Tek.Lun - The Crusade [EP Review]

What's up, fam? It's ya boy: the muzical Don Jon Escobar aka the real Carlton Banks aka Bill Nye's 2nd cousin and ya boy is BACK for the long haul this time around. If you don't know me, my real fake name is Waverly Spades. Today, we have this project from Baltimore producer/DJ, Tek.Lun. I first heard of Tek.Lun's production on GoldLink's Hip Hop Interlude. Very short song, but I loved that beat (one of my faves on the tape) and I really wanted to listen more into the dude. I also just wish that beat was longer. This past week, Tek.Lun dropped The Crusade EP, which is 30 minutes of a very House/trap sound with some Bmore Club influence. It sounds very different from a lot of things coming from this scene. Every pad is so lush, but every distorted 808 kick is so clean, fat, and thick. It's very together, and diverse in the way that the album goes from Chicago House (Consequences) to a chill, trap feel (Broken 2), from some alien Dilla + Outkast shit (Plum w. Drew) to some funky, upbeat shit (PRAISE DE GANJA!). It's a great summer release because I can feel like I can take this shit and ride through the hood (in like spring or fall) and still feel like it's 82 degrees Fahrenheit outside. The title track (The Crusade) literally feels like a Crusade through the hood. Return of the Mack shit. amirite? So much of this is sample heavy and late 80's/90's reminiscent. Overall, I fucks with this EP heavily. There may be an LP version of this later on, so I'm kinda hype for that too.
4.7 Contemplations out of 5
This review was brought to you by Waverly Spades, and now I'm off to watch SNL Donald Trump's presidential campaign announcement.
@TekdotLun - Soundcloud - Buy The Crusade EP for $1 @WaverlySpades

Nerds (Still) Like Rap Too?

Hey, fam.
When I come to this blog, I feel really guilty. When I think of about when I started it some 3 years ago, it feels as if it's been so long. A lot has happened in these past 3 years. Not regarding this blog, but in life in general. I was a junior in high school when I started the blog. I just finished my first year of college (on the deans list too ayye). A lot of my favorite indie dudes don't rap that much and/or aren't as consistent (but I've come to notice a few starting to get back into the swing of things). Some dudes are really gaining traction (if you don't follow Tae Miles fka WiseGuy., you should start). Soundcloud has grown to crazy heights compared to where it was three years ago, but by trying to go the YouTube route (thus trying to fuck over a lot of indie artists), but labels don't fuck with it so much, so they've really fucked themselves. GoldLink James has re-emerged as GoldLink. He and Shy Glizzy, putting on for the DMV heavy (two different styles of people in DMV of course), have made it to the XXL Freshman cover (proof that DMV is almost at the point of being recognized). King Los just dropped an amazing album, is at the top of the charts, and even got the best 5 Fingers of Death Freestyle on Sway In The Morning. While I've moved out of the city for the greater part of the year (I go to school at UMBC), I've been continuously stumbling into more and more music from our area. It only gets better. There's a reason why the Rolling Stone says Baltimore has the best indie music scene. I have my license now. There's a free album on iTunes right now. Kendrick Lamar dropped another project. Tek.Lun and Hi$to have become two of the dopest producers in the area (crazy because at one point in time, I didn't think producers like that would come out of this area). FL Studio has gone from like 9 to 12. Jay Verze (the first artist I wrote about here) has shared a stage with Cam'Ron. Lor Scoota and Young Moose have been become staples in Baltimore street music. Bossman became Travis Davon. The new generation of Baltimore club artists like Mighty Mark and Abdu Ali have changed and rearranged everything (and it sounds amazing). Freddy Gray was killed hardly a few miles from me. So much has happened. So much progress from everyone. I've learned a lot.
So, I come back to this blog again, and feel guilty. Why? Because throughout it all, I always have these fleeting thoughts and stuff I want to say, but never say. There's a lot of stuff that I'll say under my real name, but I try to keep it PC there. When I want to get gritty and just express raw thoughts and feelings (can't do that under my real name---niggas don't have feelings), I just sit around and think them up. I think I should write. I think I should make a song about it. I end up not though. I don't think I've gotten lazy. I think for a long time, my brain thought more than I could handle. I have more things in my mind that I have to do than I really have to do. I want to do so many things that I don't know what to do. Looking back, I've felt too creative for my own good. I feel stigmatized by my own thoughts and my lack thereof voice. I guess I've been letting myself almost eat myself from the inside for the past few years and I've been blaming school work, and when the summer came, I'd blame actual work. I don't know words to describe it, but I don't want to keep getting into this.
A lot of energy has been revitalized within the past few months. Been sticking to a lot of resolutions and this was one of them. I'm starting this blog again, and I want to thank all of you guys whoever read. I'm looking at the stats and this blog somehow had over 13k views with my little more than 50 posts. that's dope.

