Robust - Fillin In The Potholes - Out November 6, 2012
October 16, 2012 by Jeff

Back in 2004 Galapagos 4 released the official debut album of an up and coming Chicago MC named Robust entitled "Potholes in Our Molecules". Considered an independent hip hop classic in many circles, the album captured the essence of a young pessimists take on the world from a ’glass half empty’ perspective. Often riding the thin line between the popular abstract styles of the time, and classical boom bap rooted production and lyricism. It stands today as an audible record of a young Chi-Town rapper finding his own unique voice in the often redundant world of underground hip hop.

8 years, 7 releases, thousands of weed sacks, and a countless amount of shows later, we find Robust returning to the potholes concept with a completely fresh approach. From the gate you can tell this album is clearly not a case of him trying to recapture the glory of the original release, he’s simply tackling the idea from a more experienced and seasoned angle. However, his original modus operandi of making true to life songs containing social commentary, sarcasm, and introspective satire over dope beats is ever-present.

Never one to be accused of wack beat selection, Robust chose a wide assortment of beats from an all-star cast of Chicago hip hop producers. Max, Meaty Ogre, Pore, PNS, Maker, DJ Alo (who also did cuts on the album), and Jackson Jones all contributed beats to the project. Even Bigga himself produced a couple of the tracks, proving that he can definitely hold his own on the production side of things as well. Collectively, the style of beats he chose for the album could be considered as a sort of post-modern boom bap with scattered soulful undertones. It’s a style that perfectly complements Robus'ts notorious ’in the pocket’ cadence and honesty fueled song topics.

As fans, we all too often find ourselves yearning for our favorite artists to recapture a moment in time that has long passed by for the musician themselves. We fall in love with a debut album, and then we tend to pick apart the artists future releases with a fine comb, often forgetting it was the ground breaking spirit that gave us the original album to begin with. "Fillin’ in the Potholes" is much more than just a sequel to Robust’s G4 debut. It’s almost as though the original album was a pothole he dug for us deep in the Chicago streets, and in typical City of Chicago fashion it took 8 years to fill it back in.

added by: Jeff

Typical Cats - 3 - album out Septmber 25 2012
August 1, 2012 by Jefe

Typical Cats return, the last of the great true school crews - bearers of transformed tradition, innovators par excellence, and heralds of an undying devotion to the science and magic of boom bap music. The latest installment in the TC saga is 3, their third studio full-length. It plays like a message in a bottle from Hip Hop’s timeless present to the bizarre post-physical, digital, viral world in which we live. DJ Natural’s production chops have only deepened with time, and the rugged loops of the self-titled "Orange Album" and the live instrumentation of Civil Service have melded to yield a melange of soul, jazz, funk, roots, radical politics, and a sly refusal to bend to the dictates of current fashion. Kid Knish reprises his role as hip hop’s all-time greatest unseen crew member (sorry, Jarobi), serving up samples, historical references, and vinyl oddities for Natural to slice and serve as android slabs of production genius.

TC’s trio of MCs - Qwel, Denizen Kane, and Qwazaar - rhyme like men breathing from the soles of their feet. The basis of their legend is in full effect - crackling chemistry, unnerving flow, and true stories. The album plays like a jazz-era cutting session turned confessional booth, a stylistically freewheeling effort threaded together by moments of revelation, underpinned by fiercely focused production and dominated by stories of journey, moments of transformation, and warnings against coming catastrophe. For TC, the MC is a misunderstood figure, a musical seer, a minor prophet, and reluctant hustler, using words to outwit enemies, trump circumstances, and emerge from the belly of the beast with respect and rent money.

