Author: Irfan Akhtar

Griselda ‘Conflicted’ Star Ponzo Houdini Releases New Project “You Know The Vibes II”

Posted on by Irfan Akhtar

Raised in the Jefferson Projects in Downtown Buffalo, NY, Ponzo Houdini launched his career with his first single, “You A Lame,” which got him nominated as best new Hip-Hop artist by the Buffalo Hip-Hop Awards.  Over the last few years, Ponzo has toured and worked with notable contemporaries such as Future, Benny The Butcher, Griselda, Zaytoven and OJ Da Juiceman among others.

After his latest tour which was headlined by Benny The Butcher (Plugs I Met Tour) and recently appearing in Griselda’s street-classic movie Conflicted, Ponzo releases his new project, You Know The Vibes II, and a new video for “Another Day In The Life.”

H-Town’s ReDroue Drops Stellar Visual For “Presidential Floue”

Posted on by Irfan Akhtar

Houston triple-threat, ReDroue, is a fast-rising star with a tremendous love for music and an undeniable southern drawl that fans can’t take their eyes off of. Today, he releases the latest visual from his 2020 album, The Massacre: The Diary of Pyroa, for the polished album-cut “Presidential Floue.” Stream the entire album via Hadd TU Records.

In the Maniac Visionz-directed visual, ReDroue pulls up in the presidential edition everything and appreciates his blessings on the flow with the opinions of the haters in his rearview. The song’s producer, Tone Jonez, provides a boasting and bragging 808ed production drawn from classic West Coast elements. He explains:

“I’m always gonna talk my talk regardless whoever feels some type of way about it. Even though I’m bragging and kinda flexing, it’s more about achieving what’s meant for me. This is the type of song that when you wake up in the morning, the first thing that comes to the mind is How can I out master on this or what can I do today that’s going to bring more success to me than I had yesterday.”

“Presidential Floue” appears on a breakout album featuring fellow uprises Marium Echo and Candice Wess. And with the latest single, the 8-song EP features buzzing tracks “The Unjust,” “Money” and “Go Hard.” The Massacre is the follow-up to ReDroue’s buzzworthy 2019 project, Humble Mode. Watch the new video below.

After the view, for more on ReDroue, follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok.

Jamie Quintino Shares New Single, “Known You My Whole Life”

Posted on by Irfan Akhtar

With his previous release “Lovin Myself” earning him newfound popularity, Alabama recording artist, Jamie Quintino returns with a promising follow-up release, titled, “Known You My Whole Life.” A love story of sorts, the new song displays the new singer-songwriter’s rapidly evolving musical prowess from beginning-to-end.

On the track, Quintino is an intangible of things, musically. He is catchy, intriguing, clever and revealing about his past love affair and creates arguably his first radio-ready release. The new song is quickly on the rise to become Quintino’s best track yet — which is currently held by “Lovin Myself” with over 45,000 streams on Spotify. It’s the perfect jump-on point for any newly discovered Jamie Quintino fan.

A brief backstory on Jamie Quintino, He has always had a passion for music ever since being a little kid but growing up in a Hispanic household, he always thought that “Hispanic” music was the only kind of music there was. It wasn’t until he started Elementary School that he realized there was way more music to be introduced to and having been enrolled into his first music class, where he learned how to play the recorder, that he realized that music was actually not just one sound.

In that music class, he was also learned more in-depth about “singing” in which he was also introduced to the song “Don’t Stop Believing” which sparked his interest in learning more about music because that was the very first time he heard an actual song that had nothing to do with Hispanic culture. Music helped him a lot growing up and he knows how it feels to be alone so he hopes his music will make people happy and empowered to be themselves.

“Known You My Whole Life” is available everywhere on Quintino Records. For more on Quintino and his promising music career, follow him today on Instagram. Stream the new song below.

Jackson Whalan – “From the Woods” (Album)

Posted on by Irfan Akhtar

Out of The Berkshires, Massachusetts rising underground artist Jackson Whalan releases his new album titled “From the Woods“.  He tells the story of what it’s like being a hip-hop artist from a rural area. Follow him on Instagram @jacksonwhalanmusic.

Substance810 – “Makin’ Waves” (Album Review)

Posted on by Irfan Akhtar

Substance810 is a 36 year old MC/producer from Port Huron, Michigan who first made his mark in 2006 with his full-length debut The Definition under his original moniker Tekneek. He released a sequel album The Definition Of the previous summer & then a debut EP Chess Pieces a couple months later but to continue the grind, the man returning with his 7th full-length album.

The intro talks about being a risk-taker over a soulful boom bap instrumental from Substance810 himself whereas the next track “Crude Dialog” with Squeegie O sees the 2 talking about giving it to ‘em raw over a suspenseful beat. “The Purist” with Estee Nack finds the duo talking about hearing nothing but bars over some funky bass & a wailing sample while the song “Invisible Lines” with Pee Tzu sees the 2 talking about just that over a spooky beat from Wavy da Ghawd.

The track “Upper Echelon” talks about having the vibe that you love over a calm, drumless instrumental while the song “Fortified” talks about having razor blades in his jaw over an doomsday-esque beat. The track “Poison White Darts” talks about being ahead of his time over a drumless, bleak instrumental while “The Procedure” with Ty Farris finds the 2 talking about jumping out the box over a boom bap beat with a gorgeous piano sample.

The song “Calculated Risks” talks about how there’s been a lot of talk over an alluring instrumental while the track “Nitrile Gloves” with Deuce Hennessy & Killy Shoot sees the trio talking about going bar for bar with sucka MCs over an organ-inflicted beat. The song “Epilogue” with Chuck Chan & Lupus Dei finds the 3 talking about what the mission is over some string samples & then the title track that finishes the album off talks about being the leader of the new school over a settle beat from Nicholas Craven.

Substance810 is one of the finest MCs/producers in Michigan right now & this is definitely no exception. Some of the features were kinda weak, but the songwriting only gets better with each project he drops & the production gets continually rawer too.

Score: 7/10