CD Reviews

Main Attrakionz | 808s and Dark Grapes II

Mishka (2011)

By CARRIE BATTAN | September 7, 2011

2.5 Stars

Following a steady stream of low-budget tracks, mixtapes, and videos posted on their Tumblr this year, the Bay-area stoner rap duo of Squadda B and MondreM.A.N. (a/k/a Main Attrakionz) have raised the stakes by offering up something that resembles a traditional release. 808s and Dark Grapes II, sponsored by ultra-hip clothing line Mishka, showcases the duo's proclivity for vaporous, lo-fi beats and sample selections, and verses that juggle swag, struggle, and plain-old chilling out. Sometimes the 15-track tape is so free-flowing that its untethered beats and verses drift into oblivion — but mostly it's pleasantly weird and moody, if imprecise. One of the highlights is "Vegetables," on which a robotic female voice is sampled over a tinny, rapid-fire pellet beat, saying, "V-v-v-v-vegetables, vegetables, vegetables, v-v-vegetables/B-b-b-broccoli, broccoli, broccoli, broccoli," and so on, making for a spookily infectious mode of likening the greens you eat to the ones you smoke. It's entirely possible that Main Attrakionz will wind up a flash in the Tumblr-rap pan, but 808s and Dark Grapes II suggests their brand of rap has legs.

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, hip-hop, CD reviews, More

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ARTICLES BY CARRIE BATTAN

MAIN ATTRAKIONZ | 808S AND DARK GRAPES II | September 07, 2011
Following a steady stream of low-budget tracks, mixtapes, and videos posted on their Tumblr this year, the Bay-area stoner rap duo of Squadda B and MondreM.A.N. (a/k/a Main Attrakionz) have raised the stakes by offering up something that resembles a traditional release.

LIL B | I'M GAY (I'M HAPPY) | July 19, 2011
Gone are the endless declarations of hoes on his dick in groups of 30 and 100; gone are the claims that he is everyone from Ellen Degeneres to Miley Cyrus.

SHABAZZ PALACES | BLACK UP | June 09, 2011
The musical reincarnation of Ishmael Butler, the elusive Seattle rapper who makes up one-third of the semi-popular '90s jazz-rap act Digable Planets under the name Butterfly, is a lot to unpack.

FRIENDLY FIRES | PALA | June 07, 2011
For a densely layered, expertly produced dance-rock album, this second full-length from British three-piece Friendly Fires is perplexingly bland.