Rah hoWard

Rah hoWard drops his sophtmore mixtape entitled “The Winner” featuring 17 tracks of brand new, unreleased pure heat rock. Other than borrowing Drake’s Congratulations Instrumental on track two a majority of the songs on the mixtape are produced by Rah hoWard himself. The Little Rock, Arkansas based MC is really making a name for himself with this one, not only as a rapper but as a producer as well. My favorite tracks on the mixtape are track 3 “Go the Distance” and track 6 “Money Sex and Drugs” which are both produced by Rah hoWard himself. This is a definite must download, good quality food for your ipod. You gotta love when an artist proves album quality work in the form of a mixtape. You can follow Rah hoWard on tWitter, faceBook, bloGger and “of coarse” mYspace and be sure to checkout his official website http://wWw.RahhoWard.com/ – Download Rah hoWard The Winner Mixtape after the jump. Enjoy. - http://www.addicted-2-retail.com/

Little Rock, Arkansas native and game spitta Rah Howard sends the visuals for his single called "Grab A Pole" and you can also download the song at the link below. Enjoy !!! - http://www.definitionoffresh.com

Little Rock, Arkansas native and game spitta Rah Howard sends the visuals for his single called "Grab A Pole" and you can also download the song at the link below. Enjoy !!! - http://www.definitionoffresh.com

We first introduced you to Rah Howard when we featured him on our New Artists On The Rise post. His catchy track in “Hello, Goodbye” was played in good rotation and today we have a new music video from the 25-year-old musician. “Grab A Pole” is no different from anything else Howard has performed: catchy, and feel-good music.

This one is aimed at the ladies. - http://www.dearsonginmyhead.com

LITTLE ROCK — Ask Rah hoWard which Rocky film is his favorite, and he replies: "Rocky, the first one."

It's a pertinent question for the 24-year-old Little Rock hip-hop artist. The American cultural icon is a large presence on hoWard’s first full-length album, The Winner. The album artwork might feature Neil Leifer’s classic photograph of a hulking Muhammad Ali daring a dazed Sonny Liston to resume their 1965 heavyweight championship rematch, but it's the spirit and voice of Rocky Balboa that are featured prominently throughout the 17-track The Winner.

"I love Rocky," hoWard says. "It's got a bunch of good quotes in it. There are great scenes in it."

The 54-minute album kicks off with "Intro": Rocky’s speech to his son Robert Balboa from Rocky Balboa — a speech where the elder Balboa reminds his son surviving life is "about how hard you can get [hit] and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward."

"[That quote] got to me," hoWard says. "I think this year has been one of the hardest of my life. But the quote means I can't point the finger at the other people involved. I got to do what I need to, to fix it. I heard that quote, and it gave me chills."

Twice more the album pauses for Rocky quotes, including Mickey Goldmill’s inspirational speech to Rocky in Rocky V, and "Fighting" combines horns and a hoWard-produced beat with the Rocky theme, with hoWard storming out of the corner like a wounded warrior with a lot of fight left in him, reminding listeners: "To all my people still struggling: Keep fighting." And the album's beats, mostly produced by hoWard in either a garage or a friend's home studio, deliver a wallop, even when the tracks are not boxing related.

With "Money, Sex, Drugs," hoWard crosses ’80s synth-pop with a big, booming beat and deep bass line to create a bumping title-fight sound where hoWard reminds a girl that "I can be your money/I can give you sex/I can be your drugs/I can be that one you love, you lust, you need, you dream about every single time you go to sleep." Clocking in at 2:16, it's one of the best Arkansas-created hip-hop tunes of the year.

"I was thinking of a girl that I used to talk to," hoWard says of the tune's creation. "I started writing it and added 808s with the high hat and the crazy-ass bass line."

The winner of the first Arkansas Hip-Hop Showcase, hoWard also created The Winner's first single, "Going the Distance," from the ground up, after sampling the instrumental "Flying Home" written by Henry Jackman and John Murphy for the 2010 film Kick-Ass starring Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage.

"I took eight measures from the song," hoWard says. "I didn't want to do disco, but once I ran the loop I knew I had the hook."

The up-tempo, hip-hop/dance track is getting play on hip-hop blogs across the country, hoWard says, and beginning with a Rocky quote, it's a pulsating, pumping blast of poppy synths and upward-moving arpeggio chords. And the lyrics? It's all about not setting limitations: "I know I can go the distance/All I gotta do is try."

