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Fashawn - "Golden State of Mind" ft. Dom Kennedy

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https://soundcloud.com/massappealrecs/fashawn-golden-state-of-mind-feat-dom-kennedy Palm trees, low riders, Death Row Records circa 1996, doo rags and button ups, a signature West Coast sunset and beautiful women of all hues come to mind when listening to the latest release from Fresno, CA's Fashawn with "Golden State of Mind". Released as part of the compilation Mass Appeal Vol. 1 and set to be included on his upcoming album The Ecology and featuring fellow West Coaster Dom Kennedy, Fashawn's newest is a prime slice of vintage L.A. hip hop heaven, tailor made for a long and lazy California summer night. Effortlessly flowing over a thumping but smooth-as-silk beat, Fashawn and Dom make anyone who has never visited the West side more than curious to at least get a glimpse of Cali's most infamous metropolis. Vivid and reminiscent, Fashawn has made a true song to ride out to with "Golden State of Mind."

By: Ron Grant

Twitter: @RonGreezy

Instagram: Ron_Instagrant

Fashawn- Higher Learning Vol. 2

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On Fashawn's latest mixtape, the Fresno rapper sounds as hungry as ever. He sounds fucking alive. He doesn't come off fake either. There's over an hour of material, and some of it seems a little half-baked--and I'm not talking about the weed references. But it's a FREE freakin' album. Though it may not be the most consistent thing in the world, listen in and pull some favorite tracks off of it. The tracks here I love, I REALLY freakin' love.

The score is basically a reflection of how much I found myself skipping around, really. I'm excited for Fashawn's future in rap, and I think he's gonna release a fantastic new LP soon. I'm banking on it.

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Fashawn's Higher Learning 2

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With all of this Odd Future buzz going around, the hip hop world seems pretty noisy right now, but I don't want this to go unnoticed:

Fresno rapper Fashawn has just dropped his latest mixtape, Higher Learning 2. It's an army of new flows featuring beats that sample everything from Queen to Kanye. Fashawn is sounding as confident as ever, and it's got me even more excited for his forthcoming album, the Ecology, which is yet to see a release date attached to it.

Download the tape and dig on a track from it below:

.zip: Fashawn- Higher Learning 2

MP3: Fashawn- Manny Pacquiao (Prod. by Phonix) -

Fashawn- "Dark Fantasy Freestyle" ‡ MP3

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These past few weeks have a been a little surreal. When I'm not busy figuring out myself, I'm trying to figure out the people who follow me. I can't say all the hype has changed my point of view on the new Kanye record--I feel the way I feel, so sue me. But for me, watching the internet buzz unfold exposed some gears in the hype machine.

Will we gain some kind of new focus from all the talk surrounding this album, or will our attention be snatched as soon as the hottest new commodity comes along? It's happened time and time again this year. It happened last year, too. Will this time be different? Remember the excitement around this album?

I think people just like consuming music, and everyone loves hearing something new. This Kanye will fall into the grey, and it's got nothing to do with being perfect or awful. Albums both immaculate and mediocre suffer this fate because of the speed at which we plow through albums, music videos, remixes, and singles. Yes, this will even happen to albums I've liked this year.

Maybe shelf life is overrated.

The truth is all the positive and negative vibes only last as long as attention spans do. Albums of the year are forgotten because we desperately need to make room for the next album of the year. Is that because we're dolts? Nah. We've just got a lot of tunage at our fingertips, and it's hard to say "no" when the next song you search for could be better than the previous.

The following track is a freestyle from one of my favorite MCs on the West Coast: Fashawn. He dropped it last night via On Smash, and he's spitting all over the first beat from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It's an extremely ballsy move, but he's one of the few guys out there right now who could pull it off.

MP3: Fashawn- Dark Fantasy Freestyle -