I usually try to only cover music that drops within a one-to-two week span, just to ensure that my coverage is always the most up to date so our readers can keep a timeline of releases with a sort of implied chronological order, but today I am very sorry to be derailing this standard practice. Today we are turning to Montgomery, Alabama which unfortunately is a city more synonymous with America’s brutally racist past and present than having any sort of viable hip-hop scene and the only artist to ever come close to the proverbial point of ‘making it out’ is Doe B and tragically his life was cut short as he was gunned down towards the end of 2013. This may have extinguished the immediate flame that burned more brightly than any others in the Gump but in the wake of this tragedy the youngsters that mourned his death have gone on to make music and consequently carry on Doe B’s legacy while quickly working to put Montgomery back on the national hip-hop map, like their neighbors to the south and north in Birmingham and Mobile have been able to do in the past two years.
At the front of this youthful and energetic underground scene is LL Lausane whose effortless delivery is both unique and massively catchy, delivering beautiful melodies and catching flows that are simply not in the wheelhouses of other rappers. In late-March of this year, he unveiled his Kel Lowe directed visual for “Back2Back” which is a confrontational track over a creepy and ominous yet up-tempo instrumental. As rap continues to be the most popular genre in the country and many of its roots are seemingly being erased or devalued altogether, it is within places like Montgomery, AL where rap is still a pure form of expression dominated by teenagers and young adults working through their problems on the mic while telling the story of where they’re from and relating to the other kids in their community. It’s beautiful. In addition to checking out LL Lausane who has a relatively extensive catalog of videos and songs, I would also check out some of his Montgomery counterparts like Li Fred, Fatt Macc, MMG TB and more.