Detroit Underground Scene

Global rating of the product: 4.5 stars

For those who don’t know, Black Milk is currently one of Detroit’s hottest producers. He started attracting more attention from the public after the release of his Sound The Alarm video in collaboration with Detroit artist Guilty Simpson. As for Royce, I think that his reputation as a tight, lyrical emcee already preceded him.

Losing Out is taken out of Black Milk’s second album, Tronic. Both underestimated and underrated they might be, but the real hip hop connoisseur will priviledge such artists to most mainstream artists. The deeper I get into the jungle of underground hip hop, the less I am interested in commercial hip hop. Why? Simply because genuine expression and verbal dexterity are mostly found in underground hip hop. Underground hip hop’s aim is not to please the mainstream audience, but it is all about staying true to its roots.

Don’t get fooled by the soft female vocals in the chorus, the whole video will transport you into the Detroit slums, as Black Milk will recall Berry Gordy’s debut in the world of music. The D town, Motown is one of the most powerful towns in terms of music that gave birth to a wide range of outstanding artists.

Let Black Milk rip the mic with his amazing flow and conquerror spirit, as syllables spread like a violent storm from his mouth. He is truly representing Detroit’s finest talents.

You will enjoy his inventive wordplay. Then comes Royce, slaughtering words in a very merciless manner. Not only is the talented lyricist killing it on the mic, he is also honoring the Detroit scene as a whole.

If I haven’t lost my faith in hip hop yet, no doubt it is thanks to such high quality performances.

Check Losing Out here.

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
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His voice has some dark Ice T accents, his instrumentals are an astute combination of jazzy-soul feel. He’s got that wonderful old school sounding hip hop to please you ears. You got that right to call him awsome, because Awesome Dre he actually is called.

Awsome Dre is one of Detroit’s most precious secrets. You Can’t Hold Me Back is a clever mixture of guitar and saxophone and lyrical punchlines. Rhythmic, interrupted with scratches, the song will make you move in a cadenced way. Bounce, bounce to the gangsta sounding rhymes made in the D.

Follow me into my descriptive ride, dive into the rhythmic sounds and the sinking rhymes: I know that this artist won’t disappoint you.

In Sackchaser, Awesome Dre will punch a “golddigga” lyrically. Take you time to appreciate Awesome Dre’s incredible flow. The talented emcee’s extraordinary lyrical creativity definitely needs to be underlined.

Frankly Speaking: listen to Awesome Dre’s dark and real description of the D-town. Scratches amplify the pressure of the song. Let the brilliant artist offer some criticism against the society’s correctness. Awsome Dre doesn’t rap to please the media, he’s telling the truth.

Master Of Philosophy is powerfully smashing words against the wall. Awesome Dre is taking over with high confidence, blessing the mic.

If somebody impacted Detroit hip hop history, it is certainly Awesome Dre with his original old school style.

Check him out here.

Pay him some attention: he is really worth it!

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Global rating of the product: 5 stars

Kevin Bailey aka Dogmatic is a heavyweight on the Detroit underground hip hop scene. If you haven’t heard of him yet, you must have been sleeping for too long!
The follow up of the Reality Show is now ready. If you liked Dogmatic preceding work, you are probably gonna enjoy The Face Off. It features numerous local Detroit stars, like King Gordy, Bizarre and Kuniva. Ready for a ride into the Detroit hood? Hear it from the mouth of a hip hop dedicated emcee.

Living in the hood is a constant fight against the devil. Dogmatic vs The Devil will transport the listeners into a scurillous atmosphere. The light, but nevertheless sharp minded instrumentals reflect the harsh spiritual fight that recalls the death of ghetto soldiers, like Dogmatic’s close friend and collaborator, D12′s Proof.

End Of Days: I really love that one. It targets the numerous fake MTV mainstream emcees. See, it is not about a salary, it’s all about reality. Like light raindrops the slight piano sounds in the background open up the curtain on Dogmatic’s description. Many of them rappers claim to be real, when the realest emcees are often overlooked by mainstream media. Never mind, Dogmatic. To the real connoisseurs, the dedicated hip hop heads, you are representing straight hip hop talk.

Turn It Up It’s Us features O. Trice. Rough souls, rough talk: both Detroit ghetto soldiers are taking over with confidence.

