While not nearly as old as some of the other classics I have posted up, this was released in 1997. This single has Diamond D rapping and producing on the single. This song is off of his album: Hatred, Passions and Infidelity. The title refers to Diamond Ds disappearance from the rap scene (saying low-key but still producing) after the release of his album: Stuns, Blunts and HIp Hop.
This song I had never heard up until a week ago, personally I love Diamond D’s rhyme style and his production is top notch. While the album Isn’t nearly as good as this single sets it up to be, it’s still enjoyable. Additionally, I like the videos stylized look — a style I’ve seen used in other rap videos around this period as well. Look out for some of the rapper cameos in the video as well; including one by Ras Kass. In a more comical context, I felt this was suitable in context of LostMoniker.com’s hiatus from posting.

]]> http://www.lostmoniker.com/2008/12/diggin-in-the-crates-the-hiatus-by-diamond-d/feed/ http://www.lostmoniker.com/2008/12/news-flash-im-sorry-internets/ http://www.lostmoniker.com/2008/12/news-flash-im-sorry-internets/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:28:26 +0000 LostMoniker http://www.lostmoniker.com/?p=308

Sorry Internets.

It’s been awhile since I’ve last posted, these are the woes of a “one-writer” site. As of late I’ve been doing much more then I was previously; I thought I’d be able to manage my schedule but more recently I’ve been working, as a result this site has taken a hit. However, don’t take that as my excuse for neglecting LostMoniker.com, there shouldn’t be one. I’m intending to post this month, and am posting this mainly to inform you that this won’t be another “Blog” that has drifted through the internet search pages as a site that “once was”. So please keep checking back (all two of you!), I will most definitely have new posts soon!

With Computers becoming more common, so is Hip Hop.

As a culture, Hip Hop has always been a product of technology. From turn-tableism to modern PC sequencers, Hip Hop’s always manifested from whatever current technologies are available. Depending on how you view it, this could be a good or bad thing. However, with the growth of technology becoming more apparent, has the accessibility turned Hip Hop into a burdened culture through it’s up rise of anyone-can-do-it rap artists and producers? Or has it helped Hip Hop in bringing it to a wider scale?

The originators of Hip Hop - or even heads who have been listening long enough - that Hip Hop started from “two turn tables and a mic”. This has been the goto quote for getting the message across that this culture started from few things, and blossomed into a multi-billion dollar industry. Even though that notion rings true, Hip Hop still started with the use of technology. What occured (if you haven’t already read here) was Bronx native, DJ Kool Herc started parties using two-turntables and a microphone; what set this apart as apposed to the normal block parties was Hercs use of “The Breaks”. What are those you ask? They were segments in a record that didn’t have the singer on them, these segments had much more percussion — they were considered the most danceable.

Later when Hip Hop started becoming incredibly popular producers took this style of looping the breaks and evolved on it. Eventually the classic style of Hip Hop took popular records and looped specific parts (eventually turning into the modernized term of sampling), having producers adding their own drum loops over top with the addition of scratches and such.

As technology progressed the more advanced the production became, with producers building their own samples, mixing different styles and using different techniques in the creation of their productions. One thing that was heavily effected by the uprise in technology was the word-of-mouth aspect of Hip Hop. In it’s earliest days Hip Hop was spread through on-street promotion and then - granted the performance was good - was generally talked about. As the culture grew of course, Hip Hop was played on radios and eventually made it’s way to Television.

Even though by todays standards that technology is considered quite old, it’s still technology, and without it you wouldn’t have the industry you have now. In other words, Hip Hop has always relied on Technology; granted you’re not counting Beat Boxing and Graff Art, but keep in mind those were still heavily influenced by technology.

Lets fastforward to our current era, were now we have more cell phones then people, and base social status on who has the latest iPod and Soulja Boy ring tones. This is what most reffer to statistically as: “The Information Age”, and to a more suitable degree - in context of this article - “The Digital Age”. Hip Hop like many other cultures, has taken full advantage of the Digital Age; whether it be through your average web browser or your cell phones music service, Hip Hop has become dependant on this. While this has a lot of positives, it’s also got quite a few negatives as well.

