“Making Major Moves Vol. III: Rise of the Independents”
When rap fans think of regions or even specific cities with the best artistic talents the genre has to offer, certain areas come to mind – Atlanta, New York, Chicago, L.A., Southern Florida, Memphis, etc., have all historically been breeding grounds for some of the best rappers and best rap music ever produced. Naturally, there are cities and regions across the nation that are also hot beds of talent, but that don’t get the recognition they deserve. Minneapolis has birthed the careers of some of the underground’s greatest and most successful acts, such as Atmosphere, Doomtree, Brother Ali, and the late Eyedea. One of the most technically proficient rappers of all time, Tech N9ne, hails from fucking Kansas of all places. Ironically enough, that there would just so happen to be a brewing hub of talent in Northern Indiana of all places. Indiana is a state much less renowned for it’s music talents than other states/regions, although we can claim the astounding Freddie Gibbs and the greatest pop artist of all time (inarguably), Michael Jackson. In all actuality, it should come to no surprise then that there is a surplus of quality artists hiding in the cities of South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, and surrounding areas. Kyle Bishop, local audio engineer, producer, and recording artist, also noticed the talent bubbling in Northern Indiana and decided to assemble a mixtape series celebrating these artists. Beginning in 2016, Kyle began his “Making Major Moves” mixtape series to showcase these artists to listeners and provide them the exposure he feels they deserve. Like many other cities, there are of course local artists buzzing more than others. Wally West, LNS, 574 Dream Team, UVS, T Krazy, and more have already established a name for themselves amidst a crowded sea of artists. While Kyle does include songs from some of the more established acts, he does incorporate many lesser-known acts that others may not know. A clever marketing plan for sure, as fans of the more popular artists spend time listening to artists they may have never been exposed to. But the exposure is also hugely generous because it allows some of these lesser known acts to get the exposure they do deserve – in a nutshell, the “Making Major Moves” series is a move to help get artists some more shine, and the third entry in the series “Rise of the Independents,” gives an admirable effort to do so. The mixtape starts off on the right foot, with the somber “Sacrilegious” by Exodus. There’s nothing really exemplary about Exodus’s flow or delivery, but the uncluttered beat adorned with subtle synths and weary guitar strings provides Exodus the perfect canvas for storytelling lyrics “Welcome to Hell, Heaven’s just around the way/You gotta walk through ice to see them fiery gates/In the Garden of Eden watch for these damn snakes.” The beginning of each verse features audio clips about various tragedies, injustices, and generally just fucked up shit going on in the world – it sets the tone for each verse and compliments the vibe perfectly. While the vibe absolutely changes. Blu Casey provides another stellar track with “Ooowop Interlude.” Blu Casey spits potent verses with a speedy and nimble flow over a beat with a flipped vocal sample and heavy bass – it’s hype as fuck and the boy’s bars hit just as hard as the beat does – it definitely makes the listener headbang along to the song. Track three begins with what sounds like an old school soul sample, that suddenly morphs into another hard beat with pounding bass and drums. Local rapper Squirt spits a song about being humble but also not one to fuck with on “Air it Out.” The song is produced well and features tight bars and a steady yet hardbody flow from Squirt, yet the mixing sounds off. If the engineering was better, the song would go from a solid song, to a pretty damn good song rather easily. Unfortunately, this sheds light on the biggest issue evident in these songs; too often than not, the mixing/mastering is hugely inconsistent; of which these inconsistencies hold many of the songs back from being truly great (Air it Out is still pretty solid though). Family over Everything by Derek A, R3G, and Jas do not have these issues though and is just as memorable as the three tracks before it. The wavering bass and hollowed yet banging drums allow the trio to trade great flows and equally great lyrics back and forth. The quality formed in the first four songs ends with “Flooded” by Don D$nero however. While not bad by any means, the rapping is ultimately just okay, and displays a more amateurish sound than the rest of the songs that preceded it. The combination of dim pianos, whimsical bells, and trap inspired drums and bass provides one of the project’s more compelling instrumentals. The mixtape’s curator makes his first appearance vocally on the mixtape along other emcees Bogus and Armani for Six Rings (with a pretty dope/clever Michael Jordan reference). The beat goes hard as fuck and has the trio spitting some pretty solid bars in their equally solid flows. Jay Cash raps over another of the mixtape’s more impressive beats on “AK,” which features sweeping piano, hi hats, deep bass, and a mellow synthesizer which sounds curiously like a softly played flute. Cash oozes confidence in an infectious flow over the beat, which helps the more amateurish mixing/mastering job not be very overbearing. It’s amazing how much confidence can make or break a song. Qwa Man’s “Nothing New”, is skippable in nearly every sense of the word. The chorus is flat out fucking annoying – it’s catchy to an extent but more in the sense of ‘this shit is terrible and I wish I could forget it.’ The beat seriously sounds like it was marketed as a “dirty south beat” on Soundclick in the late 2000s. It’s a shame too, because the chorus and antiquated instrumental take away from Qwa Man’s solid rapping abilities. Luckily this dip in quality dissipates rather quickly and gives way to the best song on the mixtape, Brave Gang’s “The Heist.” “The Heist” goes hard as fuck! The bass pounds triumphantly alongside a medley of 808s and synths, allowing for some of the tape’s best lyrics “Big money shit, I need all my commas/Plugging this work me and all my squadders/If a nigga tell then it’s death before dishonor/But I’m talking to the jugg while they talking to the doctor.” Each rapper does their goddamn thing, employing sharp flows and self-assured deliveries to carry their well-written bars. My only complaint/suggestion is that I simply wish it was mixed a little better; I believe it could morph this song into simply being a good song, into a posse cut that lights the underground scene ablaze. Brian O Hara delivers another one of the project’s better songs in the form of “South Bend Rappers” over a redux of Kendrick Lamar’s “DNA.” Brian spits dope bars with a cocky delivery and flows over the beat effectively as well. Better mixing could also tremendously elevate the listenability of this track. Don D$nero appears again alongside Reconcile for a cover of Big Sean’s “No Favors.” While the lyrics and flows are not bad by any means, the duo honestly just doesn’t do the beat justice like Brian o Hara did on his cover of “DNA.” Reconcile does incorporate an impressive chopper style flow in his verse though. D Hadez and Mtdub come together on the thirteenth track “Luvtred” to rap over a beat with trap bass and EDM inspired drums. Unfortunately the hook is an absolute misfire despite the song’s good intentions of rapping about betrayal and the many nuances between love and hate. If the hook was reworked, and the mixing better, the song would easily be a highlight. Kidd Kong’s “Good Day” is likewise not without its fair share of misfires. All in all, “Good Day” is possibly the most well-intentioned, upbeat song on the project, simply being about having a good day. It’s a shame that “Good Day” is another instance of a song that could be significantly better if the audio engineering was less amateurish – it’s very catchy and the song has a great positive energy behind it. There’s even a catchy breakdown at the end – the type of shit that mainstream audiences eat up! In this era of hip hop music though, your presentation is just as vital as your ideas, if not more so. The fifteenth and sixteenth songs (Yesterday by Guapo and She Want the D by Dbo SBI) again fall victim to having well-intentioned ideas, but lacking the proper presentation. “Yesterday” is truly a solid song…yet there’s just nothing particularly memorable about it. It’s just decently rapping about a decent idea over a decent beat. “She Want the D” yearns to be a quintessential ratchet party anthem. The hook about thirsty bitches wanting to get dicked down is effective, but can come across as corny at the same time. The lyrics are adequate, but the flow and delivery are nothing special. Luckily, local superstars UVS show up for one of their best songs musically and also on this project, “They Onto Sum.” The song features a playful assembly of potent bass stabs, drums, and xylophone (or synths that sound like xylophone). Each verse is fluid and each member flows flawlessly over the beat and spit great lyrics too. Each emcee’s delivery builds up as the verses progress into the stellar, catchy chorus. I will forever be thankful for this song providing a glimmer of quality before leading into the worst song on tape. I feel bad conveying any negative opinion towards a musician, especially a local artist. On one hand, it’s always possible that an artist may simply not be my cup of tea, and typically I can recognize that fact and understand the qualities in an artist that another listener may find appealing; I think Lil Uzi Vert is ass, for example, but at the same time I understand why other listeners might enjoy his easygoing, mood-inducing ambience. But sometimes something simply sucks, and there’s not much getting around that “Jesus” by Alpha J Blu is just not a good rap song. Alpha flows decently over the track and employs a compelling cadence, but the lyrics are garbage and the audio engineering is atrocious, and combined, weigh down the track to the point of being unlistenable. Thank the gods for Lady Resin’s remix of A Boogie’s “Drowning” that follows. The female emcee delivers one of the tape’s highlights, with her utilizing a masterful flow and confident delivery to carry some venomous bars, showing “these hoes they ain’t got enough heart to compete with the queen.” She raps a lot like Gangsta Boo from Three 