In early 2014, MMG brought together Ugly Heroes member and local fire eater Verbal Kent with North Carolina’s Khrysis (Jamla, Away Team) to bring us Sound of the Weapon. In their newest video, “Raponomics”, they come together to explain the market in hip-hop. Weak MCs’ stock is depreciating. Kent chains bars together with slurred rhymes while Khrysis’ heavy drums lead the head nod. If you weren’t convinced in the duo yet, the new video shows both artists at their best.

From the album Sound of the Weapon.

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Detroit producer Apollo Brown brings in the dramatic late night ride remix for Chicago emcee (and Ugly Heroes brethren) Verbal Kent. The track, “Underrated?”, is off Verbal Kent’s new album “Sound of the Weapon.” Originally this remix appeared exlucusively on the 日本語/Japanese edition of the album.

Chicago emcee Verbal Kent (of Ugly Heroes) rolls through Chicago’s winter narrating a tale of violence, struggle, and perseverance. The video, directed by Chip Beasley, is shot from Chicago’s snowy sidewalks, rail underpasses, penthouse apartments, and from cross-field skyline perspectives, giving viewers a clean take on the blustery city. Grammy Award winning producer 9th Wonder lays his classic soul stirring production down for Verbal’s vocal foundation that plays like an everyman’s introspective drive through the city.

Chicago MC Verbal Kent’s new album, Sound of the Weapon, is out today. The entire record was produced by Soul Council member Khrysis (producer for Jean Grae, Evidence, Elzhi, Talib Kweli). In addition, the title track has been remixed by Grammy Award winner, 9th Wonder. The album features hard-line braggadocio, comedic flare and social awareness from the veteran MC.

If you read the description of Apollo Brown, Verbal Kent and Red Pill’s Ugly Heroes project on the Mello Music Group website, you know their definition of “an ‘ugly hero’ is the everyday blue collar individual that makes the world go ’round.” And hey, who doesn’t want to honor those guys? With gratuitous celebrity running rampant, a shift of attention is a breath of fresh air. But if you actually listened to the project you know that it’s anything but refreshing.

Released in late May, Ugly Heroes is fifteen tracks of working-class Midwestern gloom. Still, everything is done right from a technical standpoint. Apollo Brown’s beats are as expected, well-orchestrated yet moody boom bap. Both emcees kick hard knock rhymes that validate the everyday struggle. All that’s missing is the hope.

From the start the experienced Chi-Town native and Michigan bred newbie set the tone of tribulation with “Desperate.” Between Kent’s “I have rope, I could end it all,” and Red Pill’s “everyone I know is feeling downtrodden,” we’re left feeling we don’t know what the fuck we’re supposed to do either. The album doesn’t stray much from this format. Even “Heart and Soul,” an ode to love and the women holding it down through hard times is somber and sonically dreary.

It’s not until the end of the project that the mood lifts a bit. On “Just Relax” Brown crafts an easygoing track that is cheerful compared to the others, while Kent and Pill remind the listener “life’s so hard, just relax.” Bonus track “Ugly;” featuring scratches by DJ Eclipse, is the star of the story, showcasing the emcees’ lyrical dexterity in a way that the album’s theme thwarted.

Verbal Kent and Red Pill have amazing word play, flow variation and are the things great emcees are made of. To boot, Apollo Brown is one of the most consistent producers of the past decade. But Ugly Heroes is more ugly than heroic, more dark than enlightening. Instead of opening a door to the realities of working class life it firmly shuts one, weighing down not only the listener but the artists’ talents as well.

Today, Ugly Heroes drops their first music video from their recently released self-titled album for the song “Hero’s Theme.” The mild mannered beat from Detroit’s Apollo Brown features jazzy piano chops with Red Pill and Verbal Kent dropping working class hero rhymes that beautifully compliment the tone of the music underneath them.

The origins of Ugly Heores stems from Apollo Brown wanting to do a heavy blue collar album that paints a real picture of life out there. Not a gangsta record. Not a hipster record. A record that paints life as it is today for a lot of the working poor. And as much as we all want to act like we aren’t the working poor – truth is, most of us are living check to check with moments of glory intersparsed with notices from electric companies that the disconnect is pending. Emcees Red Pill (Detroit) and Verbal Kent (Chicago) lay some of the rawest slice of life narratives in the game today over 15 tracks produced by Apollo Brown. Think soul drenched beats with moody horns and heavy drums. We all listen to these rags to riches stories most people sell us, but this is that rags and still hoping story…

Their words: An Ugly Hero is considered a myth. Growing up, the heroes we saw in cartoons and movies were perfectly chiseled, intelligent, and had senses none of us possess. An UGLY HERO is the everyday blue collar individual that makes the world go ’round. These are the heroes that work hard all day, everyday to help ensure that the lives around them are taken care of, and do it all without recognition. They wear themselves into the ground and sacrifice vanity for family.

     The hip-hop market has never been so over-saturated, but even so, above-average releases such as this are definitely worthwhile if you enjoy well-balanced lyricism and some good old boom-bap. Some may say that Verbal Kent’s voice is reminiscent of Eyedea. While there is a slight resemblance, Verbal’s isn’t quite as distinctive. Nonetheless he delivers a nice balance of battle-raps and meditative numbers with a poised flow. And Chicago’s best-kept secret behind the boards, Kaz 1, lays down some of his tightest, head-nod inducing beats thus far for this album that should make the Molemen proud. Kaz, who produces 90-percent of What Box, hooks Verbal Kent up lovely, creating both bouncy backdrops (“Tomatoes & Glocks”) and refined ones (“Power”) for Verbal Kent’s varied approaches.

     While this album may be as much Kaz 1′s show as it is Verbal Kent’s, the MC has a lot to say–and not just over Kaz 1′s beats. In fact, another Chicagoan, Overflo, produces one of the albums’ strongest cuts, “The Peoples Rapper”. Here Verbal Kent describes how despite haters’ attempts to knock him down before this album got off the ground, he remained persistent to rep Chi and himself to the fullest. And it paid off. Whether he’s talking about Chi on the “The City” or the state of mankind on “Power”, or even swatting away wack MCs on “Tomatoes & Glocks”, Verbal Kent has plenty of subject matter to go around.

     With only a small number of guest appearances, Chicago MCs (Rusty Chains, Qwazaar of Typical Cats, etc.) and others (Wordsworth and One Man Army) drop in for some quality posse cuts without stealing the show. If there’s one drawback to What Box, it’s Verbal Kent’s voice, which isn’t bad by any means, but not too distinguishable either. Guru wasn’t lying when he said that it’s mostly the voice of an MC that gets you up. Thankfully Verbal Kent has the subject matter, poised flow and lyrics to keep him a step above most of the rest. And Kaz 1′s beats don’t hurt either. Chicago may now have too many albums coming out to keep with, but this is not one to let pass you by.