In today's climate it's real tough for up and coming rappers and musicians to get noticed in the deep sea of wannabes floating around in every dark corner of the internet. It seems like everywhere you look, you run into someone who's claiming to be the next big thing, is the CEO of their own label, and is ready to take the game over. Although aspiring musicians and rappers is nothing new, it seems like in this digital age there's an abundance of people who think that once they come up with a name (usually beginning with Lil' or Young), record a few tracks, film a few grainy Youtube vids, and make a Myspace page that they are now legitimate emcees. Now don't get it twisted, I'm not knocking dude's who make music and are trying to take it to the next level...you do gotta start somewhere. But with literally hundreds of thousands of wannabes flooding the 'net with their mixtapes, email blasts, myspace bulletins, and spam...it's become harder than ever to find the real talent and dudes who actually have the potential to become the next big thing.

With that being said, I've decided to spare y'all the pain of sifting through the bullshit and am going to share with you some of my favorite new emcees creepin' on the come up. Right now I've got three dudes on my radar (no homo) that I really feel can make some noise in the game and simply put...just have that "it" factor. Some of them may not be new to all of you considering all three have been getting steady press, are signed to labels, and have fan base's expanding daily. The first artist I'm going to highlight is :Wiz Khalifa.


WIZ KHALIFA - YOUNGIN ON HIS GRIND

Do you remember the last hot rapper to come out of Pittsburgh? Oh thats right...there never was one. Well the gifted young emcee they call Wiz Khalifa is looking to change that. The 20 year old from "Pistolvania" has been making moves in his local scene for years and now has his sights set on making noise on a national level. Since introducing himself in 2005 with the debut mixtape "Prince Of The City", Wiz has been grinding and recording non-stop steadily winning over fans day by day. In 2006, Wiz released a solid debut album "Show & Prove" that made some serious noise drawing the attention of critics and major labels. After fielding multiple offers, Wiz eventually landed a deal with Warner Brothers under the Rostrum Records imprint. He then quickly followed up the album in early 2007 with "Grow Season", an official mixtape hosted by DJ Green Lantern. Looking to continue the buzz, Wiz just released "Prince of the City 2" earlier this week, and has already begun recording his major label debut aiming for a release in sometime in 2008.

After hearing some noise about Wiz on the 'net and catching a magazine article in Rolling Stone on dude, I finally decided to check out his mixtape 'Grow Season' this past summer. After hearing the first two tracks, I wrote him off as your typical New York-esque "mixtape rapper" and wasn't expecting much more than that. However, I kept listening, and was pretty surprised with what I heard. Although he does embody a lot of qualities of NY-bred emcees, he has a fluid flow that he can cater to any style, and he displayed incredible versatility by rhyming over a variety of beats from different regions throughout the tape. I was also very impressed with his beat selection + the original tracks he did. As far as subject matter goes, he injects a lot of energy, swagger, and hustle in his rhymes, and it's all tightly wrapped in a swisher amongst some bomb ass chronic ready to be smoked. More importantly, Wiz is a very convincing and real emcee, something I don't see often amongst all these studio gangsters and fake rappers. All in all...I think it's pretty safe to say Wiz is anything but your average rapper and if you ask me...it's only a matter of time before Wiz Khalifa + Pittsburgh are on everyone's radar.

Now...lets get to the music. Wiz was supposed to release his "Prince of the City 2" mixtape yesterday, and when I started writing this, it hadn't leaked online yet...but luckily by the time this was finished, I got my hands on it to share with y'all. So I'm gonna hit you with 3 of Wiz's releases..."Show & Prove", "Grow Season", and "Prince Of The City 2" along with videos for his debut singles + some links. Y'all know the drill.


Show And Prove (2006) (NEW LINK ADDED 11/27 @ 5:30pm)
01. Intro
02. Pittsburgh Sound
03. Bout Mine
04. I Choose You
05. Damn Thing
06. Keep the Conversation
07. Stay in Ur Lane
08. Stand Up (ft. Kev Da Hustler)
09. Too Late
10. I'm Gonna Ride
11. Gotta Be a Star [Remix]
12. Let Em Know
13. Sometimes (ft. Kelly Porter)
14. Locked & Loaded (ft. Kev Da Hustler)
15. Burn Sumthin
16. Crazy Since the 80's
17. History in the Making


Grow Season (Hosted By: Green Lantern) (2007)
01. Intro
02. Ya Mean
03. When They See Me
04. Talk To Me
05. Fans Takin Pictures
06. I'm That Nigga
07. Lifted
08. Way 2 Go
09. Grammy Family Freestyle
10. Told Ya'll
11. Young Boy Fresh
12. Grow
13. Vato
14. New Money


Prince Of The City 2 (2007) (New Link Added 11/27 @5:30pm)
01. Intro
02. Got Damn Love It
03. Go'on Hate
04. Should I Feel Bad
05. Gettin It
06. Be Easy
07. Poppin Rubberbands
08. Got What You Need
09. Shake Em Off
10. Head To The Sky
11. Gotta Get It
12. Talk To Ya
13. Chewy Remix
14. Gone
15. Buss Down
16. Smokin Good
17. Who I Am
18. Time Goes Bar
19. I Own It
20. I Still Remember

Wiz Khalifa - All In My Blood (Video)


Wiz Khalifa - Young'n On His Grind (Video)


Click here to check out Wiz's MySpace page.

I'll be back later this week with the other 2 parts of "Best Kept Secret" series. Expect another post or two tonight before tomorrow's holiday. So as always, keep an ear to the Undaground. One.