Jade was an R&B group active during the early to mid 1990s. The group consisted of Tonya Kelly, Joi Marshall, and Di Reed. During their brief yet successful career, Jade released two studio albums, one live album, and a string of popular R&B singles. Jade has not released any albums since 1994. Former member Joi Marshall continues to sing as an independent gospel artist and released an album, Testimony and Praise, on September 25, 2007. She also wrote the book Answers to the 20 Most Asked Questions about the Music Business in 2004. Rod Stewart hand picked Di Reed to sing backup for his 2008 world tour.
My first question was “Who the freaks is SMKA?” Must stand for something, right? And then, I’m looking at the track listings like WOW, a lot of familiar ATL artists is on here (i.e. Brittany Streets, Stanza, Playboy Tre, Nappy Roots, Joe Scudda, Aleon Craft, etc) So, I did a bit of research to see who was SMKA cause so far so good as I’m tuning into the tracks.
Researching lead that SMKA consists of 2 producers, Blake “808 Blake” German and Kyle “7King” King, along with in-house “hustler” Mike Walberg. On the site, where I was listening to the mixtape from states,
“SMKA’s The 808 Experiment is an annual compilation, produced entirely by SMKA, which showcases the immense talent and diversity that exists in hip-hop…and especially our home town of Atlanta.”
It further goes into saying that the project features artists (well known, unknown, and the up-and-coming artists) from across the nation but majority are from Atlanta.
Okay. Cool. Dope.
One of my best friends in Atlanta actually went to the listening party for SMKA Volume 2 and he said it was pretty dope… but I never bothered to ask who they were. I thought it was a regular listening party.
So, here’s my review…
Listening now to “Fuck the Economy” – Proton.
My first time listening to Proton and dude is mad dope! Well, dudes. Proton, I thought was just one dude but it’s actually 2 dudes coming right out of Atlanta after doing some research. They have a natural sound & flow. I would so love to hear some raw freestyle from dudes. The dual rap flow can have a room bumping easily. This was a perfect match with SMKA production.
“Think You’re In Love” – Alexandrea Lushington.
Okay definitely loving the production on this track here too. Alexandrea’s has a nice soft, deep, mellow tone, kind of like Alicia Keys and she owns it. A fact on this chick is that she was on American Idol in 2008 but voted off. Did not know that. Very interesting. Only 2:56 but track and lyrics together have a nice 80s vibe that you can jam & vibe to anywhere.
“Light Your Fire” – Kidd Neer, Senor Kaos & Fresh Daily.
Love the sample used in this joint. This is classic hip hop right here. It kind of takes you back to the 70s era with the fro and platforms just from the production. You can def put this track on repeat, sit back groove/vibe and sip on some bourbon or something.
Those were just 3 random picks. The entire Mix-Tape is a MUST listen. There’s a variety of tempos to groove to and these were a nice batch of artists they picked.
Shouts out to SMKA for providing this FYE production for these artists and putting this Mix-Tape together! Can’t say there wasn’t one I really didn’t like.
If you’re not a fan of Hip-Hop or Rap Artists, I guarantee that your perspective will change on it after listening to this mixtape. There’s a different tone for everyone on this one mixtape.
Three words: GOOD QUALITY MUSIC!!!
4.5 out of 5 stars for SMKA for rounding up a nice roster.
Dead Prez is an American underground political hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1. They are known for their confrontational style combined with socialist and pan-Africanist lyrics. These lyrics tend to focus on revolution, veganism, institutional racism, critical pedagogy, police, capitalism, education, prison systems, religion, activism against governmental repression, and corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels. Dead Prez made their stance clear on their first album, declaring on the lead song, “I’m a African” that the group is “somewhere between N.W.A. and P.E.” Read the rest of this entry »
Atlanta rapper, Pill, dropped a mixtape titled, “4075: The Refill” not too long ago. Here I am, back with another review. I’ve seen some hype on this cat on a couple blogs, and because I was asked to review this, I’m taking a crack at it.
