Dumbfoundead & DJ Zo - Cut + Paste (Mixtape)

I'm still on the fence about battle rappers.  While I can respect what they do, sometimes the tactics they use don't sit well with me.  Battle rapping consists almost entirely of dissing and demeaning your opponent in order to earn a win.  They can be entertaining to watch, but all too often the participants resort to mundane racial attacks and rhyming words with 'duck'.  I haven't seen that many rappers that can actually battle, meaning they listen and consider what their opponent is saying and then flip it back on them.  It's pretty obvious that a lot of these guys just sit at home thinking of one liners and then spew them out come battle time.

People like Dumbfoundead are different, and rare.   He's a Korean-American who was born in Argentina and grew up in L.A.  When he battles, it's not all about yelling and offending.  Dumb prefers to embarrass whoever he's battling with clever rhymes and jokes, and he does so with a grin on his face too.  Watch him do it here.  The battle starts around 1:30.  Dumbfoundead goes second after Tantrum, who epitomizes what I don't like about many battle rappers.  Sure, Dumb plays the race card too, but his lines are way more meaningful and his flow is better too.  Freestyling is hard enough, but to do this off the dome is truly impressive.

After a few years in his local battle circuits, Dumb has started making studio music.  I've been trying to stay up on whatever he puts out and it's been fun watching him grow as an artist.  Take a listen to his latest efforts with DJ Zo:

Cut + Paste

His earlier songs felt awkward and forced, but he is definitely coming into his own.  The transition from battler to performer is never easy; the styles are too different.  I think he's realizing now that he doesn't have to concentrate on the super focused topical content of battle raps; he can expand to talk about whatever he wants.  I won't say it's the best mixtape ever, but it's fun and features some cool samples from people like Theophilus London and Lykke Li.  We should look forward to more gems from Dumbfoundead who is only turning 25 next week.