I Know/One More Night/Out of Season/Calm-Freddie Joachim

Freddie Joachim is actually an artist I found through Son of Ran (a rapper and producer I mentioned previously). Those two humans are definitely some of my top favorite musicians. Freddie Joachim doesn't rap, though he produces countless jazz/soul instrumentals and beats. He scavenges for old records in different shops and creates some of the most euphoric music I've ever gotten the chance to listen to. I've grown up with his music influencing my life and my growth as a human and I feel I've got a lot to thank him for (he'll probably never know that). And after saying all of that, he's a surprisingly low-key artist. He's an extremely skilled (and organized) composer, each song just taps deep into certain emotions. Hes put out countless albums because the way he produces music its like he never takes a break.

¨I Know¨-Freddie Joachim

¨Out of Season¨-Freddie Joachim

¨Calm¨-Freddie Joachim

¨One More Night¨-Freddie Joachim

Wake Up-Sol

If I could remember how I found this song, it would take a whole load off my brain because Ive been trying for days to remember where I found it. There isn't much info on the album Dear Friends Vol. II, that the song came off of, which is a shame. So I guess I'll just try my best to put their name out there, because these people are very musically gifted. So I'll limit my words in this post and the music can do all of the talking.

¨Wake Up¨-Sol

Don't Need-Wax

Wax is a rapper that's recently been getting a lot of attention for his song "Rosana", a pretty hilariously suggestive song. He's probably one of the only rappers still out there that can rap about something sexually explicit and not make everyone uncomfortable. But aside from that, he's an extremely diverse and straightforward artist. He doesn't stick with one or two themes in his albums, he bounces from subject to subject and every song is just as good as the last. He openly addresses his problems with addiction, and not in a self-pity way and I think that is what makes me respect him most. He's an astoundingly intelligent and clever artist. I was introduced to his music by a friend last summer and his albums are the kind that you can listen to repeatedly without growing tired of them. I ended up seeing him at Lollapalooza and it was one of the best shows I've ever experienced.

He put out his free mixtape Scrublife in March of 2011.

01 "Red"
02 "FAIL"
03 "Dispensary Girl"
04 "Elements Swing"
05 "2010 Til Infinity"
06 "Shoo Ba Doop"
07 "Music and Liquor"
08 "Everything"
09 "Don't Need"
10 "Always"
11 "Limousine"
12 "Two Wheels"
13 "Mary"
14 "New Crack"
15 "Dale Firebird-American Beer"
16 "Wax Goes Bananas On Shade 45"
17 "Not So Bad At All"

                                                             "Don't Need"-Wax

Knocksteady Live & 8oom 8ap-Breezy Lovejoy

I found out about Breezy Lovejoy just about the same time I found out about the rapper Wax because their music was introduced to me by the same person, I owe that friend a big thank you because I was opened up to a whole different world of music. Breezy lives in Los Angeles, California and, believe it or not, is gaining a lot of recognition not only because of his music, but because of Wax because they're friends. It's a small world, man. They've collaborated together musically, and intially both Breezy Lovejoy and Wax were introduced through the Youtube channel Knocksteady. Knocksteady recognizes new and upcoming hip-hop artists and gives them the chance to show their talent. The first video I'm going to show is actually Breezy Lovejoy on the Knocksteady channel putting his own spin on a song that Biggie Smalls wrote ("I've Got A Story To Tell). This man's honestly got a lovely voice.

                                         KNOCKSTEADY LIVE-BREEZY LOVEJOY

                                                            8oom 8ap-Breezy Lovejoy

Lightspeed-Grieves

Taking a break from all of the heavy, social issue rap, Grieves is a new artist that my friend Isana actually introduced me to a couple of weeks ago, and I gotta say, good job my friend. Grieves, or Benjamin Laub, was born in Chicago in 1984 and came out with his album Together/Apart in 2011. He's smooth and soulful in the way that makes the whole room sit still and quiet, and nowadays that's a rare quality.

01 "Light Speed"
02 "Bloody Poetry"
03 "Falling From You"
04 "On The Rocks"
05 "Sunny Side Of Hell"
06 "Tragic"
07 "Boogie Man"
08 "Pressure Cracks"
09 "No Matter What"
10 "Vice Grip"
11 "Heartbreak Hotel"
12 "Speak Easy"
13 "Prize Fighter"
14 "Wild Thing"
15 "Growing Pains"
16 "Against The Bottom"

                                                                    "Lightspeed"                  

When the Sun Goes Down-Soulchef

Soulchef is a composer/musician from New Zealand who creates a mix of jazzy beats and instrumental hip hop, and from what I've seen he hasn't gotten nearly enough recognition for his work so I'm trying to put his name out there because he makes some crazy soulful music. His first album, Escapism, came out in 2010 and his song When the Sun Goes Down was used as an instrumental for a rap by The 49'ers (the instrumental is better on its own though).

                                                "When The Sun Goes Down"

He's got this sort of way of making things sound romantic without using any words, that is serious talent.

The SO- Son of Ran

I've got to switch it up a little, so I'm going to introduce an overwhelmingly talented artist that's got this jazzy, old school energy. Although he's sort of disappeared for the last few years, he still damn sure deserves recognition for his beautiful and skillful music.

Son of Ran is low-key enough for us to not even be able to find his real first name, but this man is a lyrical genius.He was born and raised in Japan and he's not your modern-day, sex, drugs, and money rapper. He makes it clear that he values the smaller things in life and you'll hear a recurring theme of the importance of family in his songs. To me, this man is a poet. After talking him up, I figured I'd give you a taste of an LP he released in 2006 called Tribute to Sky City. 

                                                                   01 "The SO"
                                                                   02 "Can I"
                                                                   03 "Brief Soul"
                                                                   04 "The Professor"
                                                                   05 "Second Wind"
                                                                   06 "No Sunshizzle"
                                                                   07 "Gates to Cybertron"
                                                                   08 "Get Up"
                                                                   09 "Street Science"
                                                                   10 "As Long As There's You"
                                                                   11 "Y'alls Truly"
                                                                   12 "Lions Heart"

              Listen-->      "The SO"- Son of Ran