“It’s 2015. We gotta stay away from the negative shit,” the San Jose-based emcee and producer Cola says on a recent evening, as he plays with the bottle cap of the soda he is drinking. The emerging rapper is referring to the recent Chris Brown shooting at local South Side club Fiesta,…
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Much like the Aesop of antiquity, it isn’t particularly easy to get a bead on Aesop, the emcee of the Bay Area and Los Angeles hip-hop crew, Living Legends. A Wikipedia search of the Aesop of Aesop’s Fables will inform you that scholars are undecided as to whether Aesop ever really existed or…
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In the early ’90s, L.A.’s underground hip-hop scene revolved around a little health food café in South Central called the Good Life where a weekly Thursday night open mic exploded. Groups like Jurassic 5, the Pharcyde and Freestyle Fellowship scored major label deals from executives coming down to check out the talent.
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Before summer disappears completely, San Jose’s All City Elite is releasing a new single “The Breaks,” a mellow reggae-influenced jam that conjures up feelings of warm sunny days and beach barbeque parties. “The Breaks” is the first single off of All City Elite’s new EP, scheduled for an early October release.
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It looks like San Jose won’t get a chance to smoke out with Rapper Lil Scrappy any time soon. The rapper had to cancel his June 14 show at the Agenda Lounge so he could check himself into rehab—for marijuana.
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After first debuting a collaboration with San Jose Taiko at Subzero Festival in 2010, the Bangerz is working with the traditional Asian drumming performance group again for a joint performance in San Jose.
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For the last couple of years, local emcee Tigga T, aka Tamba McCarthy, has been working tirelessly to get his music heard. Since 2011, he’s released three Mixtapes: Fundamentals (2011), Visionary (2012) and African Boi (2012), and has shot several videos for songs on each release.
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Hip hop crews are a dying breed. Every rapper nowadays is a solo artist. Locals, Six of Seven, on the other hand bring back the 80s and 90s spirit of groups like Wu-Tang Clan, Cypress Hill and Hieroglyphics by focusing on the group aspect and not one single lead rapper.
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San Jose’s own Dirtbag Dan is joining Murs’ Paid Dues Festival lineup this March alongside buzz rappers of the moment Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore, Trinidad James and vets like Talib Kweli and Juicy J .
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The latest EP, Awakenings, by Sacramento hip-hop duo DLRN, performing January 19 at Pagoda Lounge, takes a big step away from the norm found on most hip-hop records, creating a sound that is almost unclassifiable. It mixes 80s electronic, experimental soundscapes, guest soul singers and straightforward, emotional rhymes—all backed by barebones old-school…
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