A music blog brought to you by the KTSW 89.9 FM music department! Here you will find music reviews - classic and current - by our trusty music reviewers. If you have recommendations for bands we should check out, including your very own, simply send us a message in our "ask" box, and we will have it reviewed and potentially put on air!
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KTSW Hip-Hop
According to KTSW’s website, we are a “college indie formatted station featuring music from all genres including, rock, hip-hop, electronic and more.” Up until recently, hip-hop should not have been included in this statement. The fact that KTSW has always featured a ton of rock, electronic, and (especially) more is absolutely true. When I started this job back in June, we quickly realized the scarcity of rap music on our radio station. There were a few songs here and there, but the handful of rap tunes compared to the thousands of other songs on our catalog really illustrated the problem we were facing. And if we were able to inject a “significant” number of rap tracks into the catalog, would anyone really care? Do people who listen to KTSW even like rap music? After talking with many of my peers who work for KTSW, people who I feel truly represent our listeners, I knew the answer was yes*.
But that yes comes with an asterisk. Many peoples’ perception of rap is that it is sexist, arrogant, and ignorant, which is likely due to the fact that regular exposure to rap music for the general population mainly comes from commercially formatted radio stations and MTV. But the rap I have always listened to and loved can definitely be classified as music that fits our “college indie” format. It is music that comes from the heart. Its words make you think deeply about love, society, war, greed, education, politics, and life in general. It encompasses ALL genres of music, sometimes on one track. It is musical poetry in its most raw form. Because of this, the genre contains some of the most personal, soulful, gut-wrenching, and powerful music in the world. Rap is honest and direct. Every MC comes from a distinctive background, each with their own unique stories to tell. Every DJ provides a unique vehicle essential for these stories to unfold. Rap is controversial. There are no boundaries, laws, or limits to what these storytellers can and will do. The mission of the KTSW Rap Music staff aligns with these principles: we want to push the limits beyond the music we are familiar with and blend in with the amazing sounds already established on this great radio station.
Below you will find the first 100 songs that the KTSW Rap Music staff has put into rotation since June of this year. I will try my best to make regular posts on the history of the genre, a topic that is just as fascinating as the music itself. If anyone has any suggestions for rotation, please email us at KTSWRapMusic@gmail.com.
Keep listening!
-Rory Burbeck, Rap Music Director
Number Date Artist, Album “Track”
1 7-Jun Eprhyme, Dopestylevsky “Smoke Break”
2 15-Jun DJ Shadow, Endtroducing “Mutual Slump”
3 15-Jun J Dilla, Donuts “Workinonit”
4 15-Jun Oddisee, Odd Winter EP “Blizzard of ‘09”
5 15-Jun Reflection Eternal, Revolutions Per Minute “My Life”
6 27-Jun Animul Crackers, Single “Bacon Grease”
7 15-Jun The Roots, How I Got Over “Dear God 2.0”
8 15-Jun Blakroc, Blakroc “On the Vista”
9 20-Jun Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That S*** Gold “Guarantees”
10 20-Jun CunninLynguists, A Piece of Strange “What’ll You Do?”
11 20-Jun CunninLynguists, Will Rap For Food “Missing Children”
12 20-Jun Reflection Eternal, Train of Thought “Memories Live”
13 22-Jun Shabazz Palaces, Black Up “Free Press and Curl”, 14 “Youlogy”, 15 “The King’s New Clothes Were Made by His Own Hands”, and 16 “Swerve.. The Reeping of All that is Worthwhile”
17 22-Jun CunninLynguists, Oneirology “My Habit (I Haven’t Changed)”
18 24-Jun Hail Mary Mallon, Are You Gonna Eat That? “Garfield”
19 7-Jul Visioneers, Dirty Old Hip Hop “The World Is Yours”, 20 “It’s Simple”
21 7-Jul KRS-One, KRS-One “Out For Fame”
22 7-Jul Blue Scholars, Bayani “Morning of America”
23 7-Jul Danger Doom, The Mouse and the Mask “Crosshairs”
24 7-Jul Black Star, Black Star “Thieves in the Night”
25 7-Jul Gift of Gab, 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up “Evolution”
26 7-Jul Movits!, Get Out of My Head “One Take-Take One/40 Bars”
27 7-Jul Eyedea & Abilities, First Born “First Born”
28 7-Jul King Geedorah, Take Me to Your Leader “Fazers”
29 7-Jul Nujabes, Modal Soul “Feather”
30 7-Jul People Under the Stairs, O.S.T. “Empty Bottles of Water”
31 7-Jul Madvillain Madvillainy, “ALL CAPS”
32 25-Jul Talib Kweli, Gutter Rainbows “Cold Rain”, 33 “Tater Tot”
34 25-Jul Gas Haus, Gang Gastly Ramirez “Dearly Departed”
35 25-Jul Med, Bang Ya Head 3 “This Is Your Life”
36 25-Jul Abstract Rude, P.A.I.N.T. “Yep!”
