Awol One & DJ ESP - A Twisted Messiah (199?)

 

Apologies for the brief hiatus. Today enjoy an old gypsy rip of Awol One's and DJ ESP's "A Twisted Messiah." I know very little about this one beyond its 30 minutes of dope beats and rhymes (Mass Dog makes an appearance as well.) Enjoy!

A Twisted Messiah

Ngafsh & DJ NoWords - CV Goodlife 2020 Beatz

 

Big treat for ya'll today. In honor of CVE's new album We Represent Billions, today's post is a rare beat project from CVE's Ngafsh and his son, DJ NoWords! 

So this dropped on Ngafsh's site, via Kunaki, and was left up for order for about a week or so. Vinyl only release, no CDs or digital. Then it disappeared from existence. The beats on here are very bouncy CVE-esque, but they also have a heavier twist, thanks in part I'd assume to the younger DJ NoWords. We also get an a cappella verse for the rap heads.

This project consists of 16 tracks. I'm only including the first 10 in the download as it was mentioned that some of these beats may appear elsewhere in the future. As such, if you can track down a physical copy - do so! 

CV Goodlife 2020 Beatz

Bomb Zombies - Sincerely Yours (2010)

 

As requested, today's upload is "Sincerely Yours" from the Bomb Zombies from 2010!

Bomb Zombies consisted of rapper Nocando (now AllxCityxJimmy) and producer DJ Nobody. The two Project Blowedians formed after touring together as founding residents of the Low End Theory (RIP) and dropped the project via Hellfyre Club. The name comes from the classic Freestyle Fellowship joint. 

The project is essentially tour strip club music with a glitchy Low End Theory tinge and Nocando's amazing, often hilarious, rhymes. Customer Service buddy Kail also stops by for a verse. This was released on CD (which I was lucky enough to get a couple copies of before they disappeared) and I believe was put up for a free download at some point. This "deluxe" version has the bonus track "Bangs" as well as the instrumentals for all of the tracks. 

Unfortunately, Bomb Zombies no longer exists. Time obviously draws people apart, but this break up was not so pretty. No need to get into the details, but I don't think Nocan and Nobody are on speaking terms anymore, which is a real shame as they're both really talented guys. Anyhow, relive the old times and peep the project below!

Sincerely Yours

Return of the Dream Team (Medusa, Ariano & LD, DJ Flict) - Album Sampler (2010)

 

Today's post is an album sampler for an album that, as far as I know, never came out, delivered by supergroup, Return of the Dream Team!

Return of the Dream Team formed in 2009 when LD & Ariano joined forces with Medusa and DJ Flict. Flict and LD handled the production while Ariano and Medusa handled the vocals. The group did a couple of shows and dropped a few singles but, to my knowledge, never went on to do much anything else. In my collection, however, I found this album sampler from 2010 that must have been sent around to stations and/or handed out at shows. 

The sampler consists of 7 tracks (a full album now!) but is a mix, with drops from Medusa, that cuts each song short (so you gotta go buy the full album...that doesn't exist!) You can buy a couple of the songs in full online, but most of them seem exclusive to this sampler. The sound is very early 2010s - think Black Eyed Peas or Taio Cruz type deal haha!

If anyone has any further info as to the state of the group (or, better yet, if anyone has the full album) drop it below!

Return of the Dream Team Album Sampler 

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: Giovanni Marks - 2 Plaza 2

 

New one from Giovanni Marks (Subtitle) out fresh today! Peep some familiar faces including Imani, Thavius Beck, and Koreatown Oddity. Check it out below and stay crev!

2 Plaza 2

Customer Service - Please Hold (2004)

 

As requested, today's post is Customer Service's "Please Hold" from 2004.

Customer Service was a crew from one of the last true Project Blowed classes, consisting of Nocando (now AllxCityxJimmy,) Y-Not, AOK (the three of whom made up the Weird People,) Kail (now William Thedford,) Joesue, DJ Handprints, Choice Reason, and SP83. The crew was really set in stone after they were featured on the Project Blowed 10th Anniversary album and subsequent tour. Because they likely needed merch sales from the tour, the guys put together "Please Hold" (which is a compilation of sorts) on limited CDRs (the photo on Discogs and above is from my copy.) 

