It's officially the day after Christmas. Christ was born (figuratively) and now a lot of children and grown folks are playing with their new toys. As a Christmas/New Year's present to anyone who cares to receive it check back everyday until New Year's Eve to see me talk a bit about two emcees. The first will be one that I've been keeping tabs on for a couple of months and the second will be someone I should've been keeping tabs on. Either way, I gotta Thank God For MC's.
TGF J. Nolan
The first artist for my Pre-New Year series is J. Nolan, a rapper from New Haven, Connecticut who is currently working out of Atlanta, GA. When I came across his mixtape The Loose Files on the blog site We Plug Good Music, I knew he was something special.
Honesty in hip hop is hard to come by and Nolan delivers this with a flow you'd expect from a more seasoned emcee. The twenty-two year old emcee confessed to having written and rapped upwards of 70 songs at his age and the way he handles every track I've heard him on proves that practice is a virtue.
People say that it takes 1000 hours of experience to become a master of a craft, and though Nolan still has room to grow, this is definitely a saying that he takes to heart. Constantly improving, consistently DOPE and consciously different, J. Nolan is one of my top emcees of 2011 and I'm looking forward to any projects he puts out in 2012 and beyond. This is one guy that you shouldn't be sleeping on. Check out some of his joints:
J. Nolan - Sharpen The Sword - Chaos Theory
J. Nolan - How It Feels - The Loose Files
Now that we've taken a look at an artist that I've been a fan of, let's take a look at someone that I've just recently come to like/listen to. A lot of people will hate me for sleeping on him but I can finally say:
TGF ASAP Rocky
I have to admit I just joined the ASAP wagon two weeks ago even though I've known who ASAP Rocky was for at least two months now. To be honest I wrote him off at first. I thought of him as "another overly cocky rapper" since I first read about him when he was talking about the huge deal he signed with Sony/RCA. Now...I'm definitely eating crow. When I sat down and actually listened to Rocky spit...my mind was blown.
Before ASAP Rocky when I thought of Harlem rappers I thought of Juelz Santana, Cam'ron and Jim Jones, all enjoyable artists, but none really bringing lyrical lava. With a monster flow, versatility, and stories to tell, ASAP Rocky is definitely the man. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see him as a 2012 XXL Freshmen. In my book he's up there with rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T. in terms of talent, versatility, and uniqueness. Look out for more ASAP Rocky in 2012 but in the meantime check out some joints:
ASAP Rocky - Peso - LiveLoveA$AP
David Banner ft. 2Chainz & ASAP Rocky - Yao Ming
This is the song that ended any doubts for me. ASAP Rocky's flow on this was insane. Definitely can see the influence of BTNH when he speeds it up, but he makes it his own. Let it be known, I vibe with ASAP Rocky.
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