The frontman of the California rap collective, Odd Future has a released the video for his next single, “She” off of his label debut, Goblin.  The video follows Tyler, the Creator as he tries to encroach on the relationship that vocalist, Frank Ocean has with a girl new to the neighborhood. After some unsuccessful stalking, Tyler is arrested and harassed by an angry, suspecting father but that doesn’t stop him from winning over the new girl in the end. What? Thought all Wolf Hayley made was “horrorcore?”

What do you think of Kreayshawn?

Pacific Division, better known as, Pac Div, have released a video for “Anti-Freeze,” the first single off their recent mixtape, Mania. Their forthcoming album, Grown Kid Syndrome, has no release date but is expected to drop this year. Read more for a stream of Mania.

Pac Div – Mania! (Mixtape) by uristocrat

Over the weekend, Twitter was buzzing about the Wes Craven horror film, People Under the Stairs—it’s new to Netflix!—so we thought we’d put you on to the rap group of the same name, otherwise known as P.U.T.S.

With 10 years and seven albums worth of experience, People Under The Stairs, are widely considered tenured veterans in the underground hip-hop scene. The two California emcees, Thes One and Double K, first met in a music store in Los Angeles after hearing industry buzz about each other through the grapevine. They exchanged mixtapes and have been together ever since.

Of their many tributes to their L.A. stomping grounds, “L.A. Song” remains a crowd favorite and has spurred a few remixes:

People Under the Stairs – LA Song (Sensitive Mix) by Tympanogram

With a passion for producing old-school beats that have a hard-hitting twist, the duo has stayed true to their hardcore funky form throughout the years. Their debut album, The Next Step, released in 1999, showcases the group’s ability to produce jazz infused boom bap raps reminiscent of the Native Tongues Posse in their hey day.

Their latest album, Carried Away, was released in 2009 and features nods to old school production, abundant with funk and disco samples in tracks like, “Hit The Top.” This mix is hardly original but instead furthers the musical conversation started by De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. With their innovative combination style, the pair does a bang-up job of keeping their audience guessing at what novel rapping invention is going to come out of them next.

For more on P.U.T.S. check out their MySpace or this awesome site created by a super fan.

—Nicole Rogers

Photo: passionweiss.com

Dom Kennedy just released, The Original Dom Kennedy, a follow-up to his critically acclaimed mixtape, From The Westside With Love. Expect cuts reminiscent of Dom’s Best After Bobby early days as well as his newer FTWWL sound on this project. Have no fear, Dom Kennedy promises that From The Westside With Love II is on the horizon, The Original Dom Kennedy is simply a teaser to whet your musical appetites. Read more for the tracklist and download.

Dom Kennedy – The Original Dom Kennedy | Download Here

H.O.P.E.- Bliss from itscalmatic on Vimeo.

“Bliss” will be on Compton emcee, H.O.P.E. upcoming Believe in Hope Wright and features Y-O of U-N-I.

WORDS BY KIAH MCBRIDE

At first glance, Shawn Chrystopher is the epitome of a California native. Skinny jeans and t-shirts from an expansive color palette adorn his small frame coupled with a “too-cool-for-school” vibe.  There is something about him that sends you cyber-surfing his name.  It could be that his infatuation with cartoons and jaunty demeanor or his staunch college boy bravado. Whatever the case, you find that Chrystopher brings a ferent perspective to west coast music. While his sound does allude to strong Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West influences, Chrystopher offers his own story and musical creations—he often produces his own tracks—that give him mainstream appeal.

It’s clear that Shawn Chrystopher isn’t your typical Cali artist. He grew up in Inglewood, CA listening to punk rock artists like Green Day, and graduated from high school at the age of 16. He scored a four-and-a-half year scholarship to the University of Southern California and by 2009, landed an ad campaign with LRG clothing line for their 10^th Anniversary.  Not bad for a kid in glasses.

His first mixtape titled Keep Your Classroom Vol 1. received over 10,000 downloads and was an introduction to what is now considered the “new age” sound of educated artists. In August 2009, he released A City With No Seasons—an album that he hoped would separate his sound from artists that he’s often grouped with like Wale.

