A couple things about last night Grammy’s: KDot’s performance with Imagine Dragons deserved an Oscar and Pharrell’s hat actually stole the show. One of the most fashionable men has to be trolling us with that minion studio apartment. You can just head to Twitter if you want every opinion on the wins and losses. No need to beat that to a pulp. So as a wise man once said, on to the next one. Here’s another collection of four projects this week from artists you probably don’t know but should become familiar with. Give us your opinions on Twitter.
In case anyone has this column’s aim twisted, consider being featured on SYLR as the official first step to your endless path to getting to the top of the chain and staying there. Notice how we said, “staying there.” Some artists have been putting in work and have seen relatively minimal hype. This platform was created to spotlight those deserving the attention of industry folk, fans, and everyone in between. Be sure to stay up to date on what’s legit by checking out the four projects below. If you feel differently, we welcome you to prove us otherwise.
Attention all rappers: This weekly post is a call to arms-lyrical arms. If you do this thing called rap, these four projects are four slaps in the face punches to the throat. And no one just takes a punch to the throat without retaliation. Let’s see yours. And for those who were selected already, let’s see where you go from here. The Source is watching…
West: Curtiss King & Murs – Shut Your Trap
Although it’s only weighing in at 6 tracks, the project has the creative and authentic weight of a two disc LP. Murs and producer Curtiss King worked together to express the love Murs has for a balance of Hip-Hop and Rap (Run The Jewels vs. Migos). The man grew up in a city as an at-risk youth but was educated and disciplined at home by his mother. So here’s some backpack rap for you over some trap beats. Where else will you hear someone rapping about his Prius over such a hard, club banger.
South: CRASHprez & *hitmayng – fear itself.
Another short EP for you that packs more material than meets the eye. This one can be filed under “prote$twave.” This emcee and producer wanted you to think a little bit lot longer about the messages they’re disseminating than you average radio hit. You can already tell from their video recently on #NSBAT that they have a purpose to make direct change with their music. I mean, just listen to that interlude. Genius.
Midwest: Legit – Thief In The Night EP
New music from 2080 is always welcome in these parts of the interwoods. Legit hits us with an EP before he drops his SURPRISE project later this year. Although no other members of his cadre joined him, he delivers extra raw tracks about where he’s at and where he’s going. When’s that group tape coming though, guys?
East: Dom O Briggs – Reset.EP
The Brooklyn emcee is giving us a gift of this EP before he drops his heARTbeats album. The wordplay and production on this one are clever and clean. Each track covers something different to give you a taste of the variety of Dom’s style. The realest thing is this guy is just as chill in person as his music is.
Trust me, I listen to every submission. To get your project considered for SYLR, please email the following information to SYLR@thesource.com:
Name
Where you’re representing
Short bio
Streaming link to your project (do not attach any music)
Bryan Hahn (@notupstate)
