New Music: Haez One - San Hopeless

What's up everyone? It's Wednesday again and for this week we've decided to focus on the new cassette release from Haez One, San Hopeless, available now from Icy Palms Records. This review is going to concentrate mainly on the album in question, but I'd also like to say a few words about Icy Palms as well.

The first thing I noticed with this release is that, true to form, Haez has offered up a huge collection of tracks (his last album surpassed 80 mins). Some of these songs were available as singles on Haez's Bandcamp in the past (check here for some of his older albums as well, all completely original and dope as fuck), and one is a shortened version from his collabo with Dave Dub as Broken Uglies, but the rest is a never before heard collection highlighting Haez's direction as an artist and growth as an emcee.

I can speak for both Trylemma and I in saying that our favorite thing about Haez (and his peers in the SJ underground like the infamous Dave Dub) is his ability to combine hard hitting gangsta influenced raps with experimental uniqueness. He is an incredibly talented rapper with a versatile voice and has the ability to rhyme in unexpected ways on beat which usually keeps things interesting.

San Hopeless is an unflinching look at life on the streets of San Jose. From the very beginning of the cassette Haez goes off book, his tongue twisting style alternating between a laid back cadence somewhat reminiscent of Tupac to a rambling, staccato rhythm. The themes of drug use and run-ins with the police come up again and again, with some braggadocio and gangsta topics thrown in. The more personal single "Land Shark" revolves around the story of his journey from a delinquent youth to the rapper he is now, and is probably the stand out song on Side A.

The production is a huge plus as usual, Haez works with the phenomenal Trust One on "Around the Block" (great track featuring SF legend and Bored Stiff alumnus Equipto), as well as Tape Mastah Steph (known for his work with Dave Dub as Endlessness in Machinery) on numerous tracks. The overall sound is strictly boom bap, throwback style tracks on this album which I'm always thankful to hear.

That said, I personally preferred the darker more experimental sound of 2017's Death to the Internet to the sound of this album, but it is still a worthy addition to Haez's discography. As always he offers us something to bump loud in the car or relax to at a party with friends that is full of creative effort and technical skill, a rare find these days.

Get San Hopeless here on cassette or digital now from Icy Palms Records.

And speaking of Icy Palms, I've had the chance to look over what they offer and they seem to be a pretty solid up and coming label, with releases from V8, Matlock (as The Cult Leaders) and TankWon of The Stay Busy Crew being the artists I'm familiar with. I also know they're putting out a cassette from San Jose's own Barry Bones in the next few months, definitely an album to watch out for. Get an idea of what they're about right here.