Dmack x Hollywood FLOSS

@HollywoodFLOSS I had this review done for quite sometime now. For a while actually. But things happened, and it didn't get posted. Hollywood FLOSS dropped his album House of Dreams not too long ago. I Did a review for it. Peep it here:

House of Dreams

The album starts with an energetic track, (horns, drums, etc.) something that really grabs your attention, and gets you up and moving. Not one to get outshined by a great beat, Hollywood Floss SPITS. Clever lines and witty flows such as “12 steps ahead/ you can say I relapsed”, “so drink up, let my music soak in/151, every line potent.” Then, on the same track, he switches up the beat to almost the exact opposite of the first sound you heard. It goes from a lively and exuberant track to something mellow. Less lyricism and more explanation of the LP’s name. With lines like “I hope I never wake, I know it sounds extreme/ but Hollywood Floss is out living his dream.” The transition in between could have been smoother but it was a great way to start of the album because the track seizes your attention.

He’s Back

T he next track gets active again, it sounds very similar to the House of Dreams track. Boasting with lyricism and braggadocious rhymes, it almost sounds a little angry. With clever, and quick lines and nice wordplay like “Too many bleak [Bleek] careers, not enough Jay-Zs”. The he switches the beat and rhymes (much more smoothly this time) into a somber story about a woman being left by a man who impregnated her. It is a good track but it is a lot like the track right that played right before it.

To New Beginnings

The next track, To New Beginnings, is a very personal track; it is a song about Hollywood Floss’ life condensed into 4 minutes. Through Floss’ lyrics you can see his life through a somber but reflective track. “I ain’t never forgave myself/for not helping my cousin before he shot himself”. Floss does a great job of getting the listener’s attention. The lyrics and delivery blend together perfectly in harmony. This is one of the best tracks on the album, and one of my favorites.

When The Worlds against You

After such a personal track, Floss follows it up perfectly with this inspirational track. Even though it is a song on the album for the listener, you can tell Floss made this song for himself. Its straight inspiration and builds up hope. Even “when the world’s against you, you gotta put your fist up higher.” A song that provides hope is something that you don’t hear too often in hip-hop.

I’ll Be Honest

The next track is “I’ll Be Honest” and it didn’t seem to flow after the last track. It was less cohesive than the previous tracks. From House of Dreams to When the World’s Against You, you can see why Floss placed it there. Each track had perfect placement. However, this track it seemed more like “well this track is going on the album, and it seems less awkward after “When The Worlds Against You”. Nevertheless, I do like the track though; he gives honest rhymes about controversial topics. After the soul-sampling beat, floss switches it up into a simpler beat with more brag swag raps.

She Said…

The next track is the HILARIOUS “She Said…” It’s a track describing the relationship between him and his girl. While tracks about relationships tend to be super-serious, Floss heads the other direction and makes it into something of comedy. With rhymes such as “She said slow down, you don’t know how to drive/ I said I will take your advice when you get your own ride” and “She said why you always leave the toilet seat up? / I said why you tweet more than you have your feet done?” Although it is a funny song, Floss doesn’t forget he has a point to prove, and ties it together nicely in the end with advice for the men out there that don’t know how to treat their girl.

In Yo’ Dreams

The next track would probably be my least favorite track on the album. It is a track about clothes, his skills on the mic, and how you can’t “get like me” flow. Lyrically it isn’t bad, but it is more blatant bragging, and didn’t really see a point to it on the album. This just is not my type of track. Even though he does start spitting at the end, it’s just not my type of track. It does sound nice in the car; however it’s too much of a cliché “car song” to me.

Nightmare on MC Street

Next track is “Nightmare on MC Street” and is a straight GET LIVE track. Floss steps outside his box, and does the fast-flow and does it quite well. Straight witty lyricism (these squares are exponentially less, they do not grow), a great flow, and an excellent beat. Couldn’t ask for anything more in this track. This is one of those “Hold up, let me rewind this” tracks.

Life

The next track is “Life” and it is the most creative track on the album. Floss personifies Life as a person, a girl at that. Floss describes the relationship with Life, which isn’t necessarily a good one but one you have to keep regardless. “If you do get to dance with her, hold on tight/ because some don’t even get the invite, but hey…that’s Life”

Shut It Down

The last track on the album “Shut It Down” is a perfect way to end the album. It tells the perfect tale to who Floss is, his mission, and what he stands for. All the while repping his city and not forgetting where he came from, paying homage to those that made Houston what it is.

You might have noticed that I didn’t really go that much into the production on the album. That was on purpose because I felt like it deserved its own section. Hollywood Floss and Chris Rockaway handled most of the production and let me say, they did their thing. They use real instruments (drums, guitars, etc.), beautifully flipped soul-sampling. Every beat is above average, and production-wise (quote me) this album is damn near flawless. (ESPECIALLY in the car).

Overall, this is an exceptional album. Hollywood Floss destroys the stereotype that southern rappers can’t rap. This is an album I can see myself still listening to months from now. That’s something I rarely do. He did an excellent job of creating a work of art that is clever, has examples of great lyricism, and elements of humor that I hope you listen to.

