northern state : Releases >>
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Can I Keep This Pen? >>
"Can I Keep This Pen?" pushes the limits more than anything we've recorded before in terms of what a hip hop song might sound like, what a rock song might sound like, and what Northern State might sound like. The album includes songs about our friendship ("Better Already"), our president ("Cowboy Man"), the apathy that surrounds us ("Cold War"), as well as what may be the first Northern State love song ("Away Away"). Our classic old school hip hop sound runs through the album, weaving its way through a new electro-rock current.
Discover Music of the Baroque Era >>
Discover Music of the 20th Century >>
Instruments of the Orchestra >>
Dying in Stereo >>
All City >>
They're preppy, white, university-educated, and from the 'burbs--Mobb Deep, meet your worst nightmare. Desperately trying to stave off the novelty-act accusations from naysayers who might question their cheap Beastie Girls shtick, Hesta Prynn, Spero, and Sprout flow like Valley Girls Gone Wild on the mic--except they're from New York. "Ignite" kicks off the set and is a good harbinger of feminist things to come: "on one track you're dropping hos, like dropping dropping bombs, next track you're writing odes unto your moms." Oh yes, Northern State has spunk. On "Girl for All Seasons" they tackle body-image issues, and on "Don't Look Down," they spit close-to-home lines like "I'm getting out of this city any way I can, I'll be a soccer mom in a minivan." Boasting production credits from fine knob-twiddlers like the Roots' Questlove, Muggs, and Pete Rock, Northern State is clearly no joke, although their half-baked metaphors and whiny flows don't always do the beats justice. Still, Northern State reminds us that in many ways hip-hop itself has grown up and left the 'hood for the 'burbs. --Dalton Higgins
Classical Heat >>
Life & Works >>
The Classic Love Album >>
Classical Chillout >>
