The Musik Lounge

Starlito was fresh off the DJ Burn One collaboration Renaissance Gangster when he released Mental Warfare . Where the former was a country rap tune classic meant for riding and smoking in the haze of a late southern summer, the later was ‘Lito delivering a masterpiece of modern conceptual rap - taking the listener through the mind of a hustler and the psychological toll a life in the trap can take. The album is separated by individual moments of captured intimacy with ‘Lito. Speaking genuinely and from the heart he sheds light on the moves he has made in the past and how he is navigating life at the time. It paint’s a positive picture of mental clarity, but not without plenty of missteps and questionable choices rooted in loyalty and a devotion to a strict inner code not to be tampered with regardless the test. “Hope For Love” opens the album as strong letter to whoever might be listening. Throughout his career Starlito has delivered biographical tales with ease. This is no diffe...

Half way through 2010. I'm another year older. Time is flying and life is exciting. Apologies for the lack of updates around these parts, the sun coming out and my own lack of direction have been on my mind lately. I'm ready to make a move and find a home, it's been a long run since coming back to Seattle in October of last year. But let's dispense with the personal stuff, that ain't why you come to The Musik Lounge! Download June Heatrocks here. Kicking off this month's edition of the Heatrocks is "Think 4 Yourself" by La Finne Equipe & Mattic. I know nothing. The name is eloquent. The song is fun. Truth couldn't be realer. Get down with it. I need to go back into my Ani DiFranco archieves and see if this really is her voice they flipped for the sample in the hook. One of the last records I rocked at my old job in the Bistro on Seattle University's campus was Long Distance from Onra. As I remember it, it's great. "Wonderland...

These Heatrock compilations never seem to make it up to the blog in a timely manner? The two jobs are over and summer is about here. I took a brief hiatus this weekend from the antics of Seattle life to come home and visit with my mom. Always feels good to return to the place of my beginings but I'm ready to get back and keep things moving. Shouts out to all my Jet Set fam, rock tonight for me! Download the May Heatrocks here . May saw the release of the Jeezy tape Trap or Die 2, picking up from the last tape and as is usual with mixtapes things stay just a little harder than you would hear on a full length issued by a label. The Clipse and Jeezy are three of the only emcees who own the coke raps today. This song doesn't really pull on their mutual trade but they deliver a high energy banger for you to rock out with none the less! Detroit is a cold hard place. People say the grey skies round Seattle keep our youth depressed more than anywhere else. Maybe so, but depression has...

The March Heatrocks have been broken into two volumes, get the first here ! Download March Heatrocks: Vol. 2 here Kicking off this volume of the March Heatrocks is Starlito, formerly known as All Star, which I previously blogged about here . Renaissance Gangster is fresh and "Weed Smoker Music" is as good a description of his genre as anything else. The song is pretty self explainatory, he captures a mood well. "Straight A student might focus to it/Just don't defocus to it" Changing it up but keeping it on track I was struck by this Don Cherry and Brent Roesenberg tune "In A Geodetic Dome." The song is basically a four minute long trumpet solo. There are repetitive hits on a gong very quietly in the background, an perhaps a few other equally quiet sounds. The point here is the trumpet, and a beautiful piece of playing it is. Slow and melancholy it's also reflective. Boom Bap Project haven't been active in some time but five years ago they dro...

In 24 hours I've been inundated with some amazing tunes. First it was the previously blogged about Dibiase mix, find it here . Today I was cleaning my car out with the iTunes on shuffle and after hearing "South Bronx" a song came on called "Weed Smoker Music" and captured the mood well. The dude responsible for the track was named Starlito, upon further research I found out he used to go by All Star and was at one point signed to Cash Money. No more from the looks of things. If his Renaissance Gangster tape with DJ Burn One is any indication of what his extensive back catolog might offer I'm very excited. Hailing from Nashville and demonstrating excellent story telling capabilities along with an honest side, we see him expounding on harsh truthes many fail to properly grasp. With guys like Freddie Gibbs and Pill making a name for the righteous gangster and Wiz Khalifa and Currensy getting highed up on the daily and writing raps about their adventures, Sta...