I've been a fan of Illtone for a minute (via the Detroit area crew
the Lyricists), so when he dropped the link to
Blacktivity, his new EP with beatsmith Shade Cobain, I HAD to check it out!
On first listen I was drawn to
Knuckle Sandwich, which actually served as the EP's lead single, but the second pass is what really reveals the nice stuff going on here. This EP is the self-titled introduction to Blacktivity, the moniker for the "he's the deejay, I'm the rapper" combo of Illtone and Pittsburgh area producer Shade Cobain. Illtone's no-nonsense raps advocate the kind of grass roots hip hop philosophy that lead me to start sharing rap shit in the first place, saying about hip hop "They say it's back, but we ain't go nowhere
but deeper underground, where we got more control there..." on hip hop blogger anthem
Bobby A&R. Shade's beats encourage a healthy nostalgia on
The Day Before Yesterday and
Adaptation. The record has the kind of straight-talking wisdom that comes from living and learning "Politics, I'm not really that interested in, but if you know nothing, then you're as ignorant as them. Give me more on my return, don't have me convinced, People say its conscious, but it seems more like common sense..."
Anyways, it's good stuff. Click here to cop Blacktivity's self-titled EP via the miracle of bandcamp.
holla...-samax ghettoManga.com
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