May 2021 – Page 2

May 25, 2021May 25, 2021

Tell Em That It’s Been A Drill

Inspired by the emerging NY Drill scene as well as the OG Chicago Drill scene, Fettisuo and AYO8 team up on “Tantrums” to create what could be considered the first FLA Drill project hosted by the infamous Richie Guapo and Outside World ENT.

Having Richie Guapo host the project adds that Trill factor as well as cementing the Outside World ENT feel, shout out to Outside Illz. Outside World ENT is definitely taking over the 813 with some of my favorite artists like Flex Winter & Dro Got Doee repping hard for the brand.

I feel the Drill lane is really slept on in the area. Since a Jit I’ve been rocking with the pioneers of the sub genre like Chief Keef, King Louie, Fred’s Santana and SD. The sound eventually made its way across the pond creating UK Drill, a sound I am not the biggest fan of but their beats are brazy. Now with artists like Pop Smoke & Fivo Foreign bringing the new found NY Drill to the forefront it was only a matter of time before the sound made its way down South.

Off rips the beats by AYO8 hit that Drill vibe spot on. They are all hard hitting, pairing perfectly with Fettisuo’s, Drill delivery. “Unlucky” starts off the project with a menacing beat by AYO8, those bass lines doe.

“Fetti Hunna” is still on some Drill shit but has more of a bouncy vibe than the other tracks. I feel this could be the essential vibe that will make FLA Drill stand apart from the other scenes, who knows this could become the new wave.

By far my fav track on the project is “SUOSUO”, the female vocal sample is on some NY Drill shit, with Fettisuo brining one of the best flows I’ve heard all year. We def gonna be running this one up in the 727 side of the bay, this track is legendary. Would love to see a big Outside ENT remix for this track.

The entire Outside ENT family is killing shit right now, I will continue to keep it locked on the collective and look forward to who’s next to drop, because Fettisuo & AYO8 def have something on their hands with this Drill shit.

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021

727 Classics Review: Lil Keis- Turn Me Up

The late Lil Keis is one of the most important figures in the entire history of St.Pete Hip Hop, his 2009 mixtape “Turn Me Up” is an undiscovered gem to many in the scene so Jit had to shed some light on it and the legend that gave me my start. Lil Keis on da beat boiiii!!!!

Whether it’s from his immortal “Wonton Soup” beat for Lil B or pretty much being the foundation for many of us who are still keeping this shit going as the head honcho of Paper Chasers ENT, which I actually was a member of the PCE street team. At the time if you wasn’t affiliated with Local, So Excited Ent, Kid Killa, or Hussch Boy you really wasn’t doing shit in the city. Everybody was on Paper Chasers back in the day from Keis’s brother Yung Choppa, to the OG BTMVLE Jotta who at the time went by Gata, shit we even had a magician rapper on the team Mentalv.

“Turn Me Up” starts out with one of my favorite intros of all time with Keis shouting out all the homies and everyone that has showed him love so far, pretty sure all the beats except the freestyles are made by the man himself.

The “Ain’t I Freestyle” featuring Lowkey Riez is actually better than the original version with Keis going crazy on the beat, Riez talks that shit on the end making it for than a freestyle.

I would say Keis’s biggest song possibly as strictly an MC is “Cash On Me” I remember when this shit dropped way back in the day we knew it was the anthem. This along with that “Top Drop” song featuring Gata & Choppa are low key my fav PCE songs. Man I wish we had a video for this one its definitely a classic track.

It’s always a problem Ikonz and Paper Chasers Ent come together on “Hit Da Club” and “Killa Remix”. The “Hit Da Club” is that turn up shit and back in the day Mah Cita was the hottest female MC in the city. The “Killa remix” is a standout for me with Keis brining one of his best verses on the project, especially that “I’m great” line.

“I Got Swag” was for sure one of the realest signs to come out in 09. This along with “Cash On Me” shows Keis ability when it came to making them hits. You know if this shit went off in the club back in the day, the city would have went brazy.

“Hustle” might be my favorite beat on the project, with Keis bringing that triumphant shit. This one is about Keis’s grind and hustle in the rap game and how he’s made it from the top after coming all the way from the bottom.

“Sit Back” and “Take U There” reminds me of some Kodak Shit but definitely way ahead of his time. This track definitely proves Keis has some versatility as an artist. Def would have been interesting to see if Keis would go on to make tracks similar to this one.

Hands down the hardest track on the project is “Money Talking” featuring Gata aka BTMVLE Jotta and Yung Choppa. From the beat to the hook by Jot, to how all the MCs snap on this one. This is the definition of that Paper Chasers ENT shit. I would have loved to see a big PCE compilation project but the scene was still in its infancy at the time. Yung Choppa always been nice on a track and he’s still doing his thing to this day.

