Asphate - Closed Doors To An Open Mind - Produced by Maker
March 1, 2015 by Jeff

Asphate Woodhavet is but a shadow’s breath. Rhymin’ since the 90’s and having taken the form of emcee from various angles leading up to Maxilla Blue’s 2006 inception, his rantings of the never were’s and almost somethings of the world as well as the mostly are’s and of course, you wouldn’t place him as a natural fit into navigation of Grey terrain. The travels have helped to calm the thirst, and the hunt has simmered to the thoughtful art of selection. ’Phate is most known for powerful poetics and intense vocal control of live audiences.

Closed Doors To An Open Mind is a 10 track LP from the Maxilla Blue MC, all produced by Maker. Guests MCs are Qwel on 2 cuts, Qwazaar and Hellsent. DJ Touch Nice of Maxilla Blue also features on several tracks. Includes download code with full album and instrumentals, in G4 label jackets with art print.

added by: Jeff

Hellsent & Batsauce - Bat Outta Hell - November 18, 2014
September 1, 2014 by Jefe

Southside Chicago MC Hellsent drops his 3rd official full length, this time backed up by beats from super producer Batsauce. This follows Bats recent collaborations with Hellsents fellow Outerlimitz member Qwazaar, which have gained the pair worldwide recognition as keepers of the flame. Hellsent picks right up with his signature low end drawl pairing perfectly with Batsauces dusty fingered backdrops.

Bat Outta Hell will be released as a vinyl LP & digital full length, each containing bonus material. The vinyl features 8 tracks including an exclusive collaboration with Qwazaar, as well as the 8 instrumentals and an acappella. The digital release is 14 tracks, including 5 tracks not on the vinyl version. Both versions feature a cut with Asphate Woodhavet & DJ Touch Nice of Maxilla Blue. The vinyl LP will also include a free download of the digital release.

added by: Jefe

Qwazaar & Batsauce - Stress Chasers EP - January 28, 2014
January 14, 2014 by G4

Qwazaar & Batsauce - Stress Chasers EP
Released digitally by Galapagos4 on January 28th 2014.

Qwa & Batsauce’s newest platter, an EP entitled Stress Chasers, begins with "Love Liez", a perfect curve replete with gauzy keys and the indomitable Qwa intoning that he’s "never felt so free, never felt so special..." It’s an unexpected opening for the heroic South Side rhyme champ, a hooky Trojan horse with incisive critique hidden in velvet melody. Undisputable ear candy, "Love Liez" also rebukes those who "never care, never dare to be true". Stress Chasers sees Qwa and Bat crossing the boundary from rap phenoms to great songwriters, genre-bending world-class musicians entering a blue period.

The EP consists of 6 short tracks, the longest clocking in at barely 3 minutes and change, a throwback to the tight songcraft of 60s pop, when entire Beatles albums were only 30 minutes long. Qwa is entering territory where most MCs cannot follow, blending a growing love of psychedelia and a beguiling fluidity with cornerstone golden-era references and dashes of brawn that only serve to punctuate his acuity. One can’t help but think of Roland Kirk playing two saxes at once. In "Pop Smurf" he deadpans "at least a hundred styles / my memory is rough." Batsauce continues to impress, adding another gem to his oeuvre, showing undisputable skill with an impressive array of sounds. "Rough Out There" would be perfectly at home on the first Blueprint album, until Qwa, insistently going against the grain, leans into a deceptively off-accent rhyme pattern that most MCs would drown in. The EP ends with the unhinged uptempo rave-up "Daddy Smokes," Bat neatly twisting rap conventions with a plucky keyboard line, underwater bloops, and taut R&B drums, Qwa singing with fried abandon that "your dad smokes marijuana...and you will, too..." before launching into a precise rapid-fire spit that belies the EP’s stoned ethos. Wild howling wafts through the background and Qwa and Bat manage to sound light-hearted, screwy, and ominous, all at the same time. Essential listening for the vanguard.

added by: G4

Offwhyte + KK - GO EP: Out August 27, 2013
August 19, 2013 by Offwhyte

New from Galapagos4:
Offwhyte + KK "GO" EP G40064 / LVDD-012
Out August 27, 2013

"GO" is an EP featuring five songs that will pique your artistic curiosity. Meaning "five" in Japanese, "GO" is Offwhyte's first official release in as many years, and on this digital EP he is paired with renowned Japanese beatsmith KK.

Co-released by Galapagos4 and KK's own label Lo-Vibes, the sound on "GO" reflects much of what KK has been doing within his own faction for the past several years. A fixture of the Tokyo music scene, KK aka The Khaosist has been trying to accomplish a bigger sound. On "GO", dubstep and glitch influences are present amongst KK's impeccable sample sequencing.

Themes on the EP shift from Offwhyte's immovable ideology and opinionated stubbornness ("Divider") to current methods of communication via technology ("Mediums"). Offwhyte's usual themes of inner struggle and retaining individuality shine bright on all five tracks here, culminating on the EP's lead single, "Country of Islands", a tribute to his native homeland of the Philippines.

Offwhyte is a founding member of Chicago based independent record label Galapagos4 and has several acclaimed releases and worldwide touring over 10+ years under his belt.

After playing various musical roles such as arranger and keyboardist, KK began his career as a hip hop beat artist around 1996 and was featured on DJ Krush's "Kakusei" in 1998. This lone wolf beat artist based in Tokyo also started his own label Lo-Vibes Recordings as well as the dope beat party "Mo' Fun".

See more at galapagos4.com/go/

added by: Offwhyte

Qwel & Maker - Beautiful Raw - May 7 2013
February 28, 2013 by Jeff

New from Galapagos4:
Qwel & Maker 'Beautiful Raw'
Out May 7 2013

Check out the Qwel & Maker 'Beautiful Raw' album sampler mix by DJ Bizkid:

01. Beautiful Raw
02. Long Walkers
03. En Garde ft Qwazaar
04. Wreck Room
05. Pilfer ft The Grouch & Swamburger
06. On One
07. Lake Effect
08. Broken Pendulum ft Scud One
09. Through The Sidewalk ft Wes Restless
10. New Cents
11. Abracadabra
12. If I Could Sing
13. Keep It Movin
14. Reach For The Sky

’Beautiful Raw’ is the highly anticipated 4th release from Chicago duo Qwel & Maker, whose previous releases and worldwide touring has raised them as the bar against which all raw complex underground hip hop is to be measured.

This new album is a testimony to the hard work and thoughtful care that the two put into all of their music. Each carefully crafted track could stand alone as a highlight, claiming rightful shine as the lead single, yet the album as a whole complete work is a single seamless journey. The tale of the humble plant, once sewn deep beneath the concrete of the inner city slums, that against all odds has grown up through the concrete toward the light. Proof of hope is the recurrent theme and grimy raw is the soundscape.

"They said it couldnt be done, this one’s for provin’ ’em wrong, seems only suitable it’s beautiful raw. Planted the seed beneath the street but it was rooted too strong, grew to the sun and called it beautiful raw."

In an unexpected and rare turn for the team, Qwel and Maker have commissioned a little help on this album, pulling collaborative magic from fellow veterans such as The Grouch (Living Legends), Qwel’s fellow Typical Cat Qwazaar, Swamburger (Soliloquists Of Sound), Wes Restless, Scud One, D-Styles & more. The guest lyricists all help air out the record from Qwel’s dense spitfire lyrics.

Love, life, regret, money, drugs, joy, sorrow, lies, truth... but most of all hope, is what this album is about.

added by: Jeff