Patrick TaylorOyoshe is a producer/rapper out of Naples, Italy who has teamed up with a who’s who of East Coast true school hip-hop for his second album. “Bring Da Noise 2” features collaborations with Tame One, Donald D, C. Raine, Blaq Poet, C-Rayz Walz, Vast Aire, Subtext, Verbal Kent, Access Immortal, Maylay Sparks, Craig G, Mark Deez, Powder, and others.
While it might seem unusual for an Italian producer to be hooking up with a bunch of rappers from Queensbridge and beyond, Oyoshe’s sound fits in with the East Coast vibe. He makes sample based boom-bap in the school of DJ Premier, Duck Down Records, and D.I.T.C. He might be a white kid from Italy, but he brings some dirty breaks for the rappers to spit over. Things start off with the sinister bass line of “Different Shit,” with Tame One spitting blunted raps. Maylay and Donald D mix in some Italiano in their rhymes on “Move the Streets.” Oyoshe lays down a gritty guitar line for Blaq Poet’s rugged and raw bars. “I was always hardcore,” he raps, “standing in the cut ready for war.”
Other highlights include C. Raine spitting fire over a bouncy funk break on “Toast to the Haterz,” the posse cut “Samurai Proud,” Access Immortal’s car song “Rollin.” Oyoshe gets his rap in Italiano on with “Questi Anni,” spitting rapid-fired verses in a husky flow.
Oyoshe’s beats are solid across the board. He may be from the old country, but he rocks the boards like a native of the five boroughs. The rappers offer plenty of tough-as-nails true school rhymes but nothing too unique or different. I personally am at a point where this true school aesthetic is starting to feel constraining and overly conservative, but people love this sound for a reason. I was interested enough in Oyoshe’s work to download some of his free remixes and track down “Bring Da Noise” volume one, which features Italian rappers. If you want to hear an Italian take on real hip-hop, download “Bring Da Noise 2.”