Future Classic: Nomadic Massive “SUPAFAM” Mixtape
Holy Smokes, where do I begin?!
Well first off the concept is genius. Anyone who’s ever seen Nomadic Massive live knows that they roll deep in Supafam from actual members to local associations to international connections to die-hard devotees. Playing tribute to that element of their appeal was a wonderful touch to further solidify their posse. On a collector’s tip, I absolutely loved the media packaging of this mixtape. If you were one of the lucky 100 first guests to arrive at the release party, you received an actual tape (ya they still make those) on top of the download code that gave you access to the mixtape mp3s, the Supafam video and some great album art by designer extraordinaire Nik Brovkin.
Alright enough of that visuals talk, let’s dig into what Nomadic’s been cooking up for us for the past 3 years. If you’re a regular at the Nomad’s live performances you were probably very pleased when you popped in side A and found some of their key live pieces finally layed down as official tracks but I personally was on a hunt to discover Nomadic’s new matured voice so it’s really when I got to Lock & Key that my senses were blown. Can I just say, WELCOME BACK BUTTA BEATS! The backbone drummer of this super group also happens to be an emcee extraordinaire and on their last album his rapping skills were completely omitted so when his sensual flow came in on his own evocative production, my interest tripled. From that point on this mixtape had me trying to crank my jaw back up and wiping drool off the floor. We’ve known the Nomads as a super powerful Hip Hop crew who can hit hard their flow, messages and rhythm, but this new sound, Pas Prêt!
First off the Tali & Meryem is absolutely peerless. I can easily say that the Hip Hop world there has NEVER seen a better female duo. These ladies kill it on a microphone and over the past few years their connection has reinforced each of their skills. On the last album you may have been able to token Tali as the rapper and Meryem as the singer but on this mixtape, Allahdamercy, they both stepped the game up so hard. As a female, I think I’m particularly hard on female MCs cause I feel that they should be able to convey the spectrum of emotions that I have and no one has done that as excellently as these girls. I mean honestly the raw rhythmic knowledge dropping on Uprising, the sensual sensitivity on Me and Mister Mine and that crazy sexy misdemeanor flow on Midnight. Unrivaled.
On production, c’est juste fou. The collabos the Nomads added under their belt has really given a new set of tones to their music. Tracks like Boom Blast!, produced by Dr. Mad, has given them room to use different qualities of their flow that I never expected to hear. Not to mention that Lou Piensa and Butta Beats have really come into their own as producers creating their own distinct styles. Compared to many other producers, live instrumentation has obviously been a very big influence on their way of producing and it’s created insane tracks like Benson Dub.
What’s great about the new sound they’ve created is that Nomadic Massive hasn’t set aside any of their previously acquired strengths. They still spit in abundant languages, still have the highest the energy, still bring us rhythms from cultures we would never otherwise explore, still own a scene with their 10-piece band, still consistently redefine Hip Hop. Old fans will rave and they’ve opened the door for even wider range of devotees.
Honestly I could go on for days about how amazing this mixtape is and how it’s a really a bar raiser for the Hip Hop community but you can find that out on your own by coping yourself the mix on bandcamp.
This is Hip Hop at its Finest.
I have to say that there is one logistical downside that I have encountered, which I think was supposed to be part and parcel of the mixtape concept but the mp3 download comes a side A and a side B track. As a Radio Host/ DJ I find it pretty inconvenient to have to separate the tracks myself so that I can feature them on my show.
SIDE A
1-INTRO- PRODUCED BY NOMADIC MASSIVE
2-SUPAFAM-NOMADIC MASSIVE PRODUCED BY LOU PIENSA AND BUTTA BEATS, CUTS BY DJ STATIC
3-UPRISING – IAM BLACKGIRL-PRODUCED BY LOU PIENSA
4-BELEZA (NYC REMIX) -NOMADIC MASSIVE-COMPOSED BY NOMADIC MASSIVE, PRODUCED BY BUTTA BEATS AND LOU PIENSA, ARRANGED BY BUTTA BEATS
5-HUMANO UNIVERSAL – VOX SAMBOU FEAT. LILIANE BRAGA-PRODUCED BY TIM DUB
6-LOCK&KEY-BUTTA BEATS – PRODUCED BY BUTTA BEATS
7-SWING- NOMADIC MASSIVE – PRODUCED BY NONSTOP, CUTS BY DJ EXPO
8-MILLION-WAAHLI – PRODUCED BY DTCPU
SIDE B
9-BENSON DUB-NOMADIC MASSIVE-COMPOSED BY NOMADIC MASSIVE, PRODUCED BY BUTTA BEATS AND LOU PIENSA, ARRANGED BY BUTTA BEATS
10- BOOM BLAST!- RAWGGED M.C-PRODUCED BY DOCTEUR MAD
11- MIDNIGHT- NARCYCIST-IAM BLACKGIRL-MERYEM PRODUCED BY 80 ROCK
12-THERE COMES A TIME-WAAHLI – PRODUCED BY LOU PIENSA, CUTS BY DJ NERVE
13-ME AND MISTER MINE-MERYEM SACI & IAM BLACKGIRL –
ALBOROSIE RISING STAR RIDDIM
14- YO SOY-LOU PIENSA-PRODUCED BY LOU PIENSA
15- STOP FRONTIN ON YOU-NOMADIC MASSIVE- PRODUCED BY LOU PIENSA, ADDITIONAL COMPOSITION BY NOMADIC MASSIVE, ARRANGED BY BUTTA BEATS AND LOU PIENSA
No Comment