Viva La Hip Hop

Casual

Nearly 20 years after his classic debut album Fear Itself, Hieroglyphics emcee Casual is joining forces with veteran beatsmith J Rawls (producer for Black Star, J-Live, Stalley, Count Bass D, John Robinson, and more) for a brand new album, Respect Game or Expect Flames, out August 28th on Nature Sounds. To celebrate, Amoeba Berkeley will host an in-store album release party!

Both Rawls and Casual agree that the album came about organically. “He had a lot of beats that moved my pen,” explains Casual. “We worked on a couple tracks together and decided that our chemistry warranted an album’s worth of material.”

On the production, J Rawls wasn’t afraid to test his limits. “I changed my style a lot for this album,” he says. “I’m known for having a jazzy sound, but some of these tracks are more edgy. It fits Casual’s style and attitude.”

The result is an album that stands out in Casual’s already-impressive catalog. “This project is different because of the production. J gave me a more universal sound than I’ve had on any of my past albums,” says Casual.

“I think it’s my best work to date,” adds Rawls.

[amoeba.com]