With Southern hip-hop mixtapes, albums and releases in general being excessively present and apparent in the past few years, at the end of the day there are really only a handful that yearn for repeat-listens over a long timespan. Fortunately, artists like the Alabama duo G-side have found this formula, and most importantly are consistent in applying it to their work. From their outerspace “Starshipz & Rockets”, the much-appreciated “Huntsville International” to this year’s “The One… Cohesive”, it’s their straight-from-the-heart approach to their lyrics as well as flow that’s refreshing and emotionally bonding to listen to time and time again.
Their recently released album “iSLAND” is another indication of their total musical concurrence that’s been standing strong for over ten years and clearly has an inspiring sense of longevity to it. The confident-sounding productions have been handled by long-time collaborators Block Beattaz, whose brave, forward yet nostalgic sounds have sampled a varied palette of musicians from the likes of Tame Impala, tATu, Joy O and even Robert Miles in all their rap alliances. At this point in time it’s clear that they have found a leveled ground of comfort in their co-operation as it’s hard to tell whether the heartfelt and grounded lyrics that Yung Clova and ST 2 Lettaz spit were written in support of the radiant instrumentals that Block Beattaz have crafted or vice versa. From their recent heightened activities this year (one stand-out being their collaboration with Sinden) there’s a lot of hope leaning on the prospect of 2012 being a year that G-side will further own.
Most recently, the duo have released a joint effort between 2Lettaz and Main Attrakionz entitled “AC” in anticipation of their US Winter Tour, in which they will be joined by MA themselves and DaVinci for selected dates. Another wonderfully produced track by Block Beattaz that embraces an Alabama/California connection in the most effortless and straight-forward way possible. Recognize the real.
