Taiyamo Denku – “Pitfall” [VIDEO]

Milwaukee’s Taiyamo Denku is ready to smash 2013 coming off the strength of his 2012 release, Quadrofiendia. In store for us hip-hop listeners is his upcoming album, Radio-Octave. And rumor has it he’ll have production by Ayatollah and a guest spot by G. Rap. Color me anticipated, yo. This track, and its heavy keys, was produced by Grime Lab.

Denku is that cat that who would (and still will) roast anybody in the freestyle arena. But once he got down to the song writing, it was a wrap for any and all who got in his way. Dating back to his days with W.A.S.T.E.L.A.N.D.S., the dude has an uncanny ability to twist words. He has a voice like no other, raspy, yet not at a low octave. He makes references to current affairs, he makes references to chopping up wack rappers, and he makes references to his life. He’s on “prog” rap label (Uncommon Records out of S.I. NY) yet he’ll attack the microphone like someone we’d expect to see being fed from behind a padlocked pen. Keep your eye out for Taiyamo. A veteran who deserves his place in your CD collection, hard drive, and headphones.

Go grab Uncommon Burners 2, a compilation from Denku’s label that features a few tracks from past, present, and future.

Quadrofiendia – Agartha Audio & Taiyamo Denku

I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. I’ve spoken at length many times about my affinity for producer x emcee collaboration albums, so I’ll spare that diatribe for now, but Quadrofiendia fits the mold perfectly. Uncommon Records out of S.I. NY just released this 15-track gem today, which is ready for your immediate download. $8 bucks, or $7 for a hard copy, will get you Agartha Audio (Dig Dug) and Denku’s travels into prog-rap-meets-boom-bap-meets-anger-meets-bars. Denku has bars. Upon bars. He reminds me a little of Rhode Island’s Milez Grimez for the fact that they both roast cats on the freestyle and battle tip and have an in-your-face anger with their delivery on wax. Like Grimez, Denku has punchlines for days that’ll leave even the most anti-rap human with permanent gas face.

The musical prowess doesn’t start or end with Taiyamo, because he and Dig Dug feed off one another to make a cohesive album. As someone who receives at least three new Dig Dug tracks every month (hit him up, Beat of the Month Clubs will son your book club), I can hear his patented sound throughout, but never does a song sound so much like a previous track do I have to double-check my iTunes to make sure it didn’t have a seizure. The Bay Area beatmaker should be on everyone’s list of producers to check out if you’re still in the don’t-know. But if you’re in the know, then you’ve paid attention during TECB’s lesson plans.

And for that I thank you.

Back in April I posted “Road is Ruff” off of this album, which included Sadat X and Craig G. The guest list to Quadrofiendia is on some V.I.P. shit. Including those two indie rap O.G.s, a litany of emcees like Vast Aire, Shyheim the Man Child, Masai Bey, L.I.F.E. Long, Atari Blitzkrieg, Teddy Faley, Illogic, and more come through and share the spotlight with Agartha Audio and Taiyamo Denku. There’s enough guest spots to hear other cats shed some proverbial light on their songs, but it isn’t and overdose, no guest spots just for the sake of guest spots.

I don’t want to give too much away, but trust when I say it was worth the wait and well worth the $7 for the CD. But here is the first song I heard off this album, which was on Uncommon Records’ SXSW sampler, “Unhandled Crossing.”

Now get over to Amazon or Bandcamp and click the mouse on “buy.” And wait until you hear the verses from Teddy Faley and Atari Blitzkrieg on their respective tracks. I threw my laptop against the wall in utter approval.

Taiyamo Denku & Agartha Audio f/ Craig G, Sadat X – “Road Is Ruff”

Definitely one of the more highly anticipated albums for myself, Quadrofiendia by Taiyamo Denku and Agartha Audio already has the makings of something special. The feature list includes the likes of Masai Bey, L.I.F.E. Long, and Teddy Faley, as well as the two rap veterans you see listed on this track,”Road Is Ruff,” Sadat X and Craig G.

The whole album will be produced by Agartha Audio, and coming from someone who receives at least three beats a month from the man (Dig Dug), the production alone will be worth the purchase. Add in the hungry, battle inspired pedigree of Milwaukee’s Taiyamo Denku and we have ourselves a problem. Keep it locked to TECB for more news on Quadrofriendia, which should be dropping on Uncommon Records this June.

Uncommon Vs SXSW | Uncommon Records Sampler

To celebrate an ever growing army of progressive rap members and a presence at this year’s South by Southwest festival, Uncommon Records just released this 30-minute sampler. For free. BUT it will only be available during the days of SXSW. If you’re one of the lucky ones to head down to Austin this week, you’ll be able to get a hard copy of this sampler if you attend one of the Uncommon Records affiliated performances.

The sampler includes a bunch of unreleased material off of highly anticipated albums due out from the label in the coming months. The three that come to mind for me, Aeon Grey’s debut on Uncommon Records, Atari Blitzkrieg’s first release with Uncommon, and the collaboration project of Taiyamo Denku and Agartha Audio. The sampler rounds out with new music from Short Fuze & Nasa, Acid Reign, DCK VNNGT and tons more.

Like I said, this will only be out for a limited time, so unless you see the Uncommon Records crew in Austin and grab one of the 200 or so physicals, then scoop this download up as soon as possible. Last day of SXSW is the 18th, so download accordingly. Artwork on this was done by friend of TECB, Jazzpants, and was mixed by someone who’s no stranger to mixing, Elmattic.

Uncommon Records Presents: Save The Horn

Charities are tough to give to. I won’t lie about that. Especially when they use slimier tactics than I would use in the cell phone industry to get you to buy phones and plans you clearly can’t afford. Green Peace comes to mind. A girl straight up lied to me and my girlfriend once, telling us there was an island in the Pacific called “Trash Island” where companies dump their waste. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, sweetie. Then she went ahead and told is “it’s only ten bucks a month, you can afford it.” I’ve never been as close to knocking a clipboard out of someone’s hands before than that moment.

In any event, the good people at Uncommon Records have released their 2nd pop-up album in 2011 where all the proceeds go to a charity. The first one, The Sun Never Sets, benefited victims of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan this past Spring. Save The Horn, is of the same mold, sixteen-tracks of progressive hip-hop for a small $5 (at least) donation. Seems like a win-win. All the proceeds for Save The Horn will help towards paying for and building drilling equipment in order for the people of Ethiopia to have better and more drinking water. Working in San Diego the past two years allowed me to meet hundreds of Somalian and Ethiopian ex-patriots. Much like most third world nations, they did what ever they could to flee their war-torn and poverty ravished nations to come to America and settle into a community. Many times they would tell me and my co-workers about what was going back home and they were more than grateful to be here.

So this was an easy sell for yours truly. I’m a fan of hip-hop, both progressive in nature and the good ol fashioned kind, and I’m familiar with the issues surrounding the tip of Africa’s east coast. Do a good deed and head on over to Uncommon Records’ site and purchase this pop-up album, which will only be around for one month. You’ll see the likes of some of TECB favorites such as IV the Polymath, Black Tokyo, Adam Warlock, Short Fuze, Megabusive, Taiyamo Denku, Agartha Audio and many more.

I could use a Green Peace-esque sales tactic by saying I’m unemployed and my unemployment benefits were denied and I still found some money to purchase this album. But I won’t say that, because I know better than to guilt people into donating. I’ll leave that for the Catholic church (heeeyyyyy oooooohhh! *rim shot*). That being said, get your cyber-asses over there when you can. Support good music and a good cause.

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