RaindropHustla

Toast over @ LxNxM noticed I spun Aloe Blacc‘s gorgeous Madlib-produced cut “One Inna”

off of his Stones Throw album Shine Through last Sunday. I was half-guilty when i played it at the time, seeing as how I’ve dropped it hella times. It’s really the only joint off Shine Through I got into.

I first heard Blacc as part of his old crew Emanon (who were part of a larger Orange County crew called Dream Sequence), with the masterful Exile behind the boards (and at times, the mic)- there was an Emanon joint on the Throwbacks & Pinwheels mixtape by DJ Echo (who was dope- where’s he at? Bellingham?) by the name of “Detour”, featuring LA’s Blacklove MC Dr. Oop-

The old stuff- such as the Anon & On EP- was kew but ehhh, not it. Their last album, the full length The Waiting Room, was definitely their finest moment, and while it had some killer moments- and some songs I still play to this day- ultimately my socks stayed put, as it was “solid” aka sort of dull and well-tread trad-hop; since Pitchfork seems to agree, however, I’m tempted to revise my opinion. Here’s some of my favorite tracks from that album:

“Six Million Stories”

“She Thinks”

“Farewell”

Aloe dropped some cool unreleased joints (fairly) recently: ”Very First Time”, “Houston” and ”What Was Your Name”. According to Meka at 2DopeBoyz there’s a new Aloe solo and another Emanon record on the way. Good news, since Blacc is further steeping his “indie R.Kelly” vibe (really more of a West Coast lovechild of Mos and Talib’s current styles IMO), and Exile’s been killing it- ridonk live show, that classic Below The Heavens with your boy Blu in 2007, that nutso Radio solo from earlier this year, and the new Boy Meets World LP with new it-duder Fashawn, which i just secured and look forward to reviewing (although he hasn’t quite struck me like Aloe or Blu have as yet). That’s all I got.