"Please Hold" doesn't really show the crew's cohesion as well as their 2009 EP "Free Y-Not" does (mainly, because as noted, a lot of the tracks are plucked from the individual member's careers up until that point,) but it does show the brute talent these guys had for rapping and overall song making.

Peep it below! 

PLEASE HOLD

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: Giovanni Marks (fka Subtitle) - When I Feel Ideal

 

If you haven't yet - be sure to check out Giovanni Marks', formerly known as Subtitle, new one "When I Feel Ideal!"

Marks has always been a lowkey source of prolific quality material and there's really no exception here. "When I Feel Ideal" is a 9-track spacey glitchy instrumental record, perfectly embodying that crevlife. What makes Marks' recent releases particularly special is that, if you purchase the work on Bandcamp, you not only usually get bonus tracks not streamable online, but you also get, in the proceeding weeks, in-depth explanations of the tracks emailed to you by Marks himself! 

Check it out below and keep an eye out for physicals soon!

WHEN I FEEL IDEAL

P.S. Oh yeah, if you haven't seen it yet, the guys over at Audio Recon and Ooohh! Thats Heavy are pressing to wax the 2010 collaboration between Giovanni Marks, Cam The Wizzard, and Factor Chandelier - "Party Til Your Body Stops" (the first time it has been in physical form.) Pre-order it HERE. (They usually sell out quickly!)

New Music: Awol One - Flying With Bats

 

What do ya'll think of NFTs? As a long-time collector of physical items...and as a long-time music/video, um, pirate...they haven't really caught on with me yet. Of course, I'm also not going to be that dude on the internet who thinks he fully understands the concept and knows of the entire potential NFTs have moving forward.

Awol One's latest EP, "Flying With Bats," is a musical companion piece of sorts to his current line of NFT trading cards known as the "Secret Saviours of Underground Hip Hop" (a collabo with 2Mex.) You essentially buy a "pack" of the digital cards and keep them in your online wallet to admire, sell, and trade. The cards feature artwork of some big underground heads (e.g. Gift of Gab, Eyedea, and Subtitle) and if you're lucky, you can score sketches and even some exclusive tunes. Awol plans on expanding the collection as time goes on.

As for "Flying With Bats," Awol gives us seven songs (everything done by him) in traditional gritty static Awol style. I was a sort of expecting Awol to phone it in with this one, but the tracks are pretty solid, particularly the hooks. There's no real tie that I can see with the NFT cards, but I'll happily take Awol One music whenever I can. Peep it below!

FLYING WITH BATS

Rumble Pac - Ready 2 Rumble (2002)

We're continuing with the Blowed theme this week with 2002's "Ready 2 Rumble" from Rumble Pac.

Rumble Pac consisted of Crow Loc and Cali-Rag, currently known as Mister CR (from The Goodlife Bullyz, Easty Boys, Afterlife, Project Blowed and such.) To my knowledge, this is the only release they ever dropped. 

The sound is very LA G-Funk gangsta mixed with a nice infusion of Blowedian chopping styles (CVE makes appearances.) The content varies but the guys sound fresh throughout. Like many Afterlife related releases, the quality isn't clean, but it adds to the aesthetics.

Mister CR has had a sort of resurgence over the past half-decade or so, becoming very prolific and most recently working with AllCityJimmy (fka Nocando) on some projects. I'm guessing we'll get a Talib Kweli diss from him as well soon lol. Very dope rapper - just needs to drop the homophobic usage bullshit.

Ready 2 Rumble

 

New Music: 2Mex - Talib Cosby

Nothing like online rap beef from 40+ year old underground rappers! 

For those not keeping up, a while back some Twitter drama started over an alleged argument/fight that took place years ago involving Talib Kweli and some of Ellay Khule's/Rifleman's peeps. Words were tweeted, "threats" were made, Rifleman released a pair of diss tracks, and Talib quit Twitter after some serious harassment allegations arose. In between all the chaos, Talib found out that Rifleman, who he claimed not to know, was a Blowedian. Talib thus reached out to his old friend/ex-roommate, Myka 9, and told Myka 9 to publicly rebuke Rifleman. Myka 9 refused to take sides and called for peace. Talib wasn't pleased.

