Sapient has been going pretty hard with the promo these past two days. He dropped the remix for his “Shotgun In My Spaceship” with Living Legends’ Luckyiam, and now we have a video of his latest single, “Seeking New Skin”. Although, Sapient isn’t rapping anymore, he’s definitely still churning out great music and Slump wont be any different.

Check out the video for “Seeking New Skin” below and check out Slump on Feb. 19.

A few years ago, Sapient and Luckyiam joined forces as the Prime, crafted a criminally short full-length and pressed up an extremely limited run of physical copies for a record titled One Uppers. After a few collaborations here and there, Sape and Lucky are back together and this time, Sape flipped his “Shotgun In My Spaceship” single and Lucky’ added a pretty dope guest verse. While the release of Sapient’s next release, Slump, isn’t until Feb 19., the first few looks into the project have been great.

After speaking with him back in May, I was told a few things you should note about Slump. It won’t feature any rapping, there will be no samples, and Sape’ calls it his “rock record”. But the few who heard it disagree, and his attempt to label it indie rock failed. Check out the music video and the curiosity alone should force you to listen when Slump drops Feb. 19.

Today I am very excited to drop the latest leak from Debaser, the Portland duo who you have seen here at Potholes many times. “Quitters” is a heavy hitting track that will be featured on the upcoming album, Peerless, available May 4th. As we wait for that date, be on the lookout for more exclusive material here on Potholes, including an interview and album preview. Also be sure to go back and check out Debaser’s free album, Back To Work, which was also an exclusive on Potholes not too long ago. Give the single a spin and be sure to come back to let us know what you think… Also snagged a nifty bonus featuring The Grouch from 2dopeboyz, which was made available last week. Enjoy!

Hit the skip to download…
Download: Debaser – “Quitters” [Right Click Save-As]
Bonus: Debaser – “Don’t Sleep” feat. Grouch [Right Click Save-As]

Update: Here is the premier of Sapient’s video, “She Doesn’t Love Me”.

The good ol’ Sandpeople crew continues to grace us with free music today, this time on the solo tip. Famine Friends, Sapient’s latest effort, is a wonderful showcase of not only his prowess on the microphone, but his ability to kill it on the boards. Along with the free album, we will be hitting you with three videos shortly to accommodate this fine work. As we wait for that, give this nifty album a couple spins and let us know what you think. Along with this free release, you can also check out some of the Sandpeople crew’s past free work below…

Download: Sapient – Famine Friends
Bonus: Debaser – Back To Work
Bonus: Sapient – Make Morphine – The Remixes

Hit the skip to check out the album artwork…

We posted the first leak from Luckyiam’s The Present mixtape earlier this week and we were, to say the least, impressed. So it only makes sense that we’d be equally enthused to put up the Living Legends member’s entire project for download. According to Lucky himself, this is meant to be a gift from him to us on his birthday (Aug. 2). And The Present is a prelude to his four upcoming projects including a solo record and another album with Mystik Journeymen. It’s also the first “mixtape” he has ever done. But he, and we, can assure you that you are in for some heat. Hit the jump for the artwork.

Download: Luckyiam – The Present [Mixtape]

Album Review: Sandpeople –

From the churning Northwest hails a sinister breed of hip hop known as the Sandpeople. The Sandpeople have been on the move with their new release Long Story Short, which contains 9 tracks of cryptic rhythms and memorizing rhymes. Their sound is unique and versatile, but still maintains a common denominator that holds their album Long Story, Short… together stylistically. Upon first hearing the intro track “Strands” I was automatically intrigued by this mysterious cult of emcees. The production is clean and dark, with almost little to no samples. The recording is pristine and the editing on is on point (they must have a great in house engineer). You can tell the emcees spend lots of time together because they trade lines back and forth with fluidity throughout the whole album which could only be accomplished by being in the presence of each other. Their flows are tight and they are as harsh as a 70mph sandstorm whipping in your face. The group dynamics this album is built on is what truly makes the album worthwhile to listen to and is reminiscent of the posses of older 90s hip hop albums such as Wu Tang.

As a recommendation I can say the Sandpeople, while being very good at what they do, are not for everyone. This does not bother me, but it seems like the group could be very hit or miss with listeners. However, the Sandpeople have carved out their own unique niche in hip hop that spans across many boundaries. Their production is clean enough to be mainstream, but their active posse cuts can still appeal underground hip hop fans. Their lyrical topics range from drugs, suicide, money and even to the metaphysical side of life focusing on questions of death. The strangest part of the Sandpeople is the fascinating backup vocals that crop up into their production. These vocals paint vivid imagery of wind combed dunes and even remind me of a Tim Burton soundtrack. On the final track “Dapper Mob” the Sandpeople show their true uniqueness with a twisted anthem that contains only singing and reminds me of Nightmare Before Christmas with its comical harmonies overlayed with morbid imagery.

To pass on the opportunity to hear Long Story, Short… would be depriving yourself of a unique experience in hip hop. The Sandpeople carry the Northwest torch by having consistent, tight production that is common to the region (Blue Scholars, Theory Hazit, Omega Watts, etc), and they also maintain a level of uniqueness which sets themselves apart. The only downfall to this cultic organization is that their lyrics get dry as the desert dunes by continually rhyming about how dope they are. Eventually they move on to different topics on the album, but not until 4 tracks in do they reach a plateau of depth that will satisfy the listener and show the Sandpeople’s full potential.

Stir up the sands, and let the Sandpeople be an oasis to relax by and enjoy a unique experience in hip hop.

Sapient has been a member of the underground hip-hop collective, Sandpeople, since its debut album. Ever since then he has been recording with Sandpeople, as part of the duo Debaser (with label-mate Ethic), and as a solo artist. Originally billed as a lyrical emcee, Sapient proved his talents on the microphone through his contributions to Sandpeople’s albums and his solo debut, Dry Puddles. However, he has grown a tremendous amount since his beginnings. While recording with Debaser, Sapient also handled much of the production, incorporating various sounds into his work.

Letterhead is a good example of the growth that Sapient has undergone since his beginnings with Sandpeople. His lyrical style is at times vicious and hard-hitting, but he is a versatile enough emcee that he can just as easily sit back on a track and rhyme with a cooled out edge. On “Stay Connected” Sapient addresses society’s dependency on technology in order to (surprise!) stay connected. Where the lyrics falter at times with a lack of attention-grabbing topics (there’s quite a few boasts about how Sapient just kills it), the album is uplifted by the quality production.

Not only are the beats intriguing, but also they are also really fun. Synths flow over catchy percussion tracks, sometimes in a way that is actually rather unexpected. The production also works because it unifies the album very well, there seems to be a central style from which the album evolves, creating a very complete feeling overall. In addition, there are some spoken background noises (think early Eminem/Dre productions) that add a biting wit and humor to certain tracks. Other tracks are ‘souled-out’ with singers leaving memorable hooks throughout.

While he certainly has a lyrical style that matches some of the top rappers in the underground, Sapient may not actually be the most entertaining emcee when it comes down to what he is actually saying (the content). But Letterhead is a tightly constructed and thoroughly interesting album, and a very nice addition to Sandpeople’s label.