New video by NYC emcee Core Rhythm. 8 am Bluez was a former “Underground Track of the Week” here at HHL - one of my favorites from Core’s album “Ronin.”

 This week’s track of the week is Ronin, the titled track from Core Rhythm’s new album “Ronin.” We also featured a hip-hop quotable from his track 8 am Bluez a couple weeks back, so I’d recommend checking that one out as well. Click below to listen:

  Rating:
  Review Date: July 16, 2008
  Website: Core Rhythm Website
  Label: Spitmatix Sciences

Core Rhythm “Ronin” Album Review
Back in Japan’s feudal period, samurai warriors who lost their masters were called ronin, a word that literally means “drifting person.” Samurai became ronin upon the death of their feudal lords, or if they escaped their masters. These ronin were often shamed, discriminated against, and left without a means of survival. In earlier times they were even expected to commit “oibara seppuku” – or ritual suicide. Yet many went their own direction, continuing to live the way of the samurai. You often see a similar mind state in the world of underground hip-hop. (more…)

 This week’s underground hip-hop track of the week is 8 am Bluez, my favorite track of Core Rhythm’s new album “Ronin.” A review for “Ronin” is coming soon, so in the meantime click below to listen to the song:

And follow along with the lyrics after the break. (more…)

PEACE. Every year, Hip-Hop Linguistics creates two lists. One list contains the top hip-hop albums from major mainstream, underground and independent record labels. The other list contains the top hip-hop albums from minor independent labels and unsigned hip-hop artists. The first list contains artists you’ve likely heard of, while the second list contains artists you’ve probably not heard of.

This is that second list - our favorite hip-hop albums from cats you’ve probably never heard of. The list below represents the best albums underground hip-hop had to offer in the year 2007 from what we consider minor independent record labels and unsigned artists. We highly recommend checking them all out! (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: September 23, 2007
  Website: Core Rhythm Website
  Label: Spitmatix Music

Core Rhythm “Nat Turner Reloaded” Album Review
My parents named me Nathaniel. But as far back as I can remember, everyone has always called me Nat. Now the problem with having the name Nat is that motherfuckers can’t ever seem to pronounce it correctly. No matter how many times I’ve explained that my name is Nat (which rhymes with FAT), people always call me Nate (which rhymes with HATE). And to be honest, I find it disrespectful that cats can’t even remember a simple obvious pronunciation difference. (more…)