STRaiGHT uP`s "LoUiSViLLe`S OwN STRaiGHT uP EP"...

What`s goin` on y`all? Hope all is well & Life has been treating you good. Today I have a lil` somethin` that comes courtesy of my homie SNiCKLe FRiTZ, so BiG uPs goes out to him! What I have to share with y`all is a lil` EP from a group called Straight Up who reps Louisville, Kentucky. Now to be honest when I tried lookin` `em up online I found that they were also called Louisville`s Own, so I could be wrong about their name. The EP`s cover is not all that clear when it comes to the group`s name, so if I`m wrong & someone out there knows what`s up feel free to school me...


As for Straight Up the group consists of 2 members (brothers perhaps?) Darrin & Terrance Lee (a.k.a. Gangsta T). They both handle the EP`s production as well as the rhyme writing. They released this EP on their own label back in 1995 & I believe that this is their first release. Anyways let`s get to the EP shall we? At 4 tracks deep it`s a pretty short EP, but seeing as how it`s an independently released project it`s totally understandable. When you first glance at all the titles of the songs on this EP you can surely notice that Death or Murder seems to be the main theme of the project, but that doesn`t make it a stale of boring listen...


Now something that you should note before you get to listening to the EP, it was ripped from a cassette tape (not sure if it was ever released on CD) so the sound quality is far from HD but it`s not totally terrible either. I found the original files that SNiCKLe FRiTZ hooked me up with were a bit on the low side volume~wise so I made some small adjustments to make them a lil` louder. Anyways the EP opens up with "Dyin` Is So Easy", a joint that has gloomy & dreary vibe to it. The hook is a lil` simplistic, but their verses make up for it in turn making the song a lot more entertaining. "Death Zide" follows the EP`s opener, it`s got somewhat of a West Coast vibe to it. The hook has more of a harmonized feel to it while Straight Up delivers some aggressive lyrics. It`s my second favorite joint on the EP, definitely one to check out...


The third song on the EP is the title track "Straight Up", this joint without question is the EP`s best song. The beat`s quick tempo & killer loops will get ya` head noddin` while you get into Straight Up`s verses, it`s no doubt the show stealer! The EP  comes to a close with "Victim Of A Murder". It`s another joint that has more of a West Coast vibe to it, I think that most folks will enjoy it. Overall the EP`s not too bad of a listen, 3 of the 4 tracks are pretty solid. The first song on the EP is probably my least favorite of the 4, but it`s not a wack track. I just couldn`t really get into it all that much. You can definitely tell that the group was heavily influenced by the West Coast, at least when it comes to their beats anyway. Lyrically & vocally they carry themselves pretty well over the instrumentals. So there you have it y`all, go `head & give this EP a listen I`m sure you`ll enjoy it...

Straight Up - Louisville`s Own Straight Up EP [Cassette]

Label: Terrance & Darrin Lee Records

Released: 1995

Side A

01. Dyin` Is So Easy

02. Death Zide

Side B

03. Straight Up

04. Victim Of A Murder

N`JoY...

SNoW Tha PRoDuCT`s "UNoRTHoDoX 0.5 MiXTaPe"...

Even though I`m a lil` on the late side with this one I`ve gotta give some shout outs to the BiG homie DiRTee BooGZ for puttin` me on to this joint. I hadn`t actually listened to any of Snow Tha Product`s music until he hooked me up with this lil` mixtape that originally dropped back in 2011. It`s titled "Unorthodox 0.5" & is hosted by DJ Whoo Kid & is mixed by DJ Rapid Ric. It`s basically a promo pre-album mixtape that she dropped to help generate a buzz for her 2011 independently released debut album titled "Unorthodox"...

For those that may not be familiar with Snow Tha Product I will give you all the info` that I know about her. She was born in San Jose & her roots are Mexican, even though a lot of folks confuse her for being just another White female rapper (maybe it`s her name). She moved to San Diego & started rappin` & taking it serious at around 17-18 years old, even though her mother wanted her to continue her schooling (she was in college studying to be a social worker). Originally she was going by the name Snow White Tha Product, but decided to switch it up to Snow Tha Product because Disney was going to sue her if she didn`t since they own the rights to "Snow White & The Seven Dwarves"...

She stayed on her grind for a few years, doing shows & building her skills. Then in October of 2011 she released her debut album "Unorthodox" independently. She started to make some noise with a few joints off the album. "Woke Wednesday" & "Drunk Love [Rmx]" were getting major views on YouTube, but it was actually a much shorter track that was really helping her get noticed & that joint was titled "Holy Shit". On that song she showed the listeners that she`s got a nice rapid~spit firing flow & she`s not afraid to flex it. Eventually all her hard work paid off because the buzz that the album was generating helped her get noticed by 3 major record labels...

Universal, Sony & Atlantic all began to holla at her, she eventually signed on with Atlantic. In December of 2012 she dropped her highly awaited mixtape titled "Good Nights & Bad Mornings". It spawned the singles (not sure if you can really consider `em singles though since they`re from a mixtape, but anyway you get what I mean) "Cookie Cutter Bitches", "Lord Be With You" & "Damn It". She followed up that mixtape with it`s sequel in October of 2013 titled "Good Nights & Bad Mornings 2: The Hangover". So that`s pretty much all that I know about her, she`s definitely a talented emcee. She can flex the lyrics like a real emcee should (peep "Woke Wednesday" or "Bet You Won`t") & she spits them rapid~fire flows as an added bonus ("Holy Shit"). She can drop deep emotional & heart~felt ish ("Till Death"), comedic stuff ("Telemundo") & even the party type vibes ("Good Girls"). So she`s definitely a well rounded artist, my opinion of course. A much needed breath of fresh air compared to the many run of the mill type female rappers that have been steppin` on the scene in the last 4 or 5 years anyway. I`m lookin` forward to hearing more music from her, so do ya`self a favor & check out the tunes & listen for yourself...

Snow Tha Product - Unorthodox 0.5 [Mixtape]

Label: N/A

Released: 2011

1. Might Make It [Prod. by Omeguh]

2. Unorthodox [Prod. by Redhook Noodles]

3. I`m All That [Prod. by Pumba]

4. Woke Wednesday [Prod. by SuperStar O]

5. Good Girls [Prod. by Essay Potna]

6. Like That [Prod. by Pumba]

7. Holy Shit [Prod. by Hannibal Hector of The Nominees]

8. Vaquero [Prod. by Pumba]

9. Drunk Love [Rmx] [Prod. by Pumba]

10. Bet You Won`t [Prod. by AR Beats]

11. Maria Felix [Prod. by Pumba]

12. Beastmode [Prod. by Hannibal Hector of The Nominees]

13. High Def [Prod. by Keise On Da Track]

14. Telemundo [Prod. by Snow]

15. Hey Girl [Prod. by Smoke Beatz]

16. Till Death [Prod. by Essay Potna]

17. Starry Eyed [Prod. by Redhook Noodles]

18. Outro

FiLeSWaP LiNK...

SoLiDFiLeS LiNK...

N`JoY...