I've always admired when a hip hop artist can give you a song that tells a story. That coincides with my opinion that the best albums tends to be long & have interconnected stories or they carry an overall message. You can throw a couple catchy radio type tracks in there but when I sit down to listen to an album I want to a hear a majority of realness a.k.a. Real life. Music in a way is a reflection of ourselves - so when an artist tells a raw, in your face story like Sparkhop Emcee Of The Week Young Malone does in a good deal of his songs, it's easy to absorb the music.

Young Malone a young Detroit emcee who debuted his lyrical abilities to world with “Stockton & Malone- The First Scrimmage” in June 2010 – a project entirely produced by Stockton a.k.a. SKYWLKR. I remember the first time listening to this to this day it still has replay value. A mash up of storytelling, party tracks, & a glimpse into his life along with only SKYWLKR & emcee Matt Schwartz to lend verses by track ten you have a pretty good idea of who Young Malone.

That was just the beginning. Striking back heavily in 2012 after a double year hiatus Young Malone dropping his self titled solo tape in March. With a darker more series overall tone & the only re-imagined version of Eminem's “Stan” I've enjoyed outside the original. Battling between two personas Young Marvin & Young Malone in that closing remake draws a line between two versions of the emcee's life & the struggle behind the music he creates.

I had the oppurtunity to shoot a few questions Young Malone's way so for this week I bring back the mini-interview:

Sparkhop: You've been working hard these last few months on these new projects how's it feel to get those tracks out & start giving listeners the setup until you drop?

Young Malone: It's been a crazy past few months coming up with all this new material , I'm eager to get feed back from listeners on how they take to my style and their fav songs and shit like that.

Sparkhop: "Hood Meets Burbs" what's your favorite moment on the album so far?

Young Malone: Old Bitches New Hoes lol thats the latest song me
and my lil brother dropped (Kolorful) , its a crazy album and i know people will definitely vibe to this classic album.

Sparkhop: After your project with Kolorful - what's next?

Young Malone: My second mixtape Truthfully Speaking 2 (Confessions of a Sinner)

Sparkhop: In the last year or so hip hop has really started to feel "refreshed" I would say - with the coming of the internet more rapidly evolving the way humans share music - a wide variety of talented emcees are getting a chance to be heard on a large scale level without being on a major label. How big of role do you feel the internet plays in artists career these days?

Young Malone: A major role , it gives artist the stage to show off their talent and get a little fame before the majors comin into play . You can pretty much make your self hot from the couch . and it shows if a artist is really on their shit or not , you can go on my page and see pictures of me performing and get new tracks every week Mel Moore on Facebook , @young malone on Twitter.

Sparkhop: What do you have planned for the rest of the summer & where can people catch you performing coming up?

Young Malone: I just plan on grinding this summer , I'm making three mixtapes this summer and a follow up album from Stockton and Malone The First Scrimmage , Young Malone playoff time M.V.P and as far as performances , The Ritz , Blondies, The Emerald theater , the Crofoot ....where ever they fuck with me at I fuck with them back!

You can also catch Young Malone performing live at this years Sparkfest 2012 as well alongside 40+ over diverse & talented emcee's & band throughout Michigan. Tickets available here. 

Young Malone's latest project with Kolorful "Hood Meets Burbs" can be previewed below! We will keep you posted here @sparkhop of when it drops!

Remember you can help nominate an upcoming Sparkhop Emcee Of The Week - just email sparkinup@sparkhop.com with the subject "Sparkin Up? Nomination" & provide some infomation & music about the artist your nomintating.

I've also included this short but dope little freestyle featuring Sambo on the acoustic & Young Malone freestyling at 2 in the morning. Until next week thanks for tuning into Sparkhop's Emcee of The Week!

The strong live peformance above is of Jahshua Smith, formally JYoung as he displays his lyrical abilities on stage with the song "Butt". However the skills shown on stage follow off it as well as one would expect. An emcee who possesses a strong musical catalog to begin with & a promising future in hip hop to come. This week Sparkhop.com presents our Emcee of The Week #2:

So yesterday I recieved an email from the BLAT! Pack which alone is a safe bet I'm going to hear something dope as their artists consist of Red Pill, Fowl, & Jae Musick among other talented artists. The song I recieived this time around though was Jahshua Smith produced by Stewrat a producer who if you haven't of by now it's time to start checking out his work! The track titled "The Nap" & Smith explains it tells "the story of women who sleep on men and their dreams."

Formally known as the artist JYoung The General, Jahshua Smith packs a goldmine of music for first time finders. With a few years of releases behind his back this week's entry isn't exactly just now Sparkin Up? the emcee has worked with a variety of talented indivuals such as Nick Speed, Buff 1, & One Be Lo.

Representing Michigan & Detroit & providing concious, social, & political themes as his lyrical backdrop the Michigan State University graduate who ran his own radio show on campus has been on the grind for a minute now. The grind isn't stopping anytime soon either.

Hitting the road for The Van Warped Tour in the early weeks of July you can only expect to be seeing more of Smith throughout the summer months.

He will be performing on the Bring It Back Tour Stage. Check out the tour dates below.

