The mellow hip-hop and chill-pop vibes of Oklahoma City’s Bowlsey set the afternoon off at a very easygoing pace. Composed of organ, acoustic guitar, synths and gentle beats, the trio’s tunes casually made their way to my ears. Its spartan musical arrangements put the focus squarely on the vocals. Two of the three members were […]
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Johnny Polygon — The Nothing
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:1″><span style=" Times New Roman” ,”serif”;mso-fareast-times=”” new=”” roman”;=”” mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-fareast-language:es-bo”=””> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal”> The Nothing is a smart, subtle and cohesive album that suits Polygon’s always formidable flow. He clearly has bought into the Clams Casino mode of hazy hip-hop production, and it’s a smart choice; his voice has always moved like […]
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A$AP Rocky — Long.Live.A$AP.
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the freshman disc, especially since it leaked over a month ago. After just one listen, it becomes clear that Rocky has put together something special. Like Rocky’s popular mixtape, the similarly titled Live.Love.A$AP, this album features a collection of songs about everything from poverty and violence […]
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Dewey Binns — High Character
Hailing from the decidedly unglamorous city of Lawton, Dewey Binns is the sort of blue-collar rapper everyone can get behind, but he’s just as book-smart as street-smart, as evidenced by this Steinbeck-esque collection of hip-hop vignettes. One gets the feeling that Binns rarely was satisfied with his first word choice, refining each line with the […]
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Listen up again
Following up our list of 2012’s best local albums, here are our picks for the 10 top singles. 1. Sooner the Sunset, “All Because of You”If there is a formula to writing the perfect folk pop song, Graham Colton clearly has it, and to give him an equally formidable singer-songwriter to play off of (Lindsey […]
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T.I. — Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head
Guests include A$AP Rocky, Cee Lo Green, R. Kelly, Meek Mill, André 3000 and Lil Wayne, among others. Solid production comes from the likes of Pharrell, Jazze Pha, No I.D. and frequent T.I. collaborator DJ Toomp. Overall, Trouble Man is a pretty solid album. T.I. raps about his reputation as a troublemaker, but is largely […]
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Straight outta high school
“The name Kulprit D came from when I was walking through my old high school band room one day, and people were looking for me … and everyone was saying ‘Where is he, where is he?’ I walked through the door and they go, ‘There’s the culprit right there!’” said D, real name Dakoda Rollins. […]
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Myke Brown — Don’t Forget the Y
He has contributed smart, quick and nimble rhymes on local hip-hop releases for everyone from Josh Sallee to Purple Mouth Bandits. Last year, Brown’s Survival of the Fittest and Summer Daze mixtapes let Oklahoma’s greatest guest spotter shine on his own, but he’s never shined brighter than he does here. In a city surprisingly flushed […]
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Big Boi — Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Perhaps the best part about this blend is that it never seems forced. Big Boi is able to show his versatility throughout, and he never seems uncomfortable, regardless of the song’s vibe. Big Boi did an excellent job of selecting features for this project. He welcomes rappers like T.I., Ludacris, Killer Mike, Kid Cudi, and […]
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Mouthing off
Photo: Michael Raiden Wiley Merrell is a man of many names. The Moore rapper is billed as Wildcat, but he used another as the title to his solo debut, MTLMTH. “MTLMTH is one of my many nicknames. I used to have braces. Like, it looked crazy,” Merrell said, laughing. “When I got them off, we […]