beats, rhymes and life: the fresh coast movement

in rotation: bo-rat - project cutty

for those that don't know, the fresh coast movement is upon us. i've been following emcees like the saurus, passwurdz, franco, bo-rat, illmaculate, ex-i, okwerdz and nocando for a while now. their battle legacies cannot be denied. with the emergence of jump off's world rap championship in 2006 and 2007, and now with grind time divisions being erected across the usa, it appears the fresh coast movement has really established its place in the international battle scene. for proof of how dope these left coast emcees are, check out the fresh coast all-stars cypher footage below. okwerdz is just filthy with the rhymes in this clip. if only pass, apes, bo, plex, ex-i and illmac were there. haha i shouldn't be complaining. this scene is taken from the bonus features of the long anticipated documentary dvd titled 'fresh coast'. support these dedicated artists and buy the dvd here.

fresh coast cypher part 1 (nocando, okwerdz, the saurus, lush one, d-lor, tantrum and franco)

fresh coast cypher part 2 (nocando, okwerdz, the saurus, lush one, d-lor, tantrum and franco)

i think the fresh coast is best summarised in avocado's (i'm pretty sure he's the dude who did the editing for the dvd) post which reads:

"the fresh coast began as a loosely based coalition defined by freestyle and lyrical supremacy and a high standard for hip-hop on america’s west coast, particularly california. the name was inspired by the phrase commonly referred to in the late 80s/early 90s good life/freestyle fellowship-era of project blowed, as well as the boom bap movement of oakland, ca in the early 90s. it was an homage to the stylistically-driven and innovative rhythmic foundation originated by the trail-blazing coastal fore-fathers of this new artistic resurgence/renaissance. the laid back vibe juxtaposed with the high risk and fast paced energy that define the pacific region is ubiquitous throughout this movement. overall excellence in everything from song craftsmanship to battle dominance begins with the finest dank smoke and some of the hungriest most dedicated emcees in the world. these emcees were all brought together by a desire to prove their prowess on the emcee battle circuit, and would later attain extreme notoriety and accolades in the realm of rhyme fighting. this is the fresh coast. west up."

for those that don't know, y'all need to go and youtube all of these names. i really like what the grind time folks are doing. noteworthy gt battle performances which have stood out to me so far include: both the saurus and madness, both tantrum and reverse live, passwurdz, franco, and d-lor. i repeat, for those that don't know y'all need to youtube this shit. to save you some time, below are the videos of the grind time battles of the emcees i just mentioned. i cannot wait to see jaze juce vs okwerdz. i put my cash on okwerdz. he's just a rap machine. anyways, keep up the good work grind time!