Lakewood rapper/gun-enthusiast Aston Matthews and Long Beach's new hope Joey Fatts (two-thirds of the Cutthroat Boyz) link up once again for their brand new record, “My Nina.” This ain't a sentimental track with someone waxing poetic about their sweet, kind-hearted Nina; this is an acrobatic back-and-forth sound-off between two of this area's best up-and-coming rappers that delves into trap-rap, gunplay, and how they can turn your block into Bosnia.
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“My nina is my choppa, and I love it cause she keeps me out of situations where my's life's on the line,” Matthews says, describing the overall “gist” of the song. Judging by the lines he spits about catching enemies in his cross hairs while they're around their mothers and the fact that he bears the “war wounds on his body” he has rapped about, he's definitely the perfect person to speak about this. He's also probably the type of rapper you want to call ahead before knocking on their door.
After all, you wouldn't want a bang of your fist knocking on a door to end with the bang of a bullet from the other end.
After all, you wouldn't want a bang of your fist knocking on a door to end with the bang of a bullet from the other end.
Outside of the song's morose meaning, the production is what we have all come to expect from hip-hop that smashes skulls and sends elbows and fists flailing. There's horns, eerie melodies, and percussion that sounds like drums leading a march to war. It's not the typical West Cast sound one tends to nod their head to, and that makes the song even stronger. California doesn't need more attempts at reviving G-Funk; this state needs some artistically-sound, well-rounded rappers that can both rap really well and compete with the South's bottomless supply of neck-snappers like Alley Boy and Trouble, and the savagery of Fatts and Matthews is right up there with the best of them.
“My Nina” clocks in right under two and a half minutes, but this record will be just one of many appearances we will see from this duo this year. They both have plenty of music coming out, including Joey Fatts' upcoming release Chipper Jones Vol. 2, and sets to perform at Texas' venerable musical free-for-all, South by Southwest. Many heavyweights of hip-hop are also flocking to their corner, such as Kathy Griffin favorites ASAP Rocky and Danny Brown. It's been years since something this fresh and exciting has come out of Long Beach and Lakewood, and it looks like hip-hop's near future will be filled by lot more from this region.
For a download of “My Nina,” courtesy of Free On Smash, click here.
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