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 […]
rap
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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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Off-court courting
Credit: Brad Gregg But drama and rivalry appear to surround the minxy R&B songstress. In fact, hoopsvibe.com goes as far as to call her the Yoko Ono of the NBA, obliquely suggesting that James Harden’s departure from the Thunder prior to the season had something to do with a love triangle between him, Ibaka and […]
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Listen up
1. Parker Millsap and Michael RosePalisadeWhile it’s been another great year of quality Oklahoma releases, no one had quite the star-making performance that Millsap did with Palisade. The humble, 19-year-old Purcell native went from unknown to local favorite in less than half a year, thanks to his Tom Waits howl of a voice tearing through […]
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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 […]
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‘Free’ at last
Rap has long held domain over comedy skits between songs until country crooner Jerrod Niemann laid claim to them with his breakout 2010 album, Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury. “We were just laughing, having a blast and couldn’t stop between takes,” said the self-described half-Oklahoman who grew up in Liberal, Kan. “We’d get these […]