2012 is proving to be a monster year for Detroit producer Apollo Brown. His joint effort with the legendary OC found nearly unanimous critical acclaim, peaked at #8 on the iTunes Hip Hop charts in late April and has seen steady sales ever since — even garnering Album of the Year talk in underground Hip Hop circles.
Always focused on the music and moving forward, Apollo didn’t miss a beat as he prepares another hotly anticipated album to close a banner 2012. This time Apollo teamed up with fellow Motor City resident Guilty Simpson for what will no doubt be his biggest release to date: Dice Game. But before we get into that, let’s rewind a bit and tell the story of Apollo Brown.
In 2009, Apollo Brown won the Detroit Red Bull Big Tune Championships and went on to compete in the National Finals. He was working as a property inspector at the time in nearby Cleveland, Ohio. The economy and especially real estate were still in a sharp downturn. This is about the time the label Mello Music Group (MMG) stepped in and signed Apollo as one of his their premier beatmakers. A week later, he was laid off as property inspector and Apollo replied “Perfect!,” shifting gears to full-time musician.
Apollo came out of the gate hot in 2010 releasing The Reset, a series of reworked tracks in true remix tradition with new music and arrangements for verses by Rapper Big Pooh of Little Brother, Black Milk, MED, Grap Luva and labelmates Kenn Starr, Oddisee and Diamond District, along with a host of others. Apollo then produced Brown Study with female emcee Boog Brown and earned recognition as one of iTunes’ Best Hip-Hop Artists of 2010. But it was Apollo’s late October 2010 release Gas Mask with his group The Left that cemented his place as one of the best new producers in the game.
Early in 2011, Apollo released his first MMG instrumental album, Clouds, and dominated end-of-year lists for Best Instrumental Album. 2011 also saw the release of Daily Bread with Rochester, New York MC Hassaan Mackey. Apollo became no stranger to high profile placements doing work with the likes of Chino XL, Onyx, D12 and Danny Brown. After taking just under a year off to create a new masterpiece, Apollo released his biggest album to date with the legendary OC of DITC entitled Trophies.
Now back to Dice Game.
Two Detroit titans, Apollo Brown and Guilty Simpson, are joining forces for this collaborative album on Mello Music Group. It finds the Motor City duo bearing soul over slow-burning soul chops. Guilty’s usual ferocity is tempered with introspection, while Apollo continues his sublime string work. The entire album is specifically a hood tale that is still widely relatable. The style of this particular brand of Hip Hop is fundamentally seasoned with substance and experience. With lyrics that grip like a handful of ones, and beats that hit like ivory on cement, this is a “dice game” you don’t want to miss.
Mark your calendars, everyone: November 13th.
Another Friday, another group of free music for your listening pleasure… This week, we’ve got lots of visuals to boot as well, with three video premieres from some highly anticipated releases, including Travis Barker & Yelawolf, Vinnie Paz, who just released his record this week, and Menahan Street Band.
On the audio side, you can download Apollo Brown and Guilty Simpson‘s new track on XXLMag, and Pitchfork just reviewed a killer song from Kyson‘s upcoming EP.
To top it all off, we’ve decorated this post with the coolest artwork we could find to treat your eyes as well as your ears. Check out how the amazingly talented artist, Franco Vescovi, created the album cover here.
Travis Barker & Yelawolf: “Push Em” video premiere via Rolling Stone
Psycho White EP out November 13 on Lasalle Records
Vinnie Paz: “The Oracle” video via YouTube
God of the Serengeti out now on Enemy Soil
Menahan Street Band: “Ivory and Blue” video premiere via Paste
The Crossing out October 31 on Daptone Records
Apollo Brown & Guilty Simpson: “Truth Be Told” stream and download via XXLMag
Dice Game out November 13 on Mello Music Group
Kyson: “Ocean Tides” stream via Pitchfork
Blackstone EP out October 29 on Moodgadget Records
Oxnard, CA beatsmith/MC Oh No may not be quite as insanely prolific as his older brother Madlib, but he is every bit as restlessly inventive. Previous albums have taken their inspiration from Canadian composer Galt MacDermot (Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms), psychedelic rock from Turkey, Lebanon, Greece and Italy (Dr. No’s Oxperiment), and rare funk, jazz, folk and rock from Ethiopia (Dr. No’s Ethiopium).
For Ohnomite – out this week via Five Day Weekend/Brick Records — Oh No was given unprecedented and unfettered access to the audio archives of legendary (and legendarily filthy) comedian/musician/actor/proto-rapper Rudy Ray Moore, best known as the titular character in the 1975 “Blaxploitation” classic Dolemite. Drawing from that film’s classic soundtrack as well as the 1976 sequel The Human Tornado, 1977’s Petey Wheatstraw and much more including a treasure trove of previously unreleased instrumentals and a capellas, Oh No has crafted an album that harkens back to the golden age of sample-based production, full of elastic funk, hard-hitting drums, soulful horns, and hilarious vocal snippets.
This is no mere sonic homage or exercise in nostalgia though. Like the LPs with which Moore made his name in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, Ohnomite is a bonafide party record. Most of the lyrical duties are handled by a bevy of guests including MF Doom, Evidence, Phife Dawg, Erick Sermon, Sticky Fingaz, Rapper Pooh, and Guilty Simpson, and their brainy lyricism and constant passing of the mic gives the proceedings the feel of an old school cypher. It’s a fitting tribute to a man that helped invent the art of rhyme.
Stream the first single “3 Dollars [ft. MF Doom]” via Pitchfork.
