March 2021 – Page 2

March 14, 2021

St.Pete Hip Hop Pioneers: Famous Kid Brick

Ever since I was a Jit way back at Southside Middle School I’ve been bumping Famous Kid Brick. Back in those days he was at East Lake High school making moves around the scene, until his hit single “I B Rollin” set Brick above the rest in the burg, making him the cities go to hit maker.

Had the Black and Gold Supra’s just like Brick.

Building off the hype of “I B Rollin” Brick teamed up with Smoothie Hines and DJ Shurefire to dominate the city with countless bangers like “Dumb Doe” & “Haters Gettin Mad”. Oh yeah Free Smoothie btw! Back in the day I remember having on these songs on MP3 files just so I could put em on my iPod.

Soon after Brick signed with 727 legend Cristol’s Hussch Boy ENT to help bring his music to the club scene. Cristol brings more of that Tampa Jook music flavor, a sound Brick could definitely dominate with his high energy. With the Hussch Boy team behind him Brick dropped his biggest single to date “I’m On It”, which still to this day might be the biggest record in St.Pete history.

When I hear that “I’m smoking on that purp, my shoes match my shirt!” I can help but be nostalgic. For me “I’m On It” is the next evolution of “I B Rollin”, once again cementing Brick as the cities undisputed hit maker.

Despite all the fame Brick is still able to put on for the city. Brick joined forces with the legendary Crown Marquiss for the “Local Fame” EP with Local Muzik being the vibe. Brick was already featured on the St.Pete Hip Hop classic album from Marquiss “Live From The South Side” on the track “FAF”.

I remember when Brick shot the “Just Like Gucci” video at International Mall in Tampa. I don’t ever remember anyone else ever shutting down the mall like that. This joint was in heavy rotation on WILD 94.1, especially once word about the video dropped.

Brick is now a viral sensation, remaining at the top of the St.Pete Hip Hop landscape. No word on when his next project is releasing but that new track “Who Who” that he’s been teasing on IG and Tik Tok is about to be his biggest hit to date.

March 12, 2021March 12, 2021

Even In My Will Keep It Trill.

Since it’s Throwback Thursday I figured I take a look at an under appreciated EP from one of the 813’s finest Richie Guapo’s “Hot Boy Summer”.

I’m a fan of all sub genres of Hip Hop but my heart will always be in the Florida Underground and Cloud Rap scenes. On “Hot Boy Summer” Richie Guapo is able to take the trill vibes of the old school Florida Underground Miami scene but sprinkle in a Tampa Bay flavor. The intro track “Stunna Island” sets off the album perfectly. The chill beat allows Guapo to showcase his various flows. He also shows love to the late A$AP Yams on the track.

My favorite track on the project is “Bam Margiela”. If the airy trill beat wasn’t enough the hook by Guapo will be stuck in your noggin for days. The title and vibe are destined to make the track a FL underground classic. The auto tune segments of the song were actually really dope.

“Hennydropguap Freestyle” is the banger of the project. Guapos flow on this track reminds me a little of Ski Masks. This is a quick track but it’s a barrage of bars from Guapo. The beat is really solid as well.

The next track “Broke” is another banger that shows a lot of hunger from Richie Guapo.

The EP finishes off with the pose cut track “RIP Buddy” featuring Fetti Suo, YZM, and Wheatly. This is a really fun track and it was dope to see some features appear on the project to give it a change of pace. The beat switch towards the end was a nice touch.

“Hot Boy Summer” is my introduction to Richie Guapo. He’s a really dope artist and I feel the Tampa Bay Scene has plenty of room for him. No one in the area is really making trill music so if he can make another “Bam Margiela” he should be on his way to the top of the underground no time.

March 8, 2021May 10, 2021

St.Pete Hip Hop Pioneers Series: Robert Gallardo

With the St.Pete Hip Hop scene in full force and so many dope artists and styles popping up I thought I would put people on to who some of the pioneers of this St.Pete Hip Hop shit are. First up is one of my biggest inspirations Robert Gallardo.