Fast forward to 2021 and the title track from Talib's latest collabo album with Diamond D, "Gotham," - where Talib takes clear shots at Rifleman and, more prominently, Myka 9. This obviously led to a disgruntled Good Life Cafe/Project Blowed crowd (ranging from Equipto to Luckyiam to Epic to Lush One,) specifically 2Mex who has not only released the diss track "Talib Cosby" but who has also started a website dedicated to the stories of alleged survivors of Talib Kweli abuse. 

There's lots of thoughts here. First is the fact that, even though Talib's album dropped early this year and even though the disses are very blatant, people didn't even catch wind of this until a couple weeks ago lol - shows how up people are on Talib's music. Second is the fact that Talib has been going around talking about how he's been one of the biggest proponents of the Good Life Cafe/Project Blowed over the years - yet he had no idea who Rifleman was? Third is the fact that, of all people, Talib seems most angry at Myka 9 for not sticking up for him...even though Talib is a grown-ass man and even though Myka 9 has been way closer to Rifleman over the years. Talib actually recently did a podcast with Open Mike Eagle where he seemed to big up Myka 9 and Project Blowed - despite the fact that he's dissing Blowedians left and right on his IG. 

With that said, as much as I love the Blowed and as much as Talib's boring NYC backpacker rap puts me to sleep, the other side isn't blameless either. Rifleman and Mister CR have gone deep with the homophobic slurs in attacking Talib, and Talib is right to point that bigoted way of thinking out. Additionally, I hope that 2Mex's new site is actually aimed at helping the women that have been abused by Talib...and not just a general Talib smear campaign based on rap beef. 

In any case, check out the track HERE. 

New Music: Jizzm, Monstroe & DJ Jahbluez - Writers On The Storm

 

It's a 114 degrees in the Northwest - so what better way to celebrate heatstroke than by peeping a quietly released Project Blowed album?

Early this year, Blowedians Jizzm, Monstroe and Jahbluez united to put this release out. It went under the radar for a while and I wasn't made aware of it until recently. Shame because it's well worth a listen. The dark dusty dystopian production fits Jizzm's bars perfectly and Monstroe is always fun to listen to. The guest list on this is deep too - Otherwize, Zagu Brown, Akil The MC, Fatlip, Abstract Rude, Imani, Neb Luv, Alph Tha Alien and more. 

Do yourself a favor and check it. Stream it HERE. 

Family Ties - Family Ties (2005)

 

Today's post comes courtesy of the Cali underground with Family Ties' 2005 self titled album!

Family Ties was (is?) headed up by Imp (aka Imperator) who was a lesser known Project Blowed member. He enlisted his son, Creepy Fingers, and his nephew, Goldie, to create the group. As far as I know, this was the only official release that the group dropped. 

The bouncy production is what you might expect from mid 2000's center-field underground LA rap, for better or worse, but the rapping is fun and should please fans from the greater scene. Peep below!

DOWNLOAD

Awol One - Toilet Water (1998)

 

I never knew much about this one. It's a cassette single-esque release from the thousand year old MC Awolrus One from 1998 under Broken Records. The man had been dropping stuff prior to this but this is certainly an early release. It looks like it may have been a radio/label handout. Fat Jack and Mike Nardone handle the production. 

Below are two rips of the tape. One is an unsliced rip that I believe I got from KaliyugaPro a decade ago. The second rip is an online one with the individual tracks. If anyone has anymore info on this release (or a physical copy they want to sell) drop it in the comments! Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

Dumbfoundead - Dumburger With No Cheese EP (2008)

 

Today's post is an overlooked West Coast underground classic, Dumbfoundead's "Dumburger With No Cheese" EP from 2008!

The last true school of the Project Blowed is one of my favorite movements/time periods in Hip Hop - everyone was really pushing every aspect of rap music, and Dumbfoundead was really at the forefront of things. Before he became a K-Pop superstar, the man was making weirdo nerdy quirky comedic rap tunes and "Dumburger With No Cheese" is his best collection of tracks from that era imo. The song concepts, the multis, the beat selection, the content - everything is really grade-A here. DJ Zo handles the scratches which are really well done. Production is mainly in-house from the likes of Tokimonsta, Maestroe, and Hines Buchanan. And features include Surilla, Lyricks (from Year of the Ox,) and Thirsty Fish (Open Mike Eagle and Psychosiz.) 

