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As promised, my man Jak recently passed along the second entry in his latest series of mixtapes, the International edition of Emcees and Producers to Watch. Just like the previous tapes, this one is filled with cuts from unsigned artists (and a couple of rappers who have had record deals at one point, such as Phil Da Agony) from around the world, covering everything from lyrical boom bap to radio-friendly club rap. It skews more toward the underground, but if you've heard any of Jak's previous offerings you should know by now he's got a knack for finding some really good material from artists you likely have never heard of before.
I won't do a full review, but there was one song that I thought stood out and deserved to be highlighted. The track is from Solo for Dolo, an emcee out of Elizabeth, NJ that reminds me a lot of Jin. A couple of the lines on here are outdated - there's a jab at Jay-Z that seems to be referencing his brief role as the head of Def Jam - but his delivery is on point and the concept for the song, "You Can't Say This On Demo Tapes," is a nice twist on the typical Rap-Was-Better-In-The-90s lament. Peep:
Solo for Dolo - You Can't Say This On Demo Tapes (produced by Ru)
One other emcee that stood out on the tape was NY's Rugged N Raw, with his entry "I'm Broke & Proud" serving as a rather funny endorsement for living broke. Given the current state of the economy, no doubt a lot of people can relate to this one:
Rugged N Raw featuring Hasan Salaam - I'm Broke & Proud (prod: DJ Static)
Download link for Emcee's and Producers to Watch - From the States to Overseas Part 2 (rapidshare link)
Further Listening:
Emcees and Producers To Watch blog
Rugged N Raw on Myspace
Solo for Dolo on Myspace
9/18/2009 9:00:51 AM posted by Fresh