video review: 'ROME' by armand hammer (ft. beezy430 of dead end hip hop)

Well, this was a ton of fun, I'm glad this came through. 

But next up, I've got a few country reviews coming up, so stay tuned!

video review: 'who the hell is damone tyrell?' by damone tyrell

Well, this takes care of the last of my real backlog... now onto the meaty challenge, the huge list of records I need to discuss over the next two weeks! Lord help us all here...

Okay, Danny Brown and Bon Iver first, let's GO!

album review: 'who the hell is damone tyrell?' by damone tyrell

I try to avoid talking about other critics online.

Now there are times I can't avoid it - if I'm collaborating with someone it's bound to come up, and we're always curious on some level what other people might say or think - but to me we've all got our own lanes and approaches, and as long as things stay civil I'm generally pretty pleased. And full disclosure here, I actually have collaborated with an affiliated member of the group behind the artist I'm covering today, where they actually sent me the project to review in full. That doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on anybody - I'd be less of a critic if I did - but I feel it's necessary to provide context.

So, for all of you who saw the name of this artist and then asked the question in the title of his album, Damone Tyrell is an Atlanta MC by way of Buffalo who at the last minute decided to compete in an open mic competition called The Bar Exam when he learned it would be judged by the team over at Dead End Hip Hop. And hell, if I was an aspiring MC, I'd probably give it a shot too, but when Damone won he attracted some real attention, which led to a congregation of producers to give this guy a real independent push. And before I even start with the review, let me stress how much I admire this sort of idea - they've always said that Dead End Hip Hop is a movement beyond the reviews, and with projects like this and The Joint mixtape last year, I can definitely respect the idea of becoming the force not just of promoting the music you love, but enabling its creation.

But I've wasted enough time - let's ask the big question, who the hell is Damone Tyrell?

video review: 'sol invictus' by faith no more (ft. myke c-town)

Yeah, we might be a little late to the punch here, but the album only just dropped last week and we had a complicated shoot to work with. In any case, I'm really proud with how this turned out, and thanks again to Myke for joining me here!

Next up, A$AP Rocky needs more listens, but I think I'm finally ready to tackle LMNO - stay tuned!

video review: 'kill the architect' by cage (a second look ft. myke c-town)

Man, this video took too damn long to create, but I think in terms of the content, it's worth it. Thanks again to Myke C-Town for the conversation, it really was quite enlightening and I really appreciated it. :D

Okay, now to make massive catch-up on my schedule, it's going to be a crazy week. Say Anything first, so stay tuned!