So this is the New Year. Hope you didn’t go OT with those Lemon
Drops (what up Neema!). If it were a person, I wonder what kind
of resolutions local hiphop would make? Less EGO would be my number
one—and naturally that applies to me as well. Yes, you desperate
peons, even though my editorial voice is the very epitome of
humility, I know I’m as prone to feelin’ myself as the next man (no
Pee-wee). I’m saying, since Seattle hiphoppers are notoriously bad at
checking each other, we might as well start checking ourselves.
Check.
It’s more than rhyming; it’s timing,
It’s finding time in the day
Time and time again before time
gets away…
Check this out: My man Kublakai has a brand-new album out,
entitled The Basics. His first outing, The Change, was a
glorified mixtape that still managed to convey his singular wit and
wealth of potential. On The Basics‘ opening, Koobles comes out
swinging all over the drums, his elastic, drum-conscious flow both
urgent and conversational. The influence of big bad Brother Ali is unmistakable—he has that singsongy-faux-preacher thing going
on at times, and like indie-hop’s favorite albino, presents
a
narration combining an earthy homespun wisdom and a humorous sense
of the absurd.
My favorite track is definitely the over-the-counter screed
“Doctor’s Prescription,” where Kubla bounces like a Globetrotter
dribble all over a slinky, loungey beat, running down his daily intake
of God-given pharmaceuticals. The hook hilariously details the
worst-case scenario: “Now I’m stuck, fucked, outta luck/breathin’
through a pump/gotta tube for a dick and… well damn.” My only
small gripe is a common one: Kubla spends a lot of time raging against
the insidious specter of Radio Rap; the presence of “sex, drugs,
bitches, and ice,” “pussy, pussy, gangstas, and ice” is just as
prevalent and tiresome as the wealth of underground MCs that decry it
from here to Sarajevo. But I can never hold that against Kublakai that
hard simply because he’s an entertaining, dynamic MC; he knows how to
ride a beat and, goddammit, takes himself a million times less
serious than most.
The Basics is ultimately a fresh, fun, and thoughtful intro
for 2008’s 206 hiphop. Check him out at the release party—at
Nectar on Thursday, January 3—with Neema, Illegitimate
Children, Phil in the Blank, and Murder Dice. Come
through and heckle Kublakai, and if you find out why he named himself
that, let me know! 