Sleep,Destro,JFK
06. Pegee Lives In Nebraska - Onry,Anax,Smoke,Gash,PeGee 13
07. Strangers - Smoke,Hyena,Onry
08. One Too Many Times - Snafu,Onry,Destro,Sleep,Pale,JFK
09. Metallica - Onry,Sulfur,MyG,Sleep
10. Tourettes - Oldominion
11. Soul Drop - Onry,NyQwil,Bishop I,JFK

Illmaculate - The Rain Check Mixtape

2007-12-30T02:54:00.000-08:00

Illmaculate (of Sandpeople), the ScribbleJam Champion and two-time World Rap Champion, has released "The Rain Check Mixtape", hosted by DJ Vlad.
Featuring songs with Copywrite and other fellow battlers like Hommy Hom and Iron Solomon.

Be sure to check out Sandpeople's album as well, since Illmaculate represents the group like crazy.

Buy:
360 Vinyl (Comes with bonus tracks)

Track List:

Sleep - Christopher

2007-12-30T02:43:00.000-08:00

Sleep of Oldominion released his Christopher LP back in 5/31/05, but it's still something many people haven't heard. Even Sage Francis has put the album in his own webstore so that others would hear it and love it.

Buy Here:
CD Universe
CDBaby
Strange Famous Records' Store
Oldominion's Store
Underground Hip-Hop's Store

1 Intro
2 Say Goodbye Feat. Zelly Rock
3 Fall Guy
4 I'm So Techno Skit Feat. Pale Soul
5 Make Yourself Get Up
6 Testimony
7 So Tired
8 Bucket
9 Can't Be Touched Feat. Abstract Rude
10 Live
11 Guys Like Me
12 Never Feat. Toni Hill
13 The Heat Feat. Masta Ace
14 Dirt
15 Dirt Interlude
16 Love It to Death (feat. Yadira Brown)

Grieves - Irreversible

2007-12-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

(I apologize for the poor picture quality, but it's the best I could do)
MySpace.com/grieves

I've been listening to this whole album like crazy. I strongly suggest buying this album.

Track Listing:
1 Fly Away
2 Unedible
3 Bottom of the Bottle
4 He Won't Answer
5 I Ate Your Soul (ft. P Smoov)
6 Irreversible (ft. Mr Lif)
7 *Skit*
8 Capitol Hill Girls (ft. P Smoov)
9 Front Foot Planted (ft. Symmetry, Type)
10 Another Love (ft. Helen Chance)
11 Scar Gardens
12 Get Down
13 Half Empty
14 Rebecca
15 If Luck Was A Lady
16 The Room We Hide In (ft. Mad Son, Kublakai)
17 Lazt Kall (ft. Type, Rik Rude, P Smoov)
18 Heroin Music

Buy at:
Cdbaby.com/cd/grieves
OR

And I do apologize for being so late with these, I've been severely busy.
More posts soon, when I get back to my own computer.

Laws - The Funny Pages LP [Now Free!]

2007-12-17T13:00:00.001-08:00

myspace.com/lawshiphop

This album, Funny Pages, used to be for sale for $10. It recently came to Laws' attention that the album leaked on P2P shareware applications so Laws decided to just go ahead and re-release the album as a free download.

http://www.zshare.net/download/5682376d4cc4a5/

Tracklist:

Intro ft Poo Ray
Speak Your Mind ft Hard Target
Maybe Drums
110%
Jungle Gym
Bang ft Mason Caine, KG, and Lisa Gallo
Feedback ft L.A.
Candy Rapper ft Mernie Black
Rappin' Guy
The Spot ft Showtyme
Young and Fly ft C Skills and Prolific
Must Be A Hit
Dopehouse ft Mason Caine
Holy Trinity ft Lisa Gallo
Set You Free ft Lisa Gallo

Benzi & The Knocks Present: Jay-Z - American G-Funk [Free Download]

2007-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Fresh from my boys at HeavyRocMusic comes this new free mixtape.

