Hip-Hop | In the Rubble of Hip-Hop…
Posted by jeffwbaird on September 23, 2012
In 2006 when Nas claimed, quite controversially, that “hip-hop is dead,” he was on to something. One of hip-hop’s purest lyricists, Nas grew to fame in the early ‘90s through his poetic rapping and political subject matter—qualities that had become largely extinct from popularized hip-hop in the early 2000s. Hip-hop grew to prominence as the voice of disadvantaged America, but had become dominated by label executives; tastemakers prioritizing simplistic lyricism and rhyme schemes (along with incorporating the catchy choruses of pop music), and simultaneously degrading the quality of an art form.
Over the past decade, I have watched hip-hop become increasingly saturated, as pop culture continues to endorse formulaic hip-hop, typically including repetitious and easily accessible hooks, and raps using simple A-B rhyme schemes that delve lightly into a number of prescribed topics, such as the desire for fame, women, braggadocio, and partying. This sub-genre of “party rap” became widely popular in college environments, and seemed to promise any student with an aptitude for parties and a junior-high vocabulary the opportunity to earn a remunerative career as a rapper.
Through the surplus of undergraduates-turned-rappers, a new sub-genre, often coined “college rap,” began inundating blogs and steadily saturating the industry. These upstarts idolized the popular artists of the time, basing their craft off the lackluster wordplay and superficiality that dominated college radio playlists. When Asher Roth’s single “I Love College” rose to prominence in 2009, this movement hit the limelight, and suddenly students stopped studying law and medicine to follow their newfound dreams of being the next Mac Miller or Sammy Adams.
What is highly underestimated, however, is the amount of skill required to be an emcee of Nas’ caliber. If you take the time to listen to his first album Illmatic, Eminem’s Infinite, The Roots’ Phrenology, or any number of ‘90s or early 2000s records, the sophistication of the lyricism, content, and rhyme schemes is staggering. Becoming a prominent emcee used to require being sufficiently educated on the English language, as rappers constructed multisyllabic rhymes infused with alliteration, internal rhyme, and other complex literary elements. Just listen to Kinetics in his recently featured song, “Chris Nolan,” where he raps, “I spit sinister symbolism that’s killing all these silly simile single syllable singing simpletons.” Eminem has said in interviews that he used to study the dictionary as a child. If you listen to “Lose Yourself” closely, you can note that there is not a single word in the song that doesn’t rhyme with another. The reason it’s problematic to equate him to Asher Roth (besides the fact that it’s just rooted in race), is because Em rose to fame because of his pure lyrical power, and Asher made it off of artificiality.
The “change in leadership” that Nas referred to in interviews surrounding “Hip-Hop is Dead” highlighted that as the preferences of record companies have shifted, the music has changed with it. Political, socially conscious hip-hop is no longer seen as profitable, and thus labels won’t promote it. The biggest controversy surrounding this power battle occurred in 2008, when Atlantic Records shelved Lupe Fiasco’s third album for almost a year because of his defiance when asked to make a “radio-ready” single. Unfortunately, our Lupes are few and far between, and the majority of my favorite emcees are a far cry now from the substance-driven music they initially created. It doesn’t take long in the industry to understand what type of music is advantageous for one’s career, and it seems all but a few choose money over message. In this sense, rapping has become quite like corporate law; individuals work exceptionally hard to excel at a practice they believe in only to abandon their values in pursuit of a more lucrative opportunity.
I have always loved hip-hop, and that passion will always persist. But I want to live in a world where I don’t have to search for underground rappers to convince a friend that all hip-hop isn’t violent, misogynistic, and devoid of content. The reason that it became such a red flag for white, suburban kids to listen to hip-hop is that our mainstream culture assumed we were only listening to the 2 Chainz and Chief Keef’s of the world. No wonder they didn’t understand. Most critics of hip-hop have never heard It Was Written, Midnight Marauders, or Like Water for Chocolate. They haven’t paid attention to Macklemore on the new XXL Freshman List. Instead, they have seen Machine Gun Kelly and Roscoe Dash.
