
The voice of Los Angeles' legendary Low End Theory Nocando is back with a new album entitled Tits 'N Explosions featuring a lot of LA's finest beat producers ranging from Eyelove, DJ Nobody, Kenny Segal, Preston James, Low Limit, Thavius Beck, Steve Nalepa, and Mike Parvicci all mixed and mastered by "the godfather" Daddy Kev. Roll through to The Church Of Fun for the official release party tomorrow. - Conrad Tits 'N Explosions by Nocando

Daft Punk damn near broke the Internet this past Monday when their new album, Random Access Memories , hit the web and quickly appeared on iTunes as a full stream . But coming in a close second place was Kanye West, partially because HMV Japan revealed that June 18 is most likely the release date of his next album. He also performed inside of a pyramid . Yeah. Anyway, we're mostly hyped to hear Killer Mike and El-P's Run the Jewels record, which they finished this past week. In slightly bizarre news, [...]

Nocando – Tits N’ Explosions Hellfyre Club: 2013 2010 was a banner year for a particular subset of Los Angeles hip-hop. It brought the release of Nocando’s Jimmy the Lock and Open Mike Eagle’s Unapologetic Art Rap —two debuts that delivered pure auditory fun, and promised great things to come. Open Mike’s “Unapologetic” was probably the standout track of these two records. On this song, Eagle and Nocando traded hilarious verses over a propulsive, buzzing beat. On the hook, Open Mike rapped: “I won’t apologize for it/ This is not a [...]

For our latest foolhardy adventure in the world of semi-professional talking, myself and Nocando welcomed Wax onto Shots Fired . If you're unfamiliar with the Maryland-raised, LA-based rapper, he used YouTube to build himself into an indie-rap star and leveraged his fanbase and skill into a a deal with Def Jam. As most major label deals go, they wanted him to wear all leather and write pop-rap songs and so on. Even Y.G. couldn't get his album released on that label and Y.G. is more loved in LA than the Lakers and Dodgers at this point. But [...]

I host a podcast with Nocando , so it's pretty easy for me to take for granted that he's a great rapper. He didn't listen to my advice to call this mixtape, 85% Tits and Explosions, but everything else here is certified. There will be a review of this sooner than later. In the meantime, soak up the rap game Michael Bay movie. It's free, but the 3-D Shutter Shades will cost you extra. Tits 'N Explosions by Nocando

Before we get to hear Nocando 's follow-up to 20102s Jimmy The Lock album, he's keeping us satiated with a very strong free release. It's called [chuckles] Tits N' Explosions and features some of his finest work yet, some bass-heavy production, and sharper-than-sharp bars. We have a review of the mixtape coming this week, so I won't spoil too much about this one context-wise. I will say, though, that tracks "No Sweat", " More Credit ", and " All Over a Bitch " are more than worth your time. Shouts to producers Kenny Segal, Thavius Beck, Preston [...]

Los Angeles producer/DJ Nobody hit us up on Twitter today to let us know he has a new mixtape out with the note, "I THINK Y'ALL WOULD LIKE THIS!" Given our appreciation of his solo work and his beats for guys like Nocando , we had a feeling we would, in fact, LIKE THIS. Wrong, we LOVE THIS. OK, I do, at least, and I think it's an appropriate soundtrack for the rest of the afternoon. Spare Time Mixtape 1 is loud, bass-y, and destined to break a subwoofer. Oh, and it's free . [...]
Soundcrash is proud to present the first London takeover from the legendary LA club night Low End Theory featuring the resident crew in full plus resident in spirit Kutmah. The club night draws... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
![Nocando – No Sweat (MTVHive Premiere) [audio]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4921845_lg.jpg)
Stream: Nocando - No Sweat According to L.A. rapper Nocando, his latest single, “No Sweat” is “about having grace under the fire of being counted out or being hated on.” In other words, “Oh, you hating? ‘No Sweat.’” He drives that mindset home over the boisterous Preston James instrumental with brash lines like, “If you disagree/Just eat a dick or read my dossier.” Rounding out the track are seasoned L.A. rappers Pigeon John and Cel hops on the beat, but it’s Nocando’s freewheeling shit-talking that has us sweating the most. Nocando’s [...]

The knee-jerk temptation is to back away from Nocando's "All Over A Bitch", to say naw-naw I don't endorse the message like you might do when a comedian says some shit that hits too close to home while you're out on a date with your lady. To do so though, only strengthens Nocando's mantra which will undoubtedly ring around in your skull until a small part of your manhood dies inside. "All Over A Bitch" is chauvanistic, sure. It's impervious to reasoning, ...