#WaverlyWednesdays #comethru #everywednesday #bwoy

follow me on twitter @WaverlySpades

blog updates
1. please don't send me shitty music. I used to get pretty overwhelmed looking at the submissions and trying to write stuff because I would actually try to review EVERYTHING. I thought that would help everybody. You get a blog post (even though it's a shitty rating). I get a little bit better at writing. You also get constructive criticism. Didn't really work out that way tho. Nobody shares a post when I trash the music. And no one's looking for reviews of an indie that no one knows and I'm here publicly bashing/criticizing thier shit. The post is essentially a waste of space and time on this blog. On top of that, there's only so much shitty music I can handle. I ended up not really writing about all of it. I have like 30 drafts of bad songs/mixtapes that I was gonna critique, but just couldn't bring myself to finish, so yea. Go ahead and send me anything, but it may or may not get posted depending if I deem it of quality or not. That being said, you can email me and just ask for my opinion and not a blog post and I will oblige. I may even reply to the emails turned down telling you why I don't like the songs, but at the end of the day, it's your music/art. My opinion doesn't matter. Just as idgaf if you fuck with this blog or not. With all of that stuff, I will try to post as many dope things that I come across here.

2. the title is Nerds Like RAP Too, but it's going to be a LOT more than rap/hip hop and it's culture. As I've diversified as I've grown up, I want to diversify this content. You are allowed to submit literally anything that seems cool. Films, dances, fashion (not the best critique of fashion, but I admire it), contemporary art, whatever, fam. I'll look through all of it. My one promise to you.

A Few More Thoughts on the Iggy Azalea vs Azealia Banks case

I don't use this blog as much as I originally intended (I created it for more than just to review stuff I listen to). Sorry about that, but here's something I wanted to talk about for a quick minute. If you skip to around 7:30, they start talking about Iggy Azalea.
Azealia Banks really went off here. She talked about how T.I. is a shoe-shining coon and how his girl, Tiny can't read. She talks about the "coincidental" ill-timing of the hyping up of Bill Cosby's sexual assault allegations how it takes the lack of indictment of Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo away from the public's attention. She talked about the message that the Grammy's truly give. They're supposed to be "accolades for musical exellence," but as she states, Iggy Azalea is not excellence. In her words, "When they put these Grammy's out, all it says to these white kids is 'Oh yeah, you're great. You're amazing. You can do whatever you put your mind to' and it says to black kids 'You don't have shit. You don't own shit--not even the shit you created for yourself.'" For the most part, I can completely agree with Azealia. She's right. The industry's racist and Iggy is, at the very least, subconsciously racist whether or not she wants to realize that fact.
However, around the 11 minute mark, Azealia Banks states that Iggy should be put in the pop category in rebuttal to the host of the show explaining how businesses capitalize heavily off of how people will buy and support things that they see themselves in (i.e. white people and Iggy Azalea). Banks said that Azalea should not be grouped with hip hop or rap, in general. She should be grouped with pop. She should be grouped with Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry. Now I do see where Banks is coming from, but when she says this, she herself comes off as racist and hypocritical.
I've been listening to Iggy and Azealia for a long time and for a while, I would consider Iggy rap before pop and Azealia as pop before rap, but they both molded the genres. As of late with Azealia's Broke With Expensive Taste and Iggy's The New Classic, it's hilarious how the tables have turned within the past two years. I'd consider Azealia more rap than pop and Iggy, more pop than rap, but needless to say, they both cross into both. Iggy's music (as Wikipedia describes it) jumps more into the EDM-pop style, while Banks' crosses into the dance-hall and dance-pop. Musically, they both do it, but Banks doesn't want to be grouped with pop music or Iggy Azealea in general. Banks wants Azalea grouped into pop with other white artists, implying that pop music itself is something mainly by white people.
Now what does this make Rye Rye or Usher after he found Justin Bieber? What was Michael Jackson the king of?  Is Drake the only one allowed to do pop and rap because he's half black and half white? Now do we no longer allowed to consider white people rappers? Was Eminem just death metal the whole time? Are Aesop Rock and George Watsky no longer innovative contributors to rap music? Those two don't even make genre-typical pop music.
While I agree with most of Banks' points, what she said is just hypocritical because she herself has made pop music. It's lie she's preaching the right message, but it's coming out the wrong way and from the wrong person. It's the equivalent of Ray Jasper speaking out against the unlawfulness of death row. I don't want to sound as if I'm on Iggy's side in any way, I just want to keep it fair. Where I'm from, people don't bang with Iggy because of the blatant racism of her existence in hip hop (and her weak music). People somewhat fucks with Azealia, but not many people know of her beyond 212. This becomes a feud against Iggy Azalea and the white-washing of hip hop and cultural appropriation of black culture that just needs a different face and approach.