July 6 – Auburn Hills, MI – The Palace of Auburn Hills
July 7 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre
July 8 – Shakopee, MN – Canterbury Park
July 9 – Bonner Springs, KS – Sandstrone Ampitheatre
July 10 – Nobleville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
July 11 – Cuyohoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
July 12 – Burgettstown, PA – First Niagra Pavilion
July 13 – Homdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center

Follow Jahshua Smith on Twitter.

That's all for this weeks feature! If you have an artist you would like to nominate or are a hard working artist who would like to be considered for this feature please email sparkinup@sparkhop.com.

Welcome to Sparkin Up?. A opportunity once a week to hear something new. You may discover something incredibly fresh & groundbreaking....or hey, maybe you will absolutely despise what you hear! Regardless my goal in writing this feature was not to gurantee that you will like each & every emcee I choose to highlight throughout the year, that of coarse would be extremely unlikely. Instead Sparkhop's Emcee of The Week aims merely to shine some light on the many hard working hip hop artists in my local community of Michigan, nationally, or even internationally. In a vast ocean of creatives vying for the spotlight I only hope to introduce some of the many voices to be heard & give you guys reading a chance to uncover some new music for your listening pleasures.

Enough of what Sparkin Up? is though - who is Sparkin Up? Well for our inaugral week Sparkhop presents:

I myself was introduced to Crom Royale via the video above from the homie Moonchild Music. The simplistic video in which Crom walks through a wooded area as he unleashes & illustrates with expression witty bars like "i'm unsigned, shit i'm just looking to kill time" or "my step kids say i'm kinda like a nazi, if a mother fucking nazi had this many tamagotchis, mini beanie babies that i bet are worth a fortune, power ranger belt buckles that they used for morphing" all with his own delivery that meshes with the visuals clearly.

After watching the video for "Arrested Development" I knew I had to check out the rest of Crom's music. In early May he dropped "Demo" - a six song digital demo tape which plays like a formal introduction of the emcee. Not to be confused though, Crom has been rapping for a while now which became evident after listening back through his various videos at www.cromroyale.com up until "Demo". It was that six track project that has bombarded my playlists for the last couple weeks on heavy rotation.

Songs like:  "Oregon Trail" where Crom states "I died once, & went on a 9 month hiatus..." might trigger a flashback for a few 80's babies of school-time computer gaming. Another stand out track among multiple listens for me was "Dark Minded" which provides a deeper storytelling aspect lyrically. Crom lags not one bit going from start to finish in his descriptive timeline of events before ending with the line "Anywhere there's blood in the water the sharks find it."

I recently had the chance to throw a few Q's Crom's way about tamogotchis, influences, & what's in store for the rising artist. Here's what he had to say!

Sparkhop: After listening to "Arrested Development" one can only assume you grew up in the 90's via the various childhood toy trends you reference. So exactly how many tamogotchis do you own?

Crom Royale: Haha I don't own any Tamogotchis now but I remember I used to have at least two or three. I know for a fact I had a black one and a white one. 

Sparkhop:  On a real note - growing up was there any particular songs, emcee's, or just experiences in general that led up to or influenced your decision to become an emcee?

Crom Royale: Yeah, there were a couple. Being from Detroit I obviously idolized Eminem, not just for his lyricism but also for the turmoil he was forced to overcome in order to become successful. I was also a big fan of Biggie, Mase, Puff Daddy, and the whole Bad Boy crew. Although I love all styles of hip-hop, I think I've been influenced the most by east coast rap. 

Sparkhop: What was the first album that you ever purchased?

Crom Royale: The first album I ever purchased was Puff Daddy and The Family - "No Way Out". Actually, I used to buy singles as opposed to albums so I had a bunch of Coolio singles. I also remember saving up my money to buy the Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz single for that song "Deja Vu". That was the first time I learned what an instrumental track was and I remember trying to write my own verse to that song. 

Sparkhop: How do you feel about the current state of the hip hop in Michigan & overall currently & where do you see yourself in it all?

Crom Royale: I think the current Michigan hip-hop scene is amazing. Some of my favorite rappers - Guilty Simpson, Elzhi, Black Milk, Mae Day, Boldy James, Clear Soul Forces - are all from Detroit and it makes me honored to be from the same area as my favorite rappers. I don't really see myself in the Michigan hip-hop scene yet but hopefully by this time next year I'll be mentioned in the same sentence as some of the artists I admire. 

Sparkhop: What can fans & newcomers to your music be on the lookout for coming soon from Crom Royale? 

Crom Royale: I'll be releasing an 8-track EP over the summer with MoonChild that we're both really excited about. I'm also working on a new solo album that should be out in the fall.

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You can hear the entire "Demo" project in it's entirety below for free. Or catch a few more video highlights underneath that! Either way if you haven't heard of Crom Royale yet I at least encourage you to give him a listen. If you like what you hear & live in Michigan you can catch him performing live in Downtown Pontiac, MI atSparkhop's 2nd Annual Sparkfest All Day Hip Hop Event on August 4th, 2012.

 

In conclusion thank you for checking out Sparkhop's Emcee of The Week! We will return next week with more new music to discover.

In the meantime enjoy "Demo" below as well as a few other videos I found dope from Crom Royale.

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NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST FOR EMCEE OF THE WEEK! All you have do is click the feedback tab on the left side of Sparkhop.com & tell us who your nominating & where we can find their music.