A Couple Articles I wanted to Share......

Jonathan Thompson

Baltimore Indie Music Examiner

The trouble with Baltimore hip hop

There is definitely more to Baltimore hip hop than just Murdaland, however. In the early nineties the commercialization of hip hop culture spearheaded by MTV slid a few impressive nails into the coffin of hip hop's golden age. Many "true heads" turned their back on the new face of the culture and continued to play their Afrika Bambaataa records in their rooms alone while others instead simply continued to make music independent of the pop culture phenomenom that had hijacked the hip hop scene in New York. Many groups like Company Flow were at the front of the new independent hip hop scene, which is now seriously rivalling mainstream rap music. In Baltimore the most prominent face of golden age-minded independent hip hop is Labtekwon. Labtekwon, considered the "Thelonius Monk of hip hop" by Chuck D, is now 28 releases deep with 15 full length albums on his own label Ankh Ba Records, many of very significant substance, as well as multiple releases on Mush, the well respected indie hip hop label that helped launch Aesop Rock on the national stage. Along with Labtekwon there are other traditional emcees that are both conservative hip hop purists as well as progressive, original artists such as those on Brake Fast Records or Mike Malachi. These artists are the ones who have the potential to hold together Baltimore's hip hop community being the fulcrum between the more talented of mainstream minded artists and the more abstract indie acts.

Full article: http://www.examiner.com/x-5925-Baltimore-Indie-Music-Examiner~y2009m4d27-The-trouble-with-Baltimore-hip-hop

Hey wassup myspace shoulda been put these up but here u go...Shoutout to Al Shipley on these:

Government Names Turns 5 Years Old Today:

Over the past 5 years, I've posted roughly 700 songs, but I've always prided myself on the fact that I try to be selective and find the best tracks to share
So to mark the anniversary, I'll be re-posting my top 100 mp3s from the site's first 5 years

98. Mike Malachi f/ Ron Rico, Agg and Skarr Akbar - "Super Smash Bros. Melee" (mp3) - March 21, 2009


Mike Malachi f/ Ron Rico, Agg and Skarr Akbar - "Super Smash Bros. Melee" (mp3)
It's been a couple years since I heard anything new from Mike Malachi, but his new album Malachi's Way 2:Malachi's Revenge is due out in June. The tracks on his MySpace page right now are sounding really good, especially this one, which features a few guests, including his producer Ron Rico on a verse.

Full article: http://governmentnames.blogspot.com/search?q=mike+malachi