After a gang of mixtapes and a ton of shows in the Bay Area, the Understudies Crew has finally released their official full length album "One Night Only" via their bandcamp page. This group consisting of Citizen, Sean E Depp, Gee, Poe, Manifest, Fly Cobb, Self Advocate, Husayn Jay and Myers is one of the most well-respected hip hop crews out of Berkeley CA, known for their live shows and also their community building in the East Bay hip hop scene. "One Night Only" is not a perfect album, but it is the strongest collection of songs from the Understudies thus far and the most cohesive sounding project from them to date. A number of the songs on here like "Wilde (Life of the Party)" and "All Here (Remix)" should be familiar to Berkeley heads who've seen them destroy shit live, while other newer numbers like "Way of My Words..." are sure to impress fans of the crew. The album reaches a high point with the Digital Martyrs produced song "Part 2: Got the Blues," where the Understudies team up with their friends Candlespit Collective and Mikial to deliver some very stylistic bitching about former relationships. The Understudies are offering up this album on a donation basis, so make sure you toss some money in the pot so they can press this thing up as a CD in a digipack. Donate and download on the Understudies Bandcamp or stream the album below:
1. Sirens
2. Numbers & Math
3. No Higher!
4. Mindstate (feat. JB Nimble)
5. wile. (LifeOfTheParty)
6. Chamber of Secrets / NoTengoMuchoDinero
7. Karate Man (Bleed on the Inside)
8. Part 1: Remember Me
9. Part 2: Got the Blues (feat. Candlespit Collective & Mikial)
10. thesmileswewear.
11. way of my words...
12. solutionaries (whenthingsgetdreary)
13. Consider the Options (No Grammy) (feat. JB Nimble)
14. LetGo(Don't) (feat. JB Nimble & Scarub)
15. All Here (Remix) (feat. Manifest, Citizen, Fly Cobb, Husayn Jay, JB Nimble, Cyberclops, Poe, Gee, Sean E Depp, Welsed & Self Advocate)
16. Forecast
Can you recommend me some good Bay Area indie Hip Hop? I'm into artists like Disflex 6, The Cuf, Blackalicious, Sacred Hoop, Bored Stiff, Emcee Lynx and such. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThose are solid picks. :) I'd recommend checking out L*Roneous, Rec League/Richie Cunning/Grip Grand, and Z-Man if ya haven't done so already. Edison is also an excellent beat-maker from the Bay.
ReplyDeleteThanks E.Lit! I'm familiar with (and greatly enjoy) L'Roneous and Z-Man but I've never heard of Rec League or Grip Grand. I found a Richie Cunning album in one of my hard-drives that I must have enjoyed but I had no clue he was from the bay! And yeah, Edison is dope, I got introduced to him from your blog! I think I remember you saying LA Hip Hop is your favorite, but the Bay has so much gold too. I wish I lived there so bad lol! Thanks again.
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