Native Guns
Barrel Men
© 2006 Native Guns (634479341458)
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The long-awaited debut album by Cali-based Filipino emcees Kiwi & Bambu (Native Guns), this CD blends the machine-gun political lyricism with raw bangin beats. GET THIS NOW....
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THE NATIVE GUNS DEBUT ALBUM, “BARREL MEN,” AVAILABLE NOW!
"...this is a GREAT record"
- Jeff Chang (cantstopwontstop.com)
"...talk about political, REAL hip hop? Coming from hardcore filipino political minds? This is what I'm talking about, artistic... This is that Immortal Technique, that dead prez sh**, from the Filipino side of the coin. You need to check this out."
- Adisa Banjoko, the "Bishop of Hip Hop" (lyricalswords.com)
"...you'll immediately want to reload the album and listen again. This is hot."
- www.caughtinthecrossfire.com
"The fifteen tracks on Barrel Men fight for control of your booty and your brain, but never fight over the two. Each beat, complete with scratches by DJ Phatrick, is as dance-worthy as anything you'd hear at a club."
- Left Turn Magazine
"More than just street-conscious, the pair shares a fearless attitude of no-holds-barred vocalizing and staying true to their roots."
- L.A Alternative Press
"Barrel Men may be the best rap album by Pinoy gang members turned conscious MCs you've ever heard...filled with militant-but-not-gangsta sentiments, crucial reggae and hip-hop mashdowns, outspoken social commentary, and introspective self-reflection."
- Eric Arnold, East Bay Express
Los Angeles/Bay Area, CA - Acclaimed revolutionary Pinoy hip hop group Native Guns are proud to announce the long-awaited, highly anticipated release of their debut album, “Barrel Men.”
An urban tribal masterpiece—“Barrel Men” reflects the life, times, and mission of these “two bald-headed brown brothas with tattoos.” MCs Kiwi and Bambu both grew up in inner-city Los Angeles districts where gang culture was an integral part of their youth. Building names for themselves as emcees separately in L.A.’s prolific underground hip hop scene, they were united through the same passion to improve their community. Both credit hip hop for providing an alternative to gang life and sparking their social consciousness.
With production from DJ Rhettmatic (World Famous Beat Junkies, Visionaries), Sabzi (Blue Scholars), Asi and others, the Native Guns combine music with critical thought, covering topics ranging from third world sweatshop labor (“Work It”) to self-criticism (“Look in the Mirror”). Spitting knowledge doesn’t have to be boring: the Guns prove this with their head-nodding anthem “Champion,” the first single from the album. Another song that is sure to get crowds jumping is the track “Hammer,” which is a bouncing call-to-arms for fellow youth from the hood. “1995” has Kiwi and Bambu reminiscing about the feel-good innocent days of discovering hip-hop, while “Kombat” provides a scathing critique of today’s mainstream rap industry.
“Barrel Men” represents a fresh perspective in hip hop, embodying the bridge between art and activism. In this tradition of socially conscious music, this album will certainly be an important contribution, both in the classroom and on the street corner.
Website: www.nativeguns.com
reviews
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a legit cd
author: milerji echo the rest of the reviewers...good beats and insane lyrics. and this is a DEEP cd, i keep finding lines and tracks off this cd that i hadn't really noticed before.
Dope!
author: Vichet HengHot what can I say.
This is what it's all about.
author: Jeremy KershawGood production and top notch lyricism with a serious and legitimate message. These are the things I love in hip-hop. It's just too bad more artists don't have these high standards for themselves. I can't wait for the next NG album. Must have.
work it baby!
author: Qthe barrel men bring it with this CD. this is some seriously good hip hop. i would highly recommend this CD to anyone who is serious about good music. the guns keep it real baby!
Not enough people know...
author: MoThere are so many things going on in the Philippines that a lot of people don't know about, and so many things happening in the US that we don't addess. Especially in the poor communities, we have been so brainwashed into this capitalist system, and Native Guns truly takes a step back to question people's motives. Every song on this song is fire, and at least half will be on repeat once u get it to ur ears!
Bangin to the fullest like stray bullets!
author: RasPure dopeness and inspiring for all to listen to especially during a time when the rap market is saturated with non-progressive art.
the truth...
author: Cee tripl of Toxic SlimeI found out about the guns just through myspace and the web. And my god I am thankful I did. The NG crew held it down for hiphop with this cd. Listening to this record gave me goosebumps something of a rarity on new records that come out these days. Being a fulltime ongoing student of hiphop culture the Native Guns crew made me feel even more prouder of my Pinoy roots so I rep it even harder than ever. All the tracks are banging but there is one particular track that almost brought me to tears. The track "Promise" at first listen I was like okay...but after a couple more listens it HIT ME in retrospect. I was like wow, these guys are definitely NICE!.... big up to the Native guns yo. peace.
album of the year!!!!
author: revolt-heri bought this album at a show in seattle and have not put it down since! these young soldiers brought the house down! white boys were goin' crazy but the filipinos in the house walked out that night with their chests out and chins high. i love this album. if i ever see bambu again i am going to kidnap and marry him!!!! buy this album! it is truly the greatest album of the year.
