dopeness is what i like the most

As a lifelong resident of Connecticut for the 28 years I've been here in the physical, I've got a lot of world left to experience. But I've also become very familiar with the CT music - specifically hip-hop - scene, especially over the last five or six years. For a lot of reasons (some justified, some not), the music coming from CT is pretty heavily slept on. That being said, there are a number of extremely gifted artists in this state who are dedicated to perfecting their craft and growing into themselves, both personally and artistically.  Since I started immersing myself in CT hip-hop, three of my favorite artists based out of CT are/have been Vee Skeeno , Jaden Castro and The Sloth. So, seeing Skeeno drop a new record that features all three is no doubt a musical blessing for this blogger/fan.  With "Stumbling", listeners get to experience how beautifully the unique style of each artist blends together with the others. For fans, this should come a...

With all the darkness casting shade on the light around the world today, what we all need is a little more self love. In fact, it just may be the medicine that helps remove all the dis-ease that's causing so many perceived tragedies to take place. Enter CrissB.amazing, with the next cut off Work2 . Over the vibe heavy instrumental, Bawrs expresses the importance of recognizing your own greatness. There's a fine line between self-love and cocky, and CrissB is dancing all over the fucking line while encouraging each and every listener to step up and flex a little. On "Sense of Self (The Flex)", CrissB.amazing enlists his longtime associate family,  Bklyn Lo , for the feature. As expected, Bklyn comes through with a flex heavy, breakneck verse that compliments CrissB's verse befittingly. Hit play below and stay tuned for more work from CrissB.amazing.

I was first introduced to the sounds of Bklyn Lo thanks to his association with UZOO, a collective based out of Connecticut. While my familiarity with his music is still limited at best, I was instantly captivated by his keen lyricism and aggressive energy. Although the future of UZOO is unknown, it was a welcome surprise to see a new drop from Bklyn come across my timeline.  On his latest release, Bklyn Lo utilizes Casanova's " Set Trippin " instrumental to lay down some in your face, braggadocious lyrics. Bklyn fills the track with a smooth, rapid paced flow, making full use of the beat. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the emcee's intense delivery against the less aggressive instrumental.  It's worth noting that, in addition to cooking up music, Bklyn Lo is also v skilled when it comes to shooting and editing videos. He's got other work out there, but I've included the "Double O Flow" visuals at the bottom of this post. Listen to ...

With the release of his next project approaching, Aaron Cohen drops off our third taste of the upcoming See Red .  The Jarren Benton-assisted "Bloodshot" features production from Brakebill, who also handled production on the EP's title-track . Based on the three cuts released so far, it sounds like See Red  will rely heavily on aggressive sonic backdrops, which serve to compliment Cohen's blunt, in-your-face, and arrogant lyrics.  Tell the whole world get off my dick,  Like I don't know any better,  Tell the whole world to bump my shit,  Fuck you, didn't know any better  At this point in his career, Cohen has every right to be arrogant. He's been busting his ass, dedicating himself to perfecting his craft and his art - and people are finally  starting to take notice. That's not to say he hasn't had a loyal fan base for a while now. On the contrary, the Queens-based artist has only been gaining new fans since the release...

In the past, I've made the mistake of covering music I didn't really enjoy simply to please an artist, an artist's PR, or a friend. In doing so, I compromised the integrity of the website I wrote for and I did damage to my own integrity.  So, when I started this blog, I promised myself I would not - no matter the circumstances - post/share/write about any content I did not genuinely fuck with.  Which brings me to Ian Matthew's latest release, "Feeling This Way".  I've had my ear on Ian's music for a while now, thanks to a connection I have with his team. And, I'll be blunt, I've never felt a real appeal to what I've heard or seen (hopefully no egos are injured in the writing of this post).  While I recognized dude had bars, my thoughts usually went something like this: a lot  of people have bars, a lot  of people can rap...what's setting you out from everyone else who can string words together and flow? The worst th...

Wrex Mason may have taken about as long a hiatus from dropping new music as I took from blogging about new music. Fortunately, sometimes it takes stepping away from a passion to recognize the necessity of that passion in one's life and allow said passion to manifest itself in the best way possible.  At the end of January, Wrex released a new joint under his Q. Arafat alias and, in my admittedly biased opinion, it's great to once again hear something fresh from the NJ-by way of -CT-based artist.  "Expurgation (f.k.a. Imperfect Cell)" is our first taste of Q. Arafat's upcoming 9000+: YINMN (co-starring Nelson Bandela)  project. At just under 3 minutes, the song features roughly a minute and a half of lyrics, which makes sense considering Wrex's combined passion for production and writing/rapping. This "don't call it a comeback" track showcases the versatility of Mason, who uses the song to flaunt his blunt lyricism and his unique sound...

If we're being honest, I'm not at all familiar with Swing High, Swing Low but, after listening through "Swear 2 U" enough times to gather my thoughts on the track, I'm definitely curious enough to explore more of their catalogue. Zhero being featured on this joint is what brought me to listening and I'm grateful I checked it out. While "Swear 2 U" is certainly not my usual cup of tea, I found myself vibing to the self-proclaimed "emo trap" song.  Give a listen to "Swear 2 U" below. 

Upon another successful trip around the sun, Connecticut's CrissB.amazing drops off "CNote", a record that will find life on Work2 , a new project currently in the works.  One of the highlights of Bawrs' music is his keen ability to craft uptempo, anthem-esque tracks that contain deep, meaningful lyrics. In doing so, CrissB is able to draw listeners in with his "fun" sound and then hit them with knowledge, wisdom and understanding. The juxtaposition of turn-up vibe production with "enlightened" lyricism is an art form in and of itself and CrissB.amazing - and his AQMNI brother, Ty Hookz - has a serious stronghold on said art form.  "CNote" features production from 2chillbeats and Merodi. Hit play on the young gawd's latest below.