As the Information era has grown, so has Hip Hop. A lot of people who were unaware of the culture but remotely interested could find out about it a lot easier than before; with only a handful of books that weren’t available everywhere, without the Internet a lot of people wouldn’t understand the culture as well as they do now unless they knew someone who had been apart of it.

Additionally the digital market gave birth to the downloads of music — Hip Hop taking huge advantage of this. With many artists selling more albums digitally then they have physically; based on the convenience aspect of being able to download mass amounts of music without having to go to the store. This has also lead to the accessibility of letting Hip Hop music being purchased in other countries without that country having to wait for physical copies of the album to ship, thus builing a bigger fan base to whatever artist - and possibly bringing in new Hip-hop heads.

Another aspect of the rise in technology (and costs lowering) is that a lot of people can create and record rap music with minimal costs. Thus allowing a lot of people to be apart of the art. Another sub sector of PC-recording-artists (or more commonly referred to as Audio Heads) would be “Textcees”. These rappers in the traditional sense aren’t really rappers nor are they emcee’s they’re more-so lyricists under the context of Raps many elements. They generally engage in more poetic writings, and partake in text battles; Much like real life - but more tight-woven in terms of community - these battles have two textcees post a verse of how ever many lines stated dissing each other. People apart of the sites community then vote (usually under a specific format stated by the site), after a certian amount of votes are added (generally takes three to win) the winner is declared.

With all these positives however, there are a lot of negatives. With people being able to find Hip Hops information so easily, it could be argued that the idea of learning Hip Hop through the community aspect of Hip Hop has been tarnished. With people sticking to their home PCs as apposed to going out and experiencing Hip Hop; this is the case for some people, however this Isn’t as big of a problem as some of the other ones.

Even though there are a ton of sales digitally, there is also an even bigger up rise in bootleggers as it’s almost a google-search away to download the latest albums. Now there was always bootlegging before the digital age, however it is much more rampant with the bigger percentage of people using the internet. Additionally leaks of albums have lead to people downloading albums earlier, hampering sales; for underground artists who live solely on their albums selling this can also be considered problematic.

With a lot more people making rap music than before, also comes with a lot of quality issues. A lot of artists are making music, showing it to their friends (which also serves as their fanbase) and feel their music is top-notch, blinded to any mistakes or setbacks they have. In turn building a lot of bad artists, making it hard for quality artists to let their music become played.

Textcees can be problematic in the context of anonimity. While there is no problem with text-rapping, text rappers often times consider themselves “real rappers”, despite shielding themselves behind their computer screens; when it comes time to demonstrating rapping ability, their confidence takes over and they aren’t able to deliver. Now in the grand scheme of things, how does this effect Hip Hop? Well since Hip Hop has taken a lot of it’s community aspects online, you’re getting a lot of Text-Heads who will post on any sort of Hip Hop feeling they have credible knowledge becuase they’re a Textcee. Now this isn’t the case for ALL Textcees, but it isn’t uncommon.

With a combination of things here, some may feel that the idea of Hip Hop as a community structure is dieing. Which can be true based off of where you live, however on the flip side of this argument It’s not unheard of for a person to start a Hip Hop scene in their town (chances are if you live in a city, there’s already one), whether it be through Emceeing or having a crew of graff artists.

While you can argue that through Technology, the idea of Hip Hop being dead has been propelled through the mass commercialization of online ads and sites supporting what people do not consider real hip hop; also since a lot of Hip Hops traditional aspects haven’t made the leap to the commercial market like Rap has, you’re not seeing it become as huge as Rap has become — further supporting that Hip Hop is dieing due to the digital age. Since it’s taking the community aspects of Hip Hop  that housed the traditional elements of Hip Hop and only really marketing rap, If you feel that the community aspect is dieing, then you may feel that Hip Hop as a culture is dieing in its entirety.

In conclusion, it’s quite clear that the Digital Age has heavily effected the Hip Hop culture through the uprise of digital downloads, websites and commercialization. With all the positives, there are also negatives. In truth, the Digital Age has mostly brought Hip Hop to a larger scale, but with this expansion of Hip Hop as a culture, all the problems were expanded to. To some this may be fine, to others this may be hampering on their culture. Despite this, Hip Hop is always changing, and this is just another page in it’s history book.