The minds behind the classic We Got The Remix mixtapes featuring Lil Wayne & the Clipse are back again with another instant classic. This time the one and only Sean Carter gets the remix treatment, seeing his whole new American Gangster album reworked. Exclusively handling the production on this project are New York's own The Knock comprised of Mr JPatt & DJ B-Roc. The Knocks dug deep into the crates for the perfect samples and the result is truely amazing. Download your own copy of American G-Funk below, and be on the look out for the limited collectors hard copy coming soon.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD
ALREADY DOWNLOADED OVER 30,000 TIMES!!!

TRACKLISTING:
001. American Dreamin (The Knocks Remix)
002. Hello w/ Lil' Wayne (The Knocks Remix)
003. The Party Life (The Knocks Remix)
004. I Know w/ Pharrell (The Knocks Remix)
005. Sweet (The Knocks Remix)
006. The Knock Boys (The Knocks Remix)
007. Blue Air Magic w/ Pharrell (The Knocks Remix)
008. American G-Funk (The Knocks Remix)
009. Pray (The Knocks Remix)
010. No Hook (The Knocks Remix)
011. Fallin (The Knocks Remix)
012. Say Hello (The Knocks Remix)

URB MAGAZINE.COM'S REVIEW OF THE ALBUM

Sandpeople - Honest Racket

2007-12-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

http://myspace.com/sandpeople

New album from the crew hailing from Oregon, including Spin The Mic and World Rap Championship champion, Illmaculate.

You can buy the album many ways
Check their MySpace for all the available ways, but here's the CDBaby link:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/sandpeople4

Track Listing:

1 The Count
2 Industrial Grade
3 Real Estate Feat. The Grouch (of Living Legends)
4 Sandman
5 Lose It
6 Group Home
7 I Don't Care
8 Not Alright
9 All in Your Head Feat. Sean Price (of Boot Camp Clik)
10 Air We Breathe
11 Any Given Sunday
12 Forget It
13 Just a Name
14 It's True
15 Leave It Alone
16 Synthetique Princess

Intuition - Stores About Nothing

2007-12-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

From Intuition comes "Stores About Nothing"
Featuring a song with Scribble Jam '07 champ, NoCanDo, and production by B-Sides.
http://www.intuitionhiphop.com/
http://www.myspace.com/intuition

Track Listing:
1) Story To Tell
2) Forget Today
3) Outside
4) Fix Her Up Her ft NoCanDo
5) Bye Bye Baby
6) Coming Home (interlude)
7) Pain and Pleasure
8) Paint The Dawn
9) The Questions
10) Head In The Clouds
11) Destiny
12) Purgatory (interlude)
13) Panic
14) Foundations ft Clever
15) Nowhere

Stereo Star - The Jumpstart Mixtape [Free download]

2007-12-10T13:20:00.001-08:00

STEREO STAR

Their new mixtape,"The Jumpstart Mixtape", is now available for free download!

Click the picture or the following link to go to their MySpace and download the album for FREE!

STEREO STAR
STEREO STAR
STEREO STAR
STEREO STAR
STEREO STAR

Stereo consists of Finale (from a previous post) and his partner, Keezie. This is the fruition of the beginning of their new group.

Infinite Skillz - Open Season Mixtape [Free download]

2007-12-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

It's about time I make another one of these, right?

Click the banner above to go to Infinite Skillz's MySpace page!

Yep. You guessed it. Mr. Swoon himself, Infinite Skillz, has released another free mixtape for all his adoring fans.
Granted, I haven't even finished downloading this album yet, as I'm doing it right now, but I'm hard pressed for time at the moment and I wanted to knock this baby out of the park and get word to fans sooner than later.

There's nothing to lose, and if my previous blog has any credit to its name, this album will be sure to not disappoint.

Click the album cover below for the link to download the album.

After hearing the mixtape, this is VERY worth the download.
Quality music. Quality beats, lyrics, delivery, production, and more.

