ATSIC S05E07 - Roll Along
Dice and I fumbled the handoff this week, but I came through in the clutch with a mix that I built on stream on the fly after discovering the file Dice sent me had a bunch of stuff we already played in the mix. Can’t have that, so I got busy and put a mix together the old fashioned (shittier) way - using only Ableton. It’s not as pretty as what we get when Dice graces the mix, and it takes more perseverance than it takes “skill”.. but the result is still a bunch of brand new music from artists across the country who you probably don’t know.. unless you listen to #ATSIC regularly. That digging is the part that the algorithm still sucks at doing. It’s going to show you the people who are already popping who sound like your other favourites, but its not going to point you to the guy from down the block who is wildly talented but underfunded or under motivated. I’m finding some of those guys and playing them beside guys like Classified. It’s all Hip Hop, and dope is dope. Skills are skills.
Lets get into the mix. I’ve got time this week to talk about each track a bit.
Marlon Craft isn’t one of those unknown guys who needs any help finding a new audience. He’s blown up already. I remember a couple years back (at least) a streamer friend of mine, Wilberstien, told me to check him out. I was already into my current era of only paying much attention to Canadians, so when I saw Marlon was from NY, I didn’t get much further, even though he seemed to be skilled and rapping about topics that I cant recall but think were somehow progressive. Should probably be my wheelhouse, on paper. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day for listening to new music, so my focus has to be on the locals. Mr Craft pairing up with Method Man on his new one “Mugsy Bogues” got my attention though. Mef very rarely disappoints. It’s the traditional Wu Tang kick off song this time around.
After I yack a bit for radio listeners who might want to find me online it’s right into the new release canuck rap. Montreal’s Kris the $pirit, Lolly D, and VNCE CARTER launch the main portion of the mix with one called “24 Hours”, where we get some story telling, some words of wise warning, and some “what if” scenarios from Kris, alongside a gorgeously performed hook by Lolly. Kris has an entire album fresh out Feb 22 called “The Kings of Dog Town”, and there are a couple other tracks featuring Lolly D besides this one, as well as a Nate Husser feature that I’ve yet to listen to. 28 in a day might help.
I’ve been busy booking FiF interviews for March, April, May. I’m scheduled to talk to SAYZEE, April 9 on Twitch for Fly in Formation. I’ve been playing a lot of his stuff lately, but if you’re uninitiated, he’s a Niagra Falls based artist who seems to crank out music at a nearly constant pace. Every time I look he’s got another project or single, and it’s always solid product. I’m anticipating more quality results from the link up with Tona for their “The Sun Is Out” collabo album. I couldn’t find any set release date when I searched, but I’m sure I read something about it a while back, so here’s hoping that project still sees day light eventually. This one is, iirc, the third song we’ve played on ATSIC featuring these two emcees lately. That partnership started last year with a Tona feature on Zee’s “Somebody Tell the Alchemist We Did a Tape” mixtape from late in 2023. This track “Sticky Tape” is one of two singles so far, and it’s produced by Montreal based beat-smith Skindeep.
Freelance Flint made sure I wasn’t sleeping on Rozmo & Kid Lithium when I asked him who I should check out from Vancouver. I was already up on them, but it was a good suggestion regardless, people should be up on these guys. This track, “Will & Testement” has Flint rhyming about lost love, Percoset, SEO searches and generational curses between a catchy hook from Kid Lithium. Rozmo raps about living in BC housing and being a problem child. This ones a jam.
What it misses in its mix, Gritfall and Millwood’s newest “Make Until you Make It” more than makes up for in substance and artistry. I’ve never been one to care too much about sound quality, and I can certainly excuse dusty vocals as long as the words they’re saying are well crafted. This track “Lead or Follow” has BKRSCLB boss Raz Fresco accompanying young Grit as they wax poetically about trying to bring Hip Hop (and the 60’s) back over a sultry vocal loop. Raz’s closing bar about “I’m tryna blow up who blew the nose offa the sphynx” is ill. I’m not schooled enough in Youtube docs to tell you who did that for sure, but my gut says Alexander the Great.. I feel like at some point Nas told me that in a fever dream. The first and last line in a verse are the most important lines, every time.
Doc T got Conway the Machine to join him on his new one “In A Blaze”. Nice track, I don’t think I’ve heard the Con verse, which was a nice change up from some of these guys buying up leased verses from veterans who will work with anyone who’s paying. Dude could have said shot in his brain insteada braids, but he’s the one who makes money rapping so I guess maybe there’s appeal to the imperfect rhyme. Doc T comes correct too, barring out for a long stretch. I think he’s Toronto based, but he was elusive to my searches and didn’t have it on his Spotify bio, so tough to say for sure.
Then we get to two from Roshin, who I also have on the upcoming Fly In Formation schedule. It’s dope getting to talk to guys this skilled, and I’ll be looking forward to May 28 when he’ll join me on Twitch. This first track, “Hurricane Rugged” might take your roof off like a category 5. High caliber lyricism. After that back to back it’s Roshin’s appearance on Bozack Morris’s recent “Toronto Tape” album - “Royalty” where he’s listing off his various titles in simile form, and cataloging his travels in his usual densely packed style. Everyone on that Bozack album must have known they were going to be beside the rest of the best in the city, because they all brought their absolute A game, and this is one of my favs.
Classified has a real knack for writing songs that maintain a high level of emceeing prowess and artistic integrity while also being something CBC might play on afternoon radio. On “All Wrong”, he’s got an unnamed female vocalist belting out a country tinged hook, an acoustic guitar, and bars looking back at his past with new perspective. Very solid track. Much crossover appeal.
KAM$ is an Edmontonian, and I liked “ICU” enough to overlook the mix and play the track anyways. Shit is a bop. I know he does a series of weekly songs, so maybe this one isn’t properly finished, or maybe it’s a freestyle or something, but either way it’s catchy and bouncy. I cranked it up and tried to match volume to the other tracks, but it’s just another reminder here that I treat ATSIC like a mixtape, it’s not made for a club where a switch up in the mix might throw people off. I’m here for the song writing primarily, and this one was cool enough to forgive some flaws.
“Rollin’” has Mindset (who’s name is Myndset on Spotify but Mindset on Itunes) with Adam Welsh & alja kicking weed bars over some hypnotic flute and head nodding base. Well executed demonstration of how to make a song for chilling and smoking to. The bars about fishing added a nice bit of authenticity and personality to the track. The danger with songs like this is making them too generic and ending up with a bland product, but these guys avoided that trap here and showed a knack for rolling smoothly down the lane maintaining momentum.
Jr. Rhodes “Champion” takes us to Edmonton, the city of Champs, once again. The city is in good hands with this kind of talent carrying the torch. The beat is glorious, and JR brings enough charisma and confidence to deliver a convincing display of underdog upstart gumption over his two verses.
On his verse on “Steph & Klay”, Californian emcee Eizlo brings it way way back to that one time in high school when Eminem took his dick out and caused an earthquake. I don’t watch much basketball at all, but I see enough IG to know that Steph Curry can throw buckets from damn near anywhere, so his name is probably fitting for a track where shooters hit their targets, as JRoberts hits the bullseye in his verse in the second half. I’m talking with JRoberts for Fly in Formation on May 21.
Bit of a weird switch up as we go to Casper Marcus and Young Stitch on “We Were Fam”, but I’m not a DJ, I’m just the host and curator, forgive me. It’s a nice track either way. When Stitch raps there’s normally a quotable or two, and this ones no exception. Casper’s no slacker either. When I found his new “The Marcus Morris Mixtape 7” I was thinking of Casper TNG, and was pleasantly surprised that they’re both dope even though their styles aren’t very similar.