6, with a similarly cocky, staccato, nimble flow; Lady Resin’s technique is flawless and she’s pretty nice with the bars too. ML Byno’s “SOS” tries to keep the momentum going that Lady Resin established, to mixed results. On one hand, ML Byno has some nice bars, employs good concepts, a great delivery, and raps pretty well with a flow reminiscent of Jay-Z. On the other hand, the beat is cluttered with synthesizers, hollowed drums, and bass drowning out the vocals. The mixing isn’t horrible, but mediocre enough that when combined with the cluttered instrumental, turns an otherwise solid song into one that can be difficult to listen to. Things don’t get much better with Heavo’s “Hello.” The hook is abysmal…ranting about making a pussy talk somehow? Is this a euphemism for queefing? Or is Heavo fucking this mystery woman so well that the pussy is begging for more dick? Either way it’s fucking cringe-worthy. At least he flows decently over a piano key driven beat that sounds like it samples DJ Khaled’s “We the Best.” Thankfully the last two songs end on a better note, with the creator Kyle dropping another verse too. “Remember My Name” has Slyce Jonez, Bogus, and Kyle (Pohsi13bilities) trading dope, motivational bars and flows over a beat with 808s, pounding bass slaps, and menacing guitar plucks. The chorus is defiant – (although if shortened a bit, I believe could be more effective) – and has the vocals warbled which adds an interesting artistic flair to the hook. While undoubtedly a good song, I think a few improvements could make this song something special. The mixtape’s 23 rd song ends the tape on a high note, with Hardhead Dre’s “Brush em Off.” The bass thunders, the drums give the beat a funky bounce, and the synthesizers sound intimidating, reflecting Dre’s threatening bars. Hardhead Dre goes full hardbody on the beat, delivering one of the tape’s dopest choruses and some of the best lyrics on the tape too, like “I make a peace sign and then throw half of it in the air.“ Dre’s delivery is casual, yet resonates with confidence (vocally, his cadence reminds me of Detroit’s Earlly Mac). Each of these factors makes “Brush em Off” a definitive highlight of “Rise of the Independents.” Ultimately, “Rise of the Independents” is a mixed bag. There are some exceptionally dope songs on the project, but there is also a healthy dose of good songs, okay songs, and not so good songs. With a true mixtape like “Rise of the Independents,” it becomes difficult to judge the cohesion and flow of the tape. The tracklist is as bloated as can be with a whopping twenty-three songs, and the concepts, techniques, and instrumentals are largely disparate from one another. The mixtape’s purpose however is to shed light on local artists to help showcase the talent our region has to offer, which is precisely why the tracklist boasts so many artists. In this way, the tape is largely successful in providing exposure, but it becomes difficult to judge the project as a whole with so many different sounds and ideas. What can be judged is the beats, how innovative the concepts are, how great the lyrics are, and how effective the artists’ flows and deliveries are. The instrumentals are relatively solid on this tape, and by no means a weakness. There is some pretty dope instrumentals strewn throughout the tape. Generally, most of the featured artists do have dope bars too, or at least average bars. There was only a few times when I heard an artist rap on this tape that didn’t have at the very least a decent pen game. Flows and deliveries are a mixed bag as well though. Some of the rappers employ a chopper flow, while some do basic sing-songy flows. Some deliveries employ energetic cadences, others sound like they’re reading their lyrics on a phone screen. Which leads back to the idea that a lot of the artists and sounds and dissimilar on this project. Personally, I hear two projects in this mixtape, one featuring the more amateurish, poorly mixed artists, and the other featuring the highlights and more professional sounding artists. It’s jarring to hear a high quality rap song like “The Heist” on the same project as “Hello” or “Jesus.” Yet, if songs like “Drowning Remix,” “The Heist,” “Sacrilegious,” “Family Over Everything,” and more stood together on their own project, it would sound more cohesive. The rougher sounding tracks could potentially even sound better in the company of songs directly similar to them, instead of having these lo-fi, amateur songs being broken up by the more professional sounding songs. Why not have one mixtape to show the best our area has to offer and another to shed light on the talented up and comers in our area? Perhaps these suggestions could be considered for the future. “Rise of the Independents” is by no means a bad project, and in all reality, it does accomplish its goal in strides by showcasing a large amount of hip hop artists from Northern Indiana. A cohesive, groundbreaking project it may not be, but does any of that matter if you get to give some shine to your friends and people whose craft you respect and admire? If anyone desires to hear what kind of hip-hop talent is harbored in Northern Indiana, “Rise of the Independents” is a great starting point.
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