Emerging: Vince P.

Hip hop is such a loaded genre/term, we won't even really get into our thoughts about it, other than to say that the last decade or so of chest-pumping, swagger-filled, we're-rich-now-but-remember-the-streets clan of artists are--save for a very select few--lost on us.  Now, judge us for that or not, but we just needed to put it out there.  Now, there is still something to be said though, in that, the only way artists get even a small amount of notice in these days of over-connected and over-stimulated consumers is really to do just what the 90s hip hop world did.  It's become a standard protocol now and there's more than likely no way to take on the self-marketing machine.  There's still tons of jocking for attention and respect, and with this dude from Springfield, IL called Vince P., you get all of it.  He proclaims he's cooler than you.  You can see a ton of photos of P. with A-D list celebrities.  He has a blog.  He's also, though, one of URB's "next 100", so he's starting to get that recognition.  But he seems way more intent on carrying his name through his skills, rather than who he's even remotely connected to.  And now, with a track where he takes on mashing Justice's "Phantom" tracks alongside his own stellar rapping, he's about to get even more of that notice.  He's not doing anything game-changing, but at least the rhymes are good.  Continue smashing your fist into your chest.  Vince P.'s first release, the almost-too-ridiculously-titled The Next Big Thing In Pop Culture, is out this summer.

(mp3)    Vince P. vs Justice - Phantom III

Godspeed!