In Ghetto World, come share King Gordy and Domatic’s horrorcore vision of the ghetto. Unlike the vision that is present in many suburban teenager’s minds, ghetto life is far from being a fairy tale. Proof said it before, it is hard to survive in the 313. Have an attentive ear to Dogmatic’s astute syllable combination, enjoy his instrumental composition. Feel the menace hanging over your heads like a heavy rain cloud. The Dogmatic- King Gordy duo is doing some amazing work.

Feel the pressure In Hard To Keep It Real, as the instrumentals suggest it. In the jungle of the ghetto, it is sometimes very hard to know who is really on you side. In a landscape of backstabbers, you better watch your back.

Too Many Drinks will open up on a lighter note during which Dogmatic and D12′s Bizarre are drowning into alcoholic drinks.

What Up Doe is a typical Detroit greeting. It features Sick Notes artists Cdell and J.U.S. The repetitive melody totally enhances the artits’ mastered hustle and flow. I loved it!

Grand Theif Auto contains a Proof-Dogmatic sample. It includes Kuniva’s participation. The electric guitar sounds, the sirens and light chord sounds totally match with the keyboard sounds. The song is total darkness and total madness in a typical Promatic style. Well done.

Dogmatic and Ill lil of Sicknotes unite their talents on a rhythmic, enthusiastic and dynamic duo.

So, should you cop this mixtape? Definitely yes. If you like Detroit sounds and ( real) tales from the 313, Dogmatic is your man. Don’t sleep on his mixtape, it is truly a must hear!

Check it out here.

Copyrightby ©Isabelle Esling
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Kevin Bailey aka Dogmatic, whom I had the pleasure to interview for the Eminem Blog and whose work has been featured very often on here, is a true lyrical soldier. He is one of Proof’s most valuable collaborators. Without him, there wouldn’t be any Promatic album…give his work a listen, before I review it…stay tuned, folks…a review of The Face Off is coming soon!

Isabelle

When most people hear about the D, they immediately refer to Eminem. No wonder: Eminem is probably the most popular emcee on the planet and he’s from Detroit. However- to the real conoisseur- Eminem is only the visible part of the bubbly, murderous, grimy, Detroit scene iceberg. D12′s deepest, more consistent work has to be sought in their solo and underground work as well.

I’ve been a fan of Eminem’s music first-before I started focusing on local Detroit artists around 2003. The Detroit hip hop scene is composed of a panel of various artists with different styles. But all of then do have ( let alone the few untalented clowns from the suburbs pretending to rap): they do carry the city’s dirty, rough, grimy imprint. The 313 is the heart of Detroit’s hip hop music. A lot of artists have contributed to the scene. Some of them, like Esham ( the godfather of acid rap) , Slum Village, 5 ELA, Trick Trick and Da Goon Sqwad, D12′s Proof ( just to name a few) have pioneered it.

Most Detroit artists take much pride in the way they word lyrics and the city is well known for its battle scene that came to life thanks to hip hop dedicated people like Maurice Malone. Much underrated, but nevertheless incredibly talented Royce da 5.9 and Obie Trice are among Detroits’ most creative lyricists.

Are you curious to know more Detroit artists? I’d strongly advice you to check the local mixtapes and CDs, then. There are a lot of hidden jewels like I-Mac’s Ruthless Aggression mixtape, Uncle ILL’s Ya All Know CD, Hush’s Roses and Razorblades CD, Proof’s From Death in collaboration with Da Goon Sqwad…in addition, you can also check my archive regarding the Detroit scene at the Eminem blog:)

A lot of talented Detroit artists have collaborated with Proof-yet their names barely emerge in magazines and newspapers, despite their obvious talent.

Journalist 103 is one of them. He appears in Proof’s “Broken” song and he’s a remarkable emcee. I had the chance to review him several times. Another brilliant emcee too many people forget to put in the spotlight is Dogmatic- Kevin Bailey aka Dogmatic carries the true spirit of the Detroit ghetto. You could barely talk about Detroit hip hop without putting his name on your tongue- which will make his Sicknotes label come to surface too. Sicknotes is an example of Detroits’ amazing creativity. Malaki The Most Hi has some good Proof collaborations at his active plus some inventive tracks of his own. His mouth truly spits fire. How come only a few people name the Sleeper Cell artist when they mention the Detroit scene?

