4080Records Presents: Animal Farm

Animal Farm is surprisingly witty.  They’re a hip hop group out of Oregon that completely doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

They remind me a lot of Ugly Duckling, because they fully embrace that kind of silly-yet-meaningful sensibility.  It’s a lighter side of hip hop, but one that’s no less important.  Consisting of Erik Abel (Gen.Erik), Hanif Panni (Hanif Wondir), James Baker (Fury) and Kenny Wilson (Kwils Rock), the group has a pretty steady adn diverse crew to back it up.

I mean, I could big them up for rapping about what they know and not trying to conform to mainstream hip hop norms, but I think it’d  be better if you just gave them a listen and judged for yourself.

The Show Must Go On

If you want something a little funnier and full of faux-grit, here’s Mean Streaks.

This is actually one of my favourite tracks by them, it’s called RagTime Gal.  It’s done in a campy, 1920’s type of style.  Pure gold.