Alright, I made a comment about Qwel earlier, one of my favorite underground emcees from my high school days, and it got a positive response from Derrik. Qwel was one of the emcees in Typical Cats from Chicago. Their first self titled album was one of those albums that shaped my opinions on music from that point on. Jazzy beats, three completely different and unique emcees, and an album that you can listen to from front to back without skipping a fucking track.
It's the kind of album that you listen to once and pick out your favorite tracks. Then you listen again and suddenly something else stands out. My favorite song on that album has probably rotated between 7 or 8 tracks on the album depending on when you asked me. Qwel, who was always the standout emcee to me, has gone on to do some solo albums, and they are good, but I'll warn you - they are pretty out there. Don't even bother if your mind isn't split wide open.
Anyways, maybe I'm underestimating the readers. I like to post all kinds of shit on P&P, but I guess sometimes I lean towards shit that I think will be well received. Fuck it, tonight I'm giving you one of my favorite tracks from a handful of years ago. This is a solo Qwel track off of the Typical Cats album I was talking about. When I first heard it, I didn't like it, but somewhere between my 3rd and 20th listen of the album this song clicked. Qwel is the type of lyricist that can slaughter motherfuckers with the punchlines and freestyles, but if you've followed his career you can gather that he'd much rather go deep with lyrics that are closer to poetry and further from battle raps. But no matter what his style is, his delivery is nuts. Like all great lyricists (see: Eminem, Big L, Eyedea) words slide off his tongue like razor blades.
Enough talk, I could ramble about this shit for hours, but I guess it comes down to your opinion. I just ask that you give it a few tries. Here is "Qweloquiallisms". Let me know what you think.
Typical Cats - Qweloquiallisms | YouSendIt
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11 comments:
it's like spoken word jazz...qwel's got a nice flow though, is there anything with him over a beat i can bump on a friday night pregame?
Yeah, as far as beats this isn't easy to get into, and definitely not easy to party to. Um..."Cliche" is one of my other favorites. I think I posted it on P&P once. "Reinventing the Wheel" or "Any Day". "Take A Number" too.
"i got a million ways to get it"...choose one (please)
http://www.pigeonsandplanes.com/2009/08/more-underground-favorites-round-2.html
my bad, scratch that...any day is sick man, thanks.
Glad you're into it. This is one of those albums that I've only known a handful of other people who are into it. Never was sure if it was because it was so underground or if other people just didn't like it.
Whoa, this guy is dope. I'm gonna have to look into these guys.
born and raised in chicago and i've never heard of these cats, take that at whatever level of underground you will. Gotta respect the dude's talent...but im not going to pretend that i'm not into rap for a combo of lyrics and beats...Confusion, you always give me the opportunity to show off music for my friends, i'm "that guy" but only because you are. thanks.
Appreciate that! And I know what you mean. I remember hating this beat when I first heard it. I thought it sounded off and didn't have anything too it. For me, it just clicked at some point.
Also, if you're into lyrics Qwel is madness. I've listened to this song hundreds of times and I still don't understand half of it. Don't know if that's good or bad. It took me dozens of listens before I got the line...
"I won (one) like three thirds".... cause 3/3 = 1, for those who don't do math. He just breezes through clever shit like that.
Alright. Gotta stop pushing this so hard haha it's just a personal favorite of mine because I listened to this for years in highschool and never got sick of it.
If you like that cd, then you need to check out the Oddjobs+Typical Cats+Heiruspecs Live @ the Bryant Lake Bowl cd.
It is some awesome like raps, spoken words and just plain ol fun stuff.
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