Madchild and Prevail
So, we’re doing a 180 from the Neko Case posts, at least in terms of style. We’re going north, to Canada. To Vancouver. That’s the home of Swollen Members, who, aside from having a name that would send Beavis and Butt-head into a laughing conniption, are ready to drop their fifth LP, Black Magic, this summer. (“Uhhhh, you said ‘members,’ huh-huh, huh-huh.”)
At their core, Swollen Members are Madchild and Prevail, but the group extends to the extended Battle Axe Records family: Rob the Viking (producer/DJ) and Moka Only. And they’ve collaborated with some of the best: Hieroglyphics, Chali 2na, Dilated Peoples, DJ Babu.
Madchild and Prevail are the bad boys of hip-hop – they drink, smoke, crowd surf and probably would steal your girlfriend if you’re not careful. They’re the guys your mom warned you about. You’d hate ’em if they didn’t rock it so hard.
Their raps can be haunting and cerebral (watch ’em get all Dungeons & Dragons on ya) or just straight-up party jams. From what I understand, they put on legendary live shows. Just check out their pics on MySpace.
Swollen Members | Black Magic
Swollen Members | Too Hot
From Monsters in the Closet … this is the jam:
Swollen Members | Steppin Thru
Lost Highway Records. I will never buy, post, or otherwise promote their material until they publicly denounce the criminal prosecution in Florida. I’ve said it before: Those bloggers should be punished for leaking prereleased tracks. That’s just uncool. But jail? C’mon. Bush’s people leaked the name of a CIA agent and they aren’t going to jail, but these leaked four songs off Ryan Adams’ worst album ever and they face a decade in prison? Let the punishment fit the crime.
so. . .uh. . .swollen members?
Ummm, OK. What that has to do with a post on Swollen Members, I’m not really sure.
While I appreciate your political stance, I’d love it a lot more if your comment was somehow relevant to the post and not some ploy to get people to click through to your site.
I loved the first couple Swollen Members albums (Balance and Bad Dreams). I thought they went a bit commercial after they won some hip hop awards in Canada. I have seen them a number of occasions. Van BC was an hour north of the college I went to. They put on a great live show. Some of the other cats on battle axe records are pretty solid. I like Moka Only, Rob the Viking etc. And yeah Steppin Thru has an unbelievable baseline. Great track. Bring it Home is a fantastic song as well. Great post Kev. NW HIP HOP REPRESENT.
Peace.
I think next weeks crate dig is going to be a battle axe post now. Thanks for the idea Kev.
yo swollen members are killing that shit. steppin thru and brint it home are both songs after bad dreams! so i get what you’re saying….k, but swollen members is the best hip hop group – let alone – best group out there ! Have you heard their new new shit!? it is in credible! those are my thoughts. good article. bring us more! we want more swollen members – live from cali!