Confucius and Fresh recap their likes and dislikes of The Grammys and break down how to best approach them for music consideration. You’ll hear some great Hip-Hop Facts, fun takes when Confucius Reads the News, and an Unpopular Opinion about the impact of media inspired by the 2005 film Havoc.
hip-hop
Breadcouch: “WAIT” (feat. Ben Buck)
We’re struggling to find the exact quote, so maybe we just imagined it, but we’re pretty sure Notorious B.I.G. said something along the lines of, “Ready to Die was 10% skill and 90% the chronic”, alluding to his lauded lyricism. And while we don’t advocate for substance use as a sole source of inspiration, we do appreciate how much a quick smoke session can convince a lyricist to get comfortable and let the beat play as long as it needs. Because when an un-rushed set of free-association bars have spent enough time in the oven, they often come out hotter and fresher than your run-of-the-mill one-take freestyle.
That brings us to Austin’s Breadcouch, who’s been baking his eccentric brand of alternative hip-hop/R&B since 2020. The multi-genre fusion of Breadcouch’s boundary-less beats really lends itself to the versatility of his vocals, which switch between rapping and singing for evenly-toasted slices of bedroom soul-pop, electronica, trap, boom bap, and even indie rock, all from the same, surprisingly-cohesive loaf. And although you could sample a few brief crumbs from Breadcouch’s expansive catalogue and label his style as “wordy” or “busy”, we respect the grains of brevity that Breadcouch brings to his hooks.
Case in point: a new tune featuring fellow Austin rapper-producer Ben Buck, “WAIT”. They’ll both be performing at Hole in the Wall tonight for the Speaker Bump Social, so smoke ’em if you got ’em, and let the hazy wordplay, sativa-scented samples, blunt-ready bass, and doja-derived drums of “WAIT” whisk you through this showery Wednesday.
2024: Year of the Austin Breakthrough?
Confucius and Fresh kick this week off by weighing the odds of an Austin hip-hop/R&B artist breaking out into the national mainstream before tackling the latest from everyone’s favorite controversy-maker – Lil Nas X. Get all that, Hip-Hop Facts, an Unpopular Opinion about hip-hop’s hatred of Drake, and Confucius Reads the News in this edition.
Ranking Wu-Tang’s Solo Albums
After a quick back-and-forth about musician work ethic versus entitlement here in Austin, Confucius and Fresh honor Raekwon’s 54th birthday by ranking the first run of solo albums from Wu-Tang clan members. Hear that, Hip-Hop Facts, Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion on the state of integrity in hip-hop journalism, and the first installment of Confucius Reads the News for 2024.
Retr0grade: “No Hook, No Name” (feat. BoomBaptist)
From Scott Storch to Mike Dean, The Alchemist to Murda Beatz, and far too many more examples to list here, it’s clear that having a white producer doesn’t negate the impact of a strong black voice in hip-hop. Here in Austin we can point to Song of the Day favorite RuDi Devino, who’s spread his butter-smooth bars over Ruler Why’s beats in SubKulture Patriots, Bronze Whale’s backing tracks in 5-D, and the P. Sugz/Potion productions of CAPYAC.
But aside from a few solo installments, one of RuDi’s biggest roles recently has been as the vocal half of synth-and-sample-driven duo Retr0grade. True to their handle, Retr0grade isn’t strictly stuck in the old school; instead it’s more of an ever-moving, modern hearkening back to some iconic hip-hop heyday sounds. And when it comes to that combo of classic and contemporary, of synthesized and sampled, of instrumental and vocal, those who’ve stayed in the loop on local productions know damn well that BoomBaptist is a comparable curator.
Well, just in time for this chilly MLK Day, Retr0grade groove grower Tommy Fuego just laid down some much-appreciated heat with the piping-hot sample chops and hypnotic drum programming we’ve come to love from him. For the first verse of “No Hook, No Name” RuDi tackles the offense, defies Nazi flags, and ultimately aces the interview with a Common-evocative cadence before BoomBaptist blesses the second half with his own tabernacle of lyrical boasts. It might not be the most societally-minded song you’ll hear today, but we’d like to think Dr. King would agree that this brief, bangin’ snapshot of racial harmony rips heartily.
