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Sounds like: Common, Swollen Members, Slug, Ohmega Watts

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What’s so good?
Moka Only gained fame from his role with the legendary Canadian hip hop crew Swollen Members. Since most of the Members are from BC/Vancouver, I originally planned to talk about them during our Northwest tour. But after their dismal showing on “Armed to the Teeth” (seriously, what happened there? I can’t tell if they completely lost their minds or if it’s a hoax, Joaquin Phoenix style…) I’ve decided to focus on the Member who I feel was the lynchpin to their successes. Since departing from the group, he has launched an incredible solo career, unleashing a prolific average of five albums/EPs a year over the past three years while slowly gaining more personal prestige. Dude is a hip hop workhorse.

What I like most about Moka is how raw it all sounds – I think it has to do with the fact that he developed his own person style in an area (Langford, Canada) that was somewhat out of touch with anything remotely similar to mainstream hip hop. The beats are extremely simple but the flow is so smooth. While the rest of Swollen Members seems to have gone off the deep end, Moka is the epitome of a guy who can forever keep it real. To give him some credit – I’m attaching a track that he recorded with MF Doom where Doom spends the entire verse complimenting Moka’s abilities and humility. This isn’t to say that Moka needs a big name on a track to show what he’s got – just check out one of his four 2009 albums for an example of what I’m talking about.

…Well, this is our last stop in the Pac NW, but we aren’t headed too far away… next stop San Francisco, Oakland, and the Bay Area! Cali baby.

Don’t be scared to chime in and give us some suggestions.

Moka beats will definitely keep your head nodding & trunk bumping. His lyrics are abstract and true to life in a fun-filled b-boy stance. A most refreshing alternative for listeners tired of the usual materialism and gangsta topics heavily heard from most of today’s rap stars – epkhosting.com

Elsewhere on the web:
myspace | myspace.com/mokaonly

Download:
Moka Only – More Soup [Feat. MF Doom].mp3