Brutal

PRESS: RAPREVIEWS.COM "Brutal" -- being a short but solidly constructed vessel -- hold's all of Moka Only's concepts in, much like the "tiny house" fad that seems to be gathering steam in 2016. This album like those modest dwellings has nothing you don't need but everything that's necessary to be functional. Music Vibes: 7/ 10 Lyric Vibes: 7/ 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7/ 10 ~~ Steve 'Flash' Juon | rapreviews.com/archive/2016_01_brutal.html PRESS: CHARTATTACK.COM Remember Moka Only? He sang the chorus on that Swollen Members' track you and your Minor Bantam hockey team knew every word to. Then, he formally joined the group. (He was sort of like the Swollen Members' Fergie, in that sense). He never went anywhere. Whether you've been watching or not, Mr. Only has been busy. In the years since "Fuel Injected," he's issued more than 50 releases, some under aliases like Flow Torch or Ron Contour. He also sometimes goes by Dr. Do Much and The Most Prolific, which seem especially appropriate since today he's announced that he plans to release an album every month in 2016. Beginning with Brutal, to be released January 22 via URBNET Records, the 42-year-old, Vancouver-based rapper will drop a new record approximately every 30 days. Most will be new recordings, but some releases will include yet unpublished and reworked pieces from his personal archive."This is not coming out of a place of competition," he says, "but simply a desire of uninhibited expression.” URBNET is thrilled to be along for the ride, label head Darryl Rodway told FYI Music News. "He has always made more music then we have normally put out," Rodway says, "and this will be a game changer for us. This is a whole new level of artistic productivity, for I’m not aware of this been done before. I believe people have tried, but never actually completed this number of records in one year." VIPER the Rapper it isn't, but 12 albums a year sure ain't anything to sneeze at. You can listen to Brutal below. Once again, that's his first album of 2016. First of 12. What was your New Year's resolution again? ~~CHRIS HAMPTON | chartattack.com/news/2016/01/18/moka-only-will-release-an-album-every-month-in-2016 PRESS: EXCLAIM.CA Ever-grinding West Coast rap machine Moka Only is back with what will apparently be the first of 12 new albums issued throughout 2016. The record is titled Brutal, and it's streaming now via Beautiful Records/Urbnet. Brutal features 13 tunes, with de facto title track "It's Brutal" hitting hard with a vintage boom bap and horn squeal, and Moka doing his duty by "holding it down for the city of Vancouver." Elsewhere, "Ya Gotta" is full of tipsy piano lines and references to old local boy band soulDecision, while the rugged-rhymin' "We Don't Do Normal" has the solo rapper teaming up briefly with Jon Rogers. ~~ Gregory Adams | exclaim.ca/music/article/moka_only-brutal_album_stream PRESS: INSOMNIACMAGAZINE.COM Moka Only Get's Brutal Moka Only delivers a new project and it’s …”Brutal!” The lyricist was inspired by Swiss French architect, Le Corbusier, to incorporate the brutalist philosophy into his work…which in this case translates to raw, stripped down drums, chunky sounding samples & minimalist tone arrangements. In other words, our favorite kind of Hip Hop! We’re all for it and you will be too…so press play! ~~ insomniacmagazine.com/2016/01/23/moka-only-gets-brutal PRESS: DAMNTHATNOISE.COM Moka Only, one of Canada’s most prolific has taken on the task of releasing 12 albums in 2016 (one every month) and starts off with a catchy new LP entitled Brutal. Filled with everything we’ve come to love about the melodic wizard of words, Brutal is sure to have your head nodding from the minute you press play and reminding yourself to listen to more Moka Only because his sing songy flow and ease on the mic are addicting as hell. The architecturally inspired Brutal is available now from Urbnet! ~~ damnthatnoise.com/post/138017463579/moka-only-brutal-new-music PRESS: PRHYMALRAGE.COM Anyone who has enjoyed underground or indy Hip-Hop in the last 15 or so years should very well know who Moka Only is. Between his work as a solo artist, a beatsmith, his work with Swollen Members, his Ron Contour alter ego and so many more accolades that could be mentioned, there is one thing that is sure about his work ethic, it’s clearly unmatched, which is why we think Moka Only has SET THE BAR as a