Category Archives: MySpace Monday

Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Busdriver

January 26 – 10:53 am

Busdriver is an eclectic rapper, busting out a tremendous variety of styles.  It’s hard to even pin him down to just one type of rap.

He got his start and got super into hip hop thanks to some visits to the Good Life Cafe (a place I would give my left arm to have attended) and has kept a somewhat low profile since then.

You won’t have heard Busdriver on any big label releases, but he’s become a staple of the scene that emerged from the Good Life.  He’s worked with Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, Myka 9 and that whole crew.  But he is super talented, and there’s no disputing it.  Below is Imaginary Places, by far his biggest hit.

Most people underestimate the time and energy it would take to write a fast rap like Imaginary Places.  Seriously, it’s almost like writing a whole extra track and trying to make the whole thing flow together.  Plus, this video is pretty awesome.

Check out his MySpace to hear a bit more.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Shwayze

December 8 – 7:57 am

My goodness it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, but thanks to little extra free time, 4080Records is proud to bring back the ever-popular MySpace Monday posts.

So everyone,  put your hands together and welcome Shwayze.  This trio from California is all about the party jams and really don’t attempt to hide it.  Well, sort of trio.  it’s Shwayze, Cisco Adler and DJ Skeet Skeet coming together to from some sort of so-cal hilarity.

It all depends on the vibe you’re going for and the track you choose, but these guys traverse the gambit from roller disco to a little more ballady.

Rich Girls sounds like the type of jam you expect to hear in a Starsky and Hutch flashback sequence, but definitely gets your head nodding along.

Check out Rich Girls here:

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Now, I wanted to make it clear that we here at 4080 have nothing against party jams or silly dance music.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  Despite my rather scathing review of Common’s latest effort, my hate is more frmo the fact that he’s abandoning his previous history for something more mainstream.  If you’ve always been about the party, then it’s not really so much of an issue.

To give you a taste of something a little different that’s more croony than anything else.  Here’s Corona and Lime.  Definitely not lyrical genius or anything like that,  but may be fun if you’re looking for some summertime music in the middle of this cold, dark winter. 

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Definitely check these guys out, it may be a good thing to pass on to friends who aren’t so into hip hop,

If you want to hear more check out their MySpace or grab their free mixtape here.

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Music MySpace Monday

Hip hop from around the internets (MySpace Monday Makeup)

October 20 – 7:51 am

Please forgive me, I’ve been slacking on my MySpace Monday posts over the last little while, so here I am making it up to you.  Here’s four MySpace Monday posts at the same time!

Little Vic – New Beginning

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A neat little track produced by Velotz.  It’s got a nice little synth sample in the background (correct me if I’m wrong), and a solid handclap.  The vibe is a little more confrontational than I first expected, but he manages to pull it off.  Little Vic calls out some of the current hip hop stars, dropping the line that “I don’t need T-Pain for a street anthem, I don’t call T-Pain I call Pete Frampton.”

Dela – The Sag ft. Aloe Blacc

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Dela is a Parisian producer.  Much like any other producer, he loves him some ancient hip hop samples.  In this case, he uses an old Pharcyde sample to make a fresh new track featuring an unknown emcee called Aloe Blacc.  Aloe doesn’t dissapoint.  His best verse:

“Just like hip hop culture is much more than rap, it was
definition of self and membership to the clan,
men of a certain cloth, but clothing don’t make the man,
status was who was baddest, not being superficial
a situational issue,
humiliators try to affiliate us with thugs,
even though we show love with a pound and a hug.”

I gotta give some love to The1Shanti for being one of the very few Indian-American hip hop artists around.  In fact, he’s quickly becoming one of the most prominent ones, with backing from Afrika Bambaataa (who has granted this kid the right to call himself India Bambaataa) and is signed to Rawkus Records.

Now, Rawkus ain’t what it used to be, but it still has some credibility.

Here’s Inner Voice:

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Lastly, here’s Kruse.

This cat has been working with all kinds of big names (well, sort of).  He’s hit the lab with Pigeon John, luckyiam.PSC, Eligh, and half the Living Legends crew.  He’s definitely an up-and-comer in that little zone of hip hop.

Based in LA, Kruse has been working at this for a little while.  Now that he’s hooked up with the Living Legends, I’d keep my eye out for him.  Especially since Grouch seems to be blowing up these days.

Check out True Story,  my favourite track by Kruse.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Apathy

October 6 – 12:26 pm

Not that this is major news, because it’s definitely a case of some dude trying to make his name by taking on someone far more famous than him, but it’s still pretty entertaining.