What do you think about Hip Hop and the growing use of it on the Internet? Post your thoughts in the comments section below!

Willie Evans Jr. performing live!

The debut album by producer turned rapper Willie Evans Jr., was one of 2007’s best albums. Now, I know I’m late reviewing this album in terms of release date, despite this I know people have not heard of Communication or the Willie Evans for that matter, so I felt justified - and compelled - to review this wonderful album. Willie Evans Jr is a member of underground rap group The A.B.s and more recently has had credits on The Perceptionist’s debut album Black Dialogue, producing two of the beats. So in this always-growing Underground Hip Hop scene what sets Willie Evans Jr apart from others? Willie is an all in one rap artist, in other words he produces his own beats (with the exception of Slow Adrenaline) and emcees. Now while this doesn’t sound incredibly unique amongst the vast array of combo-artists like so, Willie Evans is a step above the rest in terms of production; with his lyricism being even more impressive.

What’s so unique about Willie Evans Jr to me, is that his approach to lyricism feels abstract yet coherent. At face value, you may feel he’s speaking all over the place but once you delve a bit deeper it really begins to make sense. Here’s an excerpt from the albums opening song Slow Adrenaline: “The apple in my eye, met her at an educate grind, later stated that the apple had a worm, another nigga had a turn, apple seeds in his eye lids”. His use of wordplay and metaphors is amazing, and there are more then a handful of incredible lines like the one quoted above throughout this album.

Communication by: Willie Evans Jr., 2007 Rawkus Records

In many ways Willie Evans Jr’s approach to the content on quite a few of the tracks seem as if he’s an outsider looking in — giving a new twist on the idea of “socially conscious rap”. From the way he describes things to the almost-spacey views he has on subject matter only reinforce this notion. Good examples would be on the opening track Slow Adrenaline or Work It Out. On both songs he speaks about woes, and the ignorant results that follow them, yet it isn’t done sounding as if he’s being overly preachy. It sounds like he’s right there with it and only explaining what’s happening all while making sense of it.

Notable tracks on this album include - the already mentioned - Slow Adrenaline, Work It Out and additionally Communication, Excess, Move Em Out and Jacksonville Pt. 2.
Slow Adrenaline: This being one of my favorites, demonstrating Willie Evans unique style of rapping accompanied by an incredible beat.
Work It Out: The beat uses an almost-chilling piano to ease it in all while giving it a depressing appeal, with Willie Evans lyrics pertaining to a socially conscious aspect.
Communication ft. Mr. Lif: This beats sounds incredibly soulful, and again demonstrates Willie Evans Jr. unique rhyming style. The idea of this track is having music as a means for Communication; Lif pertaining more strictly to that topic then Willie does.
Excess: The beat to this song is incredibly impressive, but personally not my favorite lyrically on this album by Willie Evans Jr. however his unique style is still apparent on this piece.
Move ‘Em Out ft. J One Da: I thought the beat and Willie Evans lyrics were really well done on this track, however I wasn’t feeling J One Da. But Willies lyrics were good enough that I kept listening.
Jacksonville Pt. 2: This song discusses the south, and some of the Hip Hop scene there. As always, very nice beat and some good lyrics.

Tracks that I wasn’t really feeling were Rock Widdit and The Unknown. While they’re not awful, they just didn’t have enough to them that kept me wanting to listen again. The lyrics on both tracks were only mediocre in context of some of the much nicer songs on this album. With this being stated, I would like to point out another gripe I have with some of the tracks on this album overall; that being Willie Evans occasional habit of straying from the base topic. From times it seems like Willie will move from the initial topic and move into an awkward tangent, while not all tracks are like this it has happened on a few tracks (including the ones mentioned within this paragraph) and for me it makes some otherwise smooth concepts seem skewed. However Willie doesn’t do it enough to ruin any of the tracks.

To be honest, I’m sure not everyone will love this album; the lyrics to some may be too different then what you’re normally used to and some of the beats may throw some off. For those that are willing to invest their ear however, you will be rewarded with some very nice quotable and unique beats to compliment this. Definitely one of 2007s best albums, and for those who want something that has all the great aspects of Rap represented with something a little different, definitely get this album. I’ve noticed a few sites saying they’re sold out of this album, so I suggest you get onto iTunes or wherever you digitally download your music (Of course not Torrents right?) and listen to this immediately.

