Crown City Rockers

I figured I’d stick with the theme of West Coast hip hop bands and focus on Crown City Rockers; I’ve covered them a bit in my Raashan Ahmad post here. They are a dope 5 piece band based out of Oakland, CA but they got their start in Boston, where they were known as Mission and Moe Pope was the second emcee.

The band currently consists of Max MacVeety on drums, Woodstock on samples and percussion, Headnodic on bass, Kat Ouano on keys, and Raashan Ahmad holding it down on the mic. They mix old school hip hop, funk, jazz, and r&b through live instrumentation and Raashan Ahmad’s diversity compliments the band perfectly. The songs vary from infectious upbeat tracks, to spaced out moody songs, and plenty of braggadocio and deep concepts courtesy of the emcee.

They’ve released three albums since 2001 with 2009’s The Day After Forever being the most recent release. Since then, each member has pursued solo work with varying success. They all still frequently collaborate and do shows together so I’m sure they will have another album for us before too long. Until then, enjoy some of the tracks below and make sure to get all the albums.

Digital Physical

Burgundy Fats

The Legend of 1900 is a dope 2014 release by Self Jupiter of Freestyle Fellowship under the moniker Burgundy Fats. Jup is accompanied by the band Slippers out of Long Beach and the whole album uses live instrumentation. The band provides a cohesive and moody listening experience that is rewarding the whole way through; this is the type of album you can throw on and vibe out to at anytime without skipping a track.

I’ve touched on Self Jupiter in my Freestyle Fellowship post. He was one of the innovators from the Good Life era in the late 80’s, but a couple stints in jail curbed his musical releases for a long time. Since getting out of prison in the 2010’s his work ethic has been off the charts. He reunited with Freestyle Fellowship for 2011’s The Promise, formed the Kleenrz with producer Kenny Segal and the group released an EP in 2012, he’s been a featured emcee on numerous songs, and now in 2014 he joins Slippers to become Burgundy Fats.

The Legend of 1900 is a short but substantial album. Slippers provide a great musical backdrop for Jup to weave his intricate wordplay upon. The music is primarily funky and jazzy, but there are also downbeat and eerie songs to keep it feeling fresh. I highly suggest listening to the complete album to get the whole mood and concept, but check out some of my favorite tracks below.

Cop the album here Legend of 1900

Gumbo

K.I.T.S. N P.I.T.S. Presents Gumbo is a bit of an obscure album but it’s one I really enjoy. Released in 2003 by P.I.T.S. (P.E.A.C.E. of Freestyle Fellowship) and K.I.T.S. (P.E.A.C.E.’s cousin), Gumbo is an appropriate name for the album since it blends so many different styles. It isn’t surprising though since Freestyle Fellowship were innovators of many rap styles and always emphasized the importance of creativity and pushing the boundaries of their craft.

This album is a great example of that, demonstrated by the hard battle raps of Even Steven, funk infused tracks like Fonk 4 Me and smooth melodic songs like L.O.V.E. The duo gets plenty of help from notable emcees like Bicasso of Living Legends, Pep Love of Hieroglyphics, and Mawnstr of Connoisseurs (another group P.E.A.C.E. is in).

Both P.E.A.C.E and K.I.T.S have been rather stagnant for the past decade or so unfortunately. P.E.A.C.E. surfaced for the Freestyle Fellowship reunion album in 2011 and K.I.T.S. can be found on random features and doing a show every now and then with P.E.A.C.E. In LA, but other than that their output has been minimal. At least they blessed us with this gem before fading to the background. Peep some of the tracks below and pick up the album.

Cop the album here CD