Funny story, last covid summer I won a 5 CD pack from Dumb during one of his livestreams by giving the name of this project. Came in handy! 

This is the original free download from his site back in the day. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

Yusef Afloat - Black Tapes (2018)

 

This past week, Jibbs over at This Is For The Hustlers, posted Yusef Afloat's "Hard Times" project and asked for his "Black Tapes" in the comments. I posted it in the comments over there, but figured I'd post it here as well. 

"Black Tapes" is a collection of OG tracks from the legendary Nonce rapper, Yusef Afloat. It was put out in 2018 by Diggers Vault Records, but the label seems to have taken it offline since. The project is deep at 23 tracks and really deserves to be heard, so I'm posting the full original Bandcamp rip here. If they ever bring it back to purchase, I'll of course remove it. 

Peep below and long live Yusef Afloat!!

DOWNLOAD

Longevity - Blowed Xmas EP (2012)

 

Today's post is actually of some music that is currently up (for free) but that is also currently uncompiled and a bit hard to actually stumble upon. In 2012, Project Blowedian Longevity uploaded 3 tracks he produced from an apparent Project Blowed EP. The tracks were obviously streamable and also downloadable, but to my knowledge, the EP itself was never promoted or released beyond the individual tracks on the Soundcloud. Shame, because, on the vocals, are some heavy left coast hitters. The tracks include "Christmas In The City" (Feat. Aceyalone, Beond, and Ellay Khule,) "Killin Claus" (Feat. Otherwize,) and "The God That Stole Xmas" (Feat. Born Allah.) 

You can, and should, still peep the stuff on Longevity's Soundcloud but since this is the season, I figured I'd compile the tracks from the Xmas EP here. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

 

Meen Green - The Leftovers (2014)

 

Add losing Meen Green earlier this year to the long list of reasons as to why 2020 can fall the fuck off. 

One of the great things about Bandcamp is that it seemingly gave/gives a platform to a lot of OGs that can be used to get the new new out there - Meen Green was one such OG. "The Leftovers" dropped on Bandcamp in 2014 but was seemingly removed thereafter. I'm sharing it here as it doesn't seem to be available elsewhere and was originally available for free DL.

Enjoy the blaze tunes and take a second to support Meen Green's estate by purchasing something that is still up on his Bandcamp HERE. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

New Music: Awol One & Pigeon John - Can't Handle Us

 

We've been promised multiple intriguing Awol One collabo projects over the years that have yet to surface. Remember when Awol and 2Mex were gonna drop an IlluminatiByNature album years ago? Or how about the Awol One/Busdriver collabo project? We're also still waiting on the Awol One/Deceo Ellipsis project (though I'm pretty sure that one is coming soon.) I initially feared this Awol One/Pigeon John collabo was going to meet a similar fate when it was slated to drop in August and didn't. Luckily, we finally have it in form of "Can't Handle Us" EP! 

"Can't Handle Us" is a four song EP with Awol One on the raps and fellow Good Lifer Pigeon John on the beats. Gel Roc stops by as the project's sole feature. While short (none of the four tracks exceed the 3 minute mark,) the EP is extremely successful in combining the two men's styles and sounds. Awol has rocked over countless beats, but harder, darker, more eerie sounds are a staple of his. Pigeon John switches things up a bit by giving the Walrus some upbeat poppy-sounding instrumentals - and Awol delivers on them all - giving us some top quality reflective raps as well as some tongue-in-cheek braggadocio raps. Fun times all around. 

You can cop the EP digitally on Bandcamp HERE or cop a very limited cassette or 7" of the EP HERE. The cassette features a bonus remix of "Can't Handle Me" with Kool Keith on the beat and Pigeon John on the mic (with DJ Hoppa on the cuts.) You can also cop a 7" picture disc of said remix at the previous link. 

And if that's not enough Project Blowed for you - wait til Friday when we're getting new albums from Open Mike Eagle, Sahtyre, and Kenny Segal!