Foci - The Achievement Gap
After many years of performing on stages from Los Angeles and Atlanta to New York while also maintaining and cultivating musicians from his city, Pasadena, CA emcee Foci has finally released his debut album, The Achievement Gap. While topics of the current state of Hip Hop, companionship and community are addressed, the core of the album is Foci illustrating very personal stories about his experiences as a former teacher in a very questionable American education system that also ultimately played a part in the murder of his best friend. Coming from a time where originality and honesty mattered in music, Foci never compromises his unique style of rhyming and maintains a strong foundation with soulful production by Diverse, Jansport J, and more. The issues discussed in The Achievement Gap successfully marry Foci’s two worlds of music and education and, despite being laid off for speaking against the ills of the system, allows him to continue to educate the masses in a more universal medium.
Sir E.U & Louseph Bruisem - HULAGUSH
Out of nowhere, DMV emcee/producer duo Sir E.U & Louseph Bruisem linked up for HULAGUSH, a new 4 track EP. This project has the presence of a warm-up exercise. Based on the loosely connected wordplay, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that E.U is freestyling all of these songs while Louseph lets out an impressive production output that matches the flows in a quirky way. Raw and unfiltered to the fullest.
Tia Nomore - “Kapootan (Hate)” (prod. MustardSeed)
Bay Area emcee Tia Nomore continues her string of distinct singles with the minimalistic “Kapootan (Hate)” over a drastically different side of production by MustardSeed. Despite the track being just a single verse, there are quotable catch phrases all over this joint. Add “Robitussin Roxanne” to Tia’s growing list of aliases.
431 ft. Charlie Wan - “Rosepetals”
DMV lyricist 431 takes the depth of his songwriting to new levels with the new track “Rosepetals” which features some great ethereal vocal work by Charlie Wan on the chorus. Fitting with the huge loss of our friend Avion, 431 talks about the cycle of loving and losing love while the world keeps spinning. Stay tuned as 431 is currently preparing his upcoming Vivid April EP set to drop in the Fall. The project is inspired by British comedian-director Richard Ayoade’s film, Submarine. Based on what I know of the film, Vivid April should contain some pretty interesting and introspective concepts.
