Interview by: Martin Bauman What happens when you combine one of the best hip-hop producers of the past decade with one of the most energetic emcees on the West Coast? In short, you get Dag Savage. Los Angeles beatsmith Exile and San Diego rhymespitter Johaz have teamed up for E&J, their latest -- and greatest -- in a long line of collaborations since they first paired up for a track on 2006's Dirty Science. Exile has proven himself twice already as a full-album producer, first with the 2007 cult classic Below The Heavens with Blu, and again with the 2009 fan favourite Boy Meets World with Fashawn. Now, with Johaz on the mic -- and a lot of things he wants to say -- he's going for the threepeat. The result is pretty special. We caught up with Dag Savage to talk about their latest release, what makes for a classic album, why they still love hip-hop, and lots more.
Read the full interview after the jump.
Bedford-Stuyvesant emcee Skyzoo's highly anticipated sophomore album A Dream Deferred is out today, marking the followup to his critically acclaimed debut album, The Salvation. On his sophomore effort, Skyzoo teams up with frequent collaborator !llmind (who serves as co-executive producer) to craft a deeper, bigger sound than the sample-based The Salvation. The album begins with the Fresh-sampling "Dreams In A Basement", produced by !llmind and featuring Jill Scott, who sets the tone for the rest of the album in the chorus: "Sometimes I wonder, will I ever sleep the same? Cause I, I let these dreams keep me awake." The album follows with the lead single, "JanSport Strings", produced by 9th Wonder. Skyzoo then transitions to "Pockets Full", an ode of sorts to Notorious B.I.G., featuring Philadelphia's Freeway. Next up is the dubstep-inspired "Give It Up", the second single off the album. "Glass Ceilings" is next, followed by a personal favourite, "Range Rover Rhythm", produced by Jahlil Beats. The pace of the album slows down for the next two tracks, the smooth, Jessy Wilson-assisted "The Knowing", followed by "Drew & Derwin", featuring an excellent guest performance from Raheem DeVaughn (another highlight from A Dream Deferred). Skyzoo is joined by Jared Evan on the dreamlike "Realization", which is followed by "The Rage Of Roemello". On "Make It Through Hysteria", Skyzoo provides some of the most memorable bars from the album, finishing the song with a spoken word piece: "No handouts used, because none was ever given [...] See, when I said I wrote on the back of light bills, I really meant that [...] I wrote, and I wrote, because no one else spoke. No judge, no jury, just purely how it goes." Next up is "Steel's Apartment", a look into Skyzoo's past, where "it all started at Steel's Apartment". Skyzoo is then joined by none other than Talib Kweli for "Spike Lee Was My Hero", before closing out A Dream Deferred with the introspective "The Cost Of Sleep". Overall, A Dream Deferred is a thoroughly solid album, and a carefully crafted storyline well worth paying attention to. Check out the making of A Dream Deferred below (via Vibe TV). For more on Skyzoo and A Dream Deferred, check out our recent interview with him.
Interview by: Martin Bauman Fresh off the release of his latest mixtape, the lyrically dense Theo vs J.J. (Dreams vs Reality), Brooklyn emcee Skyzoo is gearing up for the October 2nd release of his sophomore album, A Dream Deferred. Fans of Skyzoo will know A Dream Deferred has been a long time coming, ever since the release of his critically acclaimed 2009 album, The Salvation. Since '09, Skyzoo has released 2010's Live from the Tape Deck, as well as 2011's The Great Debater mixtape, but neither were intended as the follow-up to The Salvation. With the October 2nd arrival of A Dream Deferred, the time has come. The Come Up Show recently caught up with Skyzoo, and we talked about A Dream Deferred, idolizing Penny Hardaway as a kid, and growing up two blocks from Notorious B.I.G., among other things.
Hit the skip to read the full interview.
