On Tuesday the Washington Area Music Association announced the nominees for the 26th annual Wammies, which take place Feb. 19 at the State Theatre. It’s no secret that I and others have long been critical of the local awards ceremony's mistakes, omissions, and policies. I'd hoped this year would be very different but, alas, I [...]
The world's Wu-nerds can sort out the particulars of The Ghostface Beat Tape Project, a 28-track collection of high-quality instrumentals "inspired by the Wally Champ" and created entirely by DMV producers. There's plenty to chew on at the micro level. At the macro level, though, it inspires one question: Why put all that DMV effort [...]
Arts Desk has written a lot about Kokayi over the years, because he's talented and prolific and all that jazz. The D.C. rapper/singer/producer even did a Snow Day Session. But his latest gambit—offering a free house concert to the 1,400th person who Likes him on Facebook—seemed a bit outré, even for a guy who is [...]
At first glance, D.C. rapper SmCity seems all confused in this video for "Twilight," a track from his upcoming The Indie Life: Hate, Love & Money. He's sportin' a limited-edition Nats hat, but that hometown W kinda gets lost in all those Brooklyn Bridge shots. And his sideman is Brooklyn MC Skyzoo. Why shoot the [...]
D.C.-based rapper/producer Gregory "Grap Luva" Phillips grew up around hip-hop royalty in New York, and is probably best known for his appearances on 1992's Mecca And The Soul Brother, by Pete Rock (Grap's actual brother) and C.L. Smooth. (That's Grap at the beginning of "On And On.") We had a hunch that he'd want to [...]
Wale's sophomore album Ambition sold 164,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard charts (behind Bieber!) and thereby making him twice as popular as the seemingly more popular Big Sean, though still a little less popular than the seemingly as popular J. Cole.
You may have noticed Wale on the cover [...]
Is “Otis” a terrible song?
I thought so. It’s a lazy, looped beat that is trampled on by weak punch-lines, and is just about impossible to consume. But three songs into Thursday night’s Monsters of Rap summit, the track felt central to whatever cultural unifiers linger in the middle class’ societal fabric. An extended intro turned [...]
The Flame (Def Dee Remix) by DTMD
While you were sorting out your feelings about Wale this morning, P.G. County's DTMD was releasing this thumped-up remix of the first chunk of "The Flame," the track that wraps up its nifty DTMD: Makin' Dollas album. The original is all huggy synths and hopefulness; the remix by Seattle's [...]
So here's this nice new video from DMV rapper Killa Cal, the dude known for freestyling in The WHAT? Band, and it's labeled as an "electronic press kit," which is basically a fancy way of saying "infomercial." So what's he selling? There's an album, right? Nah, not really. Maybe next year. Just lots of mixtapes [...]
Connoisseurs of The Sleigher know D.C. Ty the Monster and Lady Moet Beast as progenitors of the awesomest DMV Christmas song ever, but a more accurate title might be "the DMV's most unpredictable rap squad." The Southeast-based husband-wife duo, which runs the Draztick Measurez label, is now pushing what it calls "crudd rock." For Ty, [...]
