It's getting to be that time of year when a dude's gotta think about his picks for best albums of the year and whatnot. Y'know, real critical business. Well I'm going to save my thoughts on all that for the appropriate time, but I'm definitely already anticipating some projects that are coming out next year.
J.Pinder's upcoming album comes to mind—he of that minimal, butterfly-knife dart-flow has already earned himself a hefty amount of buzz among rap fanatics out this way, and of course his Vitamin D–helmed mixtape, Backpack Wax, already proved that's it's not just idle talk. You already know though; with the biggest names in the town guiding him, plus his being comanaged by Money Management (headed up by G-Unit's mastermind Sha Money XL), big things are on the horizon for young J-Dot.
But what you may not know is that Pinder's debut is no longer The Backpack Theory; "I had come up with that title years ago—it was based on things I was doing then, and was really a satire on that whole premise," the erudite Mr. Pinder tells me. "Now, I want to capture my current momentum, my true law of motion, the direction I'm going as an artist. The new title is Recipe for Success. It's like my '10 Crack Commandments,' basically. This is how I'm doing it; you can follow it too."
Mr. Pinder is headlining the sophomore edition of the KUBE 93 Sunday Night Sound Session Showcase, which is going down at the almighty Vera Project on Friday, November 30—also featuring Gabriel Teodros, Dyme Def, the Physics, and Beyond Reality—hosted by your Sound Session hosts J. Moore and DJ Hyphen. It's Vera, so it's all ages, natch, but if you've a yen to throw a drink down your freakin' face, just file into the War Room where the good people from Zune are bringing us a little treat: the always understated Swizz Beatz and Port Arthur, Texas's legendary underground king Bun B! Besides being one half of UGK and an incredible fuckin' MC in his own right, Bun gives some of the most intelligent rap interviews I've read and is quite the music head. I kinda just want to dork out and talk to him about Black Flag.
One album that's gonna sneak up on heads is Sweatpants and Church Shoes, the solo debut of veteran Seattle MC Candidt. Candizzle has been killing it with a Powerball-bouncy vocal style that's wholly original and as wicked as they come; whether solo or with the band Molimo his b-boy-to-the-socks party-rocking/thought-provoking flow has long been a much in-demand Seatown standout. Since linking up with Oldominion last year, though, Candidt has been in the zone, recording what I think is absolutely his strongest work to date. I peeped a couple of the joints he's got in the stash, on smash—his has-to-be-the-single "Voodoo" is an addictive spitfest with an ill Brother J–inspired hook that could bang the asbestos out the club's ceiling. Vainglorious! 