I’m not asking for you to agree, or to all of a sudden change your preference, but I’m asking us to be conscious of what we consume and what type of hip-hop we’re promoting when we share it. Our choices ultimately get reflected in who’s in the magazines, who’s on the radio, and even who’s getting a record deal. I’m always careful to promote new artists who have something special to share (see Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore, Blue Scholars, Logic, Kinetics, Dylan Owen, Accent—just to name a few), and I’ll continue to do so. But many of hip-hop’s forefathers are on their way out, and it’s up to us to make sure the right artists of this new generation end up on top.
Albums, Hip-Hop | Kinetics & One Love — You Are Not Alone [Album Release]
Posted by jeffwbaird on August 29, 2012
When Kinetics & One Love released their first album in 2009, it was evident that they were still students in college (albeit extremely talented ones). Their debut, Fading Back to Normal, was crafted around an abrupt breakup, and the mood vacillated as Kinetics utilized the recording process to heal his wounds. While the album spawned many fan-favorites, blog-standouts, and even the quadruple-platinum single “Airplanes” (later recorded by B.o.B), it was the sense of potential that lingered after the release that drew them such a quick and organic following.
Three years later, after constructing a new twelve-track LP that is immediately indicative of their growth—both as a collective and individually—Kinetics & One Love reached the top ten of the iTunes hip-hop charts, just two hours into the album’s release. The immediate popularity of the album has to do with the fact that while You Are Not Alone is not really a departure from their sound, it has been sincerely refined and developed, and the scope of their work has radically escalated. While Fading… had a heavy dose of impactful and conscious material in its own right, here Kinetics has made that the focus, pinning the album’s success on his fluency while speaking about global and personal issues, which he executes with astounding ease and eloquence. You Are Not Alone frequently veers beyond the local, which is part of what makes it such a striking release from artists so early in their careers. It is also uncharacteristic for its time given the strong album concept, which Kinetics described as its being told from “the perspective a futuristic alien society reflecting upon Earth’s mistakes in 2012 and pondering the future direction of mankind.” This theme tightly winds around the material in metaphors that gives it a true sense of unity—something almost entirely lost in an iTunes-dominated era of music.
While Kinetics has fine-tuned and sharpened his flows, One Love’s production game has elevated remarkably, weaving together elements of hip-hop, pop, and EDM to create a soundscape that is captivating and melodic all the way through—battling Kinetics’ lyrics and flow head-on as the most memorable and hypnotizing constituent of every song. His growing presence as a producer plays a prime role in the duo’s development, which—accompanied with Kinetics’ more dominant vocal presence and delivery—has given them the power to sustain the listener’s attention for a proper full-length and then some.
Over its twelve tracks Kinetics drops copious amounts of knowledge, touching upon domestic abuse in “Hideous,” teen suicide in “Sign Language” with Wynter Gordon, and struggling to fit it on “Sometimes I Feel Like A Robot,” a song that perfectly balances Kinetics’ ability to please hip-hop heads and lyrical enthusiasts as well as those with a pop ear. Kinetics & One Love were clearly selective in their pursuit of features, as everyone here serves a purpose, whether it’s Termanology starting off the triumphant “Still Dreamin'” with a precise and fierce flow, Yung Joey adding boast and posture to the club jam “In My Own World,” or Accent blazing through the most complex of rhyme constructions (“the heart of this artist harbors a harshness/from horrible hardships so heartily harnessed”) on the standout “This Too Shall Pass.” Other features include Nitty Scott, KGB, Paulina Goudieva, Mimoza, B.Love, Hunter Stout, and KTSB, as well as producer Kenna Okoye, who helped construct what are arguably two of the album’s liveliest instrumentals (“Hideous” and “In My Own World”). This album is well worth your $10 on iTunes, because beyond these twelve tracks you are supporting hip-hop with a soul and message, and proving that it can still be profitable for artists and labels.
DOWNLOAD ON ITUNES: Kinetics & One Love — You Are Not Alone
Exclusive, Interviews | An Interview with Kinetics [FNT Exclusive]
Posted by jeffwbaird on August 16, 2012
Earlier this morning we had the privilege of gracing our site with “Still Dreamin'”, the first single off Kinetics & One Love’s upcoming album You Are Not Alone, which is due out August 28. We also had the pleasure of sitting down with Kinetics to discuss his place in hip-hop, the new album’s concept, and what we can expect from it. If you missed the video, you can check it out here, otherwise, sit back and listen to this talented lyricist speak his mind.