"It's about how some people don't think they have a chance, but I feel as though I can do it," hoWard says.

Throughout The Winner, hoWard’s sophomore follow-up to his mixtape debut Motivation, the beats and message remain upbeat. The lyrics range from "I'm so high on life I don't want to ever come down" from "Never Come Down" to "Promise I'll never give up on my life again" from "Fighting." While a few tunes are tracks hoWard had lying around for a couple of years, most of the tracks were written in 2010, as hoWard underwent a transformation.

"I feel like with the mixtape that it was really something I couldn't be proud of," hoWard says. "The music was not positive. I was focused on being better and forgot the overall purpose of things. With The Winner, it's an album my boys from the old neighborhood can listen to and then even a pastor can sit down and enjoy. I wanted to make sure the songs were universal and applied to everyone."

For The Winner, hoWard called upon old and new friends, working with Epiphany, RockStarIllBill and SouthWest Boaz on "Never Come Down," E Dubb and Big Drew on "Bandwagon to Benz," and Osyrus on the minimalist-beat jazz of "Sentimental Mood."

"I wanted to fool around with people who I hadn't fooled with," hoWard says. "With Boaz, we're really trying to push him, and Osyrus, that dude just has a great voice. And to even do a song with E. Dubb and Big Drew is a big deal."

The other special guest featured on The Winner is hoWard’s father, blues guitar player Ricky Howard Sr., who lays down some sleepy, Jack Johnson-like guitar at the end of "Dead" and throughout "Thanks For The Sun Shine." "Thanks For The Sun Shine" is the album's end track, an acoustic number drenched in gorgeousness with Howard Sr. supplying the guitar and vocals while his son joins him on drums and wailing harmonica. It's a surprising moment, with gentle lyrics such as "Last night I had a dream an angel came down and touched my soul." But after an album of beats and bruising, it's the perfect coda: simple and beautiful.
? - The Sync Magazine

LITTLE ROCK — Rah hoWard's Motivation Mixtape is intended to deliver a little taste of the 23-year-old Little Rock hip-hop artist's talents. The main course will be delivered later this year - hopefully in November - in the form of I Am Music, his debut album.

"Motivation is intended to show people how well I can rap," hoWard said. "Motivation is intended to get people to respect me and like me. I Am Music is going to make people love Rah hoWard. It's Rah hoWard unfiltered, from the heart."

The Motivation Mixtape hosted by DJ King Akeem is 22 tracks recorded by hoWard at his in-home studio in his west Little Rock apartment. The tracks include the dirty guitar-powered, tribal swagger of "Crown Me" and the club-banger anthem of "Weekend Relief", along with appearances by well-known Arkansas hip-hop artists such as Goines of Suga City, 607 and Rockst*r. Among the 22 tracks are shorter interludes, with hoWard describing his motivation on three different tracks, track introductions and a goodbye message where the Motivation Mixtape is pronounced as the "hardest one to drop in the city thus far."

"It's a different kind of mixtape," hoWard said. "If you've ever heard a mixtape from Little Rock you've never heard one like this. It's the traditional New York mixtape with rewinds and everything.

"For me, it starts with the beat. I track my own beats. I take the sample and make the beat. The beat then talks to me and dictates where the song might go. I think if I had to describe it ... it's like painting a picture. Some songs are quicker than others. I never try to force things."

The Motivation Mixtape is being released (It's available at Ugly Mike's in Little Rock.) while hoWard's hip-hop iron is searing hot: The Hall High School graduate recently won the first Arkansas Hip-Hop Showcase held at Vino's, beating out nine other Arkansas hip-hop artists.

"Since 2005 I felt like I've been going in circles," hoWard said. "The showcase was a chance to get people to pay attention to me, to listen to me. The politics of the local hip-hop scene are hard to cut through."

Born and raised in the inner city of Little Rock, growing up between 12th and 20th streets, hoWard (born Ryan Howard) was exposed to music at an early age through his mother's gospel albums and through his father's - the blues guitar player Texas Ricky D - wealth of blues knowledge. While the gospel and blues influences are hard to spot in hoWard's hip-hop, the message of the genres have seeped into his music.

"That's stuff from the heart," hoWard said. "A lot of people are just concerned about following what's hot and making a hit. When I make music it comes from the heart."

But it was Tupac's "Keep Ya Head Up," a tune from the hip-hop icon's 1993 album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., that introduced hoWard to hip-hop and the importance of the rhymes and beats. The honesty and positive message of the tune - a song of female empowerment - made hoