Afu-Ra
“3 Evil Masters” is a welcome return thanks to the Notiks production, DJ Premier style scratches, and overall throwback feel of the track sans the late Keith Elam (rest in power Guru). Speaking of those who we are no longer blessed with who moved on from the physical to the spiritual, Sean Price joins Ru and Sadat X on the King Khazm produced “P***y Clot."" - Rap Reviews
Afu Ra is definetely on the up, he drops plenty of knowledge in his positive rhymes and brings a refreshing sound to hip hop. This one is worth checking, no doubt - Hip Hop DX
Dume41
“…he strings together vivid descriptions to create a verbal tableau of picturesque scenes for listeners. The way he interweaves religious imagery and socially conscious themes also resonates with the Staten Island crew, even if his lack of brutal content does not.
The beats go in an entirely different direction, evincing a love for the pre-Wu-Tang era East Coast underground. The album is full of breezy samples – some light acoustic guitar finger-picking (“The Restaurant”), a lazy piano loop (“Half-Life (The Orange Box)”), airy horns and finger snaps (“Built Eternal”). The atmosphere is not at all light-hearted, as this description might indicate, which is a credit to Dume’s ability as a producer to create a particular mood with his beats, but it is also due to his solemn presence as an emcee over this music. Dume is quite talented at delivering moral admonitions couched within quasi-narratives of personal struggle, as he does on the aforementioned “Half-Life...”- Rap Reviews
Gabriel Teodros
"We rock shows/mostly white folks come out," acknowledges twenty-six-year-old Gabriel Teodros toward the end of his solo debut. It's a typical ploy for the Seattle rapper, at once situating him in the underground and, by its candor, raising him a little above it. Teodros pumps a quiet flow over producer Amos Miller's keyboard-based beats -- think Toronto's K-Os, only deeper and more swinging. He's conscious, diligently pro-woman, even slipping into the lamentably uncolloquial word cluster "greed, homophobia and sexism" (he's against 'em). But because he's the son of an Ethiopian immigrant, his Afrocentric politics take on a compelling extra measure of knowledge and entitlement -- especially on the geopolitically detailed "East Africa" and the respectfully un-Rastafarian "In This Together." Teodros has brains, musicality and a refreshing attitude. It's such a relief to encounter an alt-rapper who never once whines about his anxiety or wallows in his disempowerment. - Rolling Stone Magazine
Khingz
'On his long-awaited sophomore album, From Slaveships to Spaceships, Khingz rolls out his own personal vision of the Harlem Renaissance's New Negro: an outsider, a bookish black skater, a proud 'Southside rider' from Rainier Valley who grew up around gangs and 'more Filipinos than Daly City.' Finding a shockingly expressive middle ground between head-taking lyricism and unblinking outrospection- just check the unstoppable 'Bladed Poems'-Khingz is the best he's ever been.' - The Stranger Magazine
[Khingz] lays down the gauntlet of what it means to be Hip-Hop, what it means to love Hip-Hop and what it means to be a Black man in a world that rewards us for living with limitations and perpetuating stereotypes... The future of Hip-Hop has been revealed."- Ozone Magazine
'For years, Khingz made a name for himself as one of Seattle's wittier wordsmiths, partly because of his swift, didactic rhymes on various projects and at live shows...' Seattle Weekly
"The album’s flowing sound echoes the vibe that’s come to represent Seattle hip-hop, not harmless or soft but without a doubt conscious. From race relations to coming up as a "thug nerd," he creates a portrait based on pure lyricism that results in one of the best hip-hop albums of the year, from Seattle or otherwise." - The Daily – UW
The shift in musical styles is also accompanied by a slight shift in subject matter. Gone is the powerful declaration of liberation, which Khingz presumably nurtured to fruition on Slaveships. Cold Hearted finds Khingz getting more comfortable with his current place in the rap game. He shows he can body wack rappers with ease on “Carbonite Flow;” he confidently declares his journey through hip-hop has been unlike any other on “Kessel Run;” and shows he will gladly rock a party if motherf*ckas just wanna dance on “Devilish Grin.” It’s all done with an undercurrent of trepidation, however, which never allows levity to fully embrace the record. Khingz knows there’s a poison goin’ on (in the world and the rap game; see: “Hybernation Siccness”), and he’s too much of an introspective soul to allow himself to forget it, even for a moment.– 206up.com
King Khazm
It’s refreshing to hear dope Hip Hop coming from up north from likes of Macklemore, Blue Scholars, Sadistik, and many other’s who have made that city stand out. This year it seems like it’s King Khazm’s year with this 13-track effort. Notably the collabs he has on this one with the affiliations with Project Blowed, Gangstarr Foundation, and Battle Axe Warriors, this project truly represents what the underground has to offer.
A collab that immediately caught our attention was “Gone Away From Here” featuring Abstract Rude, Moka Only, and Myka 9. Haven’t heard a super collab like this in a while, and to be honest, these underground OG’s murked the song with their signature flows. Took me back to the early 2000’s when Project Blowed and Battle Axe were at their prime taking the underground by storm. By the way, the official video premiered today too!
The other collab track that we are highlighting is “Earth’s Tide” with one of the fathers of Hip Hop, Kurtis Blow. Who get’s Kurtis Blow flexing on a track today? KHAZM DOES!!! They both lay down some of the best conscious bars we’ve heard in a while over a perfectly chosen Third Eye Bling beat.
Front to back “Return of a MAD” earns a rating of 9/10 since we feel this project will be considered a cult King Khazm classic. - Underground Hip Hop Blog
Specs Wizard
Specs One has been rapping and making beats for as long as the underground has been around. During this long length of time, he has never made a single compromise in his music. From the early period of tapes to the middle period of CDs to the current period of MP3s, little if anything about his music—his dusty digital approach to production, his raw and immediate style of rapping (nothing but mic, lips, and spit), his convoluted meanings—has changed. Specs One has simply never tried to make any other kind of hiphop than that which he wants to make. In his entire oeuvre, you will not find an attempt to go pop or a single beat that is aimed at the market. Specs One's mode is indifferent to trends. His hiphop is a strange plant that lives and thrives in the light, rain, and air of this lonesome part of the Pacific Northwest.
It is music for the land of the aftermath—a world of broken ghetto blasters and secret transmissions from unknown planets. His raps, however, have little to do with science fiction or aliens and much to do with the details of a rapper who is true to the game, the ethics of a dedicated b-boy, the old and trusted hiphop values of paying dues and doing your own thing.
>None of the tracks on gRAPhics are wack; everything is made with a love of hiphop that knows no beginning or end. - The Stranger Magazine
