"TrILLu" - Trono x ILLu

More fresh tunes straight out the gate -- 2018 is already busy. "TrILLu" is a six track set from producer ILLu, who has been interviewed here before, and rapper Trono of Self Portrait. Who have also been interviewed here before. This project emerged from sessions at the Skylab, and the production work of SkySplitterInk helps every track shine. Since Self Portrait dropped their debut LP "Primal Union" the trio has stayed busy.

DJ Kanganade has been working on fatherhood, new scratching techniques, and precision knife throwing.

Producer (and emcee and photographer) Rico James maintained a steady pace in 2017, dropping the Pilot EP with PreciseMC, the "GOOD FOOD" single with MilkHaus Records mainstays LoKi & Pensive, and the tasty instrumental tape Rico de Gallo.

Trono dropped a compilation called The Singles, then showed up all over the Mind's Eye Tribe LP and...well, here we are: TrILLu. The name is both catchy and inevitable, since their only real alternative was "iLono." ILLu has been on a quiet warpath and there will be plenty more to come in 2018 from this young producer.

ROUNDUP: Hip Hop Shows in August

August 2nd: Apathy @ Club Metronome. One of the best rappers alive touches down on Main Street tonight so, you know, go see that. 9 pm. $10 adv / $15 door. 18+

August 4th: Bowling for BP @ Champlain Lanes. A special charity edition of the Mics & Strikes series to benefit the Ryan Morin Memorial Scholarship. 8 pm. $15 gets you two hours of bowling and dope rap. All ages.

Also August 4th: The Khaosity Experience @ Sweet Melissas. An evening of hip hop in Montpelier with Drive, Trono of Self Portrait crew, and JMC Ent. 8:30 pm. $5. All Ages.

August 11th: Chris Webby @ Higher Ground. Suburban rap sensation Chris Webby has parlayed mixtape success into multiple national tours now and will probably never stop. Also on the bill: Bizarre of D12, because of course he would be. 9 pm. $18 adv/$22 door. All Ages.

August 17th: 3rd Thursday @ The Monkey House. Yet another big score for the Anthill Collective family, this month's lineup brings some outside talent to Winooski. Sets from Ben Schorr, Stay on Mars and Maine's furball fast-rap legend Eyenine, who puts on a hell of a show. Local metal rap act HatePH34R will be making an appearance, too. 9 pm. 21+ $3 // 18+ $8

August 19th: Dellarious Summer Jam @ Cloud 9 Bar and Grille. Sure, this is in New Hampshire on Hampton Beach, but the lineup is heavy on Vermont: Bar None The Best, Jarv, Jibba the Gent and the entire Street Religion massive doing a group set. This should be a fairly bananas event. 9 pm. $5 adv/$10 door. 21+

August 24th: Chyse & DJ Ross @ Social Club & Lounge. If you're not familiar with Chyse, fix that. He'll be headlining at Social Club & Lounge alongside DJ Ross. Khaosity, Jibba the Gent and Kastaway will also be performing. 9 pm. $5. 21+

August 26th: A-Dog Day 2017 @ Waterfront, Nectars, Club Metronome. It's hard to believe this is already the fourth A-Dog Day celebration. It's also hard to believe it's only the fourth one. This has become the most important event of the year, a pilgrimage, a holy day. The Friends for A-Dog Foundation not only puts on a world-class party, they're a community asset year round.

What a party, though. They're not kidding when they call it "a city-wide celebration," but make sure you're upstairs at Club Metronome when The Beatnuts go on.

TONIGHT: Hip Hop Showcase at Charlie-O's

A damn hot ticket tonight in downtown Montpelier. Charlie-O's has had some strong hip hop bills in the past year, but this an exceptional evening. VMB Productions is bringing in some out-of-state talent: Cody Pope and Two Story are both from New Hampshire, and Ill By Instinct has been killing it in Maine for many years now. Many readers may know him as the founding & frequent host of Rap Night™ in both Portland, ME and Manchester, NH. DJ Myth will also be in the house.

Throw in local support from Fresh Patterns, Mister Burns, Trono of Self Portrait...and a set from Face One, who has been on sabbatical for quite some time. He played his first set in years just this Thursday at the Monkey House.

And, of course, all of this goes down at Vermont's greatest dive bar. There ain't a better lineup anywhere in the state* this evening. 9 pm. 21+ only. Free as in free.

* ...unless you're in the NEK. Then head over to Parker Pie to see the young legends Maiden Voyage tear it up.

Eyedos Presents: MET

As promised, the Minds Eye Tribe album has finally dropped. This is packed with bars and bangers, and a testament to how much the scene has improved in the past decade. Which is not to say heads weren't dropping quality albums back in 2007, they were just fewer & further between. There's been a lot of heat so far this year.

Again, props to Eyedos for the quality control and sheer work ethic. For the record, the full, official lineup for MET runs as follows: Eyedos, Trips, Polar Beers, Trono (Self Portrait), Krypto Man (JYNX Inc), J-Zila, Stresselbee (Epidemiks), Ademus and RuffNek. There's also a half-ton of other guests in the mix here.

Both Trono and Eyedos will be performing at the Regional Indie Hip Hop Compilation Release Party (RIHHCRP) at Club Metronome tomorrow night.

MET - "Survival" ft Raw Deff

Perpetual release date rollbacks are, perhaps, the fifth element of hip hop. "Detox Dropping Soon" set the tone for a decade of both commercial and indie rap, a new era where social media made it easier than ever to announce new projects -- and somehow, harder than ever to finish them.