I never really like horrorcore. Gravediggaz was probably enough of that IMO, but it’s hugely prevalent. I just don’t even like horror movies, so normally the horror raps can miss me with their over the top depictions of the terrible acts that their writers fantasize about.. or whatever. That said, I really liked what Tariiiq did with “Norman Bates Flow”. He sidestepped all that weirdo shit and just made some clever bars about people dying senselessly, managing at the end of the track to bring some social/political commentary into a trope where most guys just feel satisfied to laugh about skinning the listeners mom or something. Next level stuff.
Mike Shabb isn’t intricate, but he’s witty enough to get away being blunt and direct. There’s a lot of ways to be a good lyricist, and they don’t all involve saying a million syllables real quick in a tongue twister or painting a 7 layered album wide metaphor that you need a doctorate to decipher. This string loop from producer steezd, gives Mike a good backdrop to talk his shit, and this is one of those times when that’s plenty.
DillanPonders often has a lot more spacey production from his Australian homie BVB, but this time it’s a stripped down natural sounding drum line carrying things along as Dillan freestyles his way through another weekly single. Nothing overly substantial to be said here, but plenty of style. I wonder if they’ve set that weekly release record yet? “Top 5” has DillanP in peak form, this is one of my favourites from their unending stream of drops. Trippy and spacey is fun and all, but it’s nice to hear him a bit more down to earth here.
I had no idea that Emskee started his first verse on “I Am For Real” saying he’ll “Never be Top 5”, but damn did that line up with synchronicity this time, I didn’t even notice until I was playing it back through to lay samples and yell between tracks. There is absolutely 0 percent chance that this sample is permitted to be here, but that’s the spirit of Hip Hop, and I think neither 3k nor Daddy Fat Stacks will miss the money. Shrug. This is another case where me mentioning it isn’t even sample snitching, it’s such a blatant reference to a huge hit that it feels sort of like a “fuck yall, sue me for my nothing” type decision, and I respect that. Being successful enough that someone notices and hits you with a cease and desists might be a good problem to have.
After that it’s a quick one from Lord Juco. Toronto has no shortage of spitters, and Juco is really one of the elites. Asun Eastwood had nothing but praise for the guy when I talked to him for Fly in Formation, and it’s well deserved. I love when artists will give each other props, the world needs more of that. I been cutting clips from interviews and I’m getting a montage of artists shouting one another out ready, because the world needs more of that and less click bate blog beef bullshit getting people killed in the streets. Anyways, this Juco track, “Better” is in fact better than a lot of other rap that drops each week. Trust me I know because I force myself to listen to it all.
"Runnin’ Hot” finishes the mix out with K.O Strat finding his stride on a fast paced snare driven jazz piece. He sounded really at home on this beat to me for whatever reason. Good shit and short enough to fit before the show ends on CKXU at the 57 minute mark. Perfect.
Check the “Making of #ATSIC” stream down below if you want to see what I thought about the mix while I was making it. I had fun putting this one together even though I was sort of reacting on the fly to a wrench in the gears, but people were in chat the whole time so the vibe stayed positive and laughs were had. The more the merrier in Twitch chat, come through and talk shit while we listen to new rap! These Making of streams usually happen through the week, but sometimes I jump on and game while listening to new releases, or sometimes I stream while I make my own music and record myself. The schedule is sporadic but it’s also pretty constant. This Hip Hop grind is the life that chose me.
This episode is followed by a Fly in Formation interview with Edmonton based emcee Max Prime. I’d heard his name around the scene for a long time, so it was good to be able to ask him about some of the track record of him and his Low Budget Affiliates. Hopefully he goes through with recording and dropping new material too, because dude is dope. 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 rolling along. The Jan/Feb schedule is posted down below, and those are all available on Youtube now. Check the new promo poster below to see who else is coming up in March, April, and May. As I write this, I’m not actually fully confirmed with Hollohan, but hopefully if that day doesn’t work we can find one that will and make it happen. At worst I’ll have to find another guest that week, but everyone else is locked in and I’m excited to keep this boulder rolling with weekly episodes talking to artists I actually truly respect and admire. 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.
