Dow Jones

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of modern rap/hip-hop, in general my taste for current rappers is very narrow; Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Soulja Boy, 50 Cent and the likes simply don't do it for me.  I still love rap/hip-hop, but instead I tend to rejoice more in the glory of the old-school (particularly east coast) era during the early to mid-'90s.  I am much more down with Nas, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, De La Soul, Wu-Tang, Notorious B.I.G., and so on and so on...you get my point.  That's why when Detroit-born (now located in Charlotte, NC) rapper Dow Jones dropped his new single "Tweeters" in my inbox the other day, I was taken aback by how much I liked it.  Going into it I definitely had my doubts, my initial thought was: "Great, another person who thinks he can spit and rap in front of annoying Garageband-manufactured beats".  This was followed by, "What the hell is a Tweeter?  Is he on Twitter?" (for those who don't know, a tweeter is a loudspeaker meant for high frequencies).

Yet, despite my qualms, I listened...and I'm glad I did.  What surprised me about how much I enjoyed it was the fact that the song doesn't really have that old-school feel, instead it actually does sound relatively modern.  On multiple listens, though, the track really grew on me; I was attracted to its laid-back aura, the delicate addition of the background piano, Dow Jones' voice, and the seemingly inconspicuous backing synth.  All the pieces come together to form a well-crafted, catchy, fun and gratifying hip-hop track.  Dow Jones is starting to make a name for himself, too.  "Tweeters" is starting to spread around the Southeast region of the United States, and on top of that he has performed/toured with such artists as Chiddy Bang, Jedi Mind Tricks, Brother Ali, Goodie Mob, Warren G, and Wiz Khalifa.  He also just finished a mini-tour with the popular hip-hoppers Wale and Savoy, where he gained a lot of recognition for his great live shows.  Anyway, I know it's a Friday and the last thing people want to do is read a lot, so I'll just cut to it and give you the song.  Below is the single "Tweeters" from Dow Jones' Lyrics and Liquor EP, hope ya'll dig it.

 Tweeters

You can download the song at his SoundCloud here.  If you like this and want more Dow Jones, he offers his entire Lyrics and Liquor EP for a free download at his Bandcamp here.  Happy weekends everyone!