Now Chrystopher is back with his upcoming EP, The Audition, scheduled for a March 23 release date. Unlike previous projects, Chrystopher comes with more light-hearted rhymes that will surprise fans accustomed to his intellectual lyrics. His first single, “Like A Kid Again,” boasts a fun, relatable sound, and tips a hat off to the art imitates life adage. Always ahead of the curve, Shawn Chrystopher is poised to take on the ever-evolving music industry and change the image of west coast hip-hop.

Check out his single “Can’t Take That From Me” off of his EP, The Audition:
Can’t Take That From Me – Shawn Chrystopher by  25Mag

25 Magazine: What separates your sound from other hip-hop artists old and new?

Shawn Chrystopher: I think of music as fingerprints. I don’t think that anybody can make the same music. I think that if you have a piano, a guitar, and a drum set in a room and you put 15,000 bands in that room one after another, neither one of them will make that same exact song. Even though you have the same instruments you all have different songs. I think with me, my music is different because it’s mine. I have a story that nobody else can tell because I’m talking about my life. When it comes to sound, I grew up in Inglewood, CA so I’m five minutes from some of the richest people in California and I’m five minutes from some of the poorest people, so I would listen to everything. I used to be really into Green Day and then I would listen to Bone Thugs-N- Harmony. I was really into 2Pac and I listened to John Mayer.  So you have all of that in me; I just mixed it all together so I think it’s unique because it’s mine.

25: In one interview you said that you studied rap like you would study your schoolwork. Who and what specifically did you study?

SC: I would study what songs were popular and why they were popular and which songs weren’t.  I remember one year when Juvenile’s “Slow Motion” was the number one song in the country. I was like, this isn’t a club song and it’s not up-tempo; it’s so hood but it’s the number one song on the Billboard. I would just sit and try to figure out why certain songs were big and others weren’t. Why certain artists make it and why other artists’ second album destroyed them.

Like A Kid Again – Shawn Chrystopher by  Jabari

25: Your latest single “Like A Kid” off your EP The Audition is a fun tribute to going back to your childhood days. What was your life like as a child?

SC: I have a seven-year-old sister but I was practically out of the house by the time she was born, so I grew up an only child.  I was a Latchkey kid so I would come home and my mom would still be at work so I had to entertain myself. TV really stimulated my mind because I would watch everything and I would learn how to talk, how to walk, how to act, and how to dress. Other than TV I had some of the best neighbors. I still talk to my neighbors that I grew up with as a kid; we’re really good friends.  I grew up in a house so I had a backyard, was able to go out and play, and have block parties. That made my childhood fun because I could ride a bike. That’s why I started the song off “I used to ride bikes” because I was the kid on the bike in my neighborhood. I rode the bike from sun up to sun down; I had nowhere to go most of the time I just liked bikes. Basketball and riding bikes was my childhood, and cartoons.  Actually, that still is my life. I need to grow up!

25: What should we expect to hear on your upcoming EP The Audition compared to your other EPs like No One Knows You?

SC: Really dope shit. I tried my best to create a different sound that I’ve never done before. My past music was really intellectual and I tried my best to not be like anybody in my area, and sometimes I went over people’s heads.  I tried to over think my music too much in order to stand out when really I could just be myself and stand out. So this project is more me than I’ve ever done. I have fun with it, tell jokes on songs—I personally don’t take life too seriously because I like to have fun. I think that it’s something that people can relate to; people can have fun with it and play it in their cars. I think people really are going to fuck with it.

25: Are you going to pursue production more than being an artist in the future?

SC: Not more so than being an artist but production can carry me a long way because I can produce until I’m dead. I can’t rap when I’m 50. I will never turn my back on either one of them—I love them equally because I love to perform, I love to be in front of the crowd, but I also like to create music. As a producer, the same way a painter paints a blank canvas, we make songs out of silence. We sit in the studio with nothing and we create something that people either love or hate, but at the end of the day we started from silence. That’s something that I thank God every day that I have the ability to do—that I can create art from silence. I would never stop producing or rapping; I would do both until people get tired of hearing me rap and then I can produce the rest of my life. 

Photo courtesy of Elitaste Management

25: What impact would you like to make in hip-hop music?

SC: The whole purpose of doing what I do is that I want people to see the west coast in different light. I think that with movies like Menace II Society and Boyz in the Hood people automatically think that’s all we are, especially in Los Angeles.  What the gangster rappers did for L.A., like 2Pac put us on the map, I want to do for L.A., just on the other side of the spectrum.