Let’s talk about Swifty Mc Vay: ever checked his Grenade Pins and Forest Fyres mixtapes? Have you checked his collaborations with Raw Collection in which his sister (Reddbone) is an active part of the team? Have you ever heard about Miz Korona, the Laila Ali of rap?

You probably think you know Bizarre? Have a look at his amazing collaborations with Detroit’s most outstanding DJ Odell Perry aka DJ P Dog.

What is so cool about Detroit hip hop is that it is tailored to many tastes. Whether you like the warmth of Latino accents brought to you by DJ Rick and Dirty Politics or the sharp, rough Streetlordz sounds, for instance. The Detroit scene is indeed multi cultural. Emcees come from different backgrounds and each of them brings a different sounds and styles in the hip hop community.

Pure rap geniuses like Mc Lazarus ( whose parents emigrated from Pakistan to Detroit) will impress many listeners with his verbal mastery. Merciless Amir’s rhymes are intentionally enhanced with a subtle oriental touch, in which Detroit meets Lebanon.

Sound the alarm, like Guilty Simpson and Black Milk said it in 2006: Detroit hip hop has some amazing talent. Many of them deserve to have their names written in capital letters.
Not those who are running their big mouths on public places or on the internet. Not the biggest Cd peddlers either. Only the hard working, the heartfelt, hip hop dedicated emcees really deserve it.

But to get more recognition from the world, Detroit artists will need to consolide their unity: this is and will remain my point of view. Deshaun Holton aka Big Proof carried a dream: he aimed at reuniting the most Detroit artists possible in their differences and make them work together.

Detroit, you can make it happen!

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
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Like a thunderstorm during a hot Summer time, Dirtyilla’s good noise will take you by total surprise: his loud instrumentals will spread like lightning forks in the dark night, illuminating our vision. His rough and raspy voice takes over the scene with pride. He’s nasty and filthy on purpose. You gotta love the way he does it, though.

Birthday is built on keyboards and light instrumentals in which Dirtyilla excels in his vocal performance. The song is rhythmic, instrumentally researched. I liked it.

Hot Ready lets the listener penetrate into a darker dimension of dirtyness. Hot Ready dirty cutie pies are ready to get eaten by some hungry males. No need to get offended by the great dose of filthiness…just enjoy Dirtyilla’s original and raw style made in Detroit. Instrumentally, the cadenced drum beats work together with the keyboards in order to create darkness and anguish.

They Luv Me is written in a conquerror style in which Dirtyilla exposes a very cocky attitude. Despite its common theme, the artist shows some real creativity. The light bells contrast with the heavy drums and other instrumentals. A married man talks about his double life.

Gorillaz has some obvious Dirty South influences. Dirtyilla is showing some teeth, his tone is menacing. The emcee is ready to tear the place of with some surgical words.

Want to know more about Detroit’s Dirtyilla? Check him out here.

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
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Sleeper Cell Records signee is back with a new CD entitled The Uprise. Malaki will take you by surprise with his loud, sharp minded instrumentals and his rough lyrics. Close Proof collaborator, Malaki The Most Hi carries a lot of raw energy in his songs.

His unique, instrumentally inventive, lyrically creative tracks will probably enchant hip hop lovers.

This Is It will take you by surprise. The bitter-soft saxophone notes are astutely combined with keyboard sounds. Malaki’s raspy voice introduces the track. Ready to listen what a hip hop dedicated heart has to say? Open up your ears and let the Detroit emcee take you for a ride…i like the way he expresses himself, smashing commercial rappers! He’s truly killing it in this track!

Bigges Losa is based on dark and rhythmic instrumentals. Listen to Malaki take over Motor City by loud musical force. Malaki’s stormy flow delivery needs to be underlined too. The track is a powerful outlet for ghetto rage and hip hop passionate people. You are gonna like it.

Starting on a soft flute musical background, suddenly interrupted by some noisy drums Murder Me will take you by surprise. The Sleeper Cell track, that is dedicated to Proof will allow you to discover Malaki’s lyrical ability combined to an explosive scratches apparition.

Soft guitar and vocals introduce the listener to Boombox Platinum. The blues influenced vocals totally match with Malaki’s complaint.

Discover more about the outstanding Detroit underground emcee here.

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved