Fine Art Friday: Wall Therapy

The annual Rochester, NY public art exhibition known as "Wall Therapy" recently played host to over 30 artists and their work with murals all around the city. Hosted by the founder of the event, Dr. Ian Wilson, whose aim with the project is "healing the city with new life and energy and beautifying the urban landscape, igniting a community dialogue and breathing new life into the city". Featuring new work from Chris “Freedom” Pape, Roa, Conor Harrington, DALeast, Ever, and Mr. Prvrt (among others), the festival is a week long and happening as you read this. Check out the site (link below) and see some creative solutions going on in a often ignored part of New York State. Images below are of past work and some current work.

WEBSITE LINK
www.wall-therapy.com

Listen: Idasa Tariq - "The Get Right" album

I recently came across the work of Pittsburgh-area emcee Idasa Tariq and his latest album "11:11 Vol.1 The Get Right".  He explains the project as "a way for me to find closure from the situations that were happening in my life all at once. Pops getting sick, fiancee leaving, losing the house, and being stuck in financial debt." I enjoy the idea of someone being so caught up in the drama of everyday life and instead of going nutzo, decides to focus that energy on his craft, in this case his hip hop skills.  Planned as a series of projects, the "11:11 Album" concept will hopefully continue to build in the same positive and well-rounded ways that this album does. Bonus points for handling all the production himself as well, BIG KRIT style, to keep the sound consistent. Check it out and support quality music in your area.

DOWNLOAD LINK
http://idasatariq.bandcamp.com/

Listen: ODYS - "Start From Scratch" remix album

Though most all of these tracks have been remixed to death, some of them always deserved more attention so I am glad to see an upstart crew from Germany paying homage to some of the greats for their first entry into the game. ODYS, short for Odyssee, is a group of producers from Münster (GER) and decided to create a series of 90s classic rap remixes to showcase their mellow talent on the boards. Though the original beats can never be outdone, but the crispy drums and mellow vibes from the ODYS version gives the tracks a fresh update and very chill vibe overall. This release grew on me, so hopefully you can digest some international hip hop heads dedication to the craft as well.

DOWNLOAD LINK
http://odys.bandcamp.com/

Video: BIG KRIT - "Multi Till The Sun Die"

I'm not in the habit of posting major label stuff, but I have always admired Big KRIT and his mostly honest and humble approach to music making. Though he has many club hits or street records, he always makes time to thank the folks that helped him, family, friends and fans. This track has been my favorite cut off the album for a while and I am glad to see it get the video treatment. This track makes me feel like I won the superbowl, so I appreciate the theme and inspiration for the track. We can all hope to be multi before the sun die, but KRIT did it already and hopefully he will continue to shine. On a side note, he also produced the track, so he gets double props for doing nice on both sides of the mic.

Listen: Slim the Chemist X Roots of Society - "Silence" EP

I'm not gonna front like I know tons of stuff about Slim the Chemist, but sometimes I like to start my Mondays of with some instrumentals to zone out with on my way to work and the "Silence" EP that Slim just dropped fit that void perfectly today. Brought to us from the folks at Roots of Society, the
"Silence EP" is the first release from the Düsseldorf/Germany producer Slim the Chemist and he drops 12 track jazzy hip-hop instrumentals for the world. Using only his lo-fi Mpc1000, a Recordplayer, a Tascam Portastudio 424 and creativity, he cooked up a nice preview of hopefully more to come from this squad.



DOWNLOAD LINK
http://rootsofsocietyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/silence-ep

Throwback: The Pharcyde - "Runnin"

The Pharcyde track "Runnin" was the first big hit for them following the popularity of "Passin Me By" and introduced the world to the beats of J Dilla, known as Jay Dee. This song was everywhere when it came out and let one of hip hops early "goofball" groups flex their creative muscle over jazzy, laidback tracks. The album is classic for many reasons and help further the legacy of more chilled out and honest music of groups like ATCQ at a time when Biggie and Tupac were starting to dominate the airwaves. This song always make me think of summer and the heyday of hip hop in the 90's, when everyone could play their "lane" and get equal shine on the airwaves.