Kosha Dillz & His Hustle To Happiness

Over the last several years I've had the opportunity to get to know MC Kosha Dillz and the privilege of watching his career and character evolve and blossom.  The man also known as Rami Even Esh has come along way from the formerly incarcerated KD Flow.  Graduating from freestyles and CD-R's to commercial releases in record stores and characters in video games.

2012 was quite the rollercoaster for Kosha Dillz - starting with a Super Bowl commercial and grinding through Paid Dues Festival, Warped Tour, Rock The Bells, tours with RZA, Matisyahu and Alex Clare, being in the BET Cypher and ultimately ending with what he does best - freestyles on stage.  All of his traveling certainly took a lot of effort and money, and also provided a platform for a lot of content creation.  Now he needs to edit all that content and he's reached out for donations so he can complete the documentary of his trials and tribulations - a film he calls Kosha Dillz Is Everywhere: The Hustle to Happiness.

Check out his clever Kickstarter video and then figure out if you've got a buck or two to send his way.  His Kickstarter campaign is here.

"It Was All A Dream" - Kosha Dillz

Drawing from the legacy of MLK and sampling from the Notorious B.I.G. - bi-coastal rapper Kosha Dillz verbally paints a canvas of an alternate reality in "It Was All A Dream."  The songs speaks truth ("Mom says some things never change, when I grow up somethings might not be the same...") - but one thing is for certain, a song with a Biggie sample is usually worth listening to.  

Microphone Check: Big Hud Jacks Beats

Southern underground rapper Big Hud showcases his lyrical flexibility on his latest "Jacking for Beats" - highlighting his ability to vary speed and flow style.  The video, featuring Hud rhyming over familiar backdrops, cements his status as a member of AllHipHop.com's Breeding Ground and suggests the recent RBC Records signee is armed with a thirst to validate his deal.

Microphone Check: Big Hud Jacks Beats

Southern underground rapper Big Hud showcases his lyrical flexibility on his latest "Jacking for Beats" - highlighting his ability to vary speed and flow style.  The video, featuring Hud rhyming over familiar backdrops, cements his status as a member of AllHipHop.com's Breeding Ground and suggests the recent RBC Records signee is armed with a thirst to validate his deal.

SUPERJEW ANTHEM

Kosha Dillz is back at it again.  As his infamous slogan suggests - he is everywhere.   I just watched him above on youtube in Boston, I'm pretty sure I heard him on my television during the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight and I saw him earlier today - where he told me he'd probably be showing up somewhere at Bonnaroo and then heading to Israel.  I'm convinced he has a clone that just hustles for him.

Currently Kosha is out in Los Angeles working on a follow up record with Belief and gearing up for a few festival plays, but the "hardest working rapper in hip-hop" just posted a video for "SUPERJEW" - so we're sharing it.  Its a tribal anthem he created for the homie, Sly Young, who makes a cameo in the video - as do bagels, lox, JDate, a star of david, a yarmulke and a deli.  Its totally brand jewbian. 

MC To Watch: ProbCause

Chicago native, ProbCause is bringing us some home-cooked goodness with his latest E.P. Stir Fry. This rising star is adding new flavor to the hip-hop scene, bouncing from gritty rap to dubstep to lyrical hip-hop and even some R&B. With diverse influences from Cannonball Adderley, Mulatto Astatke, Black Milk, Dilla, Stones Throw, Rhymesayers, STS9, Odd Future, Phoenix, Ratatat, Basquiat, Picasso, and Gerhard Richter, you can be certain that versatile talent such as ProbCause will take you on a limitless musical journey.

Immersed in a scene where, according to ProbCause, “there is always going to be hate and criticism”, this young MC is taking and preaching from the best. Mentored by the likes of Chicago’s queen of hip-hop, Psalm One, and Chicago’s veteran MC, Longshot, ProbCause is not interested in “the city of hate excuse.” And his mentality is translating very well in his music career, he's already toured this year as lead support for Big Sean, Twista, Machine Gun Kelly, Steve Aoki, Kreayshawn and Neon Indian in addition to performances with Raekwon, Chip tha Ripper, even earning a spot at the North Coast Music Festival for the second consecutive year (his performance was dope). He most recently visited L.A. last month - dropping in at Dim Mak Studios for their notorious Tuesday party and then hitting up Yost Theater the following night.

Probcause is not only making it hard to keep up but also influencing those behind him in a way that many probably didn’t see possible. Spitting rhymes that make you think and feel good, he’s nothing short of impressive, proving that creativity transcends all labels. For a taste of his most recent Mixtape, “Stir Fry”, SUPERGOODMUSIC has a free download of "Loud Through the Town" available for your listening pleasure and then a video for his remix of "Blue Sky."

Machine Gun Kelly Stepped His Game (and Laces) Up at Key Club

This past Sunday I was able to witness one of the best white rapper performances I have ever seen. Sure I've caught Hoodie Allen, Chris Webby and some forgettable white rappers but none had the stage presence that Machine Gun Kelly displayed. He was a wild man in his Sunday performance at Key Club Hollywood, dancing his ass off to LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" and Blink 182's "What's My Age Again" while taking a couple big swigs of Grey Goose during his set. Displaying his rapid fire flow throughout the show, MGK stage dove multiple times and brought two fans on stage who conveniently donned Lace Up tattoo's.

It was an entertaining performance from Machine Gun Kelly to say the least and even the songs I didn't know, I enjoyed. He proved he's a musician to watch out for and has the potential to be a star in the hip-hop game, which P. Diddy realized when he signed him to a record deal over the summer. Celebs were there to indulge, including "Cooler Than Me" charmer Mike Posner. My favorite song I heard was "Stereo", which I heard as I entered the building and is below to listen and download.

Machine Gun Kelly - Stereo Ft. Fitts of The Kickdrums

Post by ZSE (Before The Bigs)

Machine Gun Kelly AKA MGK - "Cleveland"

Machine Gun Kelly comes to us straight out of Cleveland, coincidentally the name of the aptly titled song "Cleveland"

MGK represents C-Town and Big Ohio quite well - paying particular homage to Shaker Heights, the high school he went to I presume. The same high school that spawned Kid Cudi and me, Boom D.

Houston born Colson Baker, better known as MGK or Machine Gun Kelly, feels home in the city on Lake Erie as displayed in his expletive laden, reference heavy video. While I don't expect him to be repping any other sect like that, I do expect to see more heat and bad ass raps from this rising midwestern MC in 2011.