25: Where do you see your self musically in the next five years?

SC: I think I will already have at least one Grammy or Grammy nomination, I will be on the cover of a few magazines, and have foot in the door for pursuing fashion. I really love fashion. I don’t just want a clothing line; I want to design for high end line that’s already out. In five years I think I’ll be able to travel, meet people, and go to fashion shows. Then I’ll be able to do both music and fashion.

25: What is something that fans might not know about you?

SC: I watch TV on mute. It started out when I was little. I used to be up late watching TV on mute because I didn’t want my mom to know.  When I would watch TV on mute I would make up my own stories with dialogue and everything. It was all in my head and had nothing to do with the show, but it made me feel like I wrote it. Now people come over my crib and point out that the TV has been on mute for two hours, but I don’t even notice anymore. I love watching TV on mute because I can still do other things and at the same time create my own episode.

Check out Shawn Chrytopher’s commercial for upcoming EP, The Audition:

The Audition – Shawn Chrystopher | Download Here

Shawn Chrystopher releases EP, The Audition. Unlike previous projects, Chrystopher comes with more light-hearted rhymes that will surprise fans accustomed to his intellectual lyrics. His first single, “Like A Kid Again,” boasts a fun, relatable sound, and tips a hat off to the art imitates life adage. Editor, Kiah McBride recently interviewed Shawn Chrystopher, read it here. Download and tracklist after the jump!

The Audition – Shawn Chrystopher | Download Here

Hip hop is tired of being hip-hop. Kanye is diving further into fashion, Lil’ Wayne is engaged in a torrid affair with rock & roll, and everyday a new rapper starts a film career. Some fans claim that artists need to branch out creatively to express themselves, while some cynics scream that strolling down every media avenue is just a shrewd attempt at getting rich. Whatever the case, spreading talent too thin leads to a decline in quality music. Cliché rants about Hip hop being dead come to mind. Just as we were all beginning to dread flipping on the radio, fresh voices are pumping in new blood to revive the music industry.

Such is the case with U-N-I, a rap duo hailing from Los Angeles, California. Their music seems to immediately connect with people. After releasing their first mixtape, Fried Chicken and Watermelon in 2007, U-N-I has been receiving increasing amounts of recognition from both listeners and the press, with growing coverage and performance opportunities. Avid rap heads have greeted each offering with the same greedy anticipation. Their follow-up mixtape Before There Was Love caused the blogosphere to ignite with reviews and promises of free downloads, and their latest musical contribution, A Love Supreme, which features the insanely catchy single “Hollywood Hiatus” enjoyed a similar welcome.

The men behind the music are members, Yonas “Y-O” Micheal and Yannick “Thurzday”Koffi. They met in high school in 1999. After realizing their mutual love of music, they began to devote their lunch periods to defeating cocky upperclassmen in rap battles. They soon joined a four-man group called Rap-Ture Kamp, but in 2006 they splintered off and began to work together. They derived their name from The Roots’ track “UNIverse at War,” one of their favorites, and have been sprinting after their shared goal of rap fame ever since, using mixtapes and performances to get them closer to their dreams.

They have made significant progress. Not only have their Google hits risen to internet-celebrity status, but their developing resume includes making Billboard Magazine’s “Acts to Watch” list and the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards “Best Breakout LA Artist” award.

Although this heightened interest in the duo means they are successfully breaking into the music industry, it also leaves room for lazy comparisons and knee-jerk expectations. Some take a glance at U-N-I’s mutual appreciation for bright colors and Y-O’s mohawk and instantly label them as “hipsters.” Others immediately assume that they will spout the g-funk that is heavily associated with the Los Angeles area. However they seem to be different, more honest. Their music centers on their individual memories, goals, shoe fetishes, and celebrity daydreams. There is a certain level of self-awareness in their lyrics, as they allow their clever rhymes and well-delivered punch lines to speak for themselves.

Check out their latest release “Land of Kings”:

25: Where’d your love for music come from?

Thurzday: It comes from the people we grew up listening to Mos Def, Talib, Redman, Nas, Biggie; we were really influenced by Prince, listened to that reggae music and all that stuff, so we really loved music.

25: How did you two meet?