$15.00 out of $20

Buy the digital/physical copy of House of Dreams for $10 at Bigcartel [Hardcopy] or iTunes [digital]

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(Via @Eighty4fly's People)

Here is the latest video effort from Eighty4 Fly "Like Planes." Thank you in advance for your support and we hope you enjoy! FLYworld! This track will be featured on Eighty4 Fly's upcoming mixtape with The World Famous DJ Bmello.

DOWNLOAD: LIKE PLANES

M-Dot - No Money Down

(Via @RevOfEMS)

M-Dot's New Music video "No Money Down" directed by Zach Voytas (has had several works on MTV2). The video was shot with the same type of camera they used for "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and was filmed on location in California (the Mojave Desert). The radio single "No Money Down" is off of Commonwealth Records compilation CD A Boston State of Mind Vol.2 out now. The video will also be on Comcast Cable On-Demand soon!!!!

"In the video, M-Dot is a soldier who's lost contact with his troops. He's left to die in the desert but instead he survives and is able to find his way back to civilization with no assistance. The video is a metaphor for his independent mind state in the rap game and how he's grinded his way into every opportunity and blessing that has come his way thus far.

My local homies usually get love but this time they did me the favor, sending this in twice. Luckily I caught it the 2nd time and must I say M-Dot & his crew know how to shoot a video! the angles, the cuts, the focuses, were all in tune with the song making it blend in an absolutely brilliant way. Salute to Zach Voytas who directed this video, you've done very very well for yourself.

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J. Smith – Life On The Scene

Via @JACQUESMORELS

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I dig the freestyle of K'NAAN's ABCs track, smith has some skills, take a listen.

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Nick Rage - Gemini Album Release

 

Via Ryan at @HHKDotCom

Pittsburgh artist Nick Rage has announced he will be releasing his debut album “Gemini” on May 21st 2010. With features from the likes of Royce Da 5’9, King Gordy and Krizz Kaliko, Gemini is not only vividly imaginative, but powerful through lyricism and great music too. 

Nick Rage has previously released several projects including the high-profiled “Dead to Society” mixtape which was credited with no fewer than 10,000 downloads and listens worldwide. Gemini is built on the foundation of Dead to Society, however the growth of Nick Rage as an artist and song writer clearly shows. 

Gemini will be released digitally via iTunes and all popular online retailers, and a limited number of physical copies are also available which can be pre-ordered through Nick Rage’s official blogspot website. Gemini is available from May 21st.

Courtesy of HHK we also have an exclusive sampler of the album for our try before you buy types out there (you know who you are).

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King Zigg Zag - Korduroy Killaz [Beat Tape]

I'm back...and you know what that means. @kingziggzag drops this is a dope ass beat tape. Its worth the download. Tell me "In The Chamber" doesn't go hard. Check out the stream/description/tracklist below.

Tracklist:
1.Funk (In The Trunk)
2.Cherry Soda (Hold It Down)
3.Dopeman Blues (187-NARC)
4.Rhythm (It's Life)
5.Never Say Never
6.Pin The Tail (On The Honkey)
7.The World (7 Grams)
8.No Favors
9.From The Grime
10.Ronny Regs (Stemz)
11.Inside My Love (And Yo Mouf)
12.In The Chamber (Regulate)
13.In The Dungeon (Korduroy)

Description:
"Okay, you may be wondering what the hell is up with the name of the album, not only that, your wondering who the hell are The 187 Dopemen, and who is that sitting in a cell on the cover? I don't really have too many answers to give other than drugs can really make you do some pretty goofy stuff.. I had come up with all of the details of this album as a total joke.. it was going to be a parody on really old obscure g-funk albums.. the ones with really silly covers and crazy cliche raps about 40 oz's and 64 impalas.. It wasn't hate or anything since I love westcoast hip-hop, but it was just really funny to me. Turns out my g-funk stint didn't really last too long, so I scrapped the idea; but I really liked how the cover turned out, and I actually grew to the name King Zigg Zag.. so I made it official.. I tried to keep the album in the same spirit since I didn't want it to be another idea down the toilet (I also wanted to do a mafioso hip-hopera but that never panned out).. the 187 Dopemen were suppose to be a group of emcees with totally ridiculous names and gimmicks to match my parody. I was even going to go as far as telling people it was some random album from 1994 that I just stumbled upon.. there are some instances where I just can't explain how my mind works, and this is one of them.. either way, the beats are totally serious.. it's just masked with a silly set of titles."

Stream/Download:

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Chiddy Bang - Translation Freestyle

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"Up and coming hip hop act Chiddy Bang was invited to come into Jay-Z and Steve Stoute's marketing agency, Translation LLC. Cinematographer Kristopher Rey-Talley was on hand to document it, as Noah laid down a beat. Chiddy, instead doing a typical performance, decided to use his Emcee skills and spit for seven minutes straight with no break"

Fashawn - Samsonite Man (Video)

No words needed. Just enjoy

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3 - Settle Down (Feat. Choze) (Prod. by Klash)

Via @ChozeNBG

This is a track I heard while down in LA with K L ^ S H, he suggested that I hop on the remix so I did as soon as I got back to Portland and here it is. Hope everyone enjoys this one.

I'm back again yall! Hope nobody missed me but anyways, our latest Music Monday is a new joint produced by Klash that Choze hopped on to remix. We've got alot of nice things planned for you guys aside from Music Monday so sit tight and we'll be sure to deliver you a little something soon.

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Download "Another Night"