FNT: “Still Dreamin'”, which we premiered this morning, was our first taste of You Are Not Alone. What can you tell us about the rest of the album?
Kinetics: You Are Not Alone is by far our best work. Everything about my performance – from the issues I talk about, the flows I use, the mastery of my delivery – is a level above my previous projects. One Love’s production has also reached new heights: the beats just knock harder, sound more professional, and stay truer to hip-hop. Fans will immediately recognize a maturity in the sound. It still has that underground, indie and trippy Kinetics & One Love vibe that our fans have grown to love, but two years of songwriting for Warner— sitting in sessions with multiplatinum producers and writers —has taught us how to better package our sound. It’s tighter, more professional. It was cool writing the album together, because Love would notice me stepping my game up and would feel obligated to step his own shit up, and vice versa. No one was allowed to come weak even in the slightest.
And I’ll be the first to say it: the tapes I put out last year were trash. Little kid shit. There were a few songs I did that were cool, like “Butterfly Effect” and “Halley’s Comet,” but the whole vibe of What Model Are You? as a cohesive work was lame. No personality, no soul. TO EVERYONE AND ANYONE THAT HAS EVER HATED ON MY MUSIC OR JUST BRUSHED IT OFF UP UNTIL THIS POINT: YOU HAD THE RIGHT TO DO SO. But I promise if you listen to You Are Not Alone, there is no way you can deny its talent. There’s a reason why the first song One Love and I ever wrote together sold millions of copies across the entire planet. The songwriting on this album is exactly where it needs to be.
With so many new rappers popping up out of nowhere and releasing new music left and right, how do you feel You Are Not Alone fits in to or stands out from the crowd?
I had a lot to say on this album – and I think that’s one of the key differences between me and a lot of these other kids. I’m not just rapping about partying, or “swag,” or blowing up and making it. I’m talking about issues that will resonate a little bit longer with listeners. For example, there are songs about feeling like an outcast and struggling to fit in, a song about domestic abuse, teen suicide, a verse where I address a corrupt pharmaceutical industry and prescription drug abuse. I’m not saying you can’t throw this shit on at a party and let it bump – because you can, as should be the case with any good rap album – I’m just saying that if you wanted to, you could sit there with your eyes closed and have something to walk away with when you listen to the music.
So, would you consider it a concept album?
Yes, it’s a concept album from start to finish – but the concept and backstory may not be entirely obvious at first listen. I want you to listen closely, a few times, make some guesses, ponder a little bit and fill in the gaps yourself. In as few words as possible, the concept is this: the entire album is told from the perspective a futuristic alien society reflecting upon Earth’s mistakes in 2012 and pondering the future direction of mankind. Kinetics & One Love are a computer from this alien society, observing and reacting to what they see on Earth, like a reporter. That sounds really fucking weird when I say it like that. You’ll just have to listen to truly understand.
I’ll take your word for it. So what’s the deal with the whole “I am a computer” and “#teamcyborg” theme you constantly write about? You even have a little robot on your chain. I’m assuming that has something to do with the album concept?
Hah yeah…the robot/cyborg/computer alter ego is a major component to the You Are Not Alone concept. It started a few years ago. I would be freestyling for a crowd of kids, drop a crazy punchline or rhyme scheme and people would start shouting, “Holy shit, he’s not human! You’re a fucking robot, dude!” So I ran with it. But over time the robot persona began to symbolize more than that. Now it’s a metaphor for feeling like an outsider or outcast. I say “sometimes I feel like a robot” on the album for anyone that has ever felt slightly different, or alone – like a robot. It’s about embracing that feeling of being a weird ass robot amongst a world of completely normal humans and embracing it, using it to your advantage. Or…you know…maybe I am actually a cyborg uploaded into a human body.
Okay. And what about this Christopher Nolan comparison you’ve been making for yourself. Why do you consider yourself “hip-hop’s Chris Nolan”?