37 25-Jul Common Market, Tobacco Road “Back Home (The Return)”
38 28-Jul Binary Star, Masters of the Universe “Reality Check”
39 28-Jul Gift of Gab, 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up “The Ride of Your Life”
40 28-Jul Myka 9, 1969 “Hand Bone”, 41 “Inner Knowing”
42 16-Aug Elzhi, Elmatic “Memory Lane”
43 16-Aug Med, Bang Ya Head 3 “Candlelight”
44 16-Aug Living Legends, Classic “Never Fallin’”
45 16-Aug Marco Polo, Port Authority “Nostaligia”
46 16-Aug CunninLynguists, Sloppy Seconds Vol. 2 “Cornasto”
47 16-Aug Will Sessions, Leaks “Funky Mirage”, 48 “MOVE!”
49 17-Aug Sergenti, Family & Friends “Tracks”
50 24-Aug Kyle Rapps, On-Air “Love Love 2”
51 24-Aug Blu, Jesus “Jesus”
52 24-Aug Blu, Her Favorite Colo(u)r “Pardon”
53 24-Aug Big K.R.I.T., Return Of 4Eva “Dreamin’”
54 24-Aug Grieves, Together/Apart “Speak Easy”
55 31-Aug BK-One, Radio Do Canibal “Philly Boy”
56 31-Aug Blueprint, Adventures in Counter-Culture “So Alive”
57 7-Sep Hail Mary Mallon, Are You Gonna Eat That? “Knievel”
58 7-Sep Exile, Intro to the Outro “New Seasons”, 59 “Evolve”
60 14-Sep King Geedorah, Take Me To Your Leader “Fastlane”
61 14-Sep Common, Resurrection “I Used to Love H.E.R.”
62 14-Sep Skewby, More or Less “Book of Eli”
63 14-Sep Gangstagrass, Gangstagrass “I Go Hard”
64 14-Sep OCD, Single “Mathematics (Remix)”
65 14-Sep The Weeknd, House of Balloons “What You Need”
66 19-Sep Astronautalis, This Is Our Science “This Is Our Science”
67 21-Sep A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders “Award Tour”
68 21-Sep The Extremities, The Mint Condition “Disassembly Line”, 69 “New Season”
70 21-Sep The Cool Kids, The Instant Classics Mixtape “I Rock”
71 21-Sep Mos Def, Black on Both Sides “Brooklyn”
72 5-Oct L.O.W.F.I., Awakening “Shots Fired”, 73 “Molotov Music”
74 5-Oct Animul Crackers, Single “Get Em’”
75 5-Oct Raphael Saadiq, Stone Rollin’ “Stone Rollin’”
76 5-Oct Astronautalis, This Is Our Science “Dimitri Mendeleev”
77 5-Oct DTMD, Makin’ Dollas “95 Live”
78 19-Oct Ghettosocks, Treat of the Day “Out for Treats”, 79 “Role Models”
80 19-Oct Pete Rock and CL Smooth, The Main Ingredient “In The House”, 81 “Escape”
82 19-Oct The Roots, Organix “Good Music”
83 19-Oct The Dean’s List, The Drive In “No Sleep”
84 26-Oct Evidence, Cats & Dogs “The Red Carpet”, 85 “The Epilogue”, 86 “The Liner Notes”
87 26-Oct Jay Electronica, Call of Duty MW3 “Call of Duty MW3”
88 2-Nov Teen Burger, Burger Time “Chemistry (The New Science Remix)”, 89 “Ain’t Trippin’ Remix”, 90 “Lost Boys”, 91 “Summer Jobs”
92 9-Nov Chief, The Weather Underground “Mission of Madness”, 93 “Remains Untitled”, 94 “Head Above Water”
95 9-Nov Derill Pounds, Emotional Rollercoaster Rescue “Buzzer Killer”, 96 “OOdiepie”, 97 “Cold One”
98 16-Nov Robo-Robb, SOULBOT2 “_289”
99 16-Nov Hieroglyphics, Full Circle “Classic”
100 16-Nov Has-Lo, Conversation B “Face in Disguise”
