The Musik Lounge

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes Oh shit! It took me far to long to get up in here with November's heatrocks. Y'all didn't really think I'd drop October on ya and split? Yeah, I feel you. But I didn't I'm right here! November was great and in getting settled back in Seattle I also got to catch up on music both locally and nationally. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm getting heavy into some electronic tunes. Towards the beginning of the month I was listening to this comp Aquatic Lab Sessions and the track “Right Here” from Flash just struck me. Reminding me of Burial and why I got into dubstep to begin with this song is haunting. The vocals will stick with you and the beat is hypnotic. Great stuff! Yesterday I took the time to give BK-One's album Radio Do Canibal a spin and it rocks. Another great release from RSE this year. What else is ...

After all the hype, video blogs and constant internet chatter Slaughterhouse united for an official album. What began as what looked like drunken chatter in the lab between Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’ 9” and Joell Ortiz turned into a number of scathing tracks (“Move On,” “Fight Club,” etc.) and talk of a super group album. But like so many previous talks of collaborative albums dropping I’m unsure how serious people took them. Earlier this month all the doubters were silenced as the four headed monster came through to deliver the official self titled album. While the hype placed fairly large expectations on this release, if there were ever four emcees who could live up to them it is these guys. Prior to the album dropping they all took time to assure the masses that the album would be surprising and demonstrate different sides from the team. Not entirely clear on what this meant, the album pretty much delivers exactly what it is we have come to expect from these guys – four of the truest ...

Royce and Budden squashed the beef! Yeah at this point it’s old news, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t any less exciting. On top of putting aside their differences, they got in the lab together – hopefully we will get to hear that soon! But in the meantime Budden has a mixtape out in preparation for his official sophomore project. The Halfway House hasn’t made it’s way into my rotation just yet, but given the strength of “Slaughterhouse” I think it will be in the iTunes before the end of the day. Joell Ortiz, Nino Bless, Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9" & Joe Budden "Slaughterhouse" Posse cuts are the holy grail in Hip Hop – they aren’t common, but not completely rare either. Given that they have to include a number of emcees the tracks are almost always longer than your average song and it’s hard to get together a group of emcees who can all carry their own, far too often a week link comes along diverting your attention away from the song before it’s finished. Luckily even...

The thing that constantly comes to mind when I listen to The Bar Exam 2 is Royce’s vocal tone. It’s scathing, biting, as though he took all of his pent up frustration and held it in, and then used it as motivation to spew forth some of the strongest lines ever directed towards the industrialization of Hip Hop. But beyond sounding so serious, it proves the passion someone in Royce’s position has to have to still be in this game. After what seems like a continuous roller coaster ride of a career could Royce Da 5’9” finally have the focus he needs to get himself where he belongs - in the company of kings. Jumping out the box loud and hard Royce and his younger brother Kid Vishis attack the mic, bringing that “Heat to the Streets.” Royce and his brother have excellent chemistry, so much so that it might prevent Vishis from escaping the shadow – with four features here I can’t think of one line that I’m sure it was him and not Royce spitting. From here Royce runs through a series of bragga...