Rating: 8.8/10

I have taken a new approach to Reviews, this way I can give a more in-depth feel towards the artist themselves as apposed to having a track listing that gives less details then it should. Please post in the comments below not only what you think of the review or artist, but what you think of the new format! Thanks!

For the people who don’t know, I also record and make my own music. In favour of one of my favorite times of the year, “Halloween” I’ve recorded a track called “The Room”. It’s about me being trapped inside my room, and while I’m stuck in it Ghosts are torturing me. The beat was created by the genius producer: “Tha Remedy“. You can download or stream the FREE MP3 from one of the links below:

Listen/Download @ Newgrounds!
Listen/Download @ Soundclick! (Need a Soundclick account to download)
Listen/Download @ Myspace! (Need a Myspace account to download)
Download @ MEGAUPLOAD!
Download @ RapidShare!

As always, another classic Hip Hop song from the group “De La Soul”; this is off of their 93 album “Buhloone Mindstate”. The group has “Posdnuos” and “Dave” rhyming over the beats, with “Maseo” making the beats. This song was considered a departure from De La Souls usual sound, which was generally classified as sounding “hippy”. It also used sampling, something not as apparent in the groups previous outings.

This was a song I hadn’t heard until I started looking deep into Hip Hop music back when I was in grade ten. This came up on Google Video I believe when I first saw it. I thoroughly enjoy the beat, as it sounds very soulful and a good representation of “Golden Age Hip Hop”. With the video attributing to the very relaxing atmosphere this beat represents by having the group walking around vacant places such as hills and buildings. The lyrics also work perfectly in context of the atmosphere the imagery and beat provide. Personally, I’m not a fan of Dave, however his input is alright here, but I feel Posdnuos’ verse was much better; the lines such as: “I’m the man of the family, cause the pants fit”

Necro, one of Hip-Hop's most popular Horrorcore artists.

Throughout all of the rap sub-genres, I will be the first to admit that Horrorcore isn’t my favorite. However, there are still quite a few “Horrorcore” tracks that I’ve enjoyed. Considering this wonderful Halloween season, I felt it would be of good taste to compile a Top Ten list relating to it. As always, be sure to share your favorite Horrorcore tracks in the comments section below!

10. “Among The Sleep”
By: Cage
Album: Movies For The Blind
While this song may not be as vicious as other “Horrorcore” rap songs that will be listed here, It’s definitely just as dark. The unique lyrics depict Cage having nightmares before waking up. The beat sounds mesmerizing, keeping in proper pace of Cages dreamlike approach and stays true to the nightmarish aspect.

Listen Here!

9. “Creepy Crawl”
By: Necro
Album: Death Rap
Despite Necro being at the forefront of the Horrorcore genre, his style never really did it for me. However, this was one of the few songs I heard of his that I ended up really enjoying. The lyrics are Necro-norm, they pertain to gruesome ways of execution and how he’ll “execute you”. The reason I chose this one however is because his flow was nice and the beat is cynical. Definitely one of my favorite Horrorcore tracks.

Listen Here!

8. “The Dead Man And His Stepson”
By: Warcloud
Album: Smuggling Booze In The Graveyard
Warcloud is another artist who I’m not completely fond of, but a few specific tracks that hes made I’ve really enjoyed. His uncanny approach to the content on this track and the awkward piano sample used here make this one seem pretty dark. At times the lyrics kind of become skewed and awkward, but I can overlook that due to this songs overall uniqueness.

Listen Here!

7. “Demon Inside”
By: Eminem
Album: N/A
Not only is this one of my favorite Horrorcore tracks, but one of my favorite Eminem songs. The premise is that Eminem is trapped inside a “Haunted House”, yet he can’t get out because a supernatural force is stopping his escape. Even though some may shun this because it has Eminems name attached to it, don’t sleep on it because of your current prejudice, this is one of Eminems darkest and most unique pieces.

Listen Here!