The first time I remember hearing about Gallardo was his series of visuals he did for Crown Marquiss, Ameen Spade, Mario So Dope and the rest of the Local Muzik crew. The video he did for the J Goodie and Crown Marquiss classic track “Unsuccessful” was recognized as an instant classic at the time. If only we got an Ancient Barbarian video.

Another one of my favorite videos from Gallardo is the “All I Want” video from Smooth Hines featuring Crown Marquiss. This one was actually filmed at a corner store right down the road from my house. This video showed me that people from St.Pete could actually be apart of Hip Hop and be on our own shit. Back in the day Marquiss, Smooth, FKB, DJ Shurefire, and Gallardo could do no wrong, which is still pretty much true still to this day.

After his dominance in the St.Pete Hip Hop scene Gallardo decided to take his talents to the next level becoming the creative director for A$AP Rocky, designing and helping Rocky create the vision for his album “Testing”. This also opened the door for Gallardo to join the AWGE creatives collective. Gallardo had major input on all of Rockys set design as well as the vision for the videos accompanying “Testing”.

Gallardo was able to bring Rocky’s dreams to life with both of his sets for Camp FlogGnaw in 2016 and 2017. Has a member of AWGE Gallardo had major input in the first A$AP Mob album “Cozy Tapes Vol.1” designing the album cover as well as the memorable “Yamborghini High” video.

Some of the more underrated videos from Gallardo are “New Choppa” by Playboi Carti and my favorite “Richard Mille Plain” by Gunna. The late has some ahead of its time visuals aspects, reminding me of the film “Uncut Gems”.

Now that he is no longer doing free lance work, Gallardo has become a Youtuber creating vlogs and content to help other creatives. He is the creator of two apps the “Adventures of Gallardo” app and “Cover Art Studio”. He also has a greyscale Rubik’s Cube in development. For the last few years Gallardo has only dressed in grey color ways to keep up his image like some of his creative influences.

Everyone who wants $GREY will get $GREY.

Gallardo also developed his own crypto currency “$GREY”. “$GREY” can be used in the Grey Area to trade and share ideas with other creatives. Only 10 Million $GREY will be created.

Who knows what Robert Gallardo has planned next in his creative projects. He’s got a solid foundation behind him, most notably social media rep King Quel. I would like to possibly see him curate a series on the Criterion Channel or get back into making videos for select artists. Either way I will support and thank him for everything he has done for the St.Pete Hip Hop Scene.

March 6, 2021

Centralized Creativity.

St.Pete Hip Hop pioneer Robert Gallardo is helping artists centralize their creativity by creating the “Cover Art Studio App”.

Gallardo created the cover art for A$AP Mob’s “Cozy Tapes Vol.1”.

With the “Cover Art Studio App” artists are able to become the graphic designer by creating their own project cover art work. The platform features a free version but for maximum access I would recommend upgrading to the premium version.

As a creative myself I have been struggling to find a consistent graphic designer to help with branding and logo work so I can only imagine the work it takes to find a solid graphic designer. Now artists can take their vision into their own hands.

The skulls are essential for any underground project.

Gallardo is really blessing the community with this app. It’s super easy to use and as a graphic designer himself Gallardo should know what works and what doesn’t. I heard rumors of the first app Gallardo was working on and hope to see that project come to light one day, he definitely is showing us the way.

March 6, 2021

Everyone that wants $GREY will get $GREY.

St.Pete Hip Hop pioneer and creative Robert Gallardo has created his own form of Cryptocurrency to be used by and for creatives $GREY.

Members of the Grey Area use $GREY in the think tank to share ideas amongst other creatives, curator, and designers. Merely just having $GREY will help you on your creative journey.

$GREY allows your to interact and access others work in the Grey Area. Like other cryptocurrencies, there will only ever be 10 Million $GREY created in the world.

