Battle of the Bay X Sampler Compilation

 

This weekend (August 11-13,) GTX is throwing a mega battle rap event in Battle of the Bay X. The tenth installment, spread across the three days, of the epic Battle of the Bay series will consist of nearly 30 battles. 

There's some obvious big name match-ups involved - Dizaster vs Eazy The Block Captain will headline Day 1 and Hollow Da Don vs The Saurus will headline Day 2. What I'm personally most excited about, however, is the return of some old favorites that we haven't seen battle in a while. This list includes Loe Pesci (who will be battling B Magic,) Dirtbag Dan (who will be battling Carter Deems,) Alpha MC (who will be battling Jess The Facts,) Everybody Knows (who will be battling Pedro,) Lyraflip (who will be battling Hipnosis,) and ATM (who will be battling O Solo.) We also get the long awaited return of Sahtyre and Dumbfoundead as a duo (who will be battling DNA and Charlie Clips) and a rematch between QP and Soul Khan. 

The event kicks off today with "Day Zero" and continues through Sunday. The venue is in Oakland, CA at the Continental Club, but you can buy PPV tickets for the entire event for only $50.00 HERE. In honor of the event, I threw together a little BOTBX Sampler Compilation consisting of some tracks from some of the battlers who will be at the event. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. Dumbfoundead - Freeloaders

2. Sahtyre - Summer In The City

3. The Saurus - One Way Road

4. Passwurdz - Thoughts Of A Wandering Mind

5. Frak - Asthma

6. Loe Pesci - Space Jam Monsters

7. Soul Khan - Hold On

8. Carter Deems w/ Ersatz Splynter and Esem - Three Ninjas

9. Dirtbag Dan - I Can't Forget

10. Reverse Live - Stand Alone Complex

11. Fredo Algebra - Outta Nowhere

12. Alpha MC - Out Of The Question

13. Ness Lee - Different Typa Rapper

14. Frank Stacks w/ Madness - Next To The Stage

15. Everybody Knows - Dysphoric Eggo

16. Bigg K w/ Illmaculate - Know My Name

17. Lyraflip - Driving Drunk With Warrants

BOTBX Sampler Compilation 

Alpha MC - IDGAF2 (2015)

 

Today's post is a minor "long lost" project that I recently retrieved in the form of Alpha MC's "IDGAF2."

Alpha MC, currently known as Alph Tha Alien, is an LA rapper who is part of Project Blowed and the mighty Swim Team. He's always had a real laid back nonchalant comical delivery that I've always loved. "IDGAF2" is a mixtape that Alpha uploaded to his Soundcloud in 2015. It wasn't available to buy or DL and about a year later it was wiped :(

That sucked as the project was one of my favorites of 2015 (I always figured he'd make it available to buy, so I never worried about ripping it myself.) The mixtape was a follow-up to his "I Don't Give A Fuck" mixtape from 2012 (which is almost as dope as the sequel and which is still available to DL for free on Alph's Bandcamp.) On it, Alpha tackles some mainstream beats and gives a total clinic and flows and deliveries. It's not much in terms of "substance" (think a lot of braggadocio and rhymes about fucking) but if you like hearing dudes just rap over some dopeass beats (and no, I'm not talking about ya'll boringass NYC boom bap rappers lol)...this is a great modern example! 

Anyhow, I've been bugging Alpha about getting the project for a while now and while he himself no longer had the tracks, one of his producers did and Alpha was nice enough to send me along the 10 tracks. Huge thanks to him! DL and enjoy below!

IDGAF2

New Music: VA - Project Blowed Hardcore Street Hop Division Vol. 2

 

Here's a new one for you! 

Seemingly out of nowhere, we get a follow up to the Ellay Khule curated 2014 "Street Hop Division" compilation. And, even more so than the original, Khule has brought out a lot of Blowed vets/affiliates to grace the album including Jizzm, AllCityJimmy (fka Nocando,) Alph Tha Alien (fka Alpha MC,) Myka 9, Mister CR, Ngafsh, Gel Roc, Quaesar, Monstroe, and many others. German legend Taktloss even stops by! 

As noted, I'm not really sure the origins of this project, but I think it might have been released on the hype derived from the recent Project Blowed vs Talib Kweli beef. The recent diss track "Overkill" from Khule and Myka 9 appears on the album as the first single. A lot of the tracks (based on pop culture references) seem to be newly recorded as well.

I'm not a huge fan of the limited production on this one (especially at 19 tracks deep,) but I will never not love the chopper styles that these guys bring. Stream it below (I believe Khule will have CDs available soon as well.)

Project Blowed Hardcore Street Hop Division Vol. 2 

New Music: Alph Tha Alien - Black Tax

Alpha MC is one of the most overlooked west coasters and rappers in general imo. His nonchalant quirkiness and creative rhyme schemes make him one of the best examples of the last real wave of Blowedians. Over the past handful of years, however, he's been relatively quiet. He released a lowkey album with Pigeon John in 2014, did a name change to Alph Boss and dropped an instrumental EP a couple years ago, and now, finally in 2020, changed the name again to Alph Tha Alien and dropped the long awaited, "Black Tax."

The album, which was rolled out via a number of loosey singles over the past months, sort of sounds like Alph finding his way back into the scene. The guy can still absolutely rap no questions asked. Stylistically, however, it seems like he's trying to fit his way into various forms of established contemporary LA sounds. I can hear Kendrick vibes, Open Mike Eagle (who is featured on the project) vibes, Blueface vibes. He pulls off most of the styles and sounds well, but it's at the cost of his own more original lighthearted style that many older fans have grown accustomed to. A lot of the songs feel like they could use more fleshing out beat-wise and conceptually as well.

If you're an Alpha MC (or Swim Team/Project Blowed) fan, this is absolutely worth checking out, just based on the fact that we get to hear Alph rap again. Hopefully Alpha both stays around for a while this go around and finds some time to find his more original voice again.

Stream "Black Tax" HERE.