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Other than what I read over at Tony's Kansas City (a great blog by the way, go check it out), I can't say that I know a whole lot about what's going on in Missouri. As for the music scene in the area, the only two artists that I can name off the top of my head are Charlie Parker and Tech N9ne. Dope artists both, but not quite enough for me to go out of my way to check for the music originating from the Show Me State. Yet as the constant stream of mixtapes and demos in my inbox has made me aware, virtually every city in the country has at least one unsigned rapper putting out music that's worth listening to. In the case of Kansas City, there's an entire collective of artists that have quietly been collaborating on some great music: the INnate Sounds Crew.
Founded by Miles Bonny, who grew up near my hometown in Jersey, the INnatesounds crew consists of several MCs and producers, an R&B singer and a jazz pianist. With a group that large -- fourteen members and counting -- there's the potential for the music to lack any real cohesion. On the group's "launch" mixtape, the songs jump from boom bap and backpacker-friendly hip hop to R&B slow jams to jazz instrumentals - yet it ends up coming together surprisingly well. Given the wide variety of musical styles represented here, it's a safe bet that there will be at least a couple of tracks you'll be feeling.
Not surprisingly, the hip hop tracks on the mix were what got my attention initially, and they've held up after repeated listening. Here are a few of them:
Ubiquitous - 1, 2
Miles Bonny - B My B Girl instrumental (the actual beat kicks in around 0:40)
Phase One and TE1 - Untitled
Due to the rather diverse nature of the group, I had a tough time picking which songs to put up. There were a few others that, were it not for bandwidth fees, I would have put up. In particular, there's a nice track by Lindquist and Greer that sounds like CL Smooth rapping over a DJ Premier beat. The mixtape is free, so go download it and listen to all of the tracks.
Click here to download the full INnatesounds Launch Mix (sendspace link).
Alternate link (zShare)
The whole crew continues to put out their own separate projects, which you can read about and download over at the INnatesounds website.
And shoutout to crew member Leonard D. Stroy for sending along the mixtape.
7/18/2007 8:28:29 PM posted by Fresh