Nickelus F is pure underground at this point, but the Richmond, Virginia native has arguably the best flow on this list. He sounds a lot like Saigon, but might actually be a better rapper. Here's to hoping he can land a major label deal at some point. For now, head over to his MySpace page for some terrific tracks from him and his Da Burglars crew.
G.A.G.E. already has the major label part down, as he signed with Dr. Dre and Aftermath in 2005. The Philadelphia emcee is currently working on his debut album, The Soundtrack To My Life, right now and is getting beats from the likes of Dre, Focus, Hi-Tek, and Scott Storch. The question, as it is with all Aftermath rappers, is whether this album will ever see the light of day. If there was any reason to believe the debut was actually coming anytime soon, G.A.G.E. would have been at the top of the entire Mid-Atlantic list.
Tabi Bonney is less "up-and-coming" and more "underground" as he already has two LPs out, but emergence on a big stage is still a possibility. The D.C. artist is known for his Andre 3000-like obsession with fashion (he has is own clothing line called Bonney Runway), Q-Tip sound, and eclectic Kanye West-type song arrangements. With the general movement in hip-hop away from the "thug" aesthetic and into more artistic, alternative styles (Lupe Fiasco being a headliner of this movement, joining the likes of Pharrell and Kanye), Bonney could be the kind of artist major labels are looking for.
Wale! is trying to do what has been impossible until now -- fuse traditional hip-hop with the authentic local go-go music that has been king in Washington D.C. for years. If you check out songs like "1 Thing About a Playa" and "Dig Dug," you see he might be onto something.
Article comments
1 - Stone
Good look on the rap report. I think that if Wale gets some serious support then he could blow..."1 Thing About a Playa" is like the "Country Grammar" of the DC Region right now, its just that DC doesnt have the infrastructure in place to promote artists like Baltimore and Philly.
Wiz Khalifa is blowin' up though, I could see him getting a major label deal any minute now.
2 - Barry
Adam, Bossman does have a track that he rhymes over the normal club music spead (130 bpm). It's called Dance my pain away and it will be on his new album. Also they should listen to his joint with No. ID called You're Wrong not to mention Off the Record. He will blow. I think another area he shines in are the feeling type records. Off the Record, i did it, your wrong just to name a few.
3 - Adam Hoff
One thing I failed to mention in the introduction paragraph of both columns is that I'm hoping that this these columns will serve to spearhead reader input and utimately serve as a database of sorts. With that in mind, these were some great comments.
Barry, good info on Bossman, I'm happy to hear it. I am personally 100% on board, but the chief criticism I'd seen was regarding tempo, most of it coming from supporters of Labtekwon and other long-time B-More club artists. So I'm sure there was a slant. Thanks for clearing that up. Good call on "Off the Record." His versatility is what will give him staying power, I think. (By the way, I love "You're Wrong" and pretty much anything that No I.D. produces. He's the silent star of the Chicago hip-hop boom.)
4 - Connie Phillips
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5 - Damani Beckham
i am really interested in participating in this association of yours