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 featuring Abandoned Buildings

1. L'Orange and Stik Figa - "Smoke Rings" 2013  *L'Orange is one of my new favorite super-producers. The City Under The City and The Orchid Days are both instant classics.




2. The Doppelgangaz - "Suppository" 2011  *These guys are bout that cloak life.




3. Reks - "This Or That" (Produced by Statik Selektah) 2011  *Not to be confused with Wreckx-n-Effect, this song is way less exciting than "Rumpshaker."




4. Tim Cross and Burger - "Lacoste" 2014  *I love the abandoned roller coaster location.




5. Tech N9ne feat. Kendrick Lamar, ¡MAYDAY!, and Kendall Morgan - "Fragile" 2014  *Never thought I would like a TechN9ne song, isn't he a juggalo?




6. Blossom feat. Jehst - "Dusk" 2013  *Blossom is part of Berlin and London-based, Project Mooncircle. Jehst is a 16 year veteran of the UK Hip Hop Scene and can be found drinking tea in some of his music videos. Jehst also appears on Eight Music Videos with Animals, Ten Music Videos with Bridges, and Eastbound And Down Sampled.




7. MADlines - "The Weapon" 2014  *Seattle's BeanOne on the production. MADlines was previously featured on Ten Music Videos with Backwards Scenes as half of the duo Canary Sing with Hollis of The Flavr Blue.




8. Dilated Peoples - "Good As Gone" 2014  *They will be at The Showbox on July 9 with Jurassic 5 and The World Famous Beat Junkies, I am so there.




9. Dag Savage (Exile + Johaz) - "The Beginning" 2014  *This video also qualifies for Ten Music Videos featuring Record Stores.




10. NehruvuanDOOM (Bishop Nehru + MF DOOM) - "Darkness" 2014  *I have high hopes for the NehruvianDOOM album. This video should probably be in Eight Music Videos with Special Effect Twins.



*Abandoned buildings are some Hip Hop shit.

Nine Music Videos featuring Moving Machinery

1. Alicia Keys - "No One" 2007  *I don't get excited about Alicia Keys songs anymore, but, she is still an amazing artist.

2. Bjork - "All Is Full Of Love" 1999  *Robot Bjork is scary.

3. Chris Whitley - "Big Sky Country" 1991  *I listened to this on a road trip to Montana with my parents, it really is big sky country. The video is heroin chic, guns, tarot cards, bells, sped up bumper car scene, moving photographs, and oddly placed machine parts.

4. Dilated Peoples - "The Platform" 2000  *That is the coolest slot machine I have ever seen.

5. Joe Dirt - "Experiment" 2013  *Mediocre politically aware UK Hip Hop.

6. Pink Floyd - "Another Brick In The Wall" 1982  *It is a large conveyor belt of children.

7. Howard Jones - "No One Is To Blame" 1986  *Rad eighties slow jam.

8. Grizzly Bear - "Knife" 2007  *The machine that they have reminds me of that MouseTrap game. The song is meh.

9. Gorillaz - "19-2000" 2001  *If you don't listen carefully at all, it could sound like they say "unskinny bop" a few times in this song.

Ten Music Videos featuring Bridges

1.Jehst - "Starting Over" 2011  *I watch around 20 UK Hip Hop videos before I find one that is good enough to post. I watched this video 7 times before I was sure I liked it, now I love it. He has been making music since the late nineties and, I would imagine, has a large following in the UK. His 2002 song "High Plains Drifter" can be found by clicking on Jehst on the right side of the blog.




2. MC Lyte - "Ruffneck" 1993  *I don't think ladies are looking for ruffnecks anymore, however, good man skills (like building fires, fixing cars, keeping a job) are a plus.




3. Phonte feat. Evidence and Big K.R.I.T. - "The Life Of Kings" 2012  *Rapping moms can be cool, this is one of those times.




4. Jake One feat. Freeway and Brother Ali - "The Truth" 2008  *This video also has clocks, train tracks, a staircase scene, Adidas, street signs, and a guy playing with some balls.




5. Todd Sykes and EvergreenOne - "90s Shit" 2010  *I love smiling rappers, which makes this a great video for me. These guys are from Tacoma.  ***Sadly, the original video was removed by the user.




6. Emily Wells - "Passenger" 2012  *This is actually a pretty good song. I found her because she worked with Dan The Automator (Respect!) on the 2013 Pillowfight album which you can link to on the right side of this blog.



7. Dilated Peoples feat. Guru - "Worst Comes To Worst" 2001  *This song still goes (that means good).



8. Roxette - "Listen To Your Heart" 1988  *Before we see their awesome concert venue, we get to see the bridge that earned this video a place on this list. I've never been to a show with sparklers, but there's still time. I thought I remembered liking Roxette but this song is weak.



9. Dyme Def - "Timeless" 2011  *This is the only Dyme Def song that I have wanted to listen to more than once.



10. Action Bronson - "Shiraz" 2010  *This guy doesn't suck and his video is hilarious, especially the end.