Milwaukee rapper Tonye Dabipi didn't waste much time following up his 2010 debut album The Illmenship Memoirs. His new The Intrepid EP arrives just two months after that record, and like its predecessor, it splits the difference between hard-hitting, Wu Tang-inspired bangers and lighter, shit-kicking old-school throwbacks of the sort the Rhymesayers roster relishes. Milwaukee has produced so much great hip-hop this year that it can be hard to keep up with it all, but both of these releases are worth seeking out. They're streaming on Tonye Dabipi's Bandcamp page.
Milwaukee rapper ¡OYE! re-teams with his producer of choice Klassik for his latest single, "PartyHard," which is available for free download here. Laced with moody pianos and menacing vocal samples, it's a more ominous examination of the party lifestyle than anything in the Andrew W.K. songbook. The track again affirms Klassik as one of the city's most forward thinking and creative producers.
The Wisconsin Area Music Industry has announced the date and location of its 2011 award show. It will be at the Turner Hall Ballroom on Sunday, April 17.
The A.V. Club Milwaukee recaps a monumental year for local music today with its list of the top 15 Milwaukee albums of 2010. Over at OnMilwaukee.com, Bob Purvis shares some similarly inspired recommendations with a local-music gift guide.
The golden-age hip-hop archivists at Dope Folks records have unearthed another lost Milwaukee treasure for their latest re-release, Rock La Flow's The Flowgram EP, an early '90s release they're billing as Milwaukee's Illmatic. A wonderfully Brand Nubian-esque track from the EP is embedded below; the label is taking pre-orders now.