6. “Agent Orange”
By: Cage
Album: Movies For The Blind
One of Cages darkest tracks. The beat for starters is sampled from the film “A Clock Work Orange”, staying on the level of dark and depressing, and Cage makes sure his lyrics work in favor of this. From start to finish, this song will keep you filled with “dark intentions”. Again, one of the nicest “Horrorcore” tracks.

Listen Here!

5. “Accidents Don’t Happen”
By: El-P
Album: Fantastic Damage
While El-P hasn’t really been paired with the “Horrorcore” crowd before, he does make some of the darkest beats I’ve ever heard; this being a clear example of what I’m talking about. The beat sounds like it’s sampled from some sort of operating room. While Els lyrics remain surreal, and kind of veer off of what makes “Horrorcore”, the other two verses on the track provided by Cage and CamuTao keep it dark.

Listen Here!

4. “Helterskkkelter”
By: Esham
Album: KKKill the Fetus
Esham has been on the Horrorcore scene for awhile now, this is one of his older classics, but I still consider it one of his nicest. The beat is very simple yet effective, as are Eshams lyrics; showing him as a murderer and making references to other horror related things such as “The Shining”.

Listen Here!

3. “Blood In My Eyes”
By: Psych Ward
Album: Decrepid Methods
This is a straight up vicious track, with a bumping beat and of course, deadly lyrics. The multi-syllable approach this group uses make the vicious content become gruesomely-enjoyable. The chorus is also well done. This a must listen for anyone wanting a “vicious” track or an enjoyable Horrorcore song.

Listen Here!

2. “All Black”
By: Big L
Album: Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous
People may disagree with me about this, however Big L becomes vicious enough on the second verse to match the gloomy beat. Maybe it’s because I’m being bias due to Big L being one of my favorites, but I could picture this sort of track being played during a horror film right before someone is going to be executed.

Listen Here!

1. Stark Raving Genius
By: Rhyme Asylum
Album: State Of Lunacy
From my album review:
This song is about mental illness and being in an Insane Asylum, sounds like the sort of thing you’d get straight out of a horror movie. Every verse on this song I consider near-perfect, with everyone giving dark and depressing tones through-out their verses. Yet again - brace yourself for this one - another stand out track.

Listen Here!

If you didn't know this logo belongs to the respectable owners at MySpace.

LostMoniker.Com is in a way on Myspace! However, I’m using Myspace as a personal page with my music and

such. Despite this, I do guarantee that their will be tie-ins with the Myspace page and this site in the near future. Currently however, I have music on this page that I have created so feel free to listen and drop some feedback; don’t be shy in adding me either I’m more then happy accept friend requests!

Add-me or View my page here!

A flier advertising a "minstrel show".

For those who haven’t already, please read “Part One” before you read the rest of this article.

For those unaware, Minstrel Shows were racist comedy shows that ran during the mid 1800’s that depicted how black people “supposedly” acted; which was generally done in degrading ways. Minstrel Shows lead to the white population assuming that this is how Black people acted, and once a black person deterred from how the “black face” performers portrayed them they were treated unkindly. So you’re probably wondering: “How does this fit into what you’re talking about?” Modern media and some of the rap it supports has twisted black performers into puppets, and in turn is still giving the same negative impressions that Minstrel Shows had been giving years ago.

The psychology is like this: We see the media perpetuate black figures as “gangsters” and “drug dealers” and instead of promoting this as a “sector” of the Hip Hop we see now, it’s a main focus; this spawns stereotypes such as “all black people are gangster” or “all black people are drug dealers”. In turn people who aren’t accustomed to the Hip Hop culture (this is for the older audience of course) and those who aren’t in racially diverse areas (younger audience) perpetuate these same stereotypes because they haven’t really been exposed to another ethnicity, a black person in this case.

So what happens when they are? I’ve been to a few places in the US and smaller towns around me, places where there was a much larger “white” population then any other race. I’d like to cite a town close to mine as a perfect example of what I’m talking about. In this town I had seen another group of kids at a movie theater literally become shocked when they realized a black person there wasn’t a “gangster” like the media portrayed “black” people as, and went on to crack jokes relating to what would have happened if he was a “gangster”; doing it as if they were justified because it was their “first encounter”, not realizing that what they did was a racist act.