Y-O: We basically met in my freshman year and Thurzday’s sophomore year at St. Bernard High it was 1999. We met during lunchtime when we were either playing basketball, or on the courtyard doing freestyles up against upperclassmen and we just became the talk around campus, because we just demolished these upperclassmen who just thought they were just the ish and we did a talent show and joined a four man group during our high school years, we put out a couple of mix tapes, albums, and the request that they wanted to hear myself and Thurzday [do something together] so finally we made that division and we hopped out in ’06 and followed that with Fried Chicken and Watermelon in the year 2007.

25: What made you decide to really pursue a career in music?

Thurzday: Because 9-5’s are wack! I couldn’t see myself doing anything else that made me happy. This is what I wanted to do since I was a kid. Some people wonder why –it was like, the only thing we wanted to do as far as having a career. I looked up to people who’ve done it and I could never see myself doing anything else.

25: What made you realize that a career in music was right for you? How did it make you feel?

Y-O: Well, music has always been a part of our lives. I can tell you that growing up as a kid there was always music being played in our houses. But, before I got deep into music, there was always basketball, and with basketball, you know, you warm up to music. So, I noticed as I got older music has just always been something that was a part of me growing up as a kid and it just always made me feel so happy. When you write rhymes it’s just a way of [releasing] some stress off, getting stuff off your mind, and just putting it in your own words, and it just makes you happy; makes you get through the day easier. So, when we did the talent show in high school and just hearing the people’s reaction that kinda, like, made me feel great and I said to myself, “This could be a future; something I could do later on down the line.” So, just getting older and older and doing more shows—I guess I just took it more seriously and people respected it.

25: Many complain about a lack of originality in the music industry. What makes you different?

Thurzday: We’re not anybody else. We’re only us. So that’s like the only thing that makes us different from anybody. Everybody hasn’t lived our lifestyle. Everybody hasn’t experienced what we’ve experienced. So, through our own voice, we project who we are throughout our music. And it’s nobody but us. So, that’s really what makes us original. We’re true emcees. You know, we’re not a gimmick act. We really have talent, and we display that.

Y-O: And just to back him up. Our music is about things that actually happened in our lives, but outside of that, our live shows. I would say that It should be mentioned that even though we don’t have the biggest amount of money backing us up, we’re able to put our minds together-myself, Thurzday, our DJ and sometimes our band-and we just put on a live [ass] show, which some artists are not able to do these days.

25: Speaking of your music, it seems that you have a thing for Lauren London?

Y-O: Yeah, that’s a true story, once again. The song was basically inspired just from me having a crush on Lauren London, and I brought it up in the studio, with Ro Blvd, and we were just all joking and laughing about it. Everybody was like, “Yeah, she’s hot”. So, we started laughing about it, and it eventually turned into a record. She actually heard the record, and I guess it put a smile on her face. I thought she responded on Twitter, and she hit us up, well a fake hit us up, saying she loves the music, and she was acting real brand new. Then I remembered months ago that she’d heard it, so I was like “This can’t be Lauren” so I asked her a question about a mutual friend and she had no clue who I was talking about, so that kinda like, brought me down cause I thought I was really talking to Lauren London and come to find out it was a fake, man.

25: And shoes? You like those enough to write a whole song about them, as well?

Thurzday: We basically got an idea to take the original “C.R.E.A.M”, from Wu-Tang, and apply it to our lifestyle and a lot of folks were into kicks at the time, so we changed it to “Kicks Rule Everything Around Me”. We shot a video for it, and it took off.

25: You’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback lately from the media, but what’s your career goal?

Y-O: To be bigger than Kanye, with more money than Bill Gates.

25: Any advice for aspiring artists?

Thurzday: Starts with quality music, and a quality team and you can do anything.

Y-O: Step outside the box, just be yourself, and have fun—always have fun.

Download their music at www.yothurz.com

Free music is such a beautiful thing. California rap duo U-N-I has released a free LP, A Love Supreme. They are definitely ones to watch. Read more for tracklist and download.

01 My Life
02 Windows
03 Supreme
04 Hollywood Hiatus
05 Lately
06 Pulp Fiction Part 1 f. Fashawn
07 The Grudge
08 Voltron
09 Stylin
10 Hammertime
11 Calendar Girls
12 Lauren London
13 Black Sky
14 Halftime
15 A Love Supreme

A Love Supreme – U-N-I | Download here