At the time Keis was pushing “Cleaner Dan A Whistle” and “Do It Big” as some of his bigger songs, especially the latter having that Johnny Juliano. These tracks are very nostalgic for me and show just how big of a star Keis was destined to be.

Just wanted to thank the legend for everything he has done for the Jit and the entire St.Pete Hip Hop community, shit if it wasn’t for him who knows where Lil B would be at. Check out the project on Datpiff, R.I.P. to the legend 🏕💯💰🏃💨.

May 20, 2021

Keep it 💯

With the momentum building in the St.Pete Hip Hop scene, South St.Pete’s own DRZ Cagee & DJ Blade’84 kick down the doors on their new project “Everythang 10K”.

Off rips DRZ Cagee & DJ Blade’84 come through on some gangsta shit. The only one out here doing that real gangsta shit is Playrunna Av so it’s nice to see someone else’s take on the genre for the city. The song “Stick Up” is on some ride out shit. The beat is hard hitting but doesn’t over power DRZ’s vocals.

The next track “Same Amount” is on some intergalactic shit. The beat sounds like some video game shit but I def vibe with it. The hook on this one is really ear wormy, with me chanting “Same Amount” over and over. Loved the Tampa Bay shout out on this one we doing it for the whole area.

The final track “Cash Thoughts” is by far my favorite track on the project. From the Ancient Egypt sounding beat provided by DJ Blade’84 to the brazy guest feature by Meiigo this one is going up. It sort of had that Mac Dre pimp vibe Johnny Adama has been experimenting with lately but the flows on those type of joints are always nuts.

Pretty solid EP from DRZ Cagee & DJ Blade’84, these guys definitely have staying power in the scene and I look forward to what they have up next. I know for sure the city needs a video for “Cash Thoughts” A$AP!

May 17, 2021

727 Classics Review: Ameen Spade- ‘06 Stride

Following up his 2014 album “Passion”, Local Muzik’s own Ameen Spade crafted a scene defining album, painting a lyrical picture of life in my city St.Petersburg, FLA.

The soulful intro sets off the album with some old school vibes. Spade touches on many themes on the album, from the death of his mom and other loved ones to the daily grind of living in the 727. There is also a runner theme to the album, I am not sure if Spade has a track background but the theme meshed well with the other topics he touches on.

The Kool & The Gang “Summer Madness” sampled “Stride” continues the track theme. Spades flow is next level on this one, once he’s in his pocket no one can really touch Spade on the mic.

“10 Years” featuring fellow Local Muzik member Mari So Dope has a beat that sounds like some shit off of “Yoshi’s Island” soundtrack. Putting Mari on the boastful hook was a nice touch.

Hands down one of the most important songs to the city is “Life In St.Pete”. Once again Mari is on the hook to hold it all together. Spade paints vivid pictures of life in the city from just smokin with the homies to gettin bothered by 12 in Kennth City. Spade captures the duality of our city in such a beautiful way. This song is immortal at this point.

The snippets on the album really tie in all the themes perfectly. “Giving My All (Oh No)” is on some triumphant shit. This track could definitely be on NBA 2K or some shit like that, you just want to ball out.

“2 Swigs” is on some trill shit. I love the airy chopped and screwed beat. Spade even states this shit is a classic on this track, so we both on the same page.

“Ramblin” is one of my favorite tracks on the album. From the dark eerie beat to the slow hard way Spade flows on it, dare I say I feel “Ancient Barbarian” vibes on this one. Spades storytelling makes a slight return on this track.

The track “RIP (I Heard)” really hits home. Despite all the sunshine and beauty some really dark stuff really goes down in the burg. I actually knew a couple of the people Spade touched on in the track I actually knew in real life, giving the track another level. Shout out Southside Middle School.

By far my favorite track on the album and potentially my favorite solo Spade track is “Playa Playa”. From the airy trap beat with those insane vocals to Spades brazy hook. You really feel the confidence and emotion in Spade’s delivery. So many quotables on this one, from the “Long Fellow Deeds” line to the cookin in front of momma line, Spade crafted an immortal track.

“Flava” feels like it’s on some Florida Underground shit, with the dark menacing beat. Would definitely like to see Spade do more tracks like this in the future.

Reminiscent of the Lil Wayne classic “I’m Single”, “Sola” I believe is sampled by that track if not it sounds mad similar but still very dope. Spade takes a more melodic approach to this song, giving the album a large amount of versatility.

“Made It Out” is on some futuristic Local Muzik shit. The Locals always been ahead of the rest when it comes to sounds. Tracks like this are perfect examples of the sound the St. Pete Hip Hop scene represents.

The album ends out with “Words From OG”. I wouldn’t expect everyone to understand this album but you can’t say it isn’t dope as hell man. If you can’t relate iz you really local?

