I’ll take Statik next to any producer today. After the album he did with Saigon, All in a Day’s Work, I don’t need to hear any more to confidently say this man has found his spot (pause?).
With the title of the song, I thought we were going to hear a B.B. King sample or interpolation, but that’s not the case (it’s a Biggie sample on the hook). The beat is smooth as hell, and Styles and Talib both give two strong verses.
(I’m in a rush right now, I’ll post the streaming version later)
(video will be available shortly if it’s not working at first)
Here’s where I spent the bulk of my night: at the Blacksmith showcase. I felt right at home having to go 20 minutes out of my way, outside the city to get to this joint. That’s hip-hop. It looked like someone’s backyard barbeque. It was well worth it because to say the bill was strong is an understatement: Blu and Exile, Strong Arm Steady, Idle Warship (who were dope and need more love), Kid Daytona, John Forte’s first live performance in 7 years, and Reflection Eternal.
They even had Hi-Tek playing some beats live on stage during the Reflection Eternal set. Forgive me for not having footage of that because my jaw was on the floor (pause?). This was the video taken from my flipcam, after I lost a decent spot up front. My apologies on the quality, but I’ve got some others coming that are much better quality.
In the meantime, enjoy this performance as best you can, and pretend you’re at SXSW if you’re not.
I didn’t think I’d hear anything new from Reflection Eternal until their SXSW showcase next month, so this is a welcome surprise. I was even more surprised to see it was a song about the internet… featuring Bootsy Collins. I figured a song about the internet would feature Joe Budden, Consequence, or someone who posts a daily vblog with constant tweets. You won’t hear me complaining about this track though, I’m just sayin’…
It was a little surprising to hear this kind of sound from Hi-Tek, but once I heard Bootsy Collins on the track, it all made sense.
Talib Kweli has never given me a reason to not believe him, but until I see a comprehensive project between him and Hi-Tek, I’ll keep posting stuff about the two of them reuniting. Keep em accountable, ya know?
In the second part of the interview, Kweli talks about his history with Lauryn Hill (which I never knew he really had), and has an interesting take on what people really want from her. Click the jump to see part two.
I don’t care if I’m late with this, because I like this track, and I think you should hear it. And damn Statik’s production has come a long way too.
Usually when I see these tracks with a million emcees, I’m less than interested for some weird reason. Even if they’re all dope emcees, I always think mega-billed tracks are gimmicky these days and not done for the right reasons. This one definitely is different. It’s forcing me to eat my words. You can tell it was put together and crafted with these dudes in mind. Good one, Statik.
Video from the track off Eardrum. The Blastmaster sure has been getting a lot of face time here the past few days. If you’re reading this Teacha (a big if), hit me up!
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