Keb0 & Tokyo Cigar “Live on Cloud 9” EP
Keb0 and i have come full circle. EP to album to EP again. In between we made a lot of dope joints. I put a lot of emotion into my beats and when i find an MC that can match the emotional content neck and neck is always the biggest blessing. This EP came together seamlessly as all our collaborations do but this one took some extra time and grew a lot as a result of the extra time put into it. Scope out the breakdown.
1. Reverse Oragami – This is personal introspection mixed with a “walking past a swamp barefoot” type murky soul beat. Kebo jumps out the helicopter with the flow off the break. Its almost like the space at the start is the only chance you have to cath your beath cause once the onslaught starts it doesnt stop till the end. This is the start of the movie and introduces the lead characther in a funky way.
2. Drifting – This beat makes me wanna slide across the hood of a car “Dukes of hazzard” style. When keb0 sent me the vocals i was like WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?????? The smoothness yet ruggedness of Keb0’s delivery really struck me about this track. They lyrics were poignant as always. Painting a scene of his stomping grounds in such a way that i tend to listen to this joint with my eyes closed just to visualize it.
3. Middle fingerz up – This is one of those joints that makes you feel invincible. Arrogant in confidence levels and overdosing on adrenaline. I went for a triumphant layered beat with a lot of texture in it. I barely jog but if i jogged a lot i think this would be in the playlist cause something about it just screams “go the extra mile” even if your tired. The delivery on this was waterworld. Keb0 really expanded his tones and flows on the EP and this song is one of the strongest examples of that.
4. Live on cloud 9 – This is what i would consider a hip hop version of “Eye of the tiger” if the rapper was a pimp. The beat screams EPIC but the verses whisper LIFE. Life in all it’s glory and misery. Compacted and spit out in the form of a song that makes you wanna snuff someone then turn around and hug your mom’s two seconds later. Build ups and instrumental breakdowns mirrior the build ups and breakdowns of the narrator. Life in techicolor with some static thrown in for good measure.
5. Late at night – This is the anthisesis of the extreme emtional highs the EP has. Keb0 sent me 2 versions of this joint. The first one was very fitting for the beat already but the second version damn near made me tear up. This song is the manifestation of every bad day you had. I dont mean getting your car towed type bad. I mean total devastation borderline suicidal type bad day. The loop is based on some strings i played while going through a particularly rough time in my life and when i sent it to keb0 he honed in on the misery of the beat and created rhymes that took the beat by the hand fucked it hard in an abandoned building then took it to Vegas to marry it. if this EP is a movie the movie ends like something like “Gone baby gone” Where you find yourself comatose at the end of the movie cause you are stunned at the sad ending and find yourself wondering how the characters journey would ultimately end.
Salute to Keb0 for the next chapter in the saga.
Check out the post we got on 2dopeboyz.
http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2012/07/25/keb0-live-on-cloud-9-freep/#comment-939539
M-PHATIK SOUNDS – ON THE VERGE MIXTAPE hosted by J-LOVE
This is officially the heaviest jumpoff i had in music to date. J-Love is my favorite mixtape DJ of all time. I lost count of all the fantastic unreleased gems i heard fucking with his mixtapes. So many uncleared joints by Ghost, Nas, Meth, Mobb etc that i never would have been able to hear if it wasn’t for J-love are flying around in my head right now. The other thing that really stuck out about his tapes were the demos he would throw on. I never even knew stuff like the original version of “Wu tang 7th chamber” existed till i grabbed the Method Man J-Love tape. It got to the point that whenever i would see a J-Love joint i would cop it without even looking at the damn tracklist. He delivered so many bangers from the best era cats that it was always a no brainer to get it.
Peep the pic if you think i’m just saying this shit to say it
Needless to say to be on this mixtape is an HONOR. Not to get on some mystical type shit but the fact J-Love is from Queens is also fitting cause the first time i heard hip hop in my life was Run-Dmc so thats a dope connection right there.
Major shout out to M-Credible for putting me on to this. Hearing J-Love shout me out on the production tip is the type of shit i’m gonna tell my grand kids about. I produced 6 tracks ( the intro, all the interludes, “Thats Hip hop” By The Regiment & “The book of 7 fists” by Heavenly Cartel ) and hearing the final mix of everything with the shout outs ranks up there with getting the best piece of nookie i ever had. CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY. Apart from the fact i’m on it the tape is ILL as well. A lot of gutter cats on this joint throwing titanium darts on it. Plus got some production bangers by the homies M-crdible, Nick wiz ( i still got cella dwellas on bump ), Confidence, Purpose from Tragic Allies ( these dudes are the TRUTH ) and others as well. 100% banging Hip hop no contaminents.
Download the mixtape here
THE TOKYO CIGAR EDITION 