Rating:
  Review Date: May 29, 2007
  Website: Signifire Website
  Label: SIQ Records

Signifire “The 147th Best MC You’ve Never Heard Of” Album Review
I went out of town this past weekend for Memorial Day looking to simply relax and chill with family without the constant business emails and phone calls; my mission is complete and I feel refreshed. When I returned home I had a chance to experience something else refreshing, the 147th best MC you never heard of. (more…)

The Death Dance Tour featuring Sage Francis, Buck 65, Alias and Buddy Wakefield has begun, and man did it have an impressive NYC debut. I had a chance to see them perform this weekend at Bowery Ballroom, and it was unlike any hip-hop show I’ve ever been to.

Buddy Wakefield was OFF THE HOOK as opener, and just might have earned himself performance of the night with a series of humorous and conscious poems that really got the crowd going. Alias did an excellent job temporarily converting himself to MC before taking his turntablist duties for Sage and crew. Buck 65 is one funny cat, rapping and dancing on stage to his country-inspired trucker beats. And as always, Sage ripped the show with an entertaining combination of hot lyrics, crowd interaction and, of course, his patented dance-off, where he showcased his hip-hop dance moves for the audience to see. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: May 28, 2007
  Website: brokeMC Website
  Label: I’m Broke Productions

brokeMC “Make It Better” Album Review
I saw brokeMC rock a show a week or so ago. The crowd was into it, the ladies were dancing, and all the heads were nodding. I could tell that it definitely made an impression on people, and I remember looking over at the merch table to see it crowded with visitors. “Those cats are gonna be selling some albums tonight,” I thought. (more…)

Sage Francis just dropped a video for “Got Up This Morning” off his recently-released “Human The Death Dance.” It includes cameos by Brother Ali, Slug, Buck 65 and others. Check it out below.

  Rating:
  Review Date: May 25, 2007
  Website: Skipp Whitman Website
  Label: Independent / Unknown

Skipp Whitman “Free Agent” Album Review
Skipp Whitman is an above average emcee. He seems to have mastered that laid-back, slow, battle-rapish type of flow often used by industry heavyweights in their slower or more introspective tracks. Like Jay-Z in “This Ain’t Life” or Eminem in “Stan.” He is an emcee that focuses not only on the words that he spits, but also on the intonation, as he often stresses syllables out to hit the beat correctly. With such rappers, it is important to listen both to what they say and how they say it … because you can see signs of microphone control in each. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: May 23, 2007
  Website: The 49ers Website
  Label: Oblique Recordings

The 49ers “Equilibrium” Album Review
Equilibrium is a condition at which competing influences of any given system are completely balanced. You can see a little bit of that in The 49ers’ music. This album seems to hold a great balance of lyrics, rhymes, production, deejay cuts, mixes and samples. All wrapped together in one, as if the purpose of the album was to take a little bit of everything and successfully mix it into sixteen tracks of hip-hop. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: May 16, 2007
  Website: The Brown Team Website
  Label: Common Ground Entertainment

The Brown Team “2 Sides to One Story” Album Review
“2 sides to one story” is possibly the perfect title to this album. You got two emcees, both from different parts of Birmingham, Alabama, and both with different life experiences. Yet they’ve come together as The Brown Team to, as they might say, “Quit Work Make Music.” And although they’re spitting lyrics over the same beats, the two emcees do so while offering the listener two completely different styles, perspectives and interpretations of their respective experiences. (more…)

Intelligent Muzik is thrilled to announce a brand new partnership with independent sensation Shaman Work Recordings. They often say that when great minds get together even greater things are sure to follow, and this new and exciting partnership between Intelligent Muzik and Shaman Work will be no exception!

The first project that will be release from this union will be Wise Intelligent’s highly anticipated independent solo release “Wise Intelligent iz…The Talented Timothy Taylor” The album will be in stores on July 17th 2007… (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: May 13, 2007
  Website: Sage Francis Website
  Label: Epitaph

Sage Francis “Human the Death Dance” Album Review
I received my first ever “your website sucks” email this week. Right around the site’s two year anniversary, too. Early one morning, some kid wrote a huge email talking about how underground hip-hop sucks “because it’s emo.” He said that sites like this one made kids erroneously think that it is “okay to be the Beastie Boys.” He asked if it ever occurred to me that “maybe hip-hop is supposed to be raunchy, dirty and kinda stupid.” And he said that rappers such as El-P, Slug of Atmosphere and Sage Francis, who he referred to as “crackas on the mic,” aren’t really hip-hop … they’re just “emo punk bands.” (more…)

Peep the video for Brother Ali’s “Uncle Sam Goddamn” of his new album “The Undisputed Truth.”