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Get Low

The rap canon is rife with gang affiliates writing soundtracks to their lives. Clipped memoirs spit in members-only slang, gun-tucked avowals of set/neighborhood pride, chronicles of days spent corners that might lead to the coroner. In short, locally grown and supported reportage.

SlumpBoyz are from the Southside of Oxnard and affiliated with the Sons of Samoa Crips. If you didn’t know from the “S” on their Mariners hats, they tell you in nearly every song. “Walk Em Down” is their greatest contribution to the gangster rap canon to date. It’s joyous yet serious G-funk that’s reverent not rehashed, part of a tradition. The hook is as smoothly crooned as the content is grim, somewhere between Nate Dogg and Bone Thugs. Each member raps with varying degrees of skill about firing on rivals and riding with the clique, but their personalities make up for lack of polish.

This is rag top back, running red lights on the way to BBQ music that slaps and feels like sunshine. “Walk Em Down” dropped at the end of July and has over one million views on YouTube and SoundCloud, respectively. No press releases or press. You can’t manufacture street hits like this. — MAX BELL