Chris Nolan — who directed movies like Inception and The Dark Knight — is my favorite director. The Prestige is one of my favorite movies of all-time. I just really admire his work, and I think there are similarities in the way we present stories, with hidden double-meanings and crazy twists in the conclusion. I would also like to think there are parallels in our career paths: Nolan’s first film, Following, was low-budget and didn’t really bring him much commercial success. Memento, his second film, was a major improvement in terms of production quality and was the project that put him on the map to a mainstream audience. From there, he followed up with huge blockbuster successes like Inception and the Batman trilogy. If our first album, Fading Back To Normal, can be compared to Nolan’s Following in that the quality was amateur and its reception lukewarm, then our second project, You Are Not Alone, like Nolan’s second, will put us on the map and introduce us to a wider audience. From there, we’ll sign a record deal and drop huge mainstream successes like The Dark Knight. Know what I’m saying? “It’s all part of the plan.”
Who are you looking forward to collaborating with in the future?
Man, this summer has been such an exciting period for me in terms of meeting and collaborating with new artists. Within a few days, I recorded a song with the internationally-known Termanology, said what up to Statik Selektah, chilled in the studio with Remedy and R.A. the Rugged Man, and met Hopsin. I also ran into Childish Gambino at a club, introduced myself to him and the next day we were sitting in his hotel talking about setting up some sessions. I would really love to do a track with Hopsin — he’s one of the only artists out of all these new cats that I really fuck with. What else? You can probably expect a track with the homie Skizzy Mars soon. I want to do a track with Immortal Technique on my next mixtape. Oh yeah, someone tell Soul Khan that Accent and I would love to do a track with him. And last but not least, everybody go please check out the reggae band Morning Sun & The Essentials. We’ve already begun working on a joint hip-hop/reggae album with them that we plan on releasing next spring. But in the meantime, make sure you cop You Are Not Alone on August 28th!
Hip-Hop, Videos | Kinetics & One Love — Still Dreamin’ (feat. Termanology) [Music Video]
Posted by jeffwbaird on August 16, 2012
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen. This is the moment where Kinetics & One Love transition from renowned songwriters to renowned artists. The moment where they become known not for penning the hook to B.o.B’s 2010 mega-hit “Airplanes,” but for tracks of their own. Today we have the privilege of premiering “Still Dreamin’”, the first single and video off their new full-length, You Are Not Alone, which is dropping exclusively on iTunes on August 28 (and features the likes of Termanology, Nitty Scott, Wynter Gordon, and Accent). I promise this video is going to leave you mesmerized, and is true evidence of their achievements and the improvement this duo has made since their last LP, Fading Back to Normal, which they released in 2009 still as undergrads at Cornell. Termanology’s feature here is the latest in the trend of Kinetics rapping alongside underground vets (he traded verses with RA the Rugged Man, Remedy, and Unknown Prophets on his recent mixtape) and no longer the pop-rap upstarts of earlier days, whom he easily out-spit. Term’s presence here—both on the track and in the video—brings great power and shows off his versatility, as we more commonly hear him over Premo or Hi-Tek beats. Kinetics’ newly honed delivery and voice is hypnotic as he aggressively whirlwinds over One Love’s fierce and magnetic instrumental with lines like “I’m here to give the streets crack/Call it Ronald Reagan.” The video features cameos from Freeway, Statik Selektah, and Accent, and perfectly captures the energy and visual reaction I had the first time I heard the track. Even though this song will be sold on iTunes, K&1L have agreed to release a free download if the video reaches 100,000 views. So, enjoy the visual, share it with your friends, and let this hold you over until we’re graced with You Are Not Alone in full on August 28.
Hip-Hop, Videos | Kinetics — Cosmic Consciousness feat. Kam Royal, Money Mars & KTSB [Music Video]
Posted by jeffwbaird on July 14, 2012
In accordance with his new mixtape release, With A Little Help From My Friends, Kinetics has just released a video for “Cosmic Consciousness”, the conceptual posse cut featuring Kam Royal, Money Mars & KTSB. The track sports an intro from 1979 Vietnam musical Hair, and a daze-inducing instrumental from Kid Vision (who also produced another standout mixtape cut, the previously released “845”) with hazy, muted synths and brawny drums that the four emcees flex over, with cognizant and abstract rhymes. The video, shot by Hickory Lawson, captures the same feel through nebulous shots of the artists trading verses in Times Square and Central Park. If you haven’t downloaded the mixtape yet, you can find it here, and for all others, enjoy this mellow track and visual.
