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Frank The Butcher & DJ7L – “Cuffin’ Season Vol. 1″ (Mixtape)

Pizzo — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 23:35:16 +0000

Frank The Butcher and 1/3 of CZARFACE team for this special Valentine’s Day mix, made up of classic 90′s R&B and slow jams. Good call kicking it off with the Wu-Tang remix of Jodeci’s “Freak N You”.

CZARFACE (Inspectah Deck x 7L x Esoteric) In-Studio Footage

Matt Conaway — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 04:28:15 +0000

When soon-to-be-renowned Boston hip-hop duo 7L & Esoteric collaborated with the Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck on the title track to 7LES’s debut EP Speaking Real Words in 1999, the timing was perfect. The upstart duo was building a serious buzz on the East Coast and beyond, while Deck was still winning praise for his gold-selling solo disc Uncontrolled Substance. As flashy pop-oriented rap was pumped on commercial radio stations, their natural chemistry and sympatico skills shone as a beacon to real hip-hop fans, a base of listeners who were soon asking about their next musical summit.

14 years later, the hunger for sharp lyrics and head-snapping beats hasn’t dissipated. In the face of the ever-worsening status quo of watered-down and vapid radio rap songs, the call for something real has only gotten stronger, and once again the time is right for a call to action – for someone or something to come in and send wack rappers running for the hills in fear. Enter CZARFACE, the upcoming full-length album from Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric, to be released on indie stalwart Brick Records on February 19, 2013.

With both lyricists in prizefighting form, CZARFACE is a showcase for lyrical finesse, superior rhyme skills and teacher-approved sharing skills. To wit: a track like the single “Cement 3′s,” where Deck and Eso trade incisive, rewind-worthy verses over a hypnotic head-thump beat from 7L, while Roc Marciano delivers the final verbal body blows. Unsurprisingly, respect for real hip-hop runs deep, and CZARFACE brings an army with it—consider the star-studded guest list which includes Action Bronson, Vinnie Paz, Oh No, Mr. MFN eXquire and Deck’s fellow Wu-Tang Clansmen Ghostface Killah and Cappadonna.

Aside from one track blessed by the almighty DJ Premier, production on CZARFACE belongs exclusively to DJ 7L, who provides the musical backbone which holds the album together. His ability to craft a hip-hop sound that’s current and exciting with a classic feel left Deck impressed: “This is one of the first albums I’ve heard in a while that gives you so many different feels. You hear the ‘80s hip-hop style, ‘80s R&B and rock combined with what’s going on now. That’s creating something new, in my opinion.”

As Deck states, summing it all up: “When you see our face, you see the face of hip-hop, you see the face of music in this form. People do what they do—there’s techno rap and all kinds of rap out there. But this is that speaking-real-words rap. Go ahead and dissect everything we’re saying, you’ll get plenty out of it.”

Esoteric Speaks On Inspectah Deck Collaboration LP

Pizzo — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:17:52 +0000

Esoteric speaks with The Bee Shine about his next LP, which will be a collaborative album with the Rebel INS, and will feature production from 7L and DJ Premier.

7L & Esoteric featuring Evidence & Alchemist: “Drawbar 1-2″ (MP3)

The_N — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:35:17 +0000

This is the second joint off of 7l & Esoteric’s forthcoming cd “1212″ available worldwide October 12, 2010.

7L & Esoteric featuring Evidence & Alchemist: “Drawbar 1-2″ (MP3)

7L / Beyonder – Vinyl Thug Music

Fat Tony — Tue, 16 Dec 2003 07:00:00 +0000

It used to be, back in the day, that mix-tapes were nothing more than cassette compilations of choice cuts from your own record collection, designed to make up for the lack of a full album worth of bangers. Heads would just comb through records and throw all the best stuff on to one tape to bump in the Walkman while riding the train. Playing the role of the pause-DJ, it was a completely personal thing. It represented the listener and nobody else. Then DJ’s got into recording and selling their sets and a whole new generation of the mix-tape was born; one where the skills and the tastes of the DJ were as important as the songs themselves. The mix-tape became a foundation of the street as well as a fully functioning and commercially viable promotional tool. Nowadays, the mix-tape is the periodical literature for what is current and in the forefront of hip-hop culture. The mix-tape has become the daily news as well as the weather report for hip-hop. And while there are those who would argue that the mix-tape is the direct cause of the decline of artists with the ability to create a fully cohesive album, it is still the best way to get the hot shit first and to know what the streets is feelin’.

With the recent popularity explosion of the mix-tape craze, it seems that every half-assed internet DJ and fledgling label owner has some sort of showcase sampler or self-indulgent CD-R of his boy freestyling over some instrumentals disguised in the mix-tape format. Where a lot of today’s mix-tapes are little more than the musical equivalent of microwave popcorn, Vinyl Thug Music presents itself as a precursor for the upcoming 7L & Esoteric LP: DC 2: Bars of Death, featuring a slew of original and unreleased material. Boston natives and long-time underground legends Beyonder and 7L team up to orchestrate what sounds more like an album than a mix-tape. Included here are the latest chronicles of Esoteric’s continuing war-on-wax with several members of the Weathermen and Def Jux camps as well as the newest single from North Philadelphia’s King Syze. Syze’s Big Pun - inspired flow is vicious and hungry on “Machine Gun Rap”. The consistent appearances by the likes of the Army Of The Pharaohs and Demigodz fam over a soundtrack almost completely constructed by 7L himself makes it feel more like a loose, semi-official release. Throughout the record, Esoteric’s very Jay-Z-like presence is dominant and familiar over longtime partner 7L’s tracks, and the two demonstrate the musical chemistry they have created and enjoyed over the years. 7L’s considerable talents are best evidenced in his ability to hang with any emcee he constructs a beat for. His versatility defines him as a producer; whether creating a dark and atmospheric landscape for other-worldly emcees like Shabazz The Disciple and Killah Priest, or lacing straight fire battle tracks, 7L definitely shines throughout. He is a the quintessential “rapper’s beatmaker” in the way he tailors each beat to subtly underscore the feel of the rapper on the track, while always maintaining his original, unique sound. Solid, thumping tracks like the vicious, acoustic string-laced vitriol that is “Mercy Killing” (where Eso responds to the shots fired at him) showcase the duo of 7L and Esoteric at their best. The God Awful teams up with King Syze and Jedi Mind Tricks’s Vinnie Paz for the vicious and violent “Blitz Inc.” while The Demigodz present a revamped killer: “Public Executions” (which contains one of the greatest, classic Apathy lines ever: “I’m not ill like walking through the projects with a nine/I’m ill like moving solid objects with the mind….”). One of the definite standout tracks is the Beyonder-produced banger; “Boondox Saints” and in it we hear the classic Esoteric; rapid-fire battle raps and cleverly thought-out punch lines over a distinctly driving beat. And Beyonder’s beats are not to be slept on, either. “Crab Move” is another Beyonder-touched joint that was originally intended for DC 2. Also included is Beyonder’s re-working of one of Nas’ best tracks; “Last Real Nigga Alive.”

Vinyl Thug Music steps up and delivers what most mix-tapes are lacking: replay value. Long-time fans of 7L and Esoteric will find themselves satisfied to have these new and unreleased tracks all together in one collection, while for those unfamiliar with the whole Brick Records, Demigodz and AOTP family, this will serve as a great introduction to the clan.