Tommy Prospect - MAPS [Mixtape Review]

What's up nerds, freaks, and geeks? Long time, no interaction! (I guess you can blame that on me. My bad!) Some of you may know me as the musical Don Juan Escobar aka the real Carlton Banks aka Bill Nye's 2nd cousin aka the original black nerd aka  the kid who divided by 0 and got away with it, but if you don't know me at all, my actual pseudonym is Waverly Spades. Today's review consists of Tommy Prospect's latest project, "MAPS." I first heard of this a few months ago when he posted the single "Good Intentions" on his Soundcloud. Let me tell you that I REALLY liked that song. I had that same feeling I had when Drake dropped Club Paradise before Take Care. I just knew the shit was gonna be good, but it was ironic because I didn't really like any of Drake's music previous to that. That's how I'm feeling about this. I like Tommy Prospect, but I always had the feeling he could do better and that track has lead me to believe that he has good intentions (see what I did there) for his album. I believe it'll do even better than my previous reviews of him, but there's only one way to find out! So, let us begin!

Young (ft. Napolean Pro$pect) - Whoa. It's like I immediately just stepped into the sounds of 808's and Heartbreak. People haven't done the autotune/distortion thing since D.O.A. Wow. The beat gets you hype. I feel there's not much as a message from the song besides the KND feeling of complaining about growing up. I like how this track feels. I don't fully understand the Johnny Cash reference.
"I ain't never gonna be young again"
3.2/5

Gray - The beat sounds like it was made by someone at the OFWGKTA, but more nicely simplistic (If that's a way to put it.) The song is a bit boring for me to listen to.
2/5

About That Action (ft. Miley Woo) - This beat is tight! I really fucks with this one a lot. Miles starts it off with a nice verse about high school (something a lot of us can relate to at this point in our lives haha). Miley has grown since the last time I posted him on this blog. "This highschool shit is for the socially gifted." Prospect just makes this shit hype and I respect that. The vocals are all panned a little to the left, and that irks me a bit. I like how the beat switches up when Prospect goes in. "Your girl sending me snapchats that she couldn't send to her story." He's way more braggadocious than I would expect from the last 2 songs, so I'm getting that Drake vibe again where niggas seem somewhat sensitive, but switches up to hard guy flow. It's dynamic and mad unexpected at first, but it works.
"I was tryna be positive, but that's positively boring"
4.6/5

Born (ft. Jahkobi) - I blame Kanye West for tracks like this. I like it, but it just comes off with that Hip-Hop-grunge type sound. At times the distortion is so heavy, you can't hear what is being said. That's why I compare it to grunge. The part at the end where Jahkobi sings at the end is possibly the best use of Autotune I've heard in a while. It fits.
2.4/5