The track list is as follows:

01. Ramah – Open Season Intro (Produced By Mr. J)
02. Infinite Skillz – Here I Go (Produced By Mr. J)
03. Infinite Skillz – This Is Why I'm Hot
04. Infinite Skillz – Serious (Produced By Mr. J)
05. Infinite Skillz – Honestly (Produced By Mr. J)
06. Infinite Skillz – Smokers Only ft. DZK & F.a.T (Produced By Sean Divine)
07. Infinite Skillz – Vulnerable (Produced By Projekt MS)
08. Infinite Skillz – Before The Guns (Produced By Mr. J)
09. Infinite Skillz – Rip Off ft KD (Produced By E-MotionL)
10. Infinite Skillz – Something To Rely On (Produced By Sean Divine)
11. Infinite Skillz – Catch Up (Produced By Projekt MS)
12. Infinite Skillz – Open Season (Produced By DJ DeeWreck)
13. Infinite Skillz – Lose (Produced By Spontane)
14. Infinite Skillz – Touchdown (Produced By Sean Divine)
15. Infinite Skillz – Ow Ow (Produced By Projekt MS)
16. Infinite Skillz – Not A Rock Song (Produced By Todd Hamburger)

Download it now!

Boys and Girls
Until the next album worth a blog surfaces
This is Tock, signing off.

Infinite Skillz - Swoon Music Vol. 1 [Free download]

2007-12-10T13:07:00.001-08:00

1. Swoon Music
2. Poetry In Motion
3. Good Music (Chill Time)
4. Man's World
5. Remember When
6. Fire *Bonus Instrumental*
7. Diamond Ring *Bonus Track*
8. Give It All Away

(Click the cover art to download the album)

I just listened to this album, and it's seriously nothing you've ever heard before. Mix good lyrical rap with 1950's Swing and this is the result. If you think Sean Kingston using Doo Wop was good, just wait until you listen to this. Seriously, don't sleep on it.

It's a free download, so feel free to do so and listen and give your opinion.
Oh and if you like it, his MySpace is:
Infinite Skillz MySpace

Go there for even more music of his!
Oh and buy his album, The Anomaly :)

Album produced by Mr. J aka The Burnin' German

Lunatock Presents: The Finale [Free Mixtape]

2007-12-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

Finally, it's done.
Come listen to my favorite tracks done by Finale ever, all in one mixtape made by us.

[EDIT]
Disclaimer: It's NOT me on the mixtape. It's a rapper, and one of my best friends, Finale.

(Click the album cover to download all 16 tracks in one zip file)

01 - Lunatock Presents: Me
02 - Lost My Grip
03 - Bleed For Us (DE)
04 - Dragonfly
05 - The War's On
06 - 60 Seconds (DE)
07 - The Paper's Lines (feat. Cryptic Wisdom)
08 - Pulse
09 - Silhouettes
10 - The Madness
11 - Something to Rely On
12 - The War's On: World War II
13 - For My Clique (DE)
14 - Owns You
15 - Lost in the Pages (DE)
16 - The End

Click the individual song links to listen to or download just those songs, but you can also click the cover art (done by me) to download the entire mixtape at once via .zip :)

VISIT FINALE ON MYSPACE

Paid To Promote?

2007-12-10T13:00:00.001-08:00

Let me explain. I get at least ten messages a day regarding this. Why? I imagine everyone would want to get paid to "be on MySpace". I worded that wrong, but I did it on purpose because it immediately demoralizes any haters coming my way. For example, I'd always say "While you're here sending me hatemail because you have nothing better to do, I'm busy living my life and getting paid to be on MySpace. You're not on my level." Obviously that's a lowblow, but it works SO well.

Okay, time to explain.

Yes, I do post those "Get Friends Now" bulletins. To understand how that works, the people who are already on that list (the ones you're supposed to add before you "join" the train) are the only ones getting adds (not including you if you added them). Yeah, it's a cheap way to fool people, but it works.

Why do I do it? To further extend my network on MySpace. Why would I do that, you ask? Simple. I'm a promoter. I won't lie, two years ago when I started doing this, I really didn't have much of a life. I reached about 37,000 friends just out of boredom. But then people started offering me deals for promotion, which sparked an idea.

I was already into IndieRap like DZK. I've always had a thing where it'd be more fun to talk to my favorite artists and be their friend instead of just a fan. So I approached a few people. Mainly, I promoted some people for free at first, but then I think either Hard Target or DJ B-Roc were the first to offer me something in return.

At that point, I was like "FUCK YESSS" because I was still a fanboy. I was slowly becoming friends with DZK, FaT, Spoonfull, Hard Target, DJ B-Roc, Passion Hi-Fi, and more.

