Remember when you were a kid and you really liked crappy music because you didn’t know any better? This was probably the best time of your musical life because you didn’t care if it was considered cool or not, it just gave you an excuse to jump around like an idiot and sing off key! Well there is a band that is playing SXSW that will take you back to these times but it’s actually a good thing. For me this band was Green Day and for the younger peepsout there reading this their band might have been Good Charlotte or some other variation of them. Well Driver Friendly is a nice combo of both. As my friend said “this band makes me wish I was 20 again”. I went in very skeptical but walked out pleasantly surprised. For about 40 minutes I forgot that I was old and was jumping around smiling like I had the same problems a 21 year old has. And that’s the beauty of these guys, they know what their music is and are in it as long as the free drinks and cute girls keep rolling in. Most of the shows they are playing at SX are early shows so go get you a dose of musical Red Bull before you get into the heavier stuff. I rate them as FRESH.
It looks as though SXSW is really feeling hip hop this year as most official and unofficial showcases are stacked with it and it seems to pack the most punch as far as talent is concerned. Kendrick Lamar has really blown up since last year and is headlining the Spin party this year. But along with him, artists like Slim Thug, Earl Sweatshirt (Odd Future fame), Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Dead Prez, and Big Krit will be bringing gold teeth, skateboards, hipster thrift clothes, and southern twang to the ATX. But the one thing that’s missing is candy paint whips!
Well to help with this, every night of the music portion of SX is loaded with Houston mc’s. It’s like the black equivalent of the British Invasion. Trae the Truth will be bringing the usual country fried gulliness you expect from this city. It’s nothing special, but if you like rolling up blunts and seeing black girls drop it to bumping music then this is the show to pop in on. I rate him as kind of WEAK.
The next big thing to come out and will eventually be the flag bearer for the Bayou City for hip hop like Mike Jones, UGK (Port Arthur, Texas), and the Ghetto Boys before him will be Propain; at least in my eyes. The talent is there, he just has to keep grinding. He can bring the skills boasting rhymes as he does in Say I Wont as well as the introspective goodness like he does in The Note. Although the latter’s video reminds me a bit too much of that Eminem video where he’s crying about his girlfriend…oh wait that’s every one of his songs. Anyway, he already has the respect and love of all the local heroes like Bun B, so you may as well get on board too. I rate him as FRESH!
Delorean is another one from Houston you should pop in on. I really shouldn't have to say anymore, his name alone is fresh but he brings the skills to match the name. I'm not as hyped about him as I am Propain but I’ll give him a rating of slightly FRESH for now.
And last I have someone from the East Coast to check out. The former popular chef out of Flatbush known as Action Bronson. It really is uncanny how much he sounds like Ghostface from Wu Tang but the thing that keeps me listening is when he rhymes about his food. If I was awesome at two things, I’d mix them all of the time too. It’s like the time I went to a local bar and they had a chef dj who was cooking up sushi and spinning weak records at the same time. This guy is obviously better than that. I’m holding off my rating on him in hopes that when I see him, he’s cooking up ribs and rhyming about Parsley and Rub.
No comments:
Post a Comment