May 17, 2021

Support FLA Hip Hop

High Tolerance Ent has been on a run for a minute now, booking some of the biggest shows with some of the biggest acts in all of Florida. This weekends $not “Whipski” tour might have been the biggest yet.

Accompanied by the infamous DJ Skum, High Tolerance really taps into the Florida Hip Hop scene, giving artists big and small a platform to showcase their craft. The first High Tolerance event I attended was the Wifisfuneral show that Andy Christ also performed at. The show was pretty dope with some stand out openers.

This $not show was next level though. I really I appreciate $not showing love to his home state by doing this tour and the state definitely showed love back. The first show I mentioned had a pretty decent crowd but this $not show was nuts. Standing room only and a line pretty much a block long to get in. The openers were pretty solid and brought a lot of energy to prep the crowd for $not. DJ Skum was killing it on the 1s and 2s, playing a little bit of everything and all the classics the scene is accustomed to.

Everyone was hype for $not, I didn’t expect him to be in the pit for so long while performing some of his classic joints like “Gosha” and “Beretta”. I don’t like I’ve ever seen an artist get that hype and interact so much with fans, which is the plus side of a smaller intimate show. My favorite song $not performed was “life”, I really felt his energy on that one. Throughout the show $not said this was the best show he’s ever done and that Tampa Bay went the hardest, the 727 was definitely in the building.

Leaving this show I have a greater love for $not and he his definitely doing his thing as the face of the underground now. I am beyond hype for High Tolerance Ents next show the Robb Bank$ and Trapland Pat show, Jit pullin up for sure.

May 16, 2021

Drip Or Drown

After the huge success of the last few events @Selvagemchic is back with a slew of other dope vendors for this months “Drip Con” at The Bends 5/22 8 p.m. to Midnight.

Known for her IG story sales, Selvage has been a staple of the Tampa Bay vintage scene for a few years now. Pretty sure she is spearheading this event, so she might have some exclusives not seen on IG.

Proper Jones is one of my favorite people in all of Tampa Bay. It’s always a treat to see him pop up on any vendors list. Prop has been killing it with the IG story sales, hitting the Tampa Bay Area with some of the most unique pieces around. Being a big sports fan myself, I am looking forward to seeing what kind of vintage TB sports gear he’s got for sale. Keep killin it Prop.

As always it’s really dope to see everyone come together for the culture to put on dope events like this. Not sure of the rest of the vendors slated to be at the event but I am sure they will each bring their own flavor to the Pop Up.

May 9, 2021May 9, 2021

Second Saturdays At The Factory: May Edition

From beads, to Nikes, even a Cypher, this months installment of The Factory’s Second Saturday Art Walk was one for the books.

Starting off with one of the dopest installations I’ve ever seen in my life, the homies at Before The Storm had their “The Sky Is Falling” installation up for the last day so you know Jit had to pull up. Everyone has thrown a pair of Nikes up to see if they would hang on the phone line, so this brought me back to that. The immersive aspect is what took it next level, would love to see this brought to a larger scale at The Fairgrounds one day. It’s like Nike meets Rene Magritte. Big congrats on this one, y’all made some shit for the museums.

Was really nice chopping it up with Bead The Burg. Being a Tampa Bay sports addict, I love her “Brady’s Bunch” and “Champa Bay” handmade pieces she had on display. The “Sunken Gardens” one was really nostalgic for me and even has me thinking about taking a trip over there on my day off. Fingers crossed on that Sandman Motel piece that one would be a game changer.

Finally got the chance to meet Creations By Z, it’s always nice to meet a fellow Leo who also happen to make really dope custom sneakers. Her AF1s pictured above could easily be apart of Nikes annual Black History Month collection, the details in the customs are that good. The concept of her Ying and Yang lion pieces was really creative, and a highlight of the pair.

Big Beyo has been a staple of the art walks but his new kraken piece might be my favorite to date. It has a graffiti wall vibe to it, but how Beyo captured the eye of the beast was on point.

“Calling My Spirit” was still on display from i.b.o.m.s but that just gives me more time to appreciate. Every time I see one of his pieces on display it’s like I’m seeing something can’t miss, I need to soak it all in before it’s gone.

I always start off the walks by going in to see what the Nature of Fire & Fsquared Ceramics are working on, they are always so warm and friendly. It was really cool to see some of their new collab pieces they have made. the Nature of Fire ability to capture the human body is incredible. Desperately in need of a pot made by Fsquared for Lida’s Jungle, my Cacti is growing and needs a home.

After being postponed in April, I was highly anticipating the Rishi Beats & Friends Cypher. Rishi also played a small set of a few of his newest joints, which are in heavy rotation on the SoundCloud playlist.

