BLAT! Pack friends The Specktators released their compilation “The Transition” recently, and the album is the group’s biggest success yet: the album charted at #55 Billboard’s R&B hip-hop chart, and #27 on its Top Heatseeking Albums chart. Jahshua Smith is featured on the song “Fast Forward.” Jahshua’s own album, “The Final Season,” has enjoyed success as the top hip-hop album in college radio’s CMJ charts.
Big congrats to The Specktators for their accomplishment! CLICK HERE to buy “The Transition” on iTunes, and CLICK HERE to buy “The Final Season” on iTunes!
“Ugly Heroes” – the self-titled debut by the trio of Apollo Brown, Verbal Kent, and BLAT! Pack emcee Red Pill – hits iTunes in two weeks on May 21, via Mello Music Group. Today, NahRight.com premiered the album’s first single. “Graves.” The track, “Graves”, is a nasty blue collar joint that lyrically stares down the reality of living in a rigged system and having to grind day after day until you’re six feet under. A heavy beat & poignant rhymes.
Huge thanks to NahRight, The Rap Up, DJ Booth, Kevin Nottingham, and all of the web sites who have supported today’s single release.
Listen to “Graves” below, and CLICK HERE to pre-order your digital copy of the album on iTunes!
After a long hiatus, KuroiOto has finally decided to release some new music. In this second “May 3rd” installment, KuroiOto teams up with BLAT! Pack member James Gardin (formerly known as P.H.I.L.T.H.Y.), to express his love, once again, for his significant other. Borrowing ques from Gardin’s 2011 release “Say It” , KuroiOto chops and layers the soulful voices of Barry White’s group “Love Unlimited” to recreate the first time he said the words “I love you” . BLAT!
Mello Music Group is releasing the self-titled album by Ugly Heroes – the trio of Apollo Brown, BLAT! Pack emcee Red Pill, and Verbal Kent – online on May 21, and the album is available via iTunes right now for pre-order.
CLICK HERE to pre-order your copy of one of the year’s best rap LPs, and watch the video with Channel 43 below to hear snippets from the album and hear the group’s thoughts on the record!
An Ugly Hero is considered a myth. Growing up, the heroes we saw in cartoons and movies were perfectly chiseled, intelligent, and had senses none of us possess. An UGLY HERO is the everyday blue collar individual that makes the world go ’round. These are the heroes that work hard all day, everyday to help ensure that the lives around them are taken care of, and do it all without recognition. They wear themselves into the ground and sacrifice vanity for family.
After recently announcing that the BLAT! Pack will be performing at Lansing’s Common Ground Festival, the collective has more good news for the summer.
On July 27, Detroit Sports Zone will be putting on Oakaloosa, the region’s first fully philanthropic music festival. Headliners include Girl Talk, Royce Da 5’9 and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The BLAT’s own Hir-O will have his own set, on which he’ll collaborate with Red Pill and Doss the Artist. Following the momentum of The Kick, Pill and Hir-O have a lot on their plate for the remainder of 2013. Pill is set to release Ugly Heroes with Apollo Brown and Verbal Kent on Mello Music Group this summer. Hir-O recently composed “The Origin Story” mix for MTV Hive.
Proceeds from the festival will go toward renovating the site, the historic Fort Wayne in Detroit. More info can be found here. BLAT!
An artist that is signed to a notable label? Check.
An artist topping the CMJ Hip-Hop Charts? Check.
One of the BLAT’s female artists putting out a project? Check.
It’s time to check another one off the BLAT! Pack goal list: performing at Common Ground Festival. The Festival is the biggest in Lansing, MI every year and it regularly brings notable hip hop talent to perform in the city. The BLAT! Pack has been trying to get on the stage for a few years and with the momentum the collective has had thanks to Jahshua Smith’s The Final Season and Red Pill & Hir-O’s The Kick, they’ve been confirmed to open for headliner Ludacris, and possibly another notable act to go on before him. BLAT performers for the festival will be Jahshua Smith, Red Pill, P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. and Yellokake, all of whom will have a full band providing the sounds.
It’s not everyday that more than one member of the BLAT Pack gets to enjoy a great opportunity, so the crew will definitely have to make the most of the opportunity. All info for the festival (including buying tickets) can be found here.
P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. is giving away three FREE tickets to his show with the Pro Letarians at Mac’s Bar in Lansing on Thursday, May 9! To get your chance at winning a ticket, do the following:
-Follow @p2dahi, @BLATPack and @FusionShows on Twitter
-Tweet the following:
“I can’t wait to see @p2dahi rock with @TheProLetarians at @MacsBar on May 9th! #DayLightsLive
We’ll notify you if you won via tweet and direct message!
For more about P.H.I.L.T.H.Y., stay tuned to BLATPack.com!
Apollo Brown, Verbal Kent, and Red Pill recently sat down with UHF Cable Access Channel 43 for an interview about their new self-titled group album UGLY HEROES that drops 5/28/13 with Mello Music Group. Hear what the record is about and check the album previews!
An Ugly Hero is considered a myth. Growing up, the heroes we saw in cartoons and movies were perfectly chiseled, intelligent, and had senses none of us possess. An UGLY HERO is the everyday blue collar individual that makes the world go ’round. These are the heroesthat work hard all day, everyday to help ensure that the lives around them are taken care of, and do it all without recognition. They wear themselves into the ground and sacrifice vanity for family.
Apollo Brown, Verbal Kent, and Red Pill are UGLY HEROES.
Pre-order UGLY HEROES on UGHH.com. Below, find the album art!
It appears that there is always good news surrounding Jahshua Smith’s album The Final Season. The music video for his single “Censored (feat. Mic Write and Raphael)” has over 5,400 views on Youtube, the album spent two weeks at #1 on the CMJ Hip-Hop charts, and the feedback from listeners has been overwhelmingly positive. To add to the momentum he’s already enjoying, Jahshua Smith has been able to put his album into all the major internet retailers. Through TuneCore, The Final Season is now available for purchase/download on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, MySpace, Xbox Live, Rhapsody, IHeartRadio and more. This is a great accomplishment for Jahsh, now that the album has the attention of many people. To everybody who has already supported, thank you. To everyone who has yet to hear the album, don’t sleep! BLAT!
Download from iTunes
Stream on Spotify:
At the request of MTV Hive, BLAT! Pack producer Hir-O put together “The Origin Story” as the site’s Mix of the Week! The mix has songs from “The Voyage Home,” “The Kick” with Red Pill, and a string of unreleased goodies, along with a few gems from influences like Flying Lotus. Read below for an excerpt from MTV’s Steven Aguilar:
Detroit producer and Oberlin Conservatory of Music graduate Hir-O works in the atmospheric tradition of J-Dilla, RZA and Flying Lotus, crafting beats that are intentional in their ruggedness and dissonance. … Rest assured that the institution of Detroit hip-hop is being maintained by capable young hands.
For more about the mix, CLICK HERE to read the full MTV Hive article. Listen to “The Origin Story” mix below!