Hard Target sent me his Shut Up & Rap Mixtape, and DJ B-Roc sent me two mixtapes (Hi Tek's Good Talk Vol.1 and Gravity's Debut of a Don) and a HeavyRocMusic t-shirt. Woot.
Passion Hi-Fi sent me $50 through paypal. That's right, fifty dollars. How ridiculous lol. Everything before that was maybe 5, 10, 15 at most. But 50? Wow.
DZK spoke to me about a website (www.warlab.com) and the associated forum, and offered me a moderator position a month before the site even began. Then, also because of my moderator position, he sent me a free DZK shirt.
Hard Target and others then send me more mixtapes, and fully-pressed albums.

I've since been sent free exclusive songs both because of friendship and because some people want to hear a fan's opinion before they release it, such as "Did I mix it alright? Are the vocals too low?" etc. Because of that, my reputation grew, and more artists came to me asking me to hear their unreleased music, offering me CDs for promotion... It was a whirlwind.

In fact, I've even met Hard Target since then, and to be honest, if I hadn't offered to promote him and we hadn't started talking, I wouldn't have met him.

Both myself and the artists have increased in popularity. I'm in their top friends, and vice versa. Many fans ask me to recommend them new artists, and ask if any of the artists I speak to are coming out with anything new anytime soon. I've become a bit of an unofficial source to know anything about the artists I work with. I'm their promoter, their confidant, their friend.

I don't really let it go to my head, I'm not that big of a fanboy. They're my friends, so I don't consider it a big thing anymore, but I guess to some it's still unbelievable. Some people have actually pulled the jealousy card, but for no real reason. I don't try to brag, this blog is simply explaining how things happened.
As DZ said, I'm the voice of the Devil, now. The middleman. Haha.

I'm not ashamed to admit that without MySpace, I'd be nothing. I understand and acknowledge that this webpage has gotten me places. I'd rather not think that I just got lucky, but to be honest, I'm pretty sure that's the case. Oh well. Not a bad thing in the least, so there'll be no complaining from me.

Backpacker For Life

2007-12-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

It seems there is a continuous pattern about me speaking on behalf of underground rap, but for good reason.

I am collaborating with Hard Target (myspace.com/hardtarget) to release a new mixtape for the underground, named Fuck Mainstream Vol. 1 (I didn't name it).
This will be promoted like nothing else I've ever promoted. I want every Backpacker, Grafitti artist, B-Boy, Emcee, DJ, and all those aspiring to be such to bump this album. It's about half-done right now, I'd say. You won't regret it, trust me. I know good music.

I've also been meaning to dispel comments involving me and my appearance. Yes, I know I'm white. No, I'm not a wigger. Yes, I can still like rap, and no, it doesn't suck. Now that the basics are out of the way, let me explain. This is MySpace, which I realize 70% consists of teenage girls who flock to teenage boys who dress like teenage girls. I always wear baggy jeans. I have to, to feel comfortable. I don't wear make-up, but I do have snakebites (or venoms), and black hair. Sure some things are coincidental, but the fact is I love hip-hop. The only thing you can prove to me by saying I can't like rap is your ignorance. If you have to conform to the look (which, by the way, indie rap doesn't have a look) of what you listen to, then there's no point in free thought and speech (which my music choices promote).
Not to twist things, I do like rock, but I like bands like KoRn and Static-X and Blink 182. I won't know any From Autumn To Ashes or A Static Lullaby lyrics, or album names or bandmembers. I'd have to say the closest I get to emo would be either my Blink 182 or Bullet For My Valentine. But regardless, as I've said before, Hip-Hop is a lifestyle. If you really want to know what I listen to, this would be by far the best place to find out: http://www.last.fm/user/Lunatock/ and even that isn't all that accurate as of late (I've since gotten a new computer), but that'll change soon now that I've redownloaded the plugins.

Anyway, ignorance is probably the biggest downfall of the mainstream. People think so narrowly that it actually hurts to hear. If I don't have dark skin, wear a grill, drive a slab, and sport a 24" chain to match the 24" dubs, I can't listen to or like rap. Does that make sense to you? Probably not, or at least I hope not. Ha.
Oh well. Mainstream is slowly getting better, and unlike most cats who will throw around the "You've Sold Out" card everywhere, I'll be actually very happy to see some of my favorite artists on MTV or MTV2 or FUSE or anything, really. I don't take pride in listening to bands my friends have never heard of, I take pride in listening to good music - there's a difference.

