With Kendrick Lamar releasing arguably the album of the year with To Pimp A Butterfly, and Dr. Dre’s recent masterpiece Compton: A Soundtrack, and of course the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, it seems like Compton has once again become the star city of the great state of California. In a larger scope, southern California hip hop, after a grueling drought, has finally risen once again. As I mentioned in my interview with Compton’s own Billionaire Buck, there is a multitude of young, talented SoCal artists in the game such as Billionaire Buck, Vince Stapes, Cassey Veggies, Kendrick, Skeme, ScHoolboy Q, Nipsey Hussle, YG, Tyler Tha Creator, Problem, Mellowhype, DJ Mustard, Pac D##, Ab-Soul, Kid Ink, Earl Sweatshirt, Jay Rock as well as OG’s like The Game, Madlib, Snoop Dogg, Dilated Peoples, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Suga Free, Warren G, Cube, W.C., DJ Quik, and Dr. Dre.
Although he was raised about 20 minutes north of Compton, it will be only a matter of time before Inglewood native Rhawn B joins that list of talented SoCal emcees. Expensive Ignorance is the highly anticipated new record from Rhawn B. of U.D. fame (Uniquely Divided). Looking to join the likes of legendary producers like Dre and Daz, this skilled young producer/artist/engineer, and Founder of UDMusic Group is a graduate of The Los Angeles Film Institute. Rhawn B has performed at Roxy, Viper Room, Club Nokia, On The Rox, Key Club, Airliner, and other venues throughout California, and has become known for his vicious energy on stage and his ability to rock the crowd. Opening for the variegated likes of The Pharcyde, YG, Phife Dog, Juvenile, DJ Quik, Dogg Pound, Mack 10, and the Ying Yang Twins, many a concert goer has gone to a _______ show and left being more impressed with Rhawn B.
Editor’s Note: Since I’m an enormous fan of all those groups (except of course for the Ying Yang Twins) I’m not going to fill that blank in. If it was Tyga I would have no problem. But then again, if I’m ever in a position where I’m purchasing Tyga concert tickets, rest assured all my mental faculties have been wiped clean.
According to Rhawn B, his work is “artsy” and “creative” hip hop. Obviously, that doesn’t mean diddly-squat, so he elaborated: “I’m excited about this project, life experiences helped to develop this CD into what it is….. I made some expensive mistakes in life and had to learn from my ignorance the hard way. I had to cut some people off in order to move forward. My fans stayed loyal, in fact my fan base grew. I had to re-focus my energy and revamp my artistry. I feel like this whole process with the album is a new personal growth for me; It felt great to be able to produce, record, and engineer the entire project.” It’s worth mentioning that BLVCKVMISH co-produced a couple of the tracks on Expensive Ignorance; Rey Little, Wessy West, T. Bailey, and D. Real are also featured on the project.
Rhawn B wanted his official release to be dope and personal, like the Cali masters/perfectionists before him. But Expensive Ignorance isn’t merely a “Westcoast” album, but one designed so that everyone can gravitate. Instead of adhering to manipulative tastes of record label executives, Rhawn B clearly wanted to craft an album dripping with realism, not merely project a contrived image; According to him: “If I don’t own it, it’s not displayed in my video.”
If you are interested in adding another Cali artist to your brand new iPhone 6s, and in 2015, why wouldn’t you? You can stream Expensive Ignorance below.
http://rippletunes.com/album/Rhawn-B/Expensive-Ignorance/975106083/t0
If you’re feeling Rhawn B and his U.D. crew, make sure to track his movements on the interwebs:
Websites (Official, bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter)
• twitter.com/RhawnB,
• RhawnB.com
• Rhawnb.tumblr.com
• https://www.facebook.com/UniquelyDivided
• https://instagram.com/rhawnb/