Now, as a lasting result when someone dresses in “urban” fashions despite what ethnicity it’s automatically assumed they’re apart of some “gang”; keep in mind it isn’t fair to say everyone assumes this, but it’s assumed in the context of what I said above. Now there is a fine line between “too-baggy” and having a casual sense of urban wear, regardless I don’t think it is fair to assume you’re apart of a gang or a drug dealer because the clothing you wear happens to be worn by figures in the media who represent that.

To be honest, so far I’ve been looking mostly at the male perspective of this topic. Come on, it’s been assumed so far has it not? So lets take some time to delve into the female aspect of this. “Girls” (a word I’m using intentionally) are just as susceptible to the up rise of mainstream raps dominance in media. Whether it be through BET or Much’s bullshit programming, the influence is still there, however it works in a remotely different aspect.

A thing I see biggest with “girls” in context of Hip Hop influence is their willingness to cater to a males taste, in turn disrespecting themselves in order to be considered attractive. If you haven’t pieced together the why already, It’s clearly because of low confidence. Considering this though, there are two examples I’ve seen that seem almost completely opposite, yet both intertwine: The “quiet” gangster girl being the first, and the “loud-mouthed” gangster girl being the second.

Lets start with the quiet gangster girl. This is the type of girl who dresses quite provocatively, chances are they’ll either have a circle of like-minded friends or they’re hanging out with some “wannabe-gangster” kid who they’re trying to “get with”. Their iPods probably have 50 Cents “Candy Shop” on repeat, with a slew of trendy RnB hits. They’re the type who watch Much and disregard school in favor of trying to be with that “wannabe-gangster” in their Science Class, hoping that being with someone they consider “powerful” (quite the opposite by the way) they’ll feel more secure about their insecurities. Despite having their own opinions they stay silent in favor of hoping this way people will like them.

Now onto the loud-mouthed gangster girl. Just like the quiet girl, she’ll end up dressing provocatively and like the quite girl hangs out with either a group of like-minded friends (with similar mannerisms), or be with a group of “wannabe-gangsters” that chances are she’s trying to “get with”. Also, just like the quiet girl, she’s very into catching the eye of some boy she likes apposed to being involved with the main focus of school. Their iPods are probably the same as the quiet girls. The main difference however, is they “appear” to look pretty confident when in reality they’re the exact same as that “quiet girl”; they’re more tomboyish however, but speak with heavy slang hoping their supposed “outspokenness” will build their self worth.

As you can see from both paragraphs, there are obvious similarities. The main thing that molds both these mindsets listed is that they both take from the social trends and media trends they see in mainstream rap videos and culture surrounding those videos. They feel because the women dress the way they do in those videos if they dress that way too, men will like them; because other girls are dressing like this they feel more reassured when they put on their clothes (or lack of) and apply their makeup. In turn, you get these “drones” who lack confidence. Keep in mind, this isn’t all attributed to mainstream Rap, and I emphasize this because logically there are several other factors that equate to this, such as childhood, past friendships and schooling, etc. However, mainstream rap certainly helps perpetuate - shall I say it? “sluttyness”.

This concludes part two of this three part look into the mindsets of trend-goers, check back later this week for the final part! In the meantime - as always - discuss in the comments box below! Trust me it’s easy (just fill out the boxes and post), and ANY comments are encouraged as long as they’re pertaining to this discussion!

A classic Hip Hop track by “Black Moon”. It was released in 1993, off of their debut album “Enta da Stage”. The album is considered a “classic”, however it didn’t sell as well as expected due to being released around the time of other classic albums such as “Illmatic” and “Ready To Die”, with a slew of other big contenders.

This was a song that I hadn’t heard until a more recent period. Disregarding age, even though the lyrics aren’t as “fresh” as they were in terms of other releases during this period (Illmatic, The Stress Agenda, Ready To Die, etc.) they do more then enough - with the video complimenting this - to give the atmosphere of raw Hip Hop. Look at the way “5Ft” looks at the camera slowly pacing to the beat as the main samples are playing, and then look at how “Evil Dee” gazes into the camera bobbing his head to the sample in an almost “cynical” fashion, or how “Buckshot” moves with confidence; when the beat goes into full force, everyone starts getting into it — kicking their legs into the air, jumping around, and even dancing. Feels like Hip Hop at one of its rawest forms.