musician! Urbnet is eager to help push him in 2016 with the goal of dropping a new fresh album EVERY MONTH! That’s 12 albums! Here is the first of many, Brutal (the album title has a dope and rich story involved along with it that you can read on the bandcamp page); produced all by Moka Only and it features Columbus artist Jon Rogers (aka Maggz, of Torchlight Commision, TriLateral) as well, so go stream it, or download it and support the artistry! ~~ docremedymusic | prhymalrage.com/2016/01/23/moka-only-brutal/ PRESS: GROWNUPRAP.COM Moka Only dropped a lot of new music last year, and 2016 is already looking like another busy one. Here’s the latest dope track, the first release from his upcoming new album, Brutal. Listen below. ~~ grownuprap.com/2016/01/16/moka-only-its-brutal/ PRESS: FYIMUSICNEWS.CA Moka Only To Release 12 Albums In 2016 There are prolific artists, and then there is Moka Only. The BC-based hip-hop songsmith who found fame as a member of Swollen Members has just announced plans to release an album every month in 2016. According to a press release from his label URBNET, Moka Only “aims to include new recordings, mystery albums with exclusive unreleased music from the vaults of 2002-2003, as well as collaborative projects from Torchlight Commission crew members including Illa-J, Jon Rogers, Tanya Morgan among others.” URBNET head Darryl Rodway tells FYI that “from what I know, a majority is new original material, plus some music from his archives. He is restoring a number of old recordings that were stored on ADAT tapes that were never released. He finally found a ADAT machine to export these recordings, so there will be a mix of older material as well." In the press release release, Moka Only is quoted as explaining “this is not coming out of a place of competition but simply a desire of uninhibited expression.” Rodway tells us that “Moka presented the idea to us late last fall. We were thrilled about it. He has always made more music then we have normally put out, and this will be a game changer for us. This is a whole new level of artistic productivity, for I’m not aware of this been done before. I believe people have tried, but never actually completed this number of record in one year. “ Most of these Moka Only albums will only be available in digital form, but select titles will be available on vinyl LP, cassette and CD. Rodway says the number of releases to be offered in more than a digital format “is yet to be determined. Manufacturing schedules can easily delay the release process, so we are now working with our suppliers to work out a game plan. We always work as partners with Moka so that decision will be something we both will be part of. “ Moka Only has gained an international audience with his solo records. “Japan and Germany are his strongest markets outside of Canada,” says Rodway. “The US is his largest market though, accounting for at least 60% of his sales.” The first release of 2016 will be a 13-track album entitled Brutal, to be released on Jan. 2. This burst of creative output is not new for Moka Only, as he’s already released over 50 recordings (some under such pseudonyms as Ron Contour, The Durable Mammal and Flow Torch. He has also collaborated with such influential US artists as J Dilla and MF Doom. As part of Swollen Members, Moka Only earned three Juno awards for Best Rap Recording, while his solo work has brought him multiple MuchMusic Video Awards. ~~ fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2016/01/18/moka-only-release-12-albums-2016 BRUTAL: Well, here it is, as promised. The first album of 12 for 2016. I would imagine that there are many of you who are curious as to why I titled it Brutal. Simple.... or maybe not. Ever since I was a youth, I've been fascinated with architecture, mid-century modern architecture to be exact. Several years ago, my homie, PSY of the Oddities, and I started working on a project called "Moderne" to be released as our group THE NOPE's second official release. It was an album inspired by all things mid-century. We didn't end up completing it... it's been on ice for a minute. Anyway, last year around March, I was thinking about that album concept and decided it was time to revisit the subject. However, my personal taste in architecture has broadened since then, and I now want my emphasis to be geared toward the brutalist aesthetic which sprung out of international Modernism. “Brutalism,” or “brutalist,” is a term developed by Swiss French architect, Le Corbusier, to describe his work. The etymology of the term is derived from the French 'béton brut” translating to “raw concrete”. It is not, as assumed, a reference to the brutal appearance of some of the structures, although that assessment lies in the eye of the beholder. Anyway at the risk of bungling up a crash course in the brutalist philosophy and modernist architecture, let me get back to the story. I started this project in March 2015 by naming the first track “It's Brutal”. At that point, my objective was to create beats that encompassed a feeling similar to the structural concept of brutalism: stripped down, raw and rough drums with chunky or blocky sounding samples within minimalist tone arrangements. I carried this sentiment throughout the project as best I could, but there were definitely some tracks that deviated from that attempted formula. Even so, any tracks lacking that foundation still made reference to certain architects and painted an architectural soundscape. I saw myself as an architect of sound. Why not, right? Essentially, that’s what we are as musicians: builders. It's my given and chosen vocation to create sonic "buildings" in which we can dwell or escape to, as part of an even larger “universe” in which each artist is responsible for creating and maintaining. I worked on this project on and off through to May 2015, while also finishing Magickal Weirdness and Chicken Wingz, then I took the whole summer off to tour. In short I didn't pick this project up again until late December after completing Martian Xmas 2015. From that point on, up until the first week of January 2016, I must've made 20 more tracks toward Brutal. While assembling and finalizing mixes, I realized my favourite and best tunes were the ones I had created last year. Those are the ones I kept, and I scrapped most of the recent tracks with the exception of “Build and Dream”, “We Don't Do Normal”, “Stuffalude” (you do NOT want to hear the other ridiculous interludes I created for this project, haha), “Carryin On” and “Right and Exact”.   I'm really satisfied with the final track list and order, and I think you will feel the vibes and effort that went into it. Discerning ears will pick out the fine musical details, random sounds and hidden treasures in the beats. Self-avowed “Torcharoons” will certainly pick up on the secret messages, cryptic references and conceptual continuity that has peppered my work for the last 16 years. Thanks to my Torchlight Commission brother, Jon Rogers, for appearing on this project. Also a big up to URBNET for believing in this misfit. Thanks to Colin Kennedy' for the awesome cover artwork. All tracks are produced by Moka. One more thing, I’ve included some photos of local brutalist or neo-brutalist architecture. Photos taken by Ron Contour. BIOGRAPHY: Showing no signs of slowing down, Moka Only will continue his prolific reign in the hip-hop scene by dropping an album every month this year. After a busy year of touring North America and releasing 3 albums, Moka returns full force with plans of releasing 12 albums in 2016. He aims to include new recordings, mystery albums with exclusive unreleased music from the vaults of 2002-2003, as well as collaborative projects from Torchlight Commission crew members including Illa-J , Jon Rogers, Tanya Morgan among others. While most albums will only be available in digital form, select releases will be available on Vinyl LP, cassette and CD. Moka always wanted to produce music that would cultivate a loyal and periodic following, similar to the readership of a monthly magazine. “As a music fan I can’t see how this could be anything but exciting.” Each album will be something fans can happily anticipate and count on every month, just like a magazine subscription arriving at their doorstep amongst dreaded bills. Harnessing his exuberant imagination and drive, Moka looks forward to the challenge of creating a “surprise every month.” He remarks how “this is not coming out of a place of competition but simply a desire of uninhibited expression.” On that note, URBNET is proud to encourage and support Moka’s unique vision and is thrilled to launch this ambitious project. SOCIAL: urbnet.com/mokaonly facebook.com/mokaonly1 instagram.com/moka_only music.cbc.ca/artists/Moka-Only soundcloud.com/moka-only twitter.com/MOKA_ONLY mokaonly.net tinyurl.com/youtube-mokaonly