2017 is going to be a busy year for American MC Freddie Gibbs. Earlier this month it was announced that he has now started working on a second project with Madlib. Their previous collaboration was Piñata which was considered the best body of work from either artist (Quasimoto disagrees). The new project will be called Bandana.
Freddie Gibbs is also releasing his third solo album, You Only Live 2wice on Friday March 31. The album is likely to have been written to sell records. This will be a more commercial enterprise but his collaboration with Madlib will be more experimental.
Speaking of future projects, both Kendrick Lamar and Nas have announced new solo albums coming out this year. No information on Nas’s album other than he bought a new studio to record it in. Maybe Ghostface Killah and MF Doom can use it because their collaboration Supreme Clientele 2 & Doomstarks is totally 100% actually going to come out this year. Admittedly this has been announced every year since 2011 but all the same it has been announced again.
On Monday March 20, Melbourne rapper Mr. Ruckman released fourth studio album Cognitive Dissonance. It starts with a nod to the 2010 YouTube rapper tag that 360 started. It then slides into some pretty raw lyrics. While some may be insulted by the content of his lines, he is definitely writing verses for his own artistic integrity. It is catchy, but it isn’t exactly radio friendly.
Raekwon just released his new solo album. This one is called The Wild and the lyrical content draws heavily from his experiences in the industry. The verses and bars are constructed in that older hip hop style of storytelling, same as the beats. In fact the whole album seems to be more a reflective echo of Raekwon’s career.
21-year-old Daye Jack released his third album No Data. The track Raw is worth a listen. The album has dance beats with softer lyrics. It gives some of the songs a Pharrell Williams vibe, but not all of them.
Goldlink and Mike Will Made-it also dropped new albums. Goldlink’s At What Cost serves fans of harder hip hop. It’s more aggressive in the lyrics, a little more typically ‘gangsta’. There are numerous references to selling narcotics, as is expected in the genre.
Mike Will Made-it is the next big thing with Ransom 2. The album features a who’s who of the commercial rap scene. Kendrick Lamar, 21 Savage, Lil Yachty, Young Thug all appear on different songs. So does Pharrell Williams, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Chief Keef.
One LP that flew under the radar in March was Rogue Astronaut by Canberra MC Context. It’s a tidy seven track indie rap ode from a city that criminally underrates its MCs. The Canberra region has helped spawn Koolism, Maggot Mouf and Omar Musa.
Don’t forget to free up your Wednesday nights for Can I Kick It. It’s a weekly freestyle event hosted at Horse Bazaar. The monthly event All You Can Spitis on Friday March 31 at Rubix Warehouse. Mantra and Grey Ghost are headlining.