Love it!
author: FoxfireSistaGreat beats and even better lyrical content. One of the best albums I've heard this year.
great album
author: AdiaI love this album and play it over and over. Rarely is there an album you can listen to all the way without skipping over filler tracks. Although all the songs are tight, the ones I like the most are Initiation, Champion, Treason, 1995, Work It. I'll stop there or else I'll end up listing all the tracks! Must have for any rap/ hip-hop/ music fan out there. They've got a good message that needs to be heard. Get a copy for yourself and your friends.
I discovered Native Guns through MySpace then watched them perform live recently. I became a HUGE fan instantly! I love the song "Champion"...and I also think Bambu is soooo damn fine!
Vicious slashing tracks, cerebral and fierce.
author: Sizwe_XBarrel Men is a cutting release from Native Guns, from the beauty of being able to spit in Tagalog about universal themes, to beats that get the underdog in you up and ready to move against the stultifying power of the mundane, this release is a must for your collection. The collaboration with Blue Scholars on, Said It, is a sonic weapon aimed at your soul and an indictment of political/revolutionary apathy. Tight.
a Creative Headnod that will make you think!
author: DJ EROCK707 (www.livemixshow.com)When I first heard the Album I was feeling the production, but when Bambu and Kiwi started to spit.. I was AMAZED. These dudes not only talk about everyday life, but the whole culture of hip hop, growing up hip hop and how they represent the filipino culture. This type of Hip Hop is rare these days. Not since, NWA, Public Enemy, 2Pac, etc. Has an Hip Hop Artist(s) brought something legit to say. From now on I will cop every Native Guns project that will be made.... TRUST.
review of native guns' barrel men
author: kris-cha!illest album out since the latest Coup (pick a bigger weapon, which you should also acquire). musically and lyrically. make everyday a muthafuckin good day with it. play it at work and it will get you though the hustle, if it doesn't inspire (remind) you to cuss out your orientalist, exoticizing, kapitalista boss-massa and quit altogether.
Beats, Lyrics, Two MCs and a Dj = True Hip-Hop!
author: ChonsyHip-Hop in its truest form: Political, Cultural & Historical, brought to us through rhymes, reason and bomb ass beats. Native Guns keep Hip Hop alive and bring it full circle with lyrics that make you think, react and throw up a fist. DJ Phatrick brings the beats that make you bob your head and sway your body. Non-Tagalog speakers need not fear, it'll make you wanna learn! As a Chicano, this music speaks to our people as well, making it cross cultural yet at the same time everyones culture. GO GET THIS ALBUM NOW! Paz from Califaztlan.
- author: G-Flo
Native Guns are both true representatives of the Filipino(a) experience in America. Their material provides the awareness on various social issues faced daily, and the production, needless to say if you have already heard the album, is off the hinges!! The mind state provided by the content is much more enlightened after listening.. I don't know much to say at the moment other than COP THE CD ASAP!! GIVE NATIVE GUNS THEIR SUPPORT!! Purchase the cd, go to one of their shows, this duo has tons of energy to offer.. Your head will definitely bop back and forth, the lyrics will definitely catch you -> the punch lines are there! The music is practical, it is definitely a necessity to feed your soul and your mind with this wonderful plate.. Remember, it's PRACTICAL!! You will definitely want to be amped to help out your community, the motivation is definitely encouraged on this cd.. I have been listening to this cd beginning to end on repeat everyday since I got it in the mail........ ENJOY FOLKS!! ISANG MAHAL (ONE LOVE IN PILIPINO)
Highly Political without sounding condescending
author: TeachONEI also discovered Native Guns on Myspace, and waited eagerly for the release of this album after hearing the singles Drowning, Champion, and Champion Remix. Needless to say it didn't dissapoint. As a person who both love's hip-hop and is highly critical of it, I found this cd to meet all of my expectations and then some. This group has the total package: A strong message, the balls to say it, and yet they still have a marketable sound. This is what hip-hop could and should be! Cop this cd, share it with your friends and remind them that not all hip-hop has to sound like it came from somebody without a brain.
Love it!! Positive rap w/a message!!
author: Amelia KetzleDiscovered these guys on MySpace Music, and loved them instantly. This CD does not disappoint! The songs are as catchy as anything on the radio today, and the rapping is as quick and hard as anything out there, but without all the negativity and degradation of modern hip-hop. Every song on this CD makes you think hard about something, and that's fantastic! This is a very smart, and I loved every minute of it!!
