 |
---> Back to homepage
NewsFlash
Head-Roc EP Receives First Online Review with Demorama.com
08/05/02
Outside of the zany antics of those lovable Anticon nerds and the modern-day
hip-hop answer to Stiff Records that is Def Jux, I'm not that familiar with
the dynamics of independent and unsigned hip-hop artists nowadays (do a lot
of them still sell tapes out of their car trunk like Too Short?).
As far as
Head-Roc goes, he seems to be doing all right for himself, especially since
he's been getting all kinds of love in his hometown. Said hometown is
Washington D.C., a city about equidistant between New York and the Dirty
South (well, the Carolinas at least), and it's no surprise that the Head-Roc
style is also at that halfway point. "Exquisite" mixes up psychedelic
jazz-style guitar and flute loops with skittering rhythms; "Honeys" throbs
with sick Moog beats halfway between Kraftwerk and the Dungeon Family's
robo-funk; "Young Jefferson" teases with an almost DJ Premier-style fanfare
of muddy-sounding downtempo jazz before the tempo kicks into total crunk
overdrive.
As far as the rhymes go: Head-Roc has been at the lyrical game
for around a decade, and he's gotten tons of acclaim for his skills in a
city that's more used to "go-go" style than straight-up hip-hop. The former's
obvious, the latter's deserved; while it's damn near impossible to touch
Outkast, it wouldn't be all that preposterous to lay down a comparison
between him and Dre 2000, and I bet Head-Roc could probably take at least
half of Nappy Roots in a battle. We get hip-hop demos here at about the same
frequency we get tapes from bands specializing in Himalayan lounge-punk, but
when we do get hip-hop, it's all good. Top Honors.
Nate Patrin, Demorama.com
|
 |
