Ashkon Breaks Through

During my senior year of high school ('04-'05), two of my best friends accompanied me to an underground warehouse show in Oakland, California. I was there to check out Collectiv Records artists Bleez (Matt Jocelyn) and Bumbalo, but was lucky enough to witness the whole Rec League crew with Ashkon and Richie Cunning. Another awesome group that rocked the house was The Instant Messengers (including Alexander Spit). This night really made me fall in love with discovering new and often overlooked artists, and gave me a whole new perspective of what musical offerings were still out there to be found and appreciated.

It's amazing to see how the careers of these artists have changed over the years, but none more so than Ashkon. Up until 2010, he had been known on a smaller level in the Bay for his music, stage acting, and a couple funny Youtube videos.

Then this happened:

And this...

and more recently this:

Those of us Giants fans got to see him as the "Ultimate" fan before, during and after games. But I want to take this opportunity to showcase his music!

With his elementary school students singing the hook, Ashkon reminisces about home and all that it means to him.

Ashkon - "Hey Keezy"


Next, Ashkon teams up with Bumbalo for this Bay Area party track, hyphy back!

Ashkon ft. Bumbalo - "Beep Beep"


How about one more?

Ashkon - "Freedom"

Don't let the Youtube celebrity of Ashkon overshadow his other artistic output, check out the albums The Final Breakthrough and Speaks Louder Than Words for some inspirational, energetic and fun music!

- mikhel

Richie Cunning - Night Train

Richie Cunning is San Francisco. This rapper/producer made the perfect soundtrack to The City - Night Train paints a vivid picture of the everyday life of a native. Plain and simple, he knows how to rap, and rap well. Not only that, he produces his own beats and they'll make you feel like you're back in Hip-Hop's "Golden Era" (the 90's obviously). Just like the city of San Francisco, Richie takes you through the ups and downs that life has to offer, and again like The City, you enjoy it all. I've had the pleasure to see Richie perform a good five or so times now since 2005 and his live show is exceptional. He gets the crowd rocking, has great humor, and best of all: it sounds like the actual CD. The worst shows are when performers are inaudible, rap over their own vocals, or just plain yell into the microphone. Richie Cunning is non of these things, and what you hear now is what you will hear at the show - awesomeness.

This first song is the title track, "Night Train", and is a great place to begin (even though it is one of the albums' closers).

• play
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volume

11_Richie_Cunning_-_Night_Train.mp3

Next, take a listen to Richie Cunning's "The City".


On this ode to his town, Richie gives you a taste of San Francisco, and you can't be mad at lines like this:

I be the black hat, jacket and glove cement trooper / call me the zen Buddha of the N-Judah / I saw the dynasty of Steve, Jerry and Joe / I saw the Giants try to see how deep Barry could go / the SCO heavy but I carry the load / Til everybody in America memorize my area code (FRISCO!)

(Full disclosure: I used to ride the N-Judah all the time and have now run into Richie 4 times in the streets of SF...real life rap!)

OK, how can you not like music that samples great childhood movies? Below you will find the video for "Richie Cunning's Day Off" (word to Ferris).

And this next track samples Willy Wonka, which I've always wanted to hear in a beat, so my ears have been blessed. It's one of those amazing records that you can relate to and motivates you to keep working towards your goals. I believe a music video is coming soon, but for now, enjoy the audio to "Pure Imagination".

If you get the chance to see Richie Cunning live (next show is Dec. 8th @ 330 Ritch) don't miss out! He has three projects out that you can preview, download and purchase on his bandcamp. Also his twitter is hilarious if you're into that sort of thing.

Enjoy the music, see the shows, support the artist!