Fresh local hip-hop from Pries, Lokon and Spellbinder, One Eyed Kings and more

Cavem Moetivation

​Local rappers have been hard at work this week, releasing videos and songs about everything from love and unity to the military industrial complex and drunken nights -- and we've even got a children's choir! Page down for fresh hip-hop from Pries, Lokon with Spellbinder, Turner Jackson, Cavem Moetavation and the One Eyed Kings.

Cavem Moetavation has the coolest video in the roundup this week. Collaborating with the Denver Public Schools Elementary Choir, the MC performed his hit song "Wheatgrass," with the students rapping along. Cuteness factor aside, this is totally hip-hop. It's a children's choir! Rapping lyrics about meditation and how to grow food! Hip-hop, son!

On Pries's video for "Wake Up Drunk," with what appears to be a camera strapped to his (or someone else's) head, the rapper ambles around the city spitting drunken lyrics apt for the drunken fuckery he encounters along the way.

Lokon and Spellbinder cross both their talents with the track "Tienes Feria." This is not the first time Spellbinder has stolen away the rhythm on a track on which he's featured. His searing, melodic vocals cut through the production for a stirring performance. Lokon's verse, while not as strong, definitely lends itself to the balance.

Turner Jackson, the action-packed rapper who never stops, is releasing a new project called She's Gotta Have It. The lead single, "Billie," for which a video is in the works, was produced by Qknox Gramatik and pivots on a laconic 1950s horn pattern. The back end of the song, which is all about a girl named Billie whom everybody loves, is mostly ad libs from Turner rather than verses, but his animated, stuttered rap tempo matches the beat well.

One Eyed Kings bring the rebel colors out in this week's column. Bravo, the MC, leads the way for the En-Stereo assisted "Wake the Fuck Up." The world ain't sweet: There are wars going on, and American dreams are being smashed to pieces. The MCs are eloquent, poised and descriptive, and the Mr. Bostic-produced beat is a killer.