Highlights abound - Kane returning to his spoken word roots on "Denizen Walks Away," Qwel giving his early battle rap classics a run for their money on nickel-plated platters like "My Watch" and "Gordeon Knock," and Qwazaar flexing uncanny musical intuition, anchoring the record with meditative efforts on "Puzzling Thing" and "Reflections from the Porch" before pummeling tracks like "Better Luck" and "On My Square." Although the LP is studded with solo shots, crew tracks are the soul of the record. "On My Square" opens with a flurry of horns before exploding into an array of signature styles - multisyllabic combinations from Qwel, laid-back but incisive chatting from Kane, and a classic Qwa verse full of declarations, threats, and witticisms, all cemented by a Qwel chorus imbued with requisite layers of meaning. Natural’s production evolves with each verse, sliding from Meters style guitars with knocking drums to moody keys with ease.

The first single, "The Crown" is a frenetic display of jagged guitars and style-shifting that makes it a perfect complement to the Orange Album’s classic "Reinventing." The name, however, is something of a misnomer. TC have never been interested in being kings. They’ve been griots shouting from the village limits, stoning the village idiots, interrupting thieves, and solidifying sterling reputations as rappers’ rappers, smokers’ smokers, underground Gs, tribal chiefs. There will never be another Typical Cats. They leave the set like five men exiting a burning building, leaving wrecked stages and a catalog of classics in their wake. With their exodus, we find ourselves suddenly grown, having come of age with the culture, standing, as always, at the crossroads. With the music, we move like Gayle Sayers, howl like Magic Sam, see the city like a kid on the project bench, and mark it all down in a black book that will never close. It is what it is. Forever.

added by: Jefe

STARCROSSED
May 24, 2012 by Jefe

Batsauce 'Starcrossed' album coming this summer on G4.

added by: Jefe

Maxilla Blue
February 13, 2012 by Jeff

The Qwazaar & Batsauce 'What Love' Remix release has been pushed back a bit. Still coming, still going to be free... just a slight delay.

The next G4 release from Maxilla Blue is dropping on February 28th, 2012...

Solidifying in 2006 and releasing its debut album less than 2 years later, Maxilla Blue remains as a well preserved tribute to the classic raw hip hop combo of one producer, one Dj, and one emcee, bolstered by each component's thirst for craft perfection. Consistently fusing strong instrumentals and intricate cut work with power poetics, the Maxilla crew is perhaps most known for its affinity for captivating live audiences, resulting in countless appearances throughout the Midwest and Mountain regions in recent years, including college and university invitations as well as music festivals. MBC is fresh off the completion of their 3rd self-titled volume, and 5th collaboritive piece since 2008, released through the underground powerhouse Galapagos4 and Central Standard Records. As with the previous works, Volume 3's offering appears in vinyl, CD, and digital form.

Led by the cue of Dj TouchNice, powered by the production of Aeon Grey and anchored by the vocal illustration of Asphate Woodhavet, the Des Moines based trio provides listeners with a dense, immovable, and often somber or "blue" bite of this reality as well as the next. Hailing from an often overlooked and undernourished locale, Maxilla's creative approach has found it unnecessary to bend to the common trends and popular evolution of rap culture. As a result, the crew's intepretation of music remains intact amidst failed fads, and followers of the work understand the natural encouragement to bend the enigmatic sound illustration to their own interpretations, adding to the timeless quality of each piece. Each member, an avid vinyl collector of over 10 years and dedicated practitioner of his respective craft, carries the innate desire to create, regardless of the recognition attached. This love affair with the art has resulted in multiple vinyl releases, side projects for the group, and independent works from Aeon Grey, including 12 in, 7in, compact cassettes, instrumental albums and digital efforts.

Check out a promo mix by DJ TouchNice with beats, cuts, and snippets from the MBV3 album...
Maxilla Blue - Volume 3 promo mix

added by: Jeff

Qwazaar & Batsauce - What Love Remix Contest
January 10, 2012 by Jeff

vVisit/like Qwa & Bat's Facebook, Click the what love remix tab. read , get your remix on.

The BMB remix project will ft remixes from Maker, Meaty, Bat, Paten Locke, Mike Gao & more.
The remix EP is free and digitally drops Valentine's Day via Galapagos4

More 2012 news coming soon...

added by: Jeff