Mad Crisis! (ft. Happy Child) - The beginning of this song almost reminds me of a song you would hear in a movie that's takes place in some barren dessert with a terrorist camp. Like the beginning of Iron Man or something. The beat is so hard. You can hear the mad crisis in that alone. There is no rapping at all in this track and it kills me a bit
3.6/5

Lie To Me - A sample of some grunge-rock song (or is that Future? lol). That's exactly what I'm feeling. The beat innovative at the core. I personally almost want more variation in it, but I like how simple it is. Also after the past two songs, I'm glad to hear more of Tommy rapping. The "Lie To Me" chorus buildup at the end is beautiful. This is one of those songs where I don't fully have words to describe it, but I like it.
"Lie to me. I need to hear it."
4.2/5

Real Crack - This joint right here makes me want to stomp. It makes me want to start a riot. It makes me want to let demons out of my soul to attack you. That's about it. The production of this is ridiculous.
3/5

Good Intentions - I heard this song  before the mixtape dropped and this is probably my favorite song on this mixtape. Also, one of my favorite Tommy Prospect songs in general. This may be the most reflective song of the tape. It's about how a boy means to do good, but in change to do good, he fails and  messes things up around him. Change turned him into a dick. Being a dick makes you lose yoru friends. It's all a chain reaction really. I like this song. Maybe because I think I could relate honestly. I think a lot of people can. The beat is just ridiculously beautiful and ends on a nice note.
4.7/5

Pink Lemonade (ft. R.a.D.) [Prod. by Tommy Prospect, Waxbill & Carl Christ, Ceptthots] - Oh snap. Start this joint, and you hear him referencing the last track. Wishing he never made it, but I love that shit. Don't say that, Tommy!  R.a.D.'s verse is cool. The second verse really confuses me. It sorta killed the vibe I had with the song. That Pink Lemonade must be good as shit to make a 7 minute song about it. Or maybe it's a metaphor for vaginas or something. Where's RapGenius when you need it?
2.5/5

X - Another song that I listened to before the mixtape came out. This is actually my favorite song on the tape. I feel more soul in this than anything else. Tommy Prospect crooning over his own distorted voice is just very calming. I can't decide if he's more reminiscent of a country artist or How To Dress Well. The random Jamaican scream and other vocal scream samples. It just creates an atmosphere of itself. You don't even realizing the mixtape is ending. You don't want it to end. It's like being in a cloud. Who knows where "X" is or what spot it's marking, but I would guess that it's heaven. That's what this sounds like.
5/5

I have very mixed feelings about this mixtape. It's evident that Tommy Prospect (the rapper formerly known as TGK) is continuously improving, as a rapper, producer, and singer. He and the groop of friends (Miley Woo, Jahkobi, R.a.d.) that I consistently hear on his tracks are keeping up with him too. An artist's Progress is my favorite part of listening to music. From the moment I listened to the first track, "Young," I knew it was setting the scene for some experimental tape. Tommy really tested with how weird he could go and how introspective could go while still making good, creative music. It really all is creative. These beats are all GOOD. They're innovative. If he expanded on some of these beats alone, I could imagine where they could go. The whole album is like Tommy stepping into 808's & Heartbreak while bumping Yeezus and holding Kid Cudi's hand at the same time. I love it. Much of the lyrical content is somewhat self-oppressive at times. I start to think of the Sadboyz movement. The autotune is overused, but it's used in a creative way. I like it, but it goes out of tune sometimes which I just find a little funny. Sometimes, I sorta think Prospect did that on purpose. Overall, Prospect made a solid and experimental tape. He definitely broke some creative boundaries on a hip hop sense. If I could give this a genre, like I previously stated, this would be Hip Hop Grunge. I like it, but I also want to hear more of Tommy Prospect rapping. I'm reviewing the Tommy mixtape next week. hehe maybe my wish will come true.
70.4% C- Nerd Approved

This review was brought to you by Waverly Spades, and now I'm off to by college memorbilia because that's where I'm going next year and I don't want to be the only guy without a shirt to rep when I'm Shmacked shows up.

