The SH!T

If you’ve ever wondered what the Phoenix hip-hop scene had to offer, now’s your chance to fully immerse yourself. Earsweat Records has released a compilation album highlighting 14 of its artists.

Earsweat Drops is filled with MCs that are both talented and ingenious. Each track on the album brings a new whirlwind of fresh beats and a different personality. Each artist comes with his own story and leaves the listener wanting more.

That’s really the purpose of Earsweat Drops, to tease listeners and expose them to what the local scene has to offer. Because this album is so varied, it’s hard to single out just a few of the highlights. There is something for everyone.

Highlights include CCBeats’s “Hands Up” featuring LD and Ariano. The upbeat and light-hearted track gets you up and moving in no time.

Rashenal’s “Looking At You” and The Sh!t’s “Ass Dro Not” have incredibly fluid and entertaining samples that get lodged in your memory and will rattle in your brain all day.

The album concludes with a collaborative track, called “The Bass,” which ties up Earsweat Drops like a present on Christmas Day.

Luckily the best is yet to come. Every artist on the compilation album is currently working on a new release that will be put out by Earsweat Records in the future. Give it a spin, find what suits your fancy and support the local scene. You’ll be surprised by what you find. - College Times

If variety is indeed the spice of life, then my love of the compilation album is evidence I am living rather well. I have always had an affinity for a myriad of artists that can be found conveniently in one place and the myriad of styles from track to track provides the notion that I am getting more bang for my buck.

All of the aforementioned facets are in place on Drops, the new, 16-track album from the collective that is Earsweat Records. Set to drop on May 8, the Arizona record company has put forth their biggest and brightest on an album of Hip Hop that truly appeals to all. From track to track, what becomes apparent is that this isn’t everyday, cut from the mold Hip Hop. This album is rife with originality that strays from any “set rules” of how to make a good rap track. Think the outside of the box thinking and approaches taken by the likes of Tribe, Jurassic and the like.

DJ Cre One “Earsweat Drops Promo Mix” MP3:

SKOPE IT HERE!

G Owens opens the album with “Aviator”—equal parts, Hip Hop and R&B over a clubby back beat. The trippy ethos of the track is bolstered by intermittent singing and rapping and reflects the many genres Owens is influenced by… think a mash-up of Maxwell meets Tribe Called Quest. Piano tinkling opens up “Sacrifice” by Social Studies. Live instrumentation adds an element of authenticity to the track as it moves through the verses of tandem rap lines. Idolize the MC lends the groovy “Earth to Smootha” with more backing piano. Clever lyrical matter and a smooth delivery cap this head bobber of a rap track. “Stress?” by Lakai reflects a vast imagination that mirrors his equally imaginative biography (Unicorn ponies?). Smart lyrics tinged with humor reflect the real life, hard times message that runs through the track. Galactic Basic (with a guest appearance from Optimal) lends “Empty Days”; rife with backing synth and a slight, simple backing beat allows the lyrical matter to shine at the foreground. Rap verses are spit at accelerated speeds and complement the down tempo track pace. Eerie synth opens Jay Speaks’ “Champion.” The track sounds raw and earthy with a gritty element in the background beat and chirps and chimes. Beat box makes an appearance at the track midpoint and while it bolsters the beat, it seems somewhat out of place or possibly an afterthought. Finally, what sounds like a full collaboration rounds out the album with “The Bass.” This track pulls out all the stops with samples, synth, a heavy back beat (live instrumentation in there maybe?)Again, it’s a head bobber track that illustrates the available talent at the Earsweat camp disposal. Arrangement certainly had the forethought to save the best for last.

Who knew there was so much a solid base of simply good Hip Hop in Arizona’s desert? I for one certainly didn’t but this album has been added to a steady rotation in my iPod. Solid talent, good arrangement and professional engineering make this another great compilation of witty and honest Hip Hop and if you can’t find tracks that speak to you here; I would argue if you were really a Hip Hop fan at all. Look for Drops on May 8th at earsweat.bandcamp.com or for more information on individual artists go to their website www.earsweat.com.

By: Christopher West @ cwestlaz@gmail.com - Skope Mag

In this week's issue of Phoenix New Times, we profiled 10 new(ish) bands we expect to dominate Phoenix iPods and boomboxes this long, hot summer. We'll be focusing more deeply on those artists over the next couple of days on Up on the Sun.
See the entire list: 10 Phoenix Bands You Should Be Listening to This Summer

It's been a long road, but The Sh!t are ready to live up to its namesake.

The Sh!t is the collaboration of Ianfluence and Sourpuss, who double-team on both production and rhyming. The two are former members of the local group Shortbus, which they say was a passion project started long before they could hit the bar scene. "When we weren't even old enough to go to Blunt Club, we'd mix beats and freestyle all night long," Ianfluence says.

The duo's latest track, "Ass Dro Not," is a funky combination of backpacker sensibility and outer space antics. The song, from the Earsweat label mixtape available online and at Zia Records, features Ianfluence and Sourpuss talking shit in the cosmos, with sci-fi synths and Wu-Tang trash snares. Throughout the track is a sample from a 1950s cartoon of an announcer making prophetic statements about a heroic cosmonaut.

The Sh!t leans heavy on classic hip-hop approach and old-school pop culture, "Shit people forgot about," Ianfluence says. "We've got stacks of vinyl. I'm a movie person. I dropped out of college, but I took screenwriting classes and film studies. I love old Hitchcock, The Twilight Zone -- just classic pop culture. Today's pop culture is all corny and shit."



Comparisons could be made to psychedelic rap like Del the Funkee Homosapien or Edan, but the two enjoy the invented genre designation of "creep funk." "One of our fans came up with that," Influence says. "After I hear her say that, I thought, 'Yeah, that's exactly what it is.'"

The guys cite classic hip-hop crews like Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and A Tribe Called Quest as sonic guideposts. Their relationship with their label, Earsweat, has a similar group feel. It's a collective endeavor Ianfluence compares to that of the Native Tongues crew which featured '90s hip-hop luminaries like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.

"We're down with everybody making music in Phoenix, but we didn't really have an identity," he says. "With Earsweat, we have each other's back creatively. We're all similar but different."

Sourpuss agrees, saying the label has poised The Sh!t to make serious moves. "We're the step-children of Arizona hip-hop and we're growing up. We go between sanity and insanity," he says.

Currently, the duo are stacking up tracks for a new album later this year, their allies right behind them, itching to get at that real sh!t. - Phoenix New Times