The Weekly Dip 3/18/22
Hopefully everybody has been having a blasty blast of a week, well with SXSW going on & although most of us here at Wavez are doing our media run out there, we of course still find the time to hit y’all with our annual dip! Lots of beautiful music in today’s installment so we keeping this disclaimer short & sweet so as to dive immediately into today’s waters!
Eastside Fish & Ngeniuss - Lean In Cali
More LA/SA connections on the latest release from the Fish out that Eastside waters! He’s smuggling that lean all the way to Cali so as to have their residents get a little taste of our Texas culture. Eastside has this sluggish yet thuggish bravado to him that just oozes out of him slowly, just like pouring lean out the bottle! The thing I admire about Fish is that, he relies solely on his swagger to get his shit off, he doesn’t need to be all wild with the metaphors or shit like that, though he does have some great plays on words in this verse, ie; the almost homophone with “OG’s”, “old cheese”, he honestly just be talking but in a sliding fashion & the confidence he speaks with gets his messages off sternly. Ngeniuss slides through as well to match this energy impeccably. Eastside is just so player with it & you know he’s speaking from a real place & with more music well on the way, I’d say this is the year everyone gonna know of the Fish!
Stevie Stone - BSP
Since his departure from Indie imprint, Strange Music, Stevie Stone has been continuously crushing them with his hard knocking music. You can always expect this kind of roughneck music from Stevie, it’s his signature sound after all. It’s beautiful to see him be his own boss & not ride under someone else’s wing, starting his own label with Ahdasee Records, Stevie takes this time to pop his shit off & remind fans who may have fell off after he left the label that he hasn’t lost a step. “BSP” may be the most daunting out of all his bangers, the keys creeping up behind the bass is so sinister as Stevie stomps his way throughout the beat, leaving a trail of ruins behind him. With a new album well on the way, his 1st full length since leaving Strange, I’d say we’re in for another classic in Stone’s illustrious catalog!
Tren$etta - Can’t Stop
Tren$etta is back with his 1st release of the new year, produced by Only3ree at that so you know it’s about to be a slapper! This record sounds like something a gem you’d find on a dusty old tape, it just has this nostalgic feel to it although it’s modernist as can be. He absolutely slides over this hyphy production, simply taking this opportunity to pop his shit off with the utmost bravado, flinging each bar at you with so much gusto! He’s amused at the idea of people wanting his help at this juncture in his career when they were nowhere to be found during the come up. These people can’t stand that he manifested his own success by simply working hard at his craft but it phases him not one bit. His flow on this joint is just so ridiculous but the messages & the wordplay are ever so present as well, making this a nice little tease of what trends he’s about set yet again!
Reuben Vincent - Picasso Baby Freestyle
I see Jamla records, I immediately think 9th Wonder, for obvious reasons but the talent his label has to offer goes beyond Rapsody as we get a little taste of what Reuben here has to offer. You know you gotta do anything Jay-Z related justice but man, out of the original record this instrumental was lifted from, as well as the many renditions from MC’s like Cassidy or Gillie Da Kid, Reuben’s is hands down my favorite. He’s rhyming at such an elite level but effortlessly, or at least he makes it sound like it as he gracefully executes each bar with no filler in between. It’s beautiful to see such hunger, such eagerness when it comes to eating the next beat that may land on his plate. Hopefully this isn’t the last we hear of Reuben this year cause the boy is a fucking problem & MC’s better take notes & head back to the drawing boards after they get hit with this!
THA FUCKUP - Pushin’ P
No, before you ask, he is not rhyming over the Gunna record, he is however waxing eloquently as he expresses his pain & anguish throughout this little number. You can hear it in the cracks in his auto tune tinged vocals but don’t let that divert your attention away from the things he’s actually saying, too often people get scared of auto tune cause they automatically assume the artist ain’t saying shit but THA FUCKUP has a lot to say & dammit he’s saying it. Although he is saddened by the people who no longer love him for whatever reason, it’s not gonna stop him from being honest & vulnerable throughout his music. Even better that he added subtitles for the slow pokes who have a hard time catching onto the pain he’s pushing. It’s records like this that really help me enjoy this style a lot more than I used to so ironically, he hasn’t fucked up in that sense.
GRIP - Dirty Work
Since signing to Shady, GRIP hasn’t slowed down at all & is back yet again, not even that long after “Spatula” to come flip that “Dirty Work”. Hopefully y’all caught his set at SXSW like we did cause as good as his music is, his stage presence is also impeccable. He’s simply a rhyming machine, like he does this shit in his sleep but he also knows how to make an infectious record without sacrificing the bars in the process. These two singles he’s blessed us with so far are both light work for him, it’s child’s play at this point proving how ill he is when it comes to the rhyme, he couldn’t be touched then & certainly can’t be touched now if he keeps eating beats this viciously. Hopefully these are the 1st indicators of a possible sophomore effort from the Atlanta spitter this year, one can only hope!
Taebo The Truth, Rittz - Huh?
If you’ve been following King Iso then you’re aware of his right hand man Taebo & even more aware of Rittz, who is responsible for informing Tech about Iso so it’s only right that everything comes back full circle again with this collab. We all know Rittz is one of the crispest spitters out there but Taebo has been proving himself like mad lately, well with his appearances on Iso’s latest, it’s obvious he can keep up with the best of them & that he does. It’s just nice to see Taebo hold it down on his own record & it certainly won’t be the last we hear of him this year, potential album perhaps? We’ll just have to wait & see but “Huh?” is correct cause that what you’ll be saying to yourself after trying to decipher this headache rap, at least for the average listener but I personally welcome having circles rapped around me.
MUNA - Anything But Me
With their self titled 3rd album slated to hit June 24th, MUNA has hit us with yet another poppy yet powerful record that’ll surely hold us over until release day! On “Anything But Me”, the girls get into the difficulties women have to face when they decide to leave a relationship that no longer serves purpose in their lives. Breaking up is a very challenging endeavor, often times, we overstay our stay, thus making it more difficult to leave something that just doesn’t feel right anymore, that no longer aligns with the person you’re becoming. It’s painful cause sometimes, y’all both still have love for each other but you know it’s what’s best for both parties. The visuals play on the fact that, we tend to be our own captors in this shaky dynamics we find ourselves stuck in, strictly cause the familiarity of it all but the relief that comes once you finally take that leap, what a rush of relief.