
A film about Northwest hip-hop from 2011
Khingz
Liberation of the Monster
Seattle hip-hop blog 206UP picked this record as one of the “Top 10 Albums of 2011,” saying that:
A relocation to Vancouver, BC has not changed the allegiance or focus in the subject matter of the South End’s most self-aware rapper, Khingz. Liberation of the Monster was the best collection of tracks the MC has released since 2009’s remarkable From Slaveships to Spaceships. Canadian producer Rel!g!on was responsible for all of the beats, a Pacific Northwest re-working of the SoCal gangsta aesthetic found on 1990s albums like Dogg Food. While Khingz may forever associate himself with that style of rap nostalgically (like many of us who came of age in the 90s), he’s decidedly more responsible and progressive in his rhymes. His course is set on a better future, a destination borne from a dubious past. On tracks like “Monster’s Lib” and “Hard to Say,” the MC is so diffuse in his rhyming it’s hard to keep up with the words. You would be too if you had the rare combination of artistic acumen and social enlightenment of this rapper.
Liberation of the Monster was created in 2011 and features appearances from: