I've noticed a recent surge in hits from the Chicago area, so in order to soften the blow of Rex Grossman's stumbling through last night's Super Bowl for all of y'all, I thought I'd spotlight one of the city's up-and-comers. Today's post comes courtesy of Naledge and DJ Dub's mixtape The Crown Jewels, released in late 2006.
One half of the rap group Kidz In The Hall, Naledge was born in Cincinnati but grew up in Chicago. During his freshman year at UPenn he met the other member of the Kidz, Jersey-based producer (and Olympic athlete) Double-O. The two eventually hooked up with Just Blaze, signed a deal with Rawkus Records and released one of the best albums of 2006, School Was My Hustle.
Naledge is currently working on a solo album, featuring production from both Just Blaze and Double-O, and this mixtape has me looking forward to it. One of the few new rappers on the scene that seems to have something relevant to say, Naledge's lyrics cover everything from the current state of hip hop to international politics. Those are some heavy topics, but Naledge keeps it light by filling his rhymes with punchlines.
Here are a couple of freestyles off of The Crown Jewels:
Naledge and his crew, Major League Entertainment, have a blog over here. So far it seems to be just a bunch of press releases, but Naledge has said in the past that he is an aspiring writer, so perhaps he will start writing some of the blog entries himself. In the meantime, you can hit up the Kidz in the Hall MySpace page to hear more of his music.
2/5/2007 8:42:58 AM posted by Fresh
Comments:
Ive been hearing about kidz in the hall for a minute, but this is the first time ive actually listened to one of their songs. or freestyles in this case. This kid sounds pretty nice, might have to cop that album.
2/5/2007 2:31:37 PM posted by tony
^I'll admit I tend to go easy on any group that is (at least in part) from Jersey, so maybe I'm biased. But I liked the Kidz in the Hall album a lot more than Little Brother.
Naledge has room for improvement, no doubt, but to me he's a lot more interesting than 95% of the rappers getting mainstream play.
2/6/2007 9:25:47 AM posted by fresh
I have mixed feelings about LB. Some of the stuff I love (Lovin' It, for example), some of it is boring to me.
It'll be interesting to see where LB goes now without 9th Wonder. I like 9th's beats a lot -- he's the main reason I even check for the group -- but maybe working with some fresh producers and changing their sound up a bit will give them new life.
2/6/2007 2:10:44 PM posted by fresh
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