The knee-jerk temptation is to back away from Nocando's "All Over A Bitch", to say naw-naw I don't endorse the message like you might do when a comedian says some shit that hits too close to home while you're out on a date with your lady. To do so though, only strengthens Nocando's mantra which will undoubtedly ring around in your skull until a small part of your manhood dies inside. "All Over A Bitch" is chauvanistic, sure. It's impervious to reasoning, ...

Inspired by a last minute cancellation and the enduring reality that all rappers are lead singers (and most have lead singer syndrome), the latest episode of Shots Fired features myself, Nocando, and our guests Open Mike Eagle and Taurus Scott talking about rappers who live on their own time, how fame effects a rapper’s ego, and why conscious rappers sometimes have the worst case of lead singer syndrome. Plus, Taurus tells us about his time working with G-Unit, Open Mike Eagle shares lead singer syndrome stories from touring, and Nocando tells us about [...]

When I first heard Nocando 's new joint, the Thavius Beck -produced "All Over a Bitch", I was all, "OK, the word bitch is used wayyyyy too much here." But then I listened again and again and ... you get the point. The massive beat worked its way into my skull first, but then Nocando's rhymes truly hit me and I was all, "I have totally been through most of this." The track is essentially a more profane look into the life of a dude who's done all sorts of stupid shit because of a girl and seen [...]

Review courtesy of the Uber Max Bell. Milwaukee's Milo has a "big brain"- like Jimmy Neutron if he talked about Nietzsche's Übermensch instead of science. Think of Milo as a more introspective and well read Ab-Soul for fans of Vonnegut and Phillip K. Dick. Allusions aside, he's an intelligent, unabashedly horny '90s baby with an inexhaustible store of knowledge (high/low culture and otherwise) and a prodigious gift for thought-provoking and brow-furrowing bars. His come-ons are only understood by those who know the fantastic '90s Nickelodeon game show Legends of the Hidden Temple . He swears he's [...]

In what might be the appropriate guest for a podcast named Shots Fired, we had Gangsta Gibbs on this week's episode. Since Freddie is on the short-list of both best rappers breathing and most knowledgeable sports fans, it seemed only natural that he would help us break down the history of athletes trying to rap. It is a long and storied tradition of failure. Even the greatest athlete rapper of all-time once gave us this . Then again, he also gave us " No Hook. " The episode description is below the jump, along with the MP3. [...]

Behold: the lone photo of me to ever appear on the Passion of the Weiss. In the words of the RZA on Wu-Tang Forever, this is like a comet. Or to paraphrase another eccentric superhero, once the face got revealed, game got real. The reason is that on the latest episode of Shots Fired , Nocando and I welcomed Self Jupiter of Freestyle Fellowship and Fatlip of the Pharcyde. If you know me or my 13-year old self, this was a coup almost on par with going on a date with Cindy Crawford. Because I do not [...]

The intention was to get two of the savviest managers in the music business into the studio and have them dish on the unsavory stories and sundry shadiness that they've come across during their time in the industry. We completely failed at that. However, I think that Dan Weisman ( Elitaste Inc , former manager of Wale, Big Sean, & Mike Posner) and Leeor Brown ( Friends of Friends , manager of Salva & Shlohmo) dropped insight and their thoughts on the record business as it stands in 2013. The full episode explanation, the podcast, and a video [...]

If you are one of those people who is obsessed with audio fidelity and formality, this might not be your favorite episode. Due to Blockhead and Nocando's tour schedules, the only time we could get together to record this episode was on a Saturday afternoon at my apartment, buoyed by a lot of Irish whiskey, weed, and a sleeping Boston terrier with a chain saw snore. The recording was improvised on my laptop Garage Band with no external mic. Somehow, it exists and I think turned out funny. We talked about rap alter-egos and nonsense and [...]

I originally wanted to do an episode on Chief Keef and Trinidad James and how they're the two names that suck up all the oxygen in the rap room. This month's edition. Instead, Nocando pointed out that they are are products of a post-based society. He is probably right. Whether you love or hate Lil B (I like roughly five songs - could live without the rest), there's no denying that he is very well the most influential Internet rapper of the last few years. Ironically, I like the people that he's influenced more than his actual music. Maybe that [...]