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While I've been spending the past few weeks researching bitcoin exchange rates as part of my exit plan from the rat race, failing to convince the Facebook police that I haven't been catfishing the real Doug E. Fresh, and generally neglecting this website, several of the usual suspects have been putting the final touches on some very big projects.
Perhaps most significantly is the newly-engaged Zilla Rocca's Neo Noir mixtape. I've been sitting on an advance copy of this one for over a month now, and over that time I've had the chance to digest what Zilla has called his "most joyful project." It certainly is, to my ears, the most lyrically mature of his projects. As an emcee Zilla's gone through quite an evolution since I first met him almost seven years ago (damn!); the years have seen him move on from my favorite rap duo since Nice N' Smooth to a solo artist to a member of the vaunted Wrecking Crew, and it's no surprise that his musical output has grown and evolved each step of the way.
Neo Noir is at its best when the material reflects on Zilla's career up to this point and what he's gone through to get here. As an emcee that came of age during the boom and bust era of Myspace Rappers - where every kid with a mic and a bootleg copy of fruityloops had aspirations of developing a "brand" and getting rich off of cd-r mixtapes - survived it and now finds himself on the other side of thirty in a new era where even the mythical major label record deal is no longer a guarantee of income or popularity, the artist formerly known as The Rap Jack Bauer seems to have reached a point where he can define his own success as an artist without using download counts or blog references as goalposts. Expressed in a different tone it might come off as the lamentings of a defeated man, but on songs like "Success is Failure" Zilla sounds more like a man who's discovered how to hold onto his sanity while surviving in the music industry:
Zilla Rocca - Success Is Invisible
Perhaps my favorite track on Neo Noir is 2 Dollar Lunches featuring fellow Wrecking Crew member Has-Lo. The song, filled with musings from the two emcees that should sound familiar to anyone who's ever drudged through a 9-to-5 for more years than expected in order to fund the pursuit of their true passion, could serve as an anthem for all independent artists:
Zilla Rocca featuring Has-Lo - 2 Dollar Lunches
To hear the full album, and purchase a limited edition cassette version that comes with a pair of cocktail coasters, head on over to the Neo Noir Mixtape page.
10/29/2013 3:30:00 PM posted by Fresh