ATSIC S05E03 - Set In Stone
Each week we organize a week of our picks into the best hour long mix of music we can, and etch it into the history books. DJ Dice has been finding and spinning new Hip Hop for a long time now, and I’m proud to have him involved with the show, putting his decades of experience to use with every mix. The picture for this week’s episode is him in probably around 1994 (we’re guessing based on the Gravediggaz album in the pic), doing what he’s still doing, keeping up with what’s new in the kulture of Hip Hop. I’m glad that I can help by sending him new releases to listen to and pick from every week. Together, I think we’re providing the best source of new release Hip Hop in the country.
This week, like all the others, we start with a Wu feature. Statik Selektah and Bun B released “Trillstatik 3”, and we picked the Method Man feature on “Set in Stone” to set the tone for the episode.
After that we’re onto Canadian content. I’m not sure who uMaNg is, or who D-Rev is, because neither have Spotify bios, but I know Halfcut is a Calgary based lyricist who normally impresses me with his output, so I checked “Entropy” and liked what I heard from it’s slow rolling acoustic bass line, to the self assured bars offered up by the 2 emcees, to a catchy hook about not owing anyone anything. Good kick off.
Big Sproxx, a Torontonian beatsmith, always recruits top tier emcees, and it’s that tried and tested formula back in action on “Hold My Own”, where he has Tragedy Khadafi flexing over top of an airy key melody paired with some melancholy strings.
DJ Hotcue is from Weymouth NS, and he also served up a key driven melody for the homie Stephen Hero, who puts in some lightwork, quipping “Hero in the shells but I don’t fuck with rats” talking about what I’d assume are his favourite shelltoed Adidas while he breezes through the song in “a straight take, no fucking around”.
More accoustic bass stylings in KO Strat’s self produced “The Moleskine”, an ode to writing bars. Every emcee I know has a pile of books on a shelf somewhere, but maybe that will become a thing of the past with the younger generation as writing in phones becomes more and more common. I still hear from some emcees that they prefer the feel of pen and paper, and I still own a fancy pen I bought in highschool for when I get the urge to put ink on paper, but I have to admit I typically prefer the freedom of being able to edit bars writing them in my cell. I also appreciate not having to hold on to all my writings physically and having them backed up on a note app’s cloud, but I’ve got some Moleskines collecting dust and storing some classic bars.
“L is For Love” is the title track from “Likwuidation II”, a 4 disc opus from Likwuid, whose bio says she’s a “Hip Hop Cultural Ambassador to the United States”. I’m here for the message, and the people pushing it, and this one was a vibe. Havent had a chance to look into the rest of the album, but I know my wife enjoyed listening through it over the weekend.
Mic Gutz is another Toronto based artist who found his way onto the playlist by working with another artist who I was familiar with, B1 the Architect. “Sharks” has them, along with Grinz, pontificating about the prevalence of shady characters in the cut throat music industry. I just read last week that humans eat 100 million sharks a year, which made me wonder exactly how many sharks are actually left in the water, but the metaphor here still works, for now.
“I.C.Y.” is a C-Lance production from Kelowna based Robbie G. He’s been putting in work touring for a lot of years, and I feel like he’s taking a page from Merkules book here by collabing with the well known Boston producer. The mix has some weird static on this track, not sure why, but either way, it’s a catchy one, and I wanted to show Robbie some love since I’ve seen his name on show posters for an upcoming D12 show that’s coming through Lethbridge April 26.
Curt Cazal remixed a new one from European duo SoulRocca, “Real Recognize Real”, and it was one that I think ended up in my inbox and before I realized that I wasn’t listening to Canadians, I had already decided I liked the song too much not to add it to the library.
Strange 2ruth is an emcee from Cranbrook who might not have been previously featured on ATSIC, I’m not sure. He and I msg’d breifly last week and I’m always happy to connect with new emcees on the come up. We played “Fall Flat” where he gives some critique of the current industry atmosphere.
