Heavy-hearted in the Midwest since 2011
Stephen Bruner, aka bass extraordinaire Thundercat, is either you flavor or not. Anybody that digs the futuristic pop/jazz/funk flavors of an album like Drunk or Thundercat’s maestro playing on albums by Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington, Justice and Tame Impala will no doubt continue to worship at the alter of Thundercat’s immense bass contributions […]
Read More Thundercat : DistractedI’m probably the last guy to be talking about hip hop and rap music. I feel gravely underqualified to discuss beat making, rap producers, rap styles, and flow. In high school I was intimidated by rap music. I felt like you had to possess a certain amount of confidence and bravado to be able to […]
Read More Aesop Rock : Integrated Tech SolutionsMidwest MC Sankofa is not one to let much time lag between projects. Whether it’s constantly writing verses for new tracks, collaborating with friends, fellow MCs, producers, or coming up with ingenious new merch to help promote his work, Sankofa does not waste a drop of creative juice. Stephen Bryden, aka Sankofa, doesn’t let a […]
Read More Sankofa : Legacy MaterialsMakaya McCraven is one of the most intriguing artists/composers working in jazz today. His jazz chops combined with his Teo Macero cut n paste arrangements have given me(and the rest of the world) something to look forward to every time he drops a new album. Albums like In The Moment, Highly Rare, and Universal Beings […]
Read More Makaya McCraven : Deciphering The MessageDoes MC Sankofa sleep? Is there any downtime for this Midwest rapper? If you check out the list of albums he’s been putting out at a record pace I’d say no. If he’s not plotting the next album with some killer production courtesy of some amazing producer friends, he’s dropping videos of him freestyling over […]
Read More Sankofa : BLKTCHPIf you tuned into my conversation with Darren Page a couple weeks ago you’d know that he has a brand new BurningTapes album just waiting to drop and blow your minds. The co-runner of Burning Witches Records and mastermind behind the electronic project BurningTapes wrote and recorded this new LP over the last couple years […]
Read More Burning Tapes Drops Surprise “Odds On Evil”For it being only the second week of February I feel like there’s been an amazing amount of new music that’s hit our ears already. At least I’ve written about a lot of new music. I’m not complaining, man. January and February are typically pretty barren of new music off the bat. It’s usually March […]
Read More Above & Beyond : Makaya McCraven’s ‘Highly Rare’I’ve been following Midwest rapper Sankofa for a few years now. I can remember hearing his praises by local music writers well over a decade ago, but hadn’t really locked into the world of hip hop just yet. Not that I’m an expert now(far from it), but I know what I like when I hear […]
Read More Flyover Sounds : Sankofa & Chef Mike’s 313260Stephen Eric Bryden, aka Sankofa, is the premier Midwest wordsmith. A guy whose vernacular is that of an Encyclopedia Britannica, and his rhymes are always in-the-moment and of the utmost urgency. He’s a thoughtful lyricist, whether he’s rapping about our failing political system(“Joe Harvey X #doubledownondumb”), social unrest(“Killer Mike For President”), or the best damn […]
Read More Sankofa : Weird SummerPhoto by Corey Beck On May 29th and 30th, 2020 peaceful protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana in honor of the murdered George Floyd were corrupted by city police. Without provocation(and with the blessing of Fort Wayne city mayor Tom Henry) the FWPD shot tear gas canisters into crowds of non-violent protesters(with one protester losing his […]
Read More Power In Numbers : Listen To FloStorm’s “The Message 2020”