SHOUT MAGAZINE…”RISE UP”…REVIEW

AZEEM & DJ CHILD
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“Rise Up Mixtape”

MC Azeem and DJ Child bring reggae and hip-hop together more explicitly than ever before. Jr. Gong’s “Welcome to Jamrock” permeates the mix, and DJ Child throws in drops by local rasta elder/chanting man Tony Moses. The mix is most conscious when Tiye Selah weighs in on her experience trying to educate the young forgotten women of the streets; or when Azeem persuades the listener to feel his frustration with the lockdown of black youth. With the bevy of social ills facing the urban Oakland of today, Azeem’s culturaly broad approach is refreshing. DJ Child seamlessly meshes New bay and Old Bay beats and steers into righteous reggae anthems just enough to make the whole mix click.