Skweeky Watahfawls, Johnny Ciggs & Fan Ran – See Us On the Dance Floor (Bandcamp)
Gritty City is one of Richmond’s diamonds in the rough, and like the alcohol they consume, they always give it you straight, no chaser. This time Skweeky and Johnny Ciggs have teamed up with Fan Ran of the legendary Divine Profitz on the beats.
Skweeky Watahfawls, Johnny Ciggs & Fan Ran – See Us On the Dance Floor (Bandcamp)
Gritty City is one of Richmond’s diamonds in the rough, and like the alcohol they consume, they always give it you straight, no chaser. This time Skweeky and Johnny Ciggs have teamed up with Fan Ran of the legendary Divine Profitz on the beats. By the way, to all you new “Richmond Rappers,” if you don’t know who Divine Profitz is and what their presence has meant in this city, do your research, you’ll learn something. Anyway, this project is all hammers and nails, meaning though they keep it simple, they also keep it consistent, and talk plenty shit over every Fan Ran beat. This is for the old school listener; if you want some happy, swag, trendy shit keep it moving. As far as features go, I was glad they got Devious Kanevil of the Hill City and Ben FM on here. Fan Ran even rhymes on a joint. Of course the Gritty City Fam is on here, and surprisingly the OG Swerve 36 pops up on “What It Is” to eat everyone on the track, showing he’s as sharp as he was back when he dropped Thanks But No Thanks (a personal favorite of mine when it comes to projects from this city). We need a new project, Swerve. So Sayeth. Bottom line: if you drink, smoke, don’t give a fuck, and need some music that matches that sentiment, download this. Oh and thanks Gritty City for the shout out–you guys are lucky I stopped drinking, otherwise we would all either be dead, in AA, or jail by now!
Hood Committee – The Fire Of Vision (Amazon)
I’ve been to a hood or three in my day. I always knew they had squads, but I had no idea they had committees in the hood… Seriously though, my eyes rolled when I saw the name. I was like, “Here we go, some more of that same ol’ shit. Guns, drugs, blah blah…” Then the intro came on, which like most of this project was very well engineered, though a bit simplistic and repetitive in production. It featured lyrics from the heart, and to me, the hood has always been about heart. If you don’t come from the heart, if you don’t have heart, you don’t belong in the hood. That hood passion though, it does lead to a few overzealous moments. Track 2, “All Night Flight Nation,” is almost 7 minutes long. That’s almost as long as Eminem’s “Bad Guy,” which is a genius record and an unfair comparison to make, but the clearest example in my mind of a record being justifiably long. In fact, a lot of this project sounds like the south did back in 2000, which is cool, just kinda weird. At one point they even shift gears on “Up n Down” to bring you a house record. Ok…? “Long Way” was probably my favorite record on here, the best example of all their elements being in the right place, combined with that hood mentality. It has to be said that, though things to get a bit ratchet (ahem… “Swiss Roll”) throughout this project, these guys are doing this because they love it. You can feel it–the emotions, the unity, the vision, the dream. I like hunger, more than I like food actually, so today Hood Committee, you get a Black Liq hood pass. Just make sure the next time you decide to bring one of your projects around my way that you have worked to refine the production and the content–and that you’ve kept that fire burning. Keep it hood.
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Known as the hardest-working man in RVA hip hop, Black Liquid hosts two local radio shows–Thursday nights 11pm-1am on WDCE 90.1 FM, and Saturday nights (aka Sunday mornings) 1am-3am on WRIR 97.3 FM–organizes the bi-monthly Face Melt Fridays at Strange Matter (next one is scheduled for September 26), and teaches creative writing to 7th and 8th graders at Sabot at Stony Point School. He’s also a prolific emcee, having released nearly two dozen mixtapes either as a solo artist or with his compatriots in The New Juice Crew over the past several years. Download his music at NoiseTrade, and keep an eye out for his new album, coming this fall.
