It’s always extremely exciting and fulfilling to discover a new artist who is both talented and well versed (pun intended), and at the same time refreshing to listen to. Detroit hip hop exists as a veritable alchemical cauldron of lyricism, producing juggernauts like Elzhi and Eminem along with scores of other talented artists, many of whose names you may never know. The city’s music scene is fiercely competitive and the miserable local economy shows little love to all but a few artists. But every once in a while someone comes along with a style so unique, so ear catching, with that balance of traditional skill and innovative approach, that you can’t help noticing. SelfSays is such an artist. His lyrical reach is stellar, laying claim to the terrestrial and the astral, leaving no sacred cow unturned. His mouthy wordplay often leaves you scratching your head and wondering how he got all those words into one sentence without sounding contrived or pretentious. Indeed it’s the natural swagger and casual delivery of all this wordiness that lends Self such a likeable and down to earth presence. You feel like he could be telling jokes in your living room, or perhaps pontificating on the finer points of Detroit bath robe lounge culture with his sometimes collaborator Doc Waffles. Self is a man of the people, and the people should stand up and take notice, for another diamond in the rough is brought to you courtesy of the fine city of Detroit and it’s beautiful music scene.

From URB:

The newest video from MC SelfSays (Directed by Matt Barth) features famed New York producer Blockhead on the beat. The feisty Detroit rapper has a few new projects in the works at the moment — saying you can expect a new flexi-disc single out on Insect Records just in time for SXSW.

From SelfSays.com:
Charles Vann, an ordinary man, is poised to be one of the most refreshing new voices in hip-hop. As SelfSays he makes music that balances quirky, off-kilter rhyme styles with more serious, straight-aced lyricism. Continue reading →