Hip-Hop is a Lifestyle

2007-12-10T12:53:00.001-08:00

I'll be building this blog based off my friend B-LeaVe's blog about rap: Found here

Anyway. Without being as brash as B, I'd like to shed some light myself on the state of hip-hop and other things without as much bias (not to say there won't be any bias, because there will be.).

Sure,
when you think of good rap, you think of Eminem. Eminem is the
household name for any mainstream artist with lyrical quality, right?
Fact is, he's a beast at what he does. Listen to his verses on Renegade
by Jay-Z to show how easily he outshines so many out there. But then
again, he's receeding into negativity due to the likes of Akon and 50
Cent and T.I.

So what's left for good artists? Well, recently
MTV took a huge leap of faith and decided to make an underground rap
icon, Aesop Rock, the artist of the week. This was great news for
everyone, but it irked me how people thought he sold out. If anything
this is wonderful, because his style is finally being shown to the rest
of the world. Hopefully this is a good omen. Don't expect AR to rap
about dubs with Dupri, so don't try and say he's sold out. It's a good
step towards progression after the past few years of nothing but bling
and arrest warrants. I'm actually very happy people like Lupe Fiasco
and Gym Class Heroes get airplay. We needed something new for a long
time coming.

People like Kanye West are progressing in the ways
of production with sampling, but because of his offair antics (similar
to how Tom Cruise acts), he's looked down upon. That's a real shame,
too. Not to say he's the next Nas, but it's good to know his last album
has sold more than 50 Cent's new album. Why do I bash on 50 Cent? I
bash on him because he pulls that hard image into the mainstream
(dispite The Game and others proving he hasn't even been shot as many
times as he has), when he's not hard at all. Who cares if you grew up
poor in bad neighborhoods? You live in the Hamptons now. If you want to
look at an artist who continually doesn't give a fuck, look at DMX. I
swear he has to have the largest arrest list in the industry.

Anyway,
back to the statements at hand. The true state of hip-hop is dwindling
due to bias. The reason people like Paul Wall do so well is because
they rap about what (oddly enough) people want to hear about: Being
more successful than you. That's why when Aesop Rock (who wears thrift
store sweaters, blue jeans and baseball caps) was chosen as Artist of
the Week, people shook their heads in dismay. He had to have been
chosen for some reason, right? God forbid MTV ever think about "He has
talent!" before "He can sell to the public". Haha, everyone thinks MTV
is the devil, but that's not the case. MTV airs what the people want to
hear. If you take the initiative to vote Tech N9ne on TRL, then things
will change.

To be blunt (and probably offensive) when I say
this, the fact is Hip-Hop is dead because the public made it so. You
chose to listen to bullshit, so this is what happens. Funny how most
people who listen to underground rap compared to the mainstream are
seemingly more intellegent (in general) than those who listen to the
radio. See, when you choose D4L or Dem Franchise Boyz over Atmosphere
or Hangar 18, you look like an idiot. Not to insult you, which I'm not
meaning to do, but the fact is if your defense on music is "Because
it's cool" instead of "Because they're good", then you've killed
yourself in that argument before it even started.

Here are some
good artists to look for: Aesop Rock, Atmosphere, Hangar 18, Danny!,
Lupe Fiasco, Pharaohe Monch, Sage Francis, Cannibal Ox, MF Doom,
Immortal Technique and Tech N9ne as a start.

And yes, before you
think I'm too biased, I do listen to mainstream. Here's a short list:
The Game, WC, Eminem, Wu Tang Clan, Redman, Fort Minor, Gym Class
Heroes, Jay-Z and Ludacris for example.

Look at my other blogs.
They're all free internet releases of GOOD underground rap music. I'll
continue to post free releases, and promote them for that reason.
People need to broaden their views and give underground a chance. The
people I promote aren't waiting for a label to release their shit, they
took initiative, got on their grind, and made it happen themselves.
Hip-Hop isn't just music, it's a lifestyle.