Bay Area hiphop crew Fist Family have just released a new digital double single onto internetland, maybe heralding a new movement in Northern California hiphop in the process. Beat maestro Al Lover calls it garage rap—a show of regional solidarity as well as an olive branch extension to a different crowd, the beats on the genre's inaugural singles feature samples from the leaders of San Francisco's psych scene. The instrumentals from "All Mine" and "Part of the Game" pull from Ty Segall's "Alone" and Thee Oh Sees' "Flash Bats," respectively, and the accompanying artwork above blends Fist Family with the covers of Melted and Warm Slime.
Gus Cutty provides the rhymes on both tracks, spitting bluesy and boozy over Segall, then planting a druggy chorus above a sea of delay-drenched yelps from Oh Sees' John Dwyer. If you're wondering, the respect between rap and rock camps flows both ways—both Segall and Dwyer kindly gave permission for the samples to be used. Feel the love, Bay Area. Feel the love. Now I want to see the Pacific Northwest get in on the action. Sandpeople cuddling up to Portland indie folk? Boom Bap going grunge? A man can dream.
LISTEN:
Fist Family - "All Mine"
LISTEN:
Fist Family - "Part of the Game"
Check and follow Fist Family's Bandcamp for new tracks from their upcoming new album, Posted.