What We’re Looking Forward to in 2024
Fresh takes it solo in this first episode of 2024 by giving a forecast of what this new year might have to offer in the world of hip-hop. In terms of resolutions, let’s try and have less “streets” and more music in terms of violence! And while Spotify may be skimping on some payouts, Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion makes it clear – streaming services AREN’T evil.
Looking Back at 2023
As we start to wind down for the winter, Confucius and Fresh look back at some of the show’s 2023 highlights before continuing the debate of whether or not the dominance of female rappers will continue into 2024. Get that plus an Unpopular Opinion about establishments exercising discretion, Hip-Hop Facts, and Confucius Reads the News on the latest episode of The Breaks.
NOA: “Ba Li” (feat. CHRON!AC)
For as many hurdles as it faces, Austin’s hip-hop/R&B scene only seems to keep getting stronger in recent years. And for the sake of variety, thankfully it’s not just macho monotone mumblers either; there’s been an influx of soul-informed female acts whose styles straddle between rapping and singing.
Among those to keep an ear out for is Noa Belillti, better known mononymously as NOA. Now, NOA’s been doing her thing here since 2011, but only dropped her debut EP In Your Dreams this past February. The Israeli-Moroccan’s since gone on to share a stage with KUTX favorite BLK ODYSSY at SXSW, compose and perform for Iram Reyes’ From Where I Stand, and continue to enjoy a residency at Half Step on Rainey Street every fourth Wednesday. It wouldn’t be fair to call NOA’s talent dynamite, because that would imply that a fuse that eventually fizzles, a big bang that begets silence. No, NOA and her pulchritudinous pipes are more like a never ending sequence of firecrackers, sparkling with sassy sensuality and popping with deservedly cocky confidence.
Just yesterday NOA stamped her hip-hop passport with an east-of-Java jet-setter that finds her once again teaming up with international producer CHRON!AC, (who lent their talents to the In Your Dreams closer “Call Me Up”). Eastern sensibilities surge throughout the instrumentation of “Ba Li“, building a tropical trap backdrop for NOA to absolutely go off. Between its bangin’ BPM and rapid-fire lyrical style switches, we’re wondering how much of “Ba Li” is NOA’s idea of self-empowered security versus the manifestation of an indulgent rager yet to happen.
Blakchyl: “Ja Morant” (ACL Fest Pop-Up)
If you were out at ACL Fest this past weekend you might’ve caught Confucius and Fresh from The Breaks at the Bonus Tracks Stage. What were the fellas up to other than getting their buzz on at Zilker? Interviewing a real sultry-voiced stunner, that’s what.
Austin hip-hop/R&B vocalist Blakchyl‘s been building a hell of a brand for herself in the local scene and beyond since her debut EP On Paper in 2019. Alternating between singing and rapping with a beautifully-blunted voice (somewhat reminiscent of fellow Austinite Megz Kelli’s), Blakchyl’s only gotten better on this side of the 2020s. On top of that, Blakchyl’s eagerness to work with others and ability to adapt her eloquent verbal style to complement said guests has made for some super fruitful collaborations, most notably her duo with Nez Tha Villain, G.E.N.I.U.S.’s, eponymous 2022 LP.
This year’s been a big one for Blakchyl, considering she’s already shared two standalone singles, the Call Me Sometimes EP, and, just at the top of October, her full-length Better Than I Imagined. And yeah, as alluded to before, Blackchyl also brought her A-Game to ACL last weekend, playing at the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage Saturday afternoon, sitting down with The Breaks‘ boys, and even squeezing in a pop-up performance of “Ja Morant” for our multi-media team. It’s pretty clear that Austin is Blackchyl’s court, so we’re hoping to see this poet of a point guard shoot for the MVP in the coming years.