Three of Los Angeles’ finest emcees at the forefront of the avant-rap scene – or whatever you wanna call it – are joining up for a fall tour that will stop at Rhythm Room on Oct. 24 (though at this point I’m not sure who is promoting it, so I have little in the way … Continue reading Incoming: Busdriver, Nocando and Open Mike Eagle, Oct. 24
Busdriver, the resident braniac of experimental rap, wrote a tweet the other day that gave me pause: “It’s boggling how much effort goes into any given song that ultimately gets converted into a violently disposable MP3.” It’s a pretty straightforward sentiment that speaks to our habits as digital consumers and asks the non-musicians among us … Continue reading Nocando and Busdriver are Flash Bang Grenada: In a Perfect World (feat. Open Mike Eagle)
Earlier this year, Nocando topped off one of El-P’s tracks from his 2010 instrumental release Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 with vocals, forming a West Coast/East Coast collaboration that begs for a full album of material. We saw the video for the track from El-P in August, a strangely uplifting depiction of a young boy attempting to rise above … Continue reading El-P feat. Nocando: Time Won’t Tell remix (video)
Almost three months after he took part in our soiree at the Hidden House in Februrary, Nocando is back in the Valley for a show at Club Red in Tempe on Tuesday night. He’s bringing along Sahtyre of Project Blowed/Swim Team fame. Nocando is rubbin’ elbows with Thom Yorke these days, so you’ll probably wanna … Continue reading Tuesday night: Nocando + Sahtyre at Club Red
Our show on Feb. 18 with Nocando, Open Mike Eagle and 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers turned out to be incredible. But the day wasn’t without its anxiety-filled moments, from Curly Castro’s lost luggage at the airport to Nocando, Open Mike Eagle and Jeff Weiss having to speed through the desert night after breaking free from L.A.’s … Continue reading Nocando, Curly Castro, Spit Suicide freestyle at Hidden House
Thanks to some digging in the forums at Arizona Beats, I fell into the seemingly endless YouTube rabbit hole that starts innocently with the search phrase “Nocando freestyle.” Set aside at least an hour if you’re gonna do that. The forums turned up videos from 2007, when Nocando – who is appearing at our Hidden … Continue reading Nocando: Mic Fights in Tucson (2007)
In the first of what I hope will be many future collaborations with the fellas at Universatile Music, we are bringing to Phoenix a mighty hip-hop triumvirate packed into one night, Feb. 18 at the Hidden House: Nocando, Open Mike Eagle and 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers (featuring Zilla Rocca and Curly Castro). All three dropped releases … Continue reading SMS and Universatile Music present: Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, 5 O’clock Shadowboxers, Feb. 18!
Making good on a promise to unleash some unreleased material from his Jimmy the Lock sessions, Nocando gives us the first of a group of tracks he says will make up a tour CD for his trip to Asia. On Look What U Done, the Los Angeles-bred Nocando shows his battle-rap roots, flowing ferociously over … Continue reading Nocando: Look What U Done (unreleased)
Feels like it’s been awhile since I’ve been to a proper hip-hop show, and I’m excited about this one from the Universatile Music guys, even though I keep hearing horror stories about the heat inside the Clubhouse. But, hey, what’s a little back sweat amongst friends, especially with the chance to see Murs, who’s touring … Continue reading Wednesday: Murs with Sick Jacken and Nocando
It’s difficult to balance my eagerness to post a new Open Mike Eagle song and the feeling that I need to hold off to offer a more informed opinion. I mean, it did take me about 15 listens of his first album, Unapologetic Art Rap, before I picked up on the Aaron Burr name-check in … Continue reading New Open Mike Eagle: Nightmares