It’s a 12 song free download that will be available by June/July and I will have physical copies for the road . It’s 12 tracks over 90’s hip hop beats, shit that I came up on that was classic in my eyes and also a warning to those hipster strictly do it for nostalgia rappers who try to re-invent my era and fail horribly stop the fucking madness you suck it’s over with find your own niche…
The mix CD will feature Chino Xl, Donny Goines, Blitzkrieg, Gms, Mazzi of Soul Purpose (walking blog fame), Jean Grae, 88 keys, Homeboy Sandman and more.
Orange Moon Over Brooklyn features guest appearances from Immortal Technique, Jean Grae, D.V. Alias Khryst, Supastition, Wordsworth, and others. The album is entirely produced by Marco Polo and features cuts by turntablist DP One.
Brooklyn’s proudest battle MC delivers his best work yet with this release. Pumpkinhead got his big break by doing a promo for the “Stretch and Bobbito Show” (Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito the Barber). His first 12-inch records in 1998, (”Dynamic” and “Wack MC’s”) had great success on the radio charts. Since then, Pumpkinhead has worked with almost every underground MC in New York, recorded a Seagram’s Gin radio commercial, and toured in Australia, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Orange Moon Over Brooklyn features the banging tracks “Rock On”, “Trifactor” and “Swordfish”. Without a doubt, Pumpkinhead is back representing BK to the fullest!
01. Alkaline-N-Acid feat. Raiden 02. Authentic feat. DV Alias Khryst 03. I Just Wanna Rhyme 04. Trifactor feat. Supastition & Wordsworth 05. Grenades 06. DP One (Interlude) 07. Rock On 08. Anything 09. Swordfish feat. Archrival 10. Emcee 11. Jukebox 12. The Best 13. Monkey Shine feat. The Plague 14. Here 15. Anthem For The End Of The World feat. Jean Grae & Chaos
When it comes to top drawer lyricism and neck snapping beats, the names Pumpkinhead, Mr. Metaphor, and Block McCloud ring out like a shot. From their head turning appearances at Lyricist Lounge to their performances on the international circuit to their much loved singles and mixtapes, the three emcees have built an army of fans hungry for authentic rap music. Together as Brooklyn Academy, the trio represent a return to the original aesthetics of hard core hip-hop. Bored of Education, the group's full length debut, is the culmination of a career at the forefront of the lyric driven hip-hop movement. A collective of emcees who have been holding down the microphone for over a decade each, Brooklyn Ac approach their craft with a love of the fundamentals of rap music rarely seen in the age of million dollar ringtones. For the fans who have been following their career from the first drum hit, at long last, the wait is over.
01. One (Intro) feat. Jean Grae (Prod. by Beat Geez)
02. Raise Ya Hands feat. Jean Grae (Prod. by Illmind)
03. We Don't Play (Prod. by The Gyfted)
04. Message To Brooklyn (Skit) (Prod. by J. Cardim)
05. I'm From Brooklyn feat. Ill Bill (Prod. by Al'Tarba)
06. That's Brooklyn feat. Will Tell (Prod. by I-See-On)
07. The Growler (Prod. by Marco Polo)
08. Hide (Prod. by Illmind)
09. Bored Of Ed (Prod. by Haze Attacks)
10. Tear It Down (Prod. by Beat Brewers)
11. Blame It On The Alcohol (Skit) (Prod. by Will Tell)
12. Splash feat. Killah Priest (Prod. by MagOwl)
13. Black Out feat. Jean Grae (Prod. by Snowgoons)
14. Suicide (Prod. by Scorpio61)
15. Close Your Eyes feat. Skam 2 (Prod. by Unknown)
16. Back In Effect (Prod. by Irv Ford)
17. What's The Buzz (Prod. by Black Milk)
18. Peanuts (Skit) (Prod. by Block McCloud)
19. Nothin' You Can Do feat. Jean Grae (Prod. by Sicknature)
Preview:
X-Rae- Raise Ya Hands wasn't a great way to start the album for me. Illmind is a god but if you have ever played 'chopsticks' on the piano.. this beat is like the violin version. A 5min 45sec violin version. By the time I reached the middle of the track, I wanted to cut the strings off that fucking violin!!!
Don't make the mistake of thinking that 'This Is Brooklyn' or 'That's Brooklyn' will be the anthems that their titles would lead you to believe, because they're not. Both are rhymed over down tempo drums and claps (yes, claps.), the latter almost sounding South with the chants. It was also a tad overkill to place these tracks playing immediately one after the other. The following track 'The Growler' injects some much needed energy into the first half of the album. Marco Polo providing a bouncy beat on which the emcees come to life, all of them grabbing a syllable and fucking with it (RA The Rugged Man styleeee) til they've murdered their verse:
Pumpkinhead: "It's Brooklyn Ac; We accurate; We accumulate the accolades to aggregate an accurate accident in the Acura bumpin' Academy; Actually your anatomy gets an axe; I'll send a cannonball through your canopy; Can it be so simple; Crack through your draw brizzle (bridge); Mack with a long pizzle (pistol); Ac is the wrong crizzle (crew); To act like you're gon' pistle - whip; This is a crooked track; Met, Block and PH what you lookin' at?"
After another two so-so tracks ('Hide' & 'Tear It Down'), the trio come with their Killah Priest collab, Splash. As soon as the joint plays, you know it's gonna be a goody and just acts as such a refreshment after the slow and somewhat lifeless beats that precede it. Strings, emotional vocals, guitar riff...Block comes fierce when the drums kick in and the other emcees follow suit, flowing nicely over the beat and doing themselves justice. Priest is completely in his element and this is the type of beat you can imagine him rhyming over. Naturally, he kills it.
Black Out is another strong track on the album, latin sounding horns and piano over energetic drums. You'd expect nothing less from the Snowgoons who also lace the chorus with delicious cuts. All emcees, along with Jean Grae who perhaps steals the show, do their thing. Next comes Suicide, another banga with a catchy ass chorus! I wish there could have been more of these tracks on the album! The Academy keep up the momentum with Close Your Eyes, an AOTP-type, epic of a song carried by sped up vocals on the chorus.
Next comes the minimalist Indian beat on Back In Effect which is just..well, it's a bit rubbish really. Skip! Black Milk makes his appearance on the joint with production on What's The Buzz which again comes across as a hollow track, especially when you have in mind the incredible job he did on Elzhi's The Preface, you can't help feel a little disappointed (and there are more claps to enjoy!). They do go out with a bang on Nothing You Can Do, a big orchestral (yet playful!) beat from Denmark's Sicknature, who has worked with the likes of AOTP, Snowgoons and LCN, so expect production along that vein.
I wouldn't say that Bored of Education is wack because it isn't by any means. All three emcees come lyrically correct - I was feelin' Pumpkinhead throughout, and he was entertaining to me even on those joints where I wasn't liking the production ("We bang on tracks like early 19th century asians", "I might've smoked dust in the past but the fact is I never bit it"). The album is just let down by one too many mediocre beats; out of 17 songs, I would say 6 are dope..the rest are just not that special and a couple are downright horrible. It's a shame because when Block, Met and Pumpkinhead are riding over a sick beat, they truly do shine.. there just wasn't enough of it. Is it worth getting the album? Hmm.. I would say yes. Those 6 tracks really were that dope.
It’s a 12 song free download that will be available by June/July and I will have physical copies for the road . It’s 12 tracks over 90’s hip hop beats, shit that I came up on that was classic in my eyes and also a warning to those hipster strictly do it for nostalgia rappers who try to re-invent my era and fail horribly stop the fucking madness you suck it’s over with find your own niche…