Skyzoo just dropped "Jansport Strings", the lead single off of his highly anticipated sophomore album A Dream Deferred, which is set to drop on October 10th through The Faculty/Duck Down Music. On "Jansport Strings", Skyzoo enlists 9th Wonder on production as he raps about growing up in Brooklyn. Check out what Skyzoo had to say about the track and stream "Jansport Strings" below.
"The idea behind Jansport Strings is not based on it being literal, but more so in the figurative sense. As a kid in NY, the strings on your Jansport bag were a sign of power and presence. Kids would steal the strings off of each other's bags and burn the tips to prevent getting robbed of them once they got them. The song is a 3 minute auto-bio of me as a kid in Brooklyn and seeing more than my friends and I had bargained for. In essence, my Jansport strings tied it all together, seeing what we all saw and what it made us. The ending is a clip from Video Music Box, the legendary NYC video show run by DJ Ralph McDaniels. This episode in particular was the debut of Chi-Ali's 'Age Ain't Nothin But A Number'. Seeing that video that day on this episode of VMB made me start rhyming. This clip was literally the moment that changed my life". - Skyzoo
While at SXSW, the Brooklyn MC and former 106 & Park freestyle contestant announced that his next album, A Dream Deferred, will be released on September 18th this year. I've been a fan of Skyzoo since I heard The Salvation back in 2009, so I'm definitely excited for this. He also announced that leading up to A Dream Deferred, he'll be dropping a mixtape called Theo vs. JJ: "Dreams vs. Reality", which will pick up where his previous mixtape, The Great Debater, left off. Check out his interview from SXSW with 2DB and TheWellVersed below, and check out the video for "Written In The Drums", off The Great Debater. Photo credit to The Smoking Section.
Interview by: Martin Bauman What happens when you combine one of the best hip-hop producers of the past decade with one of the most energetic emcees on the West Coast? In short, you get Dag Savage. Los Angeles beatsmith Exile and San Diego rhymespitter Johaz have teamed up for E&J, their latest -- and greatest -- in a long line of collaborations since they first paired up for a track on 2006's Dirty Science. Exile has proven himself twice already as a full-album producer, first with the 2007 cult classic Below The Heavens with Blu, and again with the 2009 fan favourite Boy Meets World with Fashawn. Now, with Johaz on the mic -- and a lot of things he wants to say -- he's going for the threepeat. The result is pretty special. We caught up with Dag Savage to talk about their latest release, what makes for a classic album, why they still love hip-hop, and lots more.
Read the full interview after the jump.
Bedford-Stuyvesant emcee Skyzoo's highly anticipated sophomore album A Dream Deferred is out today, marking the followup to his critically acclaimed debut album, The Salvation. On his sophomore effort, Skyzoo teams up with frequent collaborator !llmind (who serves as co-executive producer) to craft a deeper, bigger sound than the sample-based The Salvation. The album begins with the Fresh-sampling "Dreams In A Basement", produced by !llmind and featuring Jill Scott, who sets the tone for the rest of the album in the chorus: "Sometimes I wonder, will I ever sleep the same? Cause I, I let these dreams keep me awake." The album follows with the lead single, 
Interview by: Martin Bauman Fresh off the release of his latest mixtape, the lyrically dense 
Skyzoo just dropped "Jansport Strings", the lead single off of his highly anticipated sophomore album A Dream Deferred, which is set to drop on October 10th through The Faculty/Duck Down Music. On "Jansport Strings", Skyzoo enlists 9th Wonder on production as he raps about growing up in Brooklyn. Check out what Skyzoo had to say about the track and stream "Jansport Strings" below.
While at SXSW, the Brooklyn MC and former 106 & Park freestyle contestant announced that his next album, A Dream Deferred, will be released on September 18th this year. I've been a fan of Skyzoo since I heard The Salvation back in 2009, so I'm definitely excited for this. He also announced that leading up to A Dream Deferred, he'll be dropping a mixtape called Theo vs. JJ: "Dreams vs. Reality", which will pick up where his previous mixtape, The Great Debater, left off. Check out his interview from SXSW with