Hip-Hop, Mixtapes | Mixtape Premiere: Kinetics — With A Little Help From My Friends
Posted by jeffwbaird on July 10, 2012
In an age of music where hip-hop artists have become products more identifiable by their appearance and crossover attempts than lyrical ability, authenticity and originality is becoming increasingly hard to find. While a plethora of upstart rappers claim to embody a fresh style, swag, and signature flow, the umbrella of rap music is ever expanding and becoming congruent with the hollow, yet heavily-popularized party rap genre—one that is steering hip-hop away from its conscious, substantive roots, and saturating it with hopefuls bent on scoring a lucrative career out of their craft.
Though originally known as the songwriter behind B.o.B’s triple-platinum pop single “Airplanes,” Kinetics (rapper of Kinetics & One Love) is intent on bringing lyricism and message back to the forefront of hip-hop. It’s been almost a year since the last time we heard a full project from him, but it’s clear that he’s been hard at work during the hiatus, as evidenced by the substantial progression we find on his new mixtape, With A Little Help From My Friends, premiering here on Fresh New Tracks. Last week, in preparation for the new tape, Kinetics announced to his fans on Twitter that the new project would be getting back to his more lyrically-focused roots, writing off the experimental sound of last year’s What Model Are You? in a moment that recalled Eminem’s “Not Afraid”, where he candidly claimed, “Let’s be honest/That last Relapse CD was ehhh.” It is that self-awareness that has propelled Kinetics to consistent improvement as an emcee, and has allowed him to make the kind of advancement in a year that would take many artists the better part of their careers.
What makes this work so decidedly different from his past efforts is it’s consistency, which is ironic because the work gains its title from the fact that each track features a different artist or producer (including such esteemed hip-hop figures as R.A. the Rugged Man, Remedy of Wu-Tang Killa Bees, and Unknown Prophets). But while the record’s consistency doesn’t come from its collaborators or production (longtime producer One Love was involved in just a third of the beats), it’s easily evident in Kinetics’ lyricism, flow, and delivery, as he attacks each verse full throttle with cipher-caliber raps that are packed with double entendres, puns, and multisyllabic rhymes. This is the Kinetics that fans of early work like “High Noon” have been waiting to see resurface, while he still manages to keep the record balanced and accessible to the more pop-oriented portion of his fan-base.
With A Little Help From My Friends is comprised of sixteen tracks spanning exactly an hour, with a guest-list that perfectly locates Kinetics in the hip-hop world, as he raps aside (and often out-spits) cemented figures of the underground as well as blog-favorited up-and-comers like Chris Webby, Dylan Owen, and Beau Young Prince. While there are a significant number of notable guest appearances here (including four from frequent collaborator Accent), there’s no doubt from the opening bars of “Chris Nolan” to the melodic and vehement closer “Music Speak” that this is Kinetics’ show, his time to shine, and let listeners bask in the complexity and substance of his craft that is a rarity in today’s hip-hop.
From the ferocious intricacy and flow-swapping of “Chris Nolan” (“I spit sinister symbolism that’s killing all these silly simile single-syllable singing simpletons”) to the storytelling of standouts “Rich Man” and “Million Miles of War” (the latter of which poignantly depicts the life of an American soldier in WWII) to his distinctive humor on “Game Over” (“Showed this girl named Megan my bunk-bed/Slid my balls in between that slut’s legs like a nutmeg/Get it? A nutmeg/I said her name was Megan/That pun operated on three levels but nobody gets it”), With A Little Help From My Friends caters to a wide audience, yet never compromising the high-standard Kinetics holds himself to on a line-by-line basis here, ultimately making for a final product that finally feels like it has captured his talent on record. Like my man FNT blogstar “A” once told me, “Kinetics can rap circles around people”—and that has never been more evident than on this record. So take a seat, grab your headphones, and revel in the dizziness.
Download: KINETICS & ONE LOVE- WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS (MIXTAPE)
Hip-Hop | Kinetics ft. Chris Webby – Game Over
Posted by LoffyG on June 5, 2012
Cornell wordsmith and Warner wunderkind, Kinetics, teams up with notable ninja Chris Webby for the second time time after their previous “Joker” collaboration off Webby’s There Goes The Neighborhood. In their new collaboration, Kinetics raps with calculated conviction while Chris Webby talks about video games, super mario, and other video game pursuits. No complaints here, this track is tough.