“The track has a smooth piano riff, smoky atmosphere with snapping drums and features Epic’s off-kilter flow and solid bars from Inky.” – Word Is Bond
Word Is Bond has provided a quick review of Epic’s “Us (Trevar Fox Remix)” featuring Inky from the new single released by Epic.
It’s Bandcamp Friday so we’re releasing Pasquale’s Specials 2 for pre-order on digital, CD, and cassette. Get the pre-order here.
Out now!
On “Us”, the fourth and final single from Heater in My Truck II, Epic and featured guest Inky (aka Trevar Fox) provide a glimpse into who they are as individuals before claiming “the only people that we can count on is us”. The “us” in this case is not only Epic and Inky but also those old school Canadian hip hop kids that grew up on Rap City in that golden age of Much Music from 1995 to 2009. The downtempo original production from Infinite Potential aka I. Peezy is boom bap heavy on jazzy piano while Trevar Fox’s multi-layered remix sounds like a jazz quartet composed of drums, upright bass, piano and organ. It’s still jazzy like the original but a whole lot funkier, too! And the laidback flows of the two MCs also bring a lot of chill to the vibe. Trevar Fox also directed an accompanying video that has been released with both the original and remix audio.
Or watch the remix version:
I just found this cool little video review of Epic’s Heater In My Truck II album…
“The Dirty Sample’s production is second to none…” – Cups N Cakes
A Quick Picks review of Cold Camp’s Winter Dreamz from Cups N Cakes:
Get some cinematic hip hop instrumentals up in your earholes…
In 2025, Epic and Deadly Stare released their collaboration album A library called Calder, a world-building hip hop album combining the thought-provoking narratives of Epic over the ever-evolving cinematic production of Deadly Stare. With instrumentals this layered alongside the numerous unpredictable change-ups throughout, it was inevitable these instrumentals would get their own separate release. It’s evident these beats hold their own even without an MC involved. A library called Calder (Instrumental) reveals Deadly Stare as an intricate producer with an eye for detail and a tendency to take a beat to unexpected places.
Produced by Deadly Stare
For the month of April, our retrospective Listening Party to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Hand’Solo Records is going to be The Raw, the awesome debut of Ultra Magnus & DJ SLAM!, The Raw. This duo impressed the heck out me and many others with two back-to-back performances at the monthly $5 Rap Show. The energy of Ultra Magnus was palpable. It wasn’t long after that second performance that we were in talks to release what was to be the aptly titled The Raw. I hope you will join me in listening to what is one of my favourite albums on the label, and let’s discuss it and hip hop in general in the chat. I’ll see you there! RSVP here.
It looks like I may not have posted this previously… But there only one week left to take advantage of this great deal! Our $30 Bundle for the month of April in celebration of our 30th Anniversary is a selection of three great tapes from our discography that often get overlooked. From The Dirty Sample we have Tuesday Nights on Cardero, a collection of unreleased posse cuts from his crew; from Alien Trap Lords we have 3L3M3NT 115, an album of alien overlord raps on spacey trap beats; and Royal-T and Nevamind’s final album as The Yesmen. 3 tapes for $30! That’s half price! Only available for the month of April! Order here.
Noblonski and Nolto discuss their new album, influences, the industry, and more, with Illuminati 2G.
“Firmly rooted in the foundational elements of boom bap, Pasquale infuses the production with a “quirky edge” that has become his signature.” – Mu6ix Cafe
Mu6ix Cafe review of “WIndDrift”, the third single from Pasquale’s upcoming instrumental album, Specials 2.