“Crocodile Freestyle” has Edmonton emcee “ILLIAM” flipping some wordplays over a chill instrumental, beating up nameless rappers whose girl he will steal. Being a “freestyle” is somewhat perplexing here, as I don’t get the feeling that the bars are being improvised. Perhaps it’s labeled this way just to give some leeway to the sound quality, which is sort of lacking. That’s not a big factor in what I will or won’t pick to play on ATSIC though, I lean toward playing whatever I feel is genuine and engaging lyrically, regardless of how much money went to mixing and mastering. He mentioned that he made the beat too, I think, so props to the DIYers out there keeping the fire burning in their bedrooms.
For everybody who’s in love with the artform, I had to include Phill Harmonix, a Toronto emcee who’s style reminds me of an emcee from back in the day named Bless, who was a Montreal guy that ended up making some noise and working with DJ Premier back in the day. Same vein of clearly annunciated bars on classic boom bap beats on this one at least.
The early reference to “sugar boom boom” was enough to cement “HIGH OFF LIFE” onto the playlist, if I’m being honest. The rest of the bars about putting on for his family and caring for the people around him were just icing on the cake. Wolfe Castle is always dope, this time on a beat from Ethan Peters.
Back to Edmonton, another of my favs off of their new “Book of Grim” album, “Grim 4 a While” has Pat holding down hook duty over top of a dramatic guitar sample flip from Kryple. PG and his bro both look back at their come up, and their current position after stepping back from rap for a few years to get old in peace. There’s no stopping in the plan though, and I’m here for the evolution to whatever’s next.
Ceschi & Factor Chandalier teamed up on “Beginning of a New Era”, a high energy venting of loss and frustrations highlighting their authenticity in comparison to emcees faking the funk and ignoring the class war. I don’t always love screaming mashed up with Hip Hop, but this one got the formula perfect.
The New Groovement are Victoria based rock rappers who bring the same ska vibe that My Son the Hurricane introduced me to last summer at North Country Fair. I’m willing to bet that their live show is also something to behold. Having a horn section on stage is sort of a cheat code I think, but the anti capitalist ethos on display here also scores points for this one.
“Socrates” slows things down a bit, with DillanPonders & BVB sticking to their guns and continuing to drop new releases on the regular. This one is slower and more plodding than a lot of their music tends to be, but Dillan locks into a flow and stays on top of it for the rest of the track while making various declarations of victory.
I threw in one track after Dice’s mix ended, “Godly Expressions” from Asun Eastwood, to set the tone for our interview after the mix. He’s always got gems: “a great mind becomes great by controlling the ego” for instance.
This episode is followed by an interview with Asun Eastwood a couple weeks ago. It as a great conversation, we covered a lot of ground and he shared a lot of insight into his creative process and view on music. I’m looking forward to hearing what he’s cooked up for releasing this year. That’s also available on YT, check the FiF playlist for an archive of all the past guests.
Season 3 of my interview series Fly in Formation continues through next month. The Jan/Feb schedule is posted down below, and it’s full of artists I’m excited to talk to. Tuesday Jan 30 I talk to Vancouver based emcee Freelance Flint. Check the promo below to see who else is coming up. Make sure to hit follow on Twitch or subscribe so you don’t have to watch the ad breaks during interviews! Help build a community by popping up in chat and asking questions to me or the guests.
Every week, I buy every song I play, unless the artist sent it to me, saving me a buck. I believe in buying music to support independent artists. Making music is time-consuming and expensive. Streaming doesn’t pay much at all, and since streaming has become the way most people consume music, it’s even more important to make sure to buy tickets, buy music (physical or digital), and buy merch from artists you want to hear more from. Streaming pays next to nothing, so if you want artists working on more music instead of working more shifts at their day job, you need to show them love by opening your wallet and giving them financial support.
Telling a friend is another great way to support the show, I appreciate everyone who helps spread the word immensely.
Stay Up.
