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J-Illy
The Honorable Art of Ventriloquism
J-Illy has entertained friends and family with the random hip hop mixtape here and there; now he takes it public. But, don&rs ...
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DLabrie
MR. NETW3RK
For his self-released debut album, DLabrie presents a style he calls “Bay Universal” which appears to be a mix of b-boy bragg ...
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Crunk Chris
Cocktail Hour
Legendary Entertainment head Crunk Chris has a string of instrumental albums to his name, and various other aliases too, and ...
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Sticks Downey
When the Belt Changes Hands
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There are three absolutes with this debut from the trio of Sticks Downey: wacky wordplay, wrestling raps, and quirky beats. The central figure here is Wockenfoss, who rapes and pillages the music of the past in order to turn classic into cartoon, and then he raps about things like old school hip hop, comic books, baseball, and wrestling – the title and artwork may echo the latter topic, but it is mentioned especially often when Wockenfoss is teamed with Biff Pocaroba, as on “Paper Champion” and “Leave It To The People To Decide.” Wockenfoss’s can sound alternately like Tom Green or Toolshed’s Timbuktu, but his simple, old school-influenced flow is easy for understanding all his pop culture references. And lest we forget the other two members, Talik assists with production by adding live instrumentation with bass, guitar, keys and even some drum programming, giving the beats much of their catchy funk vibe, while singer-hypewoman Foots adds her jazzy-smooth indie rock hooks on a few songs. She could certainly be used more. The clear highlight is funky old school posse cut “Sticks Of Butter” featuring The Buttery Lords, who make up for their lack of flow with some amazingly funny raps, but also worthwhile are “These Monitors Are Frigid,” a fun and catchy song with a crazy opera sample, “A Frame Away,” a boastful, groovy anthem complete with sing-along chorus, and both tracks with Biff Pocaroba and “Do You Know?” with Coolzey, all three exciting collaborations. With a little more time on the mic, Wockenfoss should become the confident emcee capable of solidifying a reputation for Sticks Downey as fun and funky party rap. [Thomas Quinlan]
Sly Records
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