Rapsody
If you’re all uppity on our blog happenings, I foreshadowed this pick in another post. I’m going to paraphrase that post a little bit. Rapsody is maybe THE most talented female lyricist putting out records in 2013. She’s been the the star protege of 9th Wonder since he began JAMLA and she’s blooming, it’s about time for the popularity aspect to fully follow suit. Don’t get me wrong, she’s been really successful in putting out great music and she’s even collaborated with some of the biggest names such as Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller and more. The only issue with her really making it big time is that she lacks sex appeal, and that’s where the corruption of this industry comes into play. Look at Nicki Minaj, the big execs paid her to get all these different surgical implants and they transformed her into a superstar. They recognized that she had the personality and a little bit of talent and they ran with it. See, Rapsody isn’t that. She’s your modern version of Bahamadia or even Queen Latifah. That was a time when talent was most esteemed quality of an emcee. But see, Rapsody has a chance because some of the qualities of that era are making a come back in large part because of the internet giving everyone accessibility to a lot more information and with that, lane changers like Kendrick Lamar that have proved they can sell one million copies of an intellectually introspective album that held the complete vision of the artist intact. Rapsody is planning on following on that re-paved road.
Dillon Cooper
Next up to bat is Dillon Cooper. He’s more of a breakout star who’s climb has come quickly. He’s still got a ways to go but he has recently been buzzing. His mixtape Cozmik along with biggest hit “State Of Elevation” gave people reason to compare him to Joey Bada$$ and many feel that he might follow a similar path to radio play on Hot97. Yes, I have heard Joey on Hot97 a few times. Dillon has a similar swagger to him, a hard hitting quick flow executed to a t with some production that is of a traditional hip hop sound. Dillon is looking to bring the 90′s back or any of that but he is bringing quality. I can just tell he has a certain fire about him that will propel him to plenty of chances to succeed in this game.
Vic Mensa
Chance The Rapper seems destined for rap fame with rumors of him getting offered a 7 million dollar record deal recently circulated, even though they were false, people were quick to believe it. Chance is taking his close friend and also very talented rapper/musician Vic Mensa with him. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have put Vic here but he’s dropped a couple of great singles lately that made me a firm believer. I’ve been a fan of Vic for a while, it goes back to 2010 when he dropped his first concentrated solo effort Straight Up. There wasn’t a doubt that he was talented right from the get go. Multi-syllabic rhyme schemes, intricate lines and plenty of other impressive attributes made me an instant fan. And let me mention that he and his long hair had him looking like Ab-Soul back then. From there, he became the frontman emcee of the hip hop band Kids These Days. They went on to drop an EP and a full length album. They opened a lot of doors for Vic. With their eclectic style, they attracted fans of many different genres and before the officially broke up a few months ago, they had people talking about them a lot. Everyone from Asher Roth to Peter Rosenberg were huge stans. I’ll also admit that I was the first to doubt Vic Mensa on the solo tip following the split of Kids These Days. Let me also say that he proved me wrong and he added insult to injury. He recently dropped the song “Orange Soda” which possessed a fucking awesome melody and a wonderful bass groove to make a summer anthem for the kids sweating in the streets of Chicago and all of the other big metro areas. He released another great song this summer “Hollywood LA” which also serves as a testament to his skill as a songwriter. We all knew that he could rap, but in 2013 he proved that he can write songs and create amazing hooks. Once his INNANETAPE drops, the streets will light a fire.
D Prosper
This is probably the most interesting artist on the list. I know that I’ll get the unbriefed readers hooked on this one. Prosper has been trying to make it as an emcee since the early 90′s. He actually began as a spoken word artist first. That led him into hip hop and in the late 90′s he was heavily into the New York rap scene among names like Pharoahe Monch, Masta Ace etc. After a few years of grinding as an aspiring emcee he gave it up to start working for Columbia. He also went on to work for Rawkus and Interscope doing a lot of consultant work and some A&R work. Now, late in 2012 he used his music connections to get some nice production and guest features on his comeback project #Atom 12.12.12.. He’s already a talented emcee and he possesses a similar cadence to Jay Electronica, infact, he’s made music with Jay. D Prosper has obviously had a plethora of different experiences in the music industry and he’s worked with a lot of famous artists such as Lauryn Hill and Nas. He’s got the skill, he’s got the experience working alongside musical engineers and helping to create many great albums and he’s got the connections to get him the notoriety. He had high friends in high places and that goes a significantly long way.
Jonwayne
Last but not least, the furthest underground of the bunch pops his head out of the dirt. The somewhat hilarious looking but misleading emcee/producer Jonwayne. He actually started out as solely a producer and he wasn’t really making hip hop either. He was more of an electronic/trip hop producer that was rocking crowds at Low End Theory out in LA since he was a teenager. He slowly worked in the emceeing and despite this guy looking more like the old creep living in his parent’s basement playing World Of Warcraft, he’s actually an incredible emcee. His ironic appearance definitely helps his appeal. I know for sure that if I showed a random person this guy’s picture and he told him that he raps better than Kendrick Lamar, he’d want to hear because of the sheer extreme doubt in his mind. He’s actually a goofball when it comes to social media but he doesn’t usually show that side of him on record. He truthfully has the potential to create another classic record on Stones Throw.
You can listen to their songs on http://fashionably-early.com/2013/07/26 ... f-in-2014/