Meaningful Fil-Am Hip Hop...
Rarely do we have our own people who represent with an understanding of social issues, particularly addressing the struggle of the Filipino/Fil-Am and the minority in America. Stay grounded, keep representin', and stay well informed so that you can continue to teach our Filipino Youth and the masses. Hey yo, back in 1995, I was representing hard for the SFV... ISA
Everything is in here: the political, the personal, the gangsta.
author: Allan from ScrewstonEverything is in here: the political, the personal, the gangsta, the sophistication. These two cats rhyme like veterans and give away jewels of wisdom, man. I honestly don't know how they'll follow up this one, but I hope they do. That dude from Blue Scholars put it down nice and that verse about the young girl and the sweatshop and the sneaker...that imagery was poignant and surreal, that was magic. and yeah, tagalog fits perfectly when rapped well and these guys know what they're doing. I can't forget the beats and soundscapes; it all meshes right. It feels real good to hear these guys.
DOPE!!!!
author: nat ramosThis album is unbelievable... If you don't have this already, GO GET IT!!! Then get another one for somebody else. Every song is a hit. Can't wait til the next album drops. Barrel Men is no joke... COP IT!!!
- author: romeydahound
great album. buy or steal this album
Native Guns review on KQED website
author: Matthew Meschery - KQED...The Native Guns convincing debut album, Barrel Men, begins with the song "Initiation," which opens with a skit (a kind of Hip Hop audio drama) of a kid getting jumped into a gang. If the song and album that followed weren't so good, such a contrived device would certainly fall flat. It is the social commentary woven together with the emcees' own biographies that stands up, and over the course of the album is enough to forgive the occasional gunshot sound and clichéd skit. These stories stray from the current urban music freaky-tale that is pretty much most of what you hear on mainstream terrestrial radio. These days, ultra-violence is taboo but sex is ka-ching! One song I love for its irony is called "Work It." It's a song about sweatshop labor (appropriate topic for properly pissed-off Filipinos), but the great thing is that the chorus has the cadence and character of your typical joint about sex and dancing. As if coaxing some dance floor diva to move her backside, the lyrics instruct: "Baby work it, 'til your hands get sweaty, Baby Work it, til your fingerz get bloody, Baby work it, 'til your stomach go hungry,C'mon get that money honey." This is followed with an "oh yeah" seductively moaned by young female voices in unison. With "Work It," Native Guns powerfully link the real, physical exploitation of women in the Third World to the representative exploitation of women in our popular music. As I mentioned earlier, Barrel Men is currently in heavy rotation in my "Summer '06 iTunes Playlist." What makes this album "season-appropriate" -- just peep the rocksteady bounce of "Promise." Early reggae samples are perfect for summer -- not too fast and not too slow -- it's the mid-tempo pulse that moves you through the heat with a little breeze blowin' on ya, but not so fast that you gotta put the top up. This album has a few more of those, including "Slave Thinking," which contains a Bob Marley sample. Once again, something that might seem a little too much, but when Bambu spits 4 bars in Tagalog, all is forgiven (and btw, Tagalog sound's great rapped, and until you hear some German Hip Hop, you won't realize that there are some languages that just don't lend themselves to the form). Then there is the song "Champion," which Native Guns call their "single" on their Myspace page. Man, I hope that some DJ somewhere is playing this song on the radio or in a club to warrant it being called a single. "Champion," once again, comes with the reggae-inflected chorus, not coincidentally unlike the song "Champion" by LA underground heroes Freestyle Fellowship. I say this because Native Guns obviously owe much to the tradition of the West Coast underground emcee, and that is nowhere more present than on "Champion," where it is the musical syncopation of the rhyming that energizes the song over its steady kick-clap-kick-clap march. In Kiwi and Bambu the musical afterglow of Aceyalone and The Pharcyde is still burning. And thank God. These earlier artists, although apparently still around, peaked before their time. Now, those of us who once loved West Coast Hip Hop for its diversity, can once again, breath a sigh of relief after years of inhaling big purple clouds of Hyphy-GangstaCrunktasticness. Let us hope that Native Guns' Barrel Men will be the smoking gun we need -- let this album stand as evidence that in 2006 Kiwi, Bambu and DJ Phatrick will be held partly responsible for killing the stereotype that West Coast Rap is either one-dimensional, gangsta-party joints or one-dimensional, back-packer, linguistic circle-jerks. Please, let them be guilty. Give theme the recognition they deserve. Lock 'em up with Mumia and Leonard Peltier, I wanna see "Free Native Guns" on Berkeley bumper stickers for the next 30 years, anything for a sea-change in Hip Hop. That's a cause that needs political prisoners, and Native Guns are prime suspects.