All production done by Tommy Prospect except for "Pink Lemonade." Full list of credits

Download "MAPS

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Bobby Woody - Roland (Telegraph Ave Remix)

Hey Trekkies, and Nerds! I'm feeling bad because I realized that I didn't put on my signature introduction. I've really been out of it, so I'm going to revamp it for this one. Ayo, it's me: Bill Nye's 2nd cousin aka the ORIGINAL black nerd aka the REAL Carlton Banks aka the Blacker Hacker aka Big Ghost's Prodigy aka the 3rd realest nigga in the game aka Game of Spades, but you may just know me by fake name on the streets: Waverly Spades. Today I have with me, a friend of mine, Bobby Woody's latest track. I haven't put him on here since his "Rollin In Da Deep." (hahah been a while, dude.) While Bobby is a great rapper, I've always felt that he was producer first, and this one is his latest beat. (This is an instrumental remix of Telegraph Ave from Childish Gambino's new album "Because The Internet.") His rapping is fast paced, all over the place, and confident in his insecurities and his beats are a reflection of that. When it starts, you have no idea where it's going to go, but then, you hear that "Chicks Love Bobby Woody." It's a lot of the little things that make this track. The piano lines are easily a standout. That weird percussive synth thing that plays around with the hats. This dude even sings for a bit (or at least I think that's him. I didn't hear that part in the orignal. lol.) Overall, this is a great track. I was listening to the original nonstop before I heard this. Good ass job.

5 Nerd Contemplations out of 5
Nerd Approved

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Chox-Mak Ft. DJ YRS Jerzy - Final Destination (Prod. By DR.G)

As soon as the beat started, I knew this was going to be dope. Dr. G painted a soundscape that is heavenly and omniscient. It's like conscious, gospel rap music lol.   I don't know which one is Chox-Mak and the which is DJ YRS Jerzey, but each verse is amazing. At times, it gets humbly braggadocious with lines like "My brother told me 'you could rub elbows with Kendrick.'" I wouldn't compare these guys to Kendrick just yet, but this song is good. A bit typical wannabe conscious/not thug rapper for me, but good nonetheless. The hook is one of those hooks made just because you need a hook. I don't pay much attention to it lol. Whoever that is on the 2nd verse, that's my favorite verse.

"I married this rap shit. Gotta get her out the kitchen." 
3.7/5 Nerd Contemplations out of 5

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This joint was brought to you by Waverly Spades, and now I'm off to finish this last college application for UArts. Pray that I get into somewhere.

JproD - Trill Shit, I Really Mean That

Hey there, nerds! I must apologize for the leave of absence. I told myself to calm down until I finish applying to colleges. I only have one college to apply to left (UArts), so I think I'm doing good and I can start blogging again. I'm also really motivated right now because you guys are sending me great stuff and I feel like people actually like this, so I'm going to do my best to post at least once a week! I mean it, this time! Make sure you guys tweet me to keep me to it, okay? haha.


I'm trying to go through a lot of stuff from my inbox in order, so here's something from like 2 months ago (lol). JproD sent this and another track to my inbox. The first track was weak. I just wasn't feeling it from the first 7 seconds of listening. This one, I thought would be better. The beat is trill and nice.  That's about the best part of this. The song itself is corny. JproD's lyrics are basic in my honest opinion. "1 for the money. 2 for the show. 3 for her to get ready to drop it low." This nigga said some shit about flipping chicken wings in the first bar. That's disrespectful to the producer (whom he didn't even credit)! I swear almost every line in this song, I've heard a variation of it somewhere else and the ones that weren't were the corny as fuck lines. Sorry these long nights of college applications have made me a very cold person. Welp. Shout out to this guy for at least staying on beat.

1.2 Nerd Contemplations out of 5

This track was brought to you by Waverly Spades, and I'm off to write another review while I'm still feeling sassy.

Go check out JproD at http://www.jprodintheregal.com/
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