That's why a genuine work ethic stands out. Eyedos has been on a serious tear in 2017, following up his epic solo album Guerrilla Bars with a new group project, MET. That's short for Minds Eye Tribe, and there's a heavy Army of the Pharaohs vibe on this lead single, "Survival" -- just some classic summer "rape your bitch" jams, you know?

Eyedos also mixed and mastered this, which is worth mentioning because this is a very professional sounding product. As his skillset continues to expand and improve, he's becoming a major asset to the scene.

"Survival" is a preview single -- joining Eyedos and Raw Deff on the mic here, we've got Trono from Self Portrait and Polar Beers, which is one of the best rap names I've ever seen in the 802.

This MET jawn won't even be the last Eyedos full-length project we see this year: there's also a JYNX Inc comeback album coming out on Halloween. He understands the paradox of staying visible in an over-saturated world -- the more momentum you gather, the harder you have to work. Salute the hustle.

Eyedos - "The Coalition"

Longtime Jynx Inc member Eyedos has stepped out on his own in a big way this year. Always a hard worker, he's been building a national network over the past five years and the payoff has only just begun. Check out the guest list on his solo project Guerrilla Bars - alongside 802 fixtures like Learic, RuffNek and Trono you'll see Rakaa Iriscience, C-Rayz Walz, and Kool G Rap. (That track bangs, by the way: peep "Gun Smoke.")

"The Coalition" is a posse cut slam-fest with serious reach - V-Zilla is an Army of the Pharaohs affiliate from Houston, Ruste Juxx is a Boot Camp purebred from NYC, also the home of Screwball alumni Blaq Poet. The production is perfectly tailored for showoff sixteens and everyone delivers the goods.

Happy Friday.

Get Familiar: Self Portrait

Photography by Colette Kulig

Self Portrait are days away from dropping their second album, Primal Union. This is a classic rap lineup with a lead emcee, a rapper/producer and a real live DJ tearing it up onstage. The new album showcases features from some of the hardest working people in Vermont hip hop, like Anthill Collective maestro Eskae, who juggles a couple hundred hats any given month. He shares a cut with SkySplitter, a prolific producer and one hell of a recording engineer, too.

These lads are embedded, in other words, a central hub of the new hot shit, and a home team a lot of folks are rooting for.

Primal Union is a big step for the Self Portrait crew, but they've been on the rise for awhile because they stay busy. Last year they were featured on the latest A-Dog Day compilation, the kind of honor that doesn't come lightly. Ringtone rap might be making money now, but albums still matter, and Primal Union is a professional product.

I got to talk with two thirds of the team about their sordid past, their violent beefs, and the upcoming HBO documentary. Dig it.

Thirtyseven: How did your crew come together?

RICO JAMES: Me and Trono met in 2007 while living in Plattsburgh, NY. I had just graduated with an art degree and Trono was still attending the college at the time. We hit it off immediately and started designing a clothing company, and writing rhymes together. This was before I even started making beats. I ended up moving to the west coast for a few years, so we continued to create long distance. I started making beats while living out west, so it was only right that we jumped back into the music when I moved back east to Burlington.

I met DJ Kanga through a mutual friend here in town, and we clicked immediately through our shared love of hip hop. I was blown away when I saw him scratch the first time. Right after we hung out, I hit up Trono and told him we gotta link up with this dude and get to work. I was amazed that Kanga hadn't been snatched up yet by another group. Dude is an unbelievable DJ. I sent him some of our tunes, while simultaneously reaching out to some people trying to book a show. We booked our first show in Sept. of 2013, and have been rockin' together ever since.



Thirtyseven: Has your songwriting process changed over the years?

TRONO: The songwriting has changed as my style and Rico's style has changed. Rico has taken a lesser role in rhyming, but when he does, his flow is on point and his one liners are hilarious. He has come a long way building a confidence you can find in his verses.

I have tried to develop my skills by being more concise. My thoughts need to convey the point that I want while also becoming one with the beat. I allow - encourage - beats to take me over, to lead me down the path. Emotions and what the instrumental pulls out of you are what need to be put into words. I need to explore that however possible with pin point exactness when translated onto paper. Its a ever growing process, forcing me to learn myself and to learn from others.

RICO JAMES: The process for the group as a whole is pretty simple. My main focus is the beats. I make the beats for the crew, so we start by sending a batch of beats to Trono. He picks and chooses the ones he likes and can get into and starts writing. I give Trono complete freedom to write whatever he feels. He usually comes up with the concepts and I just step in lyrically wherever it is needed. Trono is the lyricist of the crew. He is the true writer. I like writing rhymes for fun, but he is the true talent with the pen. After we get our songs all layed out, we send rough mixes to Kanga to add his magic.

Thirtyseven: How did you wind up with such an awesome cover?

TRONO: We discovered the artist, Evan Book, through another VT hip hopper that goes by Mycelium MC. He put us on to his work and I knew it would be a perfect fit for our album art. We had the album name, Primal Union, picked out for about a year and knew that was going to be the next album name. We had the concept that we wanted, with the cavemen in a cave listening to records by a fire, have Trono eating another emcee, etc... We through it out to Evan Book, told him the basic idea, and he absolutely killed it. His style works perfectly with what we wanted and had imagined for the album. He is a super talented artist, and everybody should hit him up on FB and check out his work.

Thirtyseven: Approximately how rich and famous do you plan on becoming on Feb. 24th?

TRONO: As rich and famous as I was the day before.

RICO JAMES: I'm hoping for a crispy $20. Will hit those dollar bins hard.

Photography by Colette Kulig