“Slick Talk offers a tour of the streets of the South Side of Austin in a soft-spoken drawl that at first makes his subject matter seem calmer than it actually is.” – Complex
“It’s emotional and at the same time soothing, but it’s got a dark meaning.” – Noisey
“Slick Talk has been consistently enhancing the burgeoning Austin Hip Hop scene.” – HipHopDX
“Slick’s delivery is highlighted by his rapid-fire flow, each word finding its designated target as the proverbial bullet with someone’s name written on it.” – The Smoking Section
“The eight members of the group were a high-energy bunch, rapping with distinctive Texas twang and pogo dancing nonstop.” – The New York Times
“Slick and Eric merge ethereal vocal samples and trap inspired hi-hats with a smooth flow and vivid lyrics.” – I Am Hip-Hop Mag
“A goddamn typhoon onstage.” – Houston Press
Hip-hop is and always will be a product of the streets. Whether it’s Bedstuy or Compton, 8 Mile or the LBC, an artist’s home territory is a place of reverence. Slick Talk, longtime member of the League of Extraordinary Gz, shows his admiration for his hometown of Austin, TX in his latest video, “That Lower (Southside),” produced by hazy beatsmith Eric Dingus, and premiered by Mass Appeal.
The song appears on their collaborative EP, deathbeDreams, released earlier this month. Staying true to one’s roots is a running theme that weaves its way through each track of the album. This theme becomes reality in the video for “That Lower,” filmed on many of the same streets the members of LOEGz call their stomping grounds. Featuring footage shot on South 5th St., Meadowbrook Projects (a.k.a Murdacide), Goodrich Projects, and Brodie Lane, the video truly brings the listener into the life of an Extraordinary G growing up in South Austin.
“I can’t physically take [my fans] and show them where I’m from but I can use music to make them feel it: give the right aesthetics, paint the right picture for them in their minds.” Slick says. “I want someone to be able to close their eyes and go on a late night ride through the darker, maybe hidden corners of South Austin: a dice game on someone’s porch at Meadowbrooks projects; a twilight drug transaction at a bus stop on Riverside; a gunshot, somewhere over the railroad tracks; a kid hitting up his set on the side of a corner store in Dove Springs.”
Slick hit the nail on the head with this video, effectively teleporting the viewer to a largely unexplored stretch of South Austin. The use of black and white, sometimes jerky footage gives the video the feeling of a first-person documentary, allowing outsiders a sneak peak into a part of Austin that they otherwise may not have been exposed to. Slick says, “It’s always a challenge to carry the weight of representing your hood the right way, to the people who live there, but also to make it broad and relatable enough that outsiders can understand and love it, too.”
The video for “That Lower (Southside)” premieres today on Mass Appeal.
Watch “That Lower (Southside)”: http://youtu.be/A-WsQ3PpspU
Check out the Mass Appeal premiere: http://massappeal.com/premiere-slick-talk-that-lower/
Preview and purchase deathbeDreams on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/deathebedreams/id805946062
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/125286365″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&show_playcount=true&show_comments=true” width=”100%” height=”81″ iframe=”false” /]Preview and purchase #LeagueShit on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/leagueshit/id708663564
Check out the #LeagueShit album stream via DJ Booth: http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/loegz-leagueshit
Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Slick Talk.
When Austin, Texas, reality rap collective League of Extraordinary Gz recorded “We Gone Make It” in spring 2010, Octavis “Esbe Da 6th Street Bully” Berry stepped in the booth and yelled two words: “League Shit!”. Three years later, it has become an emphatic anthem, brand and title. The Bully’s vision formed in 2009 when his choice of 8 members and 3 groups with their own budding local buzz – Dred Skott, Da COD and Southbound – sat in a driveway plotting a collaborative mixtape. In 2010 they debuted locally, played the SXSW Music Festival and Fun Fun Fun Fest and were featured on MTV Jams’ Texas All-Star Edition. In 2011 they rocked over 60 shows, including a West Coast tour with Jackie Chain for their Concealed Weapons 3 mixtape, and a national tour with Dead Prez. Then, in October 2011, The Bully passed away suddenly due to a pulmonary embolism. As 2011 ended, the LOEGz were named one of Sonicbids’ Top 5 Hip Hop acts, and they released The Plug EP. All of this came from a collective effort by 3 groups in 3 years via the foresight of a now-absent leader. All anticipation, questions or doubt after a few spins of The Plug EP will be quenched with their debut album #LeagueShit. Clearly rooted in traditional hip hop, #LeagueShit includes stout musicality and wildly free speech featuring Dead Prez, Bavu Blakes, Grupo Fantasma, and Slim Gravy of A.Dd+.
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Slick Talk – “That Lower (Southside)” video: http://youtu.be/A-WsQ3PpspU
Slick Talk – “Swarm”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/slick-talk-swarm-prod-by-eric/s-XfGtc
Slick Talk – “deathbeDreams”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/slick-talk-deathbedreams-prod/s-GdgHS
Slick Talk – “That Lower (Southside)”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/slick-talk-that-lower/
“I’m Alive”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/im-alive-feat-grupo-fantasma
“Let’s Go”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/lets-go-feat-devin-the-dude
“Intercourse”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmlTalxye2Y
“Grind” (Prod. By Statik Selektah): https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/grind-prod-by-statik-selektah/
“Still Bigger” Ft. Dead Prez: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/still-bigger-feat-dead-prez/
“Maybe She’s Right”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/maybe-shes-right
“Intercourse”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/intercourse-featuring-slim/
“4$ Blues”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/4-blues/s-jNFfq
“Attitude”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXnLbnYZKgc
“APD”: https://soundcloud.com/theloegz/a-p-d
Bio, photos, and streams available here: http://www.audibletreats.com/league-of-extraordinary-gz/