The good people over at LPLive have freshly uncovered a decades-old demo by the LA-based underground hip-hop group The Visionaries which features contributions by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda and (possibly) Joe Hahn. The untitled and previously-unreleased demo, likely dating back to the very early 2000s, was apparently uploaded to a Bandcamp page by Visionaries member 2Mex back in April earlier this year. For $1 USD, the song can be downloaded in a variety of audio formats. The track sees Shinoda hold his ground with a pair of vintage eight-bar verses, sitting alongside a multitude of other verses from The Visionaries' emcees 2Mex, KeyKool, LMNO, Lord Zen and Dannu, over an old-school walking-tempo beat with scratch-heavy break sections. No information has been provided on who produced the track. Give the demo a listen here, and visit our message board to tell us what you think! Source: LPLive / Bandcamp via iPodwithnomusic
I find it strange that this becomes public in LP's fanbase only now, since 2Mex uploaded it months ago. Seems his bandcamp doesn't attract too many people, though. -- I am not very good in identifying lyrics, but I try: " But this is something / that ya all feelin' waiting to hear / but didn't know what was coming" Self-fulfilling prophecy after 15 years?
Damn, this track was chill. I really liked the "sonar" sound effects in the background, as they added a lot of atmosphere to the song. As for Mike's verses, they were pretty good and had some interesting wordplay. They definitely offer a glimpse of the direction Mike could have taken with LP, especially if he chose to focus on what I think are urban decay/poverty themes. I still like Mike's current direction, as he still has some great lines in most of his verses. Overall though, I prefer Mike's old school sound and direction with his verses, yet he does "battle rap" fairly well, too.
Then, how exactly do you differentiate between "new" and "old" Mike? Time-wise, I mean. Is "old" Mike just pre-Meteora? And what did "old" Mike do better than "new" Mike? What occurred to me was that "old" Mike did use fancier words and also more alliteration-like word combinations in one line (I mean those tongue-twister-like lines he often uses in the old songs). I think those characteristics did kinda get lost in his newer material, indeed.
First verse kinda feels like some stuff Eminem did on Relapse. Pretty cool to see Shinoda at this level. Would love an acapella and the samples used in the song.
Spit drips from the jaw of the witless witness Cryptic colloquialism shifts your midrift <3 Broman pls
Exactly this! I wish he would still do such things today. And I wonder why these lines are mainly found in unreleased songs prior to Meteora. Did the label put pressure on him? Or is the reason the fact that Mike said he wants to rap so that everybody can understand him?