St Anthony - Chilifornia Dreaming

Hear The Track Here

Now I hurriedly hasten to point out that I have not been visited by the divine, this is not the revered saint you see before you, but a Los Angeles based producer rapper who asked for a review through the Rebel Riffs blog. As you know, we seem to plough through a fair amount of hip hop in these reviews and while I am not in favour of some things, I do have a lot of time for the genre when, IMHO, it isn't playing to the lowest common denominator a la the commercial side of the street. As I have already pointed out a gazillion times there is a perfectly acceptable (and often groundbreakingly good) hip hop music on the net but - as ever - it takes some digging up.

Producer Joe Picco (who is friends with Mathien who you may remember) recorded Chilifornia Dreaming to reflect a 'Chicago->California mind-state' and I guess it's definitely got those ingredients. As you know I am no big fan of the softer side of hip hop too, in fact the rawer the better sometimes, but if the underlying tune and lyrical content are up to the job then that's half the battle right there. Chilifornia Dreaming treads a very, very fine line between the more traditional form and the new, re-energised indie hip hop you hear online, and it only just slides by.

There again, I have become a lot harsher these days because the indie/online bar is so damn high as as good as Chilifornia Dreaming in many ways, I personally don't think it strong enough to make that much impact. On the other hand, what it does show is yet another creative centre where indie hip hop is struggling to counter the tide of commercial rubbish that deluges us every day and that's always a good thing. Don't get me wrong, if you like hip hop and rap you won't find anything wrong with this track and who knows, you may even grow to like it. While I do like it as far as production and intention go, St Anthony has some way to go before convincing me fully.

Recommended hip hop none the less.