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Vice Blog

Viceland Rap - Summer Sleepers

Man, what a shit year for rap. It basically went like this: T.I. comes out, shuts it down, Rick Ross falls short, Pharrell flops, and then two hits—"Shoulder Lean" and "Baaaallin!" And apparently Tip's the only one who went platinum so far. Around me everybody's just bumping Weezy anyway. But here are a few killer cuts from the last few months that you might've overlooked. Something to jam while you wait for that Clipse joint.
DAVE 1

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Mims
"This Is Why I'm Hot"
Who the fuck is this dude? First of all, his name is terrific—Mims. It's got a great ring to it. Secondly, this is the best NY rap song since "Breathe" or something. I mean, I don't understand why Flex ain't dropping all kinds of stupid bombs over this shit. The beat is some spooky 808s and the kid murders it with the same airtight flow for like four minutes. As soon as he sets it off you know it's a wrap: "This is why I'm hot, I don't gotta rap/I could sell a mil saying nothing on the track." Boom. And then my favorite line: "This is why I'm hot, shorties see the drop/Ask me what I paid and I say 'Yeah I paid a guap'/And then I hit the switch, that take away the top…" Serves as a great reminder that if "guap" isn't part of your everyday vocabulary, there's something wrong with you. Jay, sign this shit already.
DAVID DASH

Tampa Tony
"Bobbahead"
Hey, guess what. Snap music ain't going nowhere. This is a regional hit that didn't exactly make it to Club Speed, but you'll get a kick of it. Mix it with DJ Smuv's "Butterhead" ("everything's good, but her head") and DJ UNK's "Walk It Out." And of course there's a dance that you can Youtube and learn on your own free time. Again, I just like Tampa Tony's name. And his voice is pretty neat as well. Kind of like a Southern Loon, but dope.
SMUTTY RUFF

Yo Majesty
"Club Action"
Did this come out in 1987 or last week? Who knows—it's absolutely timeless. Yo Majesty is a trio of really scary-looking, butchy hoodrats from Florida with some Brit making beats for them. They sound like Gangsta Boo over JJ Fad tracks. The chorus goes "Fuck that shit" over and over again, and then they just go off, rapping at a thousand miles an hour. Brilliant. You need this.
MACHO

Killa Mike
"Gonna Go to Ghana"
I never really got what the deal is with Killa Mike and quite frankly I couldn't even name you one of his songs. I have no idea where this cut is from either, but it's bananas. The track is so funky it sounds like it could've been produced by Rick James's son, and the chorus is some epic Paul Simon Graceland shit. Mike sets it off a cappella with: "Fuck Bush, I'm going the fuck back to Africa," and you can pretty much imagine where he takes it from there. "The Chevy on the inside is so wide/It's like the interior practice apartheid." Me likes.
WHOADIE ALLEN

Nas
"Where They At"
OK, everybody knows this joint, but it seems it just—poof—came and went. I think it's because the music was kind of a lesser version of "Made You Look." But on the real, you need to listen again and realize that those are some of Nasty's best verses ever. He truly channeled Live at the BBQ on this one. It starts off with some pictorial shit like "Oliver Peoples shades when I creep through Queens," and then the metaphors kick in: "The ill whip pusher, my spit wet you if you stand close to the woofer." I mean, I'm talking classic Nas here: "Eat with my elbows on top of the table/Street etiquette with speech impediments." Like, get off Pusha T's dick for one second. Dude said: "In the Rolls Royce like the king of Nigeria." That shit is fucking hilarious.
BUSTA NUT