Pittsburgh’s Hip-Hop Resurrection: The 58’s
November 7, 2012
It’s no secret that the hip hop scene in Pittsburgh is stagnate. While it’s easy to tackle the local market, it’s difficult to blow up in the market because there’s no Pittsburgh sound. Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller, from my estimation, are relatively softer, easier to digest artists with no definable sound.
Wiz sings a lot of soft hooks while Mac has decent flow but his delivery is pretty beiberesque. Enter the 58’s, a hip hop crew out of McKeesport that offers a hard-hitting sound, along with solid lyrical content.
In their latest video, Heavyweight Shakedown ft. DJ Tom Dug & Primavera Vills, the weed talk kinda of reminds me of the snoop era, but the vintage sample from Baby Huey’s “Hard Times” with head bobbin back beat produces a strong track. The overall quality of lyrics brings me back to a time when content meant something more than a catchy hook. Flow over Autotune.
B.White is a talented emcee that truthfully blows the doors off of Miller and Wiz from a delivery and lyrical side, but we live in the day and age where being soft is cool, and that, and that alone is why the 58’s haven’t blown up the way they should have. It’s gonna take a more gritty major or indie label to get on board with their sound, but I think Koch Records(Now eOne) would be a great fit.
I look at great rappers like Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Styles, Brother Ali, and Cassidy (One of my all time favorites) and then I listen to songs like “Let me breath” by B.White, and it gets me going to know that the art form is still alive and well. The track is just 3 minutes of heartfelt fire, pain and life lessons, delivered eloquently, with a side of lightning.
If you’re a fan of true rap, Look for B.White and the 58’s, they bring back the game, the way it was intended to be played.
I liked all of this article except for the 1st statement…how can you say “It’s no secret that the hip hop scene in Pittsburgh is stagnate”? Who’s secret is it? Pittsburgh hip hop is thriving. Boaz just got signed to Rostrum. The 58s are killing everything they touch. Beedie just reunited with Mac for an Ill Spoken song…this is just to name a few. Dig below the surface and you’ll find dozens of talented MCs.
Head bobber, club player, radio worthy track right here. This would get mad support from me and definately be bumpin’ in my ride. The flow is wicked with a classic hip hop feel, just the way I dig it. Don’t sleep, let’s give them the support to move forward. Shared on my page.