Alaska: Interview

Alaska – he of Hangar 18, Atoms Family and more recently Words Hurt fame – released his new album today. This time he has teamed up with the producer PJ Katz and the pair have concocted a jazz-fuelled journey, with a whole bunch of different guests making their appearances along the way. I last spoke to Alaska back in 2016, when I interviewed him for Grown Up Rap, so I thought now would be a good time to have another chat about a few things, including the new record and reflecting on the past. There is also a new video from the album, which you can watch below.

Cryptic One & Alaska: Orange is the New Wack

You’ve gotta look for the silver lining in times like this and one thing we can be thankful for is the amount of rage being poured into music right now. Admittedly protest songs have a chequered past in terms of substance and style, but when they’re done right they work very well.
Take this latest track from IT – aka Cryptic One & Alaska – who have released a response to Trump’s already tumultuous time in office. Needless to say they both kill their verses. You can stream the track below and you can download it over on Cryptic’s Bandcamp.

Words Hurt: Alkast Remixes

This isn’t a new release as such, but it is the first time I have had the pleasure of being introduced to it. Words Hurt is the brainchild of former Hangar 18 rapper Alaska and Austin based produced Lang Vo. They came together in August last year to bring us the excellent Alkast Remixes project, which is the amuse bouche for their debut album, Fuck That Pretty Boy Shit, which is due out in the next few months. As you can tell from the title this isn’t easy listening style and the Alkast project is no different.