My favorite artist right now is Johnny Adama , so when I heard he was participating you already know Jit was gonna run it up. Johnny played a couple joints off his new project “The Adama Effect” a few of which take the top spot on my “The New St.Pete” Apple Music Playlist.

I heard rumblings of a couple special guests popping up to the cypher, but damn I didn’t know Alec Burnright was gonna go that brazy. His project Mofongo+ dropped at the top of the year, and is always in constant rotation, shit “Tony Danza” is contender for song of the year.

Sean.mp3 had my IG story feed going brazy with his freestyle, homie was spazzing on some futuristic shit. Sean is a really dope artist and producer that does a lot of work with Before The Storm. Check out his project “MP3 & ME” dropping 5/20.

May 7, 2021

727 Classics Review: Mari So Dope- I’m Young, Let Me Live

After making a name for himself as one of the key members of Local Muzik Group, being featured on the immortal Lake$ide Locals and dropping various EP & singles, on “I’m Young, Let Me Live” Mari So Dope crafts the next evolution of the St.Pete Hip Hop sound.

No one is able to capture that swaggy pimp tyte vibe like Mari does, which is what makes him stand out from the rest. His beats are always mad futuristic as well, shout out to Goodie on “Gameboy”. On this project though Mari was able to bring all his sounds together and push them to the next level.

The album starts off with the usual Mari phone convo snippets fans should be accustomed to on the intro “Servin”. Mari’s flow on this one is really brazy going at a rapid pace. That “booneys” line was really clever, you don’t hear that word used much.

“Cupid” has been growing on me over the listens. With the accompanying video shot by the Rob Gallardo, the song gains a different life, now it’s one of my favorite tracks on the album. The sort of mellow tone of the track is very different than the rest of the tracks Mari usually makes but that’s what makes for me.

Anytime you add in some $lugged out production I am all for it. This track was born to be played on a hot St.Pete afternoon. This track has so many lines, the part about chilling on Clearwater Beach is spit so vividly by Mari, that bird bath line was cold.

So “BMW” featuring fellow Local Muzik member Ameen Spade is my favorite Mari track to date, no lie in preparation for this review I’ve listened to it non stop back to back, something I haven’t done since J Goodie’s “Ancient Barbarian” also featuring Spade. This shit is just the ultimate St.Pete vibe man. If someone ever asks me what St.Pete Hip Hop sounds like, I’m playing them this joint.

The next track has the most fitting title “Cooked Crack”. This is one of the hardest Mari songs, once he hits the “ring on all fingers line” it’s game over. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him spazz this hard on a track before. The video by Rob is also on some other shit like always. Mari always has some of the best videos in the game.

“No,No,No” featuring Ameen Spade was a nice change of pace at this point in the album. I loved the strong structure of this one, with the melodic vocals from Spade in the beginning and end, with Mari doing what he does best in the middle portion.

Hands down one of the most creative tracks I’ve heard in years is “Jugg” featuring Mother Mary Gold who adds some Neo Soul vocals to the track. Like I said anytime some $lugg shit is involved you got me, this time the “Lock Jaw” sampled beat is slowed down. This creates a trippy soundscape for Mari and Mother Mary Gold to float in.

The album ends strong with “Ralph Duffel”. The chill synth production ends the album on a liter note which is needed at times, especially when the bulk of the project is filled with bangers.

While only being 8 tracks there is no room for error, but that’s not a problem for Mari cause you can jam this straight through. His new project “It’s Not You, It’s Me” is already an evolution of this project, but it’s still to soon to call that one a classic. Trust me over at Jit Camp we are running back “BMW” all summer 2021.

May 7, 2021

Boycott Caustic Castle

Putting all their power into stopping the Caustic Castle, Garbäj is adding some “Boycott Caustic Castle” tees to the drop on Friday.

I first caught wind of the message on a tote bag posted from a recent Garbäj pop up, seems like all the exclusives show up at those. Those that follow the Cleric would be wise to get behind the movement. Not sure if the totes will be available but the people at Jit Camp are here to ally in the effort.

Tons of dope gear dropping on the Garbäj site Friday 5/7. Like most of the drops, all these pieces are very limited, so don’t get stuck in the sludge.

May 6, 2021

Tie Dye Typhoon

Hunt is one of the dopest brands making some one of a kind tie dye pieces out of the Tampa Bay Area.

With 1 of 1 pieces going to YG Addie, Soduh, & Lulu P, some big names are already rocking with the brand. The dopest part about these pieces are they are all 1 of 1, pretty much like a splatter snow flake. These are not some mass produced tie dye either, these are all hand made with a unique process done exclusively in house by Hunts Fabrications.

Hunt is just doing work on basic tee they are also taking pieces and giving them new life by adding in that little extra flavor. Not sure if Hunt is doing commissions at this time but Jit definitely needs a piece very soon, 1 of 1s are for the GOATS.