We've overlooked Detroit producer Apollo Brown for too long now. The Mello Music Group signee has worked with some of the most respected artists in the game, including but not limited to Ghostface, DITC, Onyx, Chino XL, D12, OC, Danny Brown and Rass Kass, and he shows no signs of slowing his roll.
The undeniably soulful "Lonely & Cold" is Apollo's latest offering, featuring guest verses from veteran NYC emcee Roc Marciano, a champion of multisyllabic wordplay whose talents are on full display here. The cut is included on Brown's recent, predominantly instrumental project Thirty Eight, which, according to MMG's official description, "deftly bridges the gap between '70s Blaxploitation soundtracks and the hip-hop records that sampled from them." You can stream and/or cop it here if you wish, but whatever you do, don't call it a beat tape - if anything, it's "an expansive cinematic composition for the theatre of your mind."
Hopefully y'all can dig the record, though. It's hard.
Stay tuned as always, and keep up with these two via Twitter in the meantime: @ApolloBrown / @RocMarci.
Quotable Lyrics
Tan in the winter
Steamed salmon for dinner
The air's thinner
Never let the beef simmer
Or let the beast get us
Peace - this is it, lizard
So much white it's a blizzard
I'm a street wizard
-Roc Marciano
