Kafani is destined to rule the town with his new album Money’s My Motivation, out now on Koch Records. Smooth, laid back hip hop beats and rich synthesizer bass lines are rolled into this bumpin hyphy soundtrack. I’ll admit, I’m homesick for hyphy. I lived in Oakland for a long time, only recently moved across the bridge to San Francisco. Hyphy still sounds like home to me. I smile whenever I hear it rattling trunks and turning leather seats into massage chairs. I haven’t had a chance to test the new Kafani CD in one of those cars yet, but I did the next best thing - I played it on the home audiophile’s version of boxes in the trunk: a pair of KRK Rokit 6’s with 12″ subwoofer. This system is very similar to what most boosted car systems sound like, so it was a good fit for a banging hyphy album. Here’s what I heard…
Kafani Gets Motivated
“I’m about being in the club, having fun and getting money”
The entire recording has such smooth bass waves that cascade down into subsonics. The melodies rise outta classic west coast synth hooks reminiscent of L.A.’s peak hip hop days. The drums also pay tribute to hip hop classics with claps and 808 drum samples. But the high hats are pure hyphy! My favorite song on the album is “Fast (like a Nascar)” with Keak Da Sneak. I tried to find a less obvious fave, but I couldn’t do it. I just love Keak Da Sneak’s voice and style and here its grit and ruffness is such a perfect compliment to the smoothness of Kafani’s voice. Kafani displays his youthfulness in the sound of his voice and playful lyrics like the nursery rhyming riddles in “Fast” and “Like Ooh”.
“I’m about being in the club, having fun and getting money,” he says. “At the end of the day, I’ve always been a hustler,” he explains. “We’re working, hustling, trying to get money and get what we want to get. I’m trying to provide for my family and my friends. The way to do that is money and money is power.”
The Ice King Keeps It Cool
From the local shout-outs on “Throw Ya Hood Up” to what motivates the Ice King on the title track, Kafani tells the story of living young and fast in the Yay Area. And just like The Pack’s new LP, Based Boys, Kafani’s debut is about gettin noticed in the club and chattin up fine ladies. “Lean In It” drips like a languid, hot summer night with a simmering hot honey. If you need a good old fashioned love ballad to set the mood, start with “Cutie Pie” and work backwards.
Money Is My Motivation is a solid entrance into the west coast hyphy movement. Kafani is goin to need a pair of those Millionaire Stunna Shades to look into his future…
And when he walk up in the club, everybody be like “Oooh - look at them shades! Look at him - Oooh!”
Kafani Hyphy Links
Kafani music - you can listen to “Cutie Pie” and “Throw Ya Hood Up”
Click on the album cover to listen to all the songs on the album or get more info from Amazon:
Kafani and Kashmere have been friends for more than a decade. The two together are the Baby Face Assassins, notorious hyphy addicts:
Baby Face Assassins - “Hyphy Ill”
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