Thirty Three Jones | Desktop Site
Bambu and DJ Muggs - Pow Wow Drums
After spending the day listening to Zilla and Castro's new West Coastin' mixtape, a collection of classic Left Coast cuts, it got me to thinking about the current state of Cali hip hop. As someone who grew up during the heyday of N.W.A, I've had a hard time connecting with the material from more recent (mainstream) Golden State artists - for my tastes, it's been either too commercial or too much of a caricature of what West Coast rap used to be.
One Cali rapper that I have become a big fan of, though, is L.A.'s Bambu. His rhyme style is fully up-to-date, but in a lot of ways he's a throwback to the hip hop of the late 80's, the era of N.W.A. and Public Enemy: he manages to spit political, often revolutionary, lyrics while keeping his rhymes accessible enough for the average fan to appreciate. It's something that rappers like Ice Cube and Chuck D became masters at, but that a lot of current political rappers like Immortal Technique are unable to pull off consistently.
The above anti- anti-Immigration law track and the below riff on Stoned is the Way of the Walk are off of Bambu's upcoming mixtape with DJ Muggs. The third video, Paper Thin, a rallying cry against gentrification, is off of Bambu's album Paper Cuts. You can find more info on both over at Bambu's website.
Bambu and DJ Muggs - Smoke Smarter
Paper Thin - Bambu feat. Chace Infinite
9/22/2010 5:45:50 PM posted by Fresh