New Music: Cashtro Crosby – A Million Fans: Gin & Furr [Mixtape]
For all the hip hop fans out there, Pittsburgh/Ottawa rapper Cashtro Crosby released his mixtape A Million Fans: Gin & Furr back in January. I’m not usually into this kind of hip hop, but I’m a sucker for the mixtape format and have heard some great things about Crosby over the last few years. The production on this mixtape is also really tight, it was really fun to listen to. Side A [GIN] contain tracks like “Moet Mimosa’s” ft. City Fidelia (OG PROJECT CHICK) 14′ and “So Raspy (S O MOBEATZ & SEAN)” that can pretty much make a room start bouncing on any given Saturday night.
Side B [FURR] took me back to grade 8 with the minute-and-a-half long “Black Jesus… (OG HOV ROC4EVER)” which samples Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” off Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life (1998) and pay homage to the impact Jay-Z had on him and so many others over the years. Other tracks like “The Last Dragon (NWTS)” use badass breakbeats with slight reverb that give a real smooth beat for him to layer his vocals on. Another throwback on this side was “Best.ofBoth.Borders (PUTYAHANDS) (OGBUSTA)”, which he samples the funky sped-up baseline of Seals & Crofts’ track “Sweet Green Fields“, or in other words, the backing track from Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” off When Disaster Strikes (1997). You’ll know it when you hear it. The rest of the mixtape features some other beats that hip hop fans will be sure to recognize.
The beats and loops sound super crisp and Crosby’s technique is really solid – especially for Ottawa where there aren’t a whole lot of rappers like him. I was pretty happy to hear Crosby do his own thing over those classic 90’s hip hop tunes, it’s always great to hear musicians giving props to their musical influences in their own ways. Crosby has also shared the stage with the likes of acts such as Action Bronson, Jadakiss, and Stalley as a supporting act, and has taken part in Ottawa’s only annual urban arts festival House of Paint.
Stream Cashtro Crosby’s A Million Fans: Gin & Furr mixtape below for free, and don’t miss out on him hosting No Pump Faking Fridays on the 3rd Friday of every month at Ritual Nightclub featuring Triple B‘s DJ Mes & DJ ALIVE on the decks spinning Hip-Hop, RnB, Trap, Club, Old School, Classic, Reggae, and Dancehall all night long.
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