My review of the Machete Vox label's Sneak Preview is up now at RapReviews.com. Here.
I love this comp, and I have high hopes for this Bay Area label. It combines some of the energy of hyphy, the attitude of Too $hort, and the indie spirit of artists like DJ Shadow and Blackaliscious. My favorite track is "Street Cred Need Me" by Z-Man, who also did the album cover.
The Machete Vox sound reminds me a little of E-40, especially Boac's "I Need Money." I was never a huge E-40 fan, but I did think the cover of his album In A Major Way, in which he is cooking crack, was fugging hilarious. He also had a few good singles as part of the hyphy movement, including "Tell Me When To Go." His weirdo rhyme style is an acquired taste, and best in small doses, but it is definitely distinctive.
There is also more than a little Too $hort in the Machete Vox sound, especially on tracks like "Shuddup." I actually have never owned any Too $hort, but it was impossible to come of age in Northern California in the late 80s without hearing "Life is..Too $hort." It sounds kind of corny now, but I like it. I made a Pandora station that is all 80s gangster rap, and it's friggin' awesome. It's amazing how tame a lot of that stuff sounds now.
Anyways, there's your Bay Area hip hop history lesson.
No comments:
Post a Comment