Apathy, an emcee from Conneticut, has taken aim at Kanye West, remixing Love Lockdown, a vocoder/synth filled track from everyone’s favourite egomaniac.

It’s worth a listen, mainly because at one point he tells Kanye that he should have stuck to producing.

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Otherwise, Apathy has some decent tracks.  A fairly aggressive emcee, his flow is more reminiscent of

He’s pretty prolific as well, and has some pretty impressive guest stars.  Royce Da 5’9 most prominent among them.  His work with Celph Titled lends him some pretty decent cred too, so keep your eyes on this cat.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Screaming Soul

August 11 – 4:31 am

Screaming Soul is a group out of Nantes, France.   Much like their name suggests, their soul sound is pretty apparent.  Though they are way more mellow than they first appear.

As near as I can tell, the vocals are done by a woman who goes by Steph Magicbus, and is backed by a pretty solid band.  Details on this group (like a lot of our MySpace Monday groups) are very scarce.

[Editors Note: Honestly, if you’re a random internet music group, I think the least you can do is try to make up a fun little bio so that when people like us try to feature you, we can!]

Anyways, here’s Bright Day, to get a feel for their sound.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Must have Been Tokyo

August 4 – 6:20 am

In an effort to give you something completely different for a MySpace Monday post, I’m proud to present to you Must Have Been Tokyo.

In the vein of a lot of the currently popular Indie Rock scene, Must Have Been Tokyo delivers a pretty frenetic sound and performance.  Their style of hurried beats and loud vocals mean a ton of energy and fun.

These guys have performed with similarly-styled You Say Party! We Say Die! and are starting to make some waves in the Canadian music scene.

I know this is completely not hip hop, but I thought I may as well toss in something you didn’t see coming.

Check out Lust and Deceit:

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Elisabeth Troy

July 21 – 8:25 am

Elisabeth Troy has a way poppier style than we’re used to over here at 4080, but I thought we’d go for just a tinge of diversity in the MySpace Monday posts.

Beyond the fact that she’s other London-based soulstress, I can’t find too much other information about this young lady.  If any of y’all know, please leave a comment.

Her style’s soul with a bit of a dance/electronic vibe to it.  Her track Higher Ground can be found remixed all over the internet.  House deejays in particular love to play with it, but here it is straight from her:

Higher Ground

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Here’s There’s Only You

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Sadly this will be one of the least informational MySpace Monday posts, but check her out anyways.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Baby Charles

July 14 – 9:07 am

Baby Charles is a Brighton-based soul band (fronted by Dionne Charles) who’s mighty talented, in my opinion.  Her sonorous voice is accompanied by the rest of a pretty skillful band.  They claim that their influences are from James Brown, our boy Fela Kuti, and a bunch of other Jazz and funk superstars.

They definitely tend to evoke memories of a much older act, but I like the way they try and stay current.  You can hear a lot of breakbeat style from the drummer, and the rest of the band has these little bursts of instrumental creativity.

Here’s I bet you look good on the dancefloor

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You can actually download some of their tracks here.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: Invincible

July 7 – 6:57 am

Invincible is a gritty and dope female emcee hailing from Detroit.  Not an easy place to be no matter who you are, and an even tougher place to really thrive.

She’s got a fast flow, and an eloquent delivery.  Yet somehow she still sounds raw and unpolished.  It’s a good match, and seems to convey a lot of her anger and concern.

I’m not entirely sure what message she’s trying to get out half the time, but a lot of what she raps about is the urban decay Detroit is facing.  The crumbling schools, infrastructure, and the general lawlessness that seems to grow.  It’s a sad and tragic place to be, a lot of the time, but the birthplace of Motown still has some hope left.

Check out Shapeshifters, probably my favourite track by her.

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And this track is surprisingly dope.  Locusts, feat Invincible and Finale.  It’s a mini-documentary/music video, and worth a watch.

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Music MySpace Monday

MySpace Monday: El Chavo

June 30 – 6:57 am

El Chavo is a Spanish musician who focuses on hip hop and funk. As far as I can tell he’s a producer, but he makes some pretty dope beats.  Many are funk-focused, but a few begin to go down the road of chiller hip hop.

He’s on the Jakarta Records label, which only really seems to be a MySpace phenomena, but worth checking out since they host some pretty amazing artists.  They’re based in Germany and the biggest artist on their roster is probably Looptroop, if you’ve heard of them.

Just to give you the flavour, here’s Esperando, feat. Strand and Source Spoken.

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