hip-hop | | atractivoquenobello

Lizzo – ‘Batches & Cookies feat. Sophia Eris’

30 September 2013

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As is the nature of trends, things have gone rather quiet in the realms of rap ever since the hype machine, of which aqnb is inescapably a cog, ceased on that so-called ‘weird’ strain of hip hop, across the likes of Mykki Blanco, Zebra Katz and Riff Raff. That’s not say there isn’t still some good stuff out there and here’s Detroit-born, Minneapolis based Lizzo as an example.

A throwback to the fun and ridiculous rap of the likes of Missy Elliot, who was probably getting her start when Lizzo was a toddler, ‘Batches & Cookies feat. Sophia Eris’ confuses the potential innuendo of “cookies and cream” across some brilliantly bouncing old school samples from her forthcoming album LIZZOBANGERS, out on Totally Gross National Product, November 4. **

Mykki Blanco – ‘The Initiation’

6 June 2013

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There’s a big connection between this new wave of hip young rappers based in New York City and London. Angel Haze credits the UK city with being the first to embrace her and Le1f, the likes of M.I.A. and grime with opening up the sound of hip hop. As for Mykki Blanco, if it isn’t ‘Haze. Boogie. Life‘ being shot in what looks suspiciously like Dalston’s Ridley Road Market, this new video, dropped from Mykki’s recent EP, Betty Rubble: The Initiation, out on UNO last month, looks like it’s been shot pretty close by for MOCAtv.

But rather than a beaded, braided hairstyle, it’s his body that’s literally being waved around via the magic of special effects, while he crawls around the grim streets of London with an extra face on his head. It’s oddly appropriate to the weird and alien vibes of his track ‘The Initiation’ and testament to the talent of British director Ninian Doff. If you already thought that Mykki Blanco was weird, things just got a bit more so. **

THEESatisfaction Loves Erykah Badu.

15 February 2013

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Not to rub it in or anything but one of our favourite live acts, THEESatisfaction, are touring the US in April and May with Shabazz Palaces. For those of us on another continent there’s solace in the transcendent futurist grooves of their reworked and reinstated tracks in tribute to the ‘Queen of Neo-Soul’ Erykah Badu.

As the next in line for the throne, Stasia Irons and Cat Harris-White have been producing a raft of modern beats, built on a long tradition of black empowerment and Afro-futurism in music, and last year released a brilliant, though comparatively underrated album debut awE naturalE on Seattle’s Sub Pop. Continuing on a series of ‘THEESatisfaction Loves…’ mixtapes the wonky psych-soul for Ms Badu follows on from last year’s October drop in praise of R&B singer Anita Baker. Listen and download here.**

Kitty – ‘Daisy Rage’ EP

4 February 2013

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The Florida meme-cum-human-being, formerly known as Kitty Pryde, has dropped her first EP Daisy Rage via her social network. She’s just Kitty now and a triumph for the purported vapidity of the Great Online with her darkly unstable lyrics attacking everything and everyone on the back foot as a girl who’s single-handedly “ruining hip hop”.

Just 19-years-old and virtually born on tumblr, the snow-white ginger from the suburbs joins a legion of mutant rappers smashing the status quo and taking popular culture down with them. She´s already collaborated with Texan rapper Riff Raff and contributed words to Le1f’s latest Fly Zone mixtape but now she’s come into her own with her razor sharp social (media) observations delivered along the eye-rolling languor of the new cyberpunk. YOLO, twitter and Kim Kardashian’s backside aren’t safe from her biting commentary and with any luck there’ll be plenty more where that came from.

Kitty’s Daisy Rage EP is out now.