Monday, January 1, 2018

2017 Wrap Up

(A moment of Silence)

What's happenin' beautiful people of Focho!? It's been mad long since we've had a proper year-end post or any post for that matter. 2017 is the first year since we've been all dot com, that we didn't have a single post. Absolute radio silence. It's always darkest before the sunrise. 18 months have passed since we've had a post and the time has come to resurrect the funk. I've had this blog on my list of things to do for some time now, but you know how life is, the older you get the more responsibilities you have... ah ahh ahh, pero now I'm making time. In order to prepare for this post, I had to delve into the history I helped write and document. We developed our own style and fed off of one another. We were 80's babies who knew life before high-speed internet. Back then, the homie Cyph would cop a flat of tall cans and then proceed to take half of them to the face. We'd walk from one end of San Francisco to the other drinking beers and freestyling to cassettes bumping out of a boombox. Refining our craft passing time. We'd take all the excess energy and put it into beats and raps. And although we've all relocated, we each bring the strengths acquired during this period of unmatched creativity wherever we go. I was just buggin' out thinking of the first iteration of the website if you remember what video game it was modeled after you a fucking OG Focho head my guy.
Image courtesy of L to the... via's first post.
A lot has changed since 2007 fam, George W. was still in office at that time. Fast forward, now we have a B actor and a D businessman in office. Crazy right? I won't spend too much time on the whackness, but now is a GREAT time to bump Listen To Us, an official FOCHO classic:

So much time has passed and the crew is all spread out these days, but that doesn't mean we're no longer making music. If this is your first introduction to the crew, you're in for a treat. This is by no means a comprehensive list of Focholos pero it'll give you a great idea what we're about, and how we get down.

Cyph4 is back in SF and has his hands in all kinds of music. Make sure you keep an eye out for all the projects he got in the works. Here's the last thing I saw, Curbside:

Dust9 lives in LA and periodically does some shows. Shouts to him and Jenn on the baby! You can find Dustin's music here.

Guy lives in SJ with his partner Nehal who coincidentally is also a musician. Not only are they amazing artists individually, but they also make music together.  If you haven't had the experience of hearing them play together, let me hit you with the alley-oop:

I'm pretty sure Verse lives in Hollister now? If not he's def in the G. Hence Garlic City Records/Unfaded Music group. You can find his music here.

L to the lives in SLO and continually cranks those bangers you've known him for. The homie has been traveling and putting on OD for hella long. Find all the jams here. Tried and true Hip Hop for Hip Hop's sake. Fox with it:

Also, you should def understand that homie won't have no bullshit:

I live in New York and still make beats on occasion. Last year I recorded a bunch to cassette and then dumped them online in the Data Savage Sampler. It wasn't a part of my Audio Scribble Series, but rather a beat tape.

Aside from all the Focho stuff I need to include some current events/music that I'm hyped on. Murs does a web series behind a desk with Hip Hop DX called The Breakdown. I found this episode particularly delightful as well as relevant. I actually had a great laugh because I'm sure we've all been guilty of this discussion. Peep it:

Please tell me you heard about the beef between Ma$on Betha and Killa Cam? Yo! That shit was OD. I had no idea that Ma$e had it in him. I don't think Cam did either. Haha, well you can check out the two tracks and decide for yourself who got the W. That's the beauty of battling in the world of hip hop, it's all about style. Anyone can say they "won" a battle unless there's a crowd at hand to decide on the spot. These two were formerly a part of a group Called Children of the Corn, so there's some history for sure. Harlem out here for real for real. Everyone loves a good battle and this one didn't disappoint. Shouts to them for a good show and both taking it like adults and keeping it moving after. No bad blood, no guns, no violence, just a good old fashion exchange of flows stating superiority. Pero let's not forget how good life is when they on the same team!

I can't post those tracks without reminding you what Hip Hop looks like at it's absolute best. I don't know what happened, Flex usually has these young boys on who can't really link two ideas together let alone drop 10 minutes of unrivaled lyrical excellence, off top. Bruh, everything from the breathing to the cadence, pronunciation, delivery, prose, Black Thought showed the world what it means to be an adult Hip Hop head. Woke AF, as the youth say, incorporating everything from history, personal experience, pop culture, puns, you name it, he touched everything, fucking aye! Anyone who's ever touched a microphone and spit a rap shed a single thug tear of joy, knowing Thought put on for the culture like that. Magnificence.

I of course can't let some of this years releases go unmentioned.
Jidenna - The Cheif
Kendrick Lamar - Damn.
Tyler the Creator - Flower Boy
Thundercat - Drunk
Jay Z - 4:44
Daniel Cesar - Fruedian
MED, Blue & Madlib - Bad Neighbor
Calvin Harris - Funk Wave Bounces Vol. 1
SYD - Fin

Lastly, my nomination for new artist of the year (Dramatic Pause)Mr. Steak x Shrimp himself, straight out of Houston, LE$. Man's dropped 4 albums this year and they all smooth AF. I vibed with his sound so much cause it has that old school west coast cruising vibe. Peep:

Speaking of new, shout out to Ale & Cat's unborn child! Can't wait to meet you! Shout outs it is; to Gabe Electronica for always being down to make something. Homie pulled up to the crib and spit flows into a pinche old school corded phone! I'm sure we'll make more jams in the future! Shouts to L to the for passing through NYC during his World Friend Tour. Shouts to everyone I work with at Chrome. No gas, this year has been great and I can't deny your involvement.

From the new to the old, salute to those that crossed over this year:
Fats Domino
Chuck Berry 
Clyde Stubblefield
Charles Bradley
Tom Petty
Chester Bennington
Glegg Allman
Chris Cornell
Al Jarreau 

2017 seemed like a time of awakening and now we're at pivotol crossroad. I encourage you to take a stand against injustice, it's not hard to find these days. That's all.

Be well, and spread love.



  1. Props on the post man/
    Delivering hot like the postman/
    shoot from my spot, from the post man/
    think FOCHO forgot, this is post, mannnnnnnnnnnnnn

  2. On the real tho, very dope, comprehensive post for the 1-8! OMG, I had no idea about the Cam/Ma$e beef!!!! They both went for esophagi! Might have to give the edge to Ma$e tho, element of surprise!