Here are the fantastic visuals for Jon Hope’s “Better”, which appeared on his Somekind Of Wonderful EP that dropped earlier this year. That EP still gets plenty of play, actually, along with Inverse’s So True and a few others from early ‘09.
It took me a few months to finally get this put together, but Potholes In My Blog is proud to present the Ocean State Sampler. I was inspired to do this after we dropped our first project, Transmitting Live Vol. 1, this summer. I just needed to do something to showcase the talent residing in Rhode Island, where I call home. And after a few delays and an amended track listing, it’s finally here. I am very excited to present new music from these artists, who range from Jon Hope to Dirty Hank to Joe Beats to Zumo Kollie.
Every track on this project is either unreleased or will appear on a future album dropping in the next few months. OK, to be fair, the Jahpan track can be grabbed off iTunes, but it’s only available at a few digital outlets. And when he hit me up a week ago to be included on this, I just had to include him. Nothing left to do now but download this 10-track sampler and let us know what you think. A huge thank you to every artist included on here and to Objektiv One who supplied the excellent artwork. And if you are an R.I. rapper or producer looking to collaborate on a sequel to this project, hit us via e-mail on the contact page. Hit the jump for the track listing and artwork.
Rhode Island gets a lot of flak, even from those of us who call the state home. But, as this project’s cover indicates, there is plenty to celebrate. We have some of the nicest beaches in New England. We only need to drive for about 40 minutes maximum to get from one end of the state to the other, traffic (and speeding) permitting, of course. We might not have a professional sports team, but hey, the URI and PC basketball teams tend to just fine sometimes. And, if you somehow haven’t heard, my home also has a damn fine hip-hop scene. No one has blown up to a mainstream level, unless you count Blu Cantrell, but we have made a significant impact on the underground. And here are several artists off Potholes In My Blog’s Ocean State Sampler who can prove that statement’s validity. On the A-Side of this single is Jon Hope’s ruthless banger “Real Talk Pt. 2″. And on the B-Side, there is Chachi Carvalho’s more laidback, yet still fiery “One For Chach”, with production by Falside and cuts by DJ Therion. These are two of the nine exclusive tracks offered on the Ocean State Sampler, which also features Joe Beats, Dirty Hank, Symmetry, Reason, and several others. The full project is set to drop in early December. A huge shout-out to Objektiv One on the artwork.
It’s been a damn good week for music. And I’m not even talking about those leaks. We have heard new tracks from Outasight, Breakastra, Nicolay, and now Jon Hope. One of Rhode Island’s finest – myself excluded, Jon sent over “Above It All”, a damn good preview of his upcoming project Work In Progress. If this joint is anything like the rest of that album, we got something special coming our way from Mr. Hope. Get a sampling of what’s in store from this Ocean State emcee and let us know what you think.
It’s July. The year is halfway over, so I figured it’s time to take a look back at the memorable albums that have dropped so far in 2009. Just as a warning, I will be leaving several, if not many, records off this list that you might argue are worth mentioning. Well, if you feel that way, I urge you to leave a comment and try to convince me. There is also the chance that I might forget one or two records that I enjoyed, but simply could not remember as I wrote this.
As someone who was born and bred here, I can promise you this: Rhode Island gets a lot of flack. Most people think it’s an actual island. Or they assume it is part of Connecticut or Massachusetts. Sometimes, you get people who think you are from Long Island. Nope. It’s Lil’ Rhody, people, and we have some emcees and producers primed to make a mini-splash on the hip-hop scene. Though they aren’t the first to make a name here, the likes of Theo and Jon Hope are on the come up. And to commemorate both that and his free EP Somekind of Wonderful, I had Jon Hope answer some questions to provide some background on just why he deserves your attention.
Here is a preview, hit the skip for the full feature…
Marty: Hey, Jon, thanks for taking the time to do this. As a fellow Rhode Islander, it is, above all, a great feeling to see someone creative and talented getting some brand name recognition.
Marty: Now on that point, it’s very interesting and gratifying to see two newer Rhody emcees – you and Theo – gaining exposure right now, particularly because you both represent different niches in hip-hop. What are your thoughts on that? Jon: I think it’s a beautiful thing. It shows the diversity within R.I. and how different our approaches are towards music. I am really enjoying this ride that Theo and I are on. We both come from the same neighborhood and worked very closely in the infant stages of our careers and to see us both blossom step by step is really great for our city.
![OceanStateSampler 1024x1024 Exclusive: Ocean State Sampler [Album]](http://potholesinmyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/OceanStateSampler.jpg "OceanStateSampler")
![jonhope1 Download: Jon Hope Above It All [mp3]](http://potholesinmyblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/jonhope1.jpg "jonhope1")
Album Review: Jon Hope – Somekind of Wonderful (2009)
As someone who was born and bred here, I can promise you this: Rhode Island gets a lot of flack. Most people think it’s an actual island. Or they assume it is part of Connecticut or Massachusetts. Sometimes, you get people who think you are from Long Island. Nope. It’s Lil’ Rhody, people, and we have some emcees and producers primed to make a mini-splash on the hip-hop scene. Though they aren’t the first to make a name here, the likes of Theo and Jon Hope are on the come up. And to commemorate both that and his free EP Somekind of Wonderful, I had 
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