The mixtape is 27 tracks deep, with a running time of 1 hour and 16 minutes. A little long, so it took me a couple days to do a full review. There were a handful of tracks that I didn’t like. A few tracks, plus the skits, that were just okay. But there were a good amount of songs that I replayed numerous times. After the jump, I talked a little on the songs I was feeling. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey, kids… haven’t made a post here in awhile. Check it, Sheldon passed me a link to BLCTXT‘s “Acknowledgment” mixtape and asked if I’d review it for 84area. I didn’t know anything about the guy, and never heard any of his music, so I was going in with nothing. Actually, before I listened to this album, I read a little about him on his myspace.
BLCTXT started out as a spoken word artist from Atlanta, Georgia. He used that form of art and turned it into rhyming over beats. Good transition. On “Acknowledgment“, all of the production is by King I Divine and guest spots include Life The Great and The Embassy Music Board – all ATL guys. None of these names were names I was familiar with, which is all good by me. I was ready to listen. Headphones on with the volume up, I sat down to bump all 8 tracks and gather opinions. Below are my favorites. Read the rest of this entry »
In-case you did not download the 30 Days 30 Songs project individually Mark Milly has teamed up with DJ Corey Grand to release: DJ Corey Grand X Mark Milly – 30 Days 30 Songs Mixtape.
Every song from the project in one nice neat package for you guys, and you got it here FIRST.
Released May 2, 1988
Format Cassette single
CD single
Recorded 1988
Genre East Coast hip hop
Length 4:02
Label Def Jam/Columbia
Writer(s) Slick Rick
Producer Slick Rick
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Billboard 200 chart position: #31
R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
Top’s 100 Rap Songs: #44
Maurice Young, better known as Trick Daddy, is an American rapper. Originally billed as Trick Daddy Dollars, and sometimes known as T-Double-D, he has been popular for making club hits such as “Shut Up” and “Let’s Go”. Young appeared on the track “Scarred” by former 2 Live Crew member Luther “Luke” Campbell from Luke’s 1996 album Uncle Luke. The song became a hit and immediately caught the attention of fans and record producers alike. Ted Lucas, a former concert promoter and then-CEO of Slip-n-Slide Records, signed the rapper to the newly former record label. Slip-n-Slide released Trick Daddy Dollars’s debut album Based on a True Story in 1997; the album was popular in the Miami area.
In 1998, when his next album www.thug.com came out, Young removed “Dollars” from his stage name. Club-oriented track “Nann Nigga”, featuring Trina, became a national hit, peaking at the third spot of the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. Atlantic Records signed Trick Daddy to the label in 2000 and released Book of Thugs: Chapter AK Verse 47 that year. “Shut Up”, which Jason Birchmeier of allmusic considered “a rowdy club hit similar to ‘Nann Nigga’”, followed “Nann” as the next single; featured guests on “Shut Up” were Deuce Poppito, Trina, and Co. Read the rest of this entry »
Jade was an R&B group active during the early to mid 1990s. The group consisted of Tonya Kelly, Joi Marshall, and Di Reed. During their brief yet successful career, Jade released two studio albums, one live album, and a string of popular R&B singles. Jade has not released any albums since 1994. Former member Joi Marshall continues to sing as an independent gospel artist and released an album, Testimony and Praise, on September 25, 2007. She also wrote the book Answers to the 20 Most Asked Questions about the Music Business in 2004. Rod Stewart hand picked Di Reed to sing backup for his 2008 world tour.
It further goes into saying that the project features artists (well known, unknown, and the up-and-coming artists) from across the nation but majority are from Atlanta.
Atlanta rapper, Pill, 
Hey, kids… haven’t made a post here in awhile. Check it, Sheldon passed me a link to 
Young appeared on the track “Scarred” by former 2 Live Crew member Luther “Luke” Campbell from Luke’s 1996 album Uncle Luke. The song became a hit and immediately caught the attention of fans and record producers alike. Ted Lucas, a former concert promoter and then-CEO of Slip-n-Slide Records, signed the rapper to the newly former record label. Slip-n-Slide released Trick Daddy Dollars’s debut album Based on a True Story in 1997; the album was popular in the Miami area.
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