Ten Reasons Why Rhymesayers Kick Ass

1. Step Brothers (Alchemist + Evidence) - "Step Masters" 2013  This is one of my favorite music videos of all-time and as you can see, I watch a lot of them. It's great to see how much fun Alchemist and Evidence had while making this video. How could you not like them?





2. Prof Signs To Rhymesayers 2013  They announced the signing of Prof with a video that showcases why he is worth paying attention to. I would love to inspire artists to make more promotional videos like this because if you don't go all in, you'll never get to step out of a plane like this.




3. Brother Ali feat. Bambu + Mally - "Home Away From Home" 2014  Brother Ali's tour was kicked off with a video made in the bus at the start of their adventure. My team at ReignCity hosted them at The Crocodile in Seattle and Bellingham's Wild Buffalo. Rhymesayers knows how to help you help them, this video is great proof of that.




4. Grieves - "Fifth Element In-Store Recap" 2012  This video shows how well Rhymesayers artists treat their fans. Grieves and his team always kill it with the social media and are truly great people. The Winter & The Wolves tour made for another great ReignCity show in 2014.




5. Evidence - "You" 2011  If Evidence is on your team, you know you have something good going.





6. "Go Hands On with Lord Steppington! 2013" The Lord Steppington vinyl and CD have a fuzzy cover. You can't caress an mp3 while listening to it. I love that it had a big poster inside, extras like that are what make people want to buy physical copies. Vinyl with download cards included are perfect. No one should ever play a show without merch; if you make it, they will buy. Making a video about the quality of your merch is pro-style. There is still a huge lack of high quality women's clothing in the merch department. Don't you want the ladies wearing your name on their chest to look good?




7. Dilated Peoples - "Show Me The Way" 2014 (Produced by Jake One)  This is one of my two most overplayed songs of the summer. Dilated Peoples had been on Capitol Records but released Directors Of Photography on Rhymesayers earlier this year.




8. Hail Mary Mallon - Behind The ... A Three Part Series 2014  They truly made the release of Hail Mary Mallon's Bestiary album an event by helping us get to know the artists and their creative process. My team at ReignCity and I get to host them January 23 at The Wild Buffalo in Bellingham with Homeboy Sandman, Darktime Sunshine, and DJ Abilities on January 23.




9. Dilated Peoples - 3 Part Promo Video for Directors Of Photography 2014  We already know and love Dilated Peoples and they still made a three part video to help us remember why they are on top of the game. If you tell people your story and you're making music that is unique and high quality, people will want to pay attention to you.




10. Atmosphere - "God Loves Ugly" 2002  The newer artists on Rhymesayers get the priceless guidance of the seasoned veterans Slug and Ant, who have been successful musicians and entrepreneurs since 1989 and are showing no signs of a slowdown. They founded Rhymesayers in 1995 with the help of Musab Saad and Brent Sayers (Siddiq) and have turned it into one of the best Hip Hop labels in the world. Almost twenty years later, they remain to be chart topping artists. Their chart-topping Southsiders album brought them to Seattle for another great ReignCity hosted show.

Slug - Photo by me at Holy Cow Records in Pike Place Market

Ten Music Videos All About The Dance Moves

1. Flying Lotus - "Parisian Goldfish/Dance Floor Dale" 2014  This video would also qualify for the green screen compilation alongside 3rd Bass, The Streets, M.I.A., Monie Love and six more..




2. FKA Twigs - "Wet Wipez" 2014  FKA Twigs is definitely interesting and unique but her music is kind of boring...which may be why she needs to have such rad music videos.




3. Paul White - "Where You Gonna Go?" 2014  I would probably like this song more if he was head nodding instead of head dancing, there's a huge difference.




4. Mr. T. - "Treat Your Mother Right" 1984  Mr. T's makes his stance on yo mama jokes in this PSA of sorts.




5. Diogenes - "Drunken Mastery" 2014 (SEATTLE MUSIC)  All hail Filthy Fingers United. This song appeared on their At The Drive-In compilation from August 2014.




6. Les Sins - "Bother" 2014  Les Sins is a Toro Y Moi side project. If you watch this old Band Crush video from 2010 you too will love Toro Y Moi.




7. Adam Grabowski + Mike Ditka - "The Grabowski Shuffle" 1986  It's hard to know what to think about this one.




8. Reggie Watts - "Sunshine" 2014  I would love to see someone walking down the street like this.




9. Tuxedo - "Do It" 2014  Tuxedo was a mysterious group of the Clutchy Hopkins variety. They have come out of hiding and announced that Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One are the genius behind the project.




10. Blood Orange - "It Is What It Is" 2014  This is a long Gap commercial.

Ten More Mask Videos

1. Grape God - "Lufa Igno" 2013 (Portland)  This is my first Grape God experience, it will not be the last.




2. Homeboy Sandman - "Problems" 2014  He has good problems. Homeboy Sandman is going out on tour with Hail Mary Mallon (Aesop Rock + Rob Sonic), Darktime Sunshine, and DJ Abilities. Much respect to the person who put together this lineup. My team at ReignCity is hosting their show in Bellingham at The Wild Buffalo on January 23.

3. Pete Rock feat. Inspectah Deck + Kurupt  "True Master" 1998  Rappers in race cars.




4. BADBADNOTGOOD - "Electric Relaxation" 2011  This A Tribe Called Quest cover reminds me of Foscil.




5. L'Orange feat. Blu - "Need You" 2014  Post-apocalyptic lovers in search of a cuddle spot.




6. denitia and sene - "runnin." 2014  All lower case names are way better than ALL CAPS names. "All Caps" is an exception to the rule. They are an electro-pop duo from Brooklyn.




7. Jared Evan + Statik Selektah - "Scene" 2014  He seems like he coulda been a Backstreet Boy, it's a pretty good song anyway.




8. The Black Opera feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow - "Beginning Of The End" 2014  The reflections in his glasses remind me of "Wonderwall."




9. Bishop Nehru - "Fickle Mind$" 2013  This dude is killin it. He just released NehruvianDOOM, his project with MF DOOM, at the age of 18. I'm on a mission to bring him to Seattle.




10. Seinabo Sey - "Pistols At Dawn" 2014  This rad Swedish lady only releases great songs, she has three so far. The other two videos are in lists still under construction.




The first Ten Music Videos with Masks compilation has SBTRKT, Madvillain, Janet Jackson, Crystal Waters, Das Racist, Butts, Ninjasonik, Arcade Fire, JJ Doom, and Camp Lo.

The second installment, Four More Mask Videos, has only four because I loved the songs so much, I just had to publish it right away. It has Midnight Davis, Earl Sweatshirt, Kate Bush, AlunaGeorge, and a special appearance by Chromatics.