This is a huge movement for Gallardo and the creative community. All creatives should get behind $GREY so we can build the Grey Area. Everyone that wants $GREY will get $GREY.

March 5, 2021

St.Pete Stand Up Vol 2.

With so many dope singles coming out of the St.Pete Hip Hop scene I felt it was only right to release the second installment of the “St.Pete Stand Up” series.

On “Pauline” Mackey Emannuel wants his grandma to see all the success he has seen over the recent years. Emannuel is the king of hooks in the burg, whether it’s on “Too Much” off the Zhu tape or on “Poppin” Emmanuel has that ear worm potential every time he graces a mic. I feel anyone who ever wanted to make a lost family member proud will relate to this track. Can’t wait for the album and whatever comes next from Mackey Emannuel, “Fish Head Soup” on the way.

Definitely one of the most personal tracks I’ve heard from Dephree.

Dephree wrote this track after his wife and son left him due to his drug use. The story telling on this track is an approach Dephree has taken on other tracks but this one has more of a melancholy vibe. Most of us have messed up in relationships before. I really dug the vulnerability Dephree showed on this one. Can’t wait to here new music from the St.Pete new comer.

One of the hardest songs ever to come out of St.Pete.

Despite not having a full project yet Playrunna Av is definitely king of the trap scene in St.Pete. Wynner Circles head honcho has the sharpest flow and most quotable lines, that’s the reason he won the gold medal in the Trap Olympics. “Gangsta Shit” is just on some cold gangsta vibes that you can just ride out to. His newest single “Different Level” is just a barrage of quotable lines. This track is the definition of flex music. RodXTheXGod should continue to make all of Playrunna Av’s beats they make deadly combination.

On “Walt Disney” Palm Pact and Face Melt representatives Euphemistic and B-Zeik bring 90s underground hip hop vibes to the burg. This track reminds me of some Rhymesayers shit but that is definitely an untapped lane in the scene right now. Not sure what is next for Euphemistic but he had some standout verses on Palm Pact’s “Armada” from last year.

After dropping the Tampa Bay classic “Www.Flexedupshawty.com” Big Baby Scumbag has been dominating the Tampa Bay Hip Hop scene crossing over to both sides of the Bay Area. His “Tom Brady” track was the Buccaneers anthem all season. Big Baby is showing no signs of slowing down, dropping two of the years dopest freestyles. On “Grove Streer Party Freestyle” Big Baby is able to capture those west coast mid 90s gangsta rap vibes on some San Andreas shit. The beat goes hard and Big Baby does his thing, “I’m with mad dog and I’m drinking on some mad dog.” On “Crank Dat Yu Gi Oh” Big Baby shows why he’s the rap game Exoida. Whoever made that beat is a legend. Combining “Crank That Soulja Boy” and the “Yu Gi Oh” theme hit me in all the right places.

On “Yaya” featuring Joe Devlin, Vinny Vigro takes us on a trip to heaven. The god level hook on this track has a James Blake feel similar to Travis Scott’s “Stop Trying To Be God”. I would highly recommend checking out Vinny Vigrø’s 2018 album “Love is Life. Life is Love.” if you dug this track it’s on some Alt Hip Hop vibe. “R.I.P. DOOM” is a solid tribute to the Super Villain. Vinny definitely let the world know DOOM has fans down in Tampa Bay.

Coming off his “Sacrifices” project Josiah Odin is back with some more introspective bars on “Patek Heart”. Josiah is in his pocket on this slow airy beat. The beat made by Raz sounds like some “Me Against The World” era Pac shit. “I’m just an old soul not in touch with a whole lot” is one of my fav lines from Josiah Odin.

Josiah Odin also recently created a living playlist featuring new music from him as well as other Tampa Bay Area artists. Be sure to stay up to date with the “ROOTS” playlist exclusively on SoundCloud.

So much dope music coming out lately from both sides of the Bay. For all things St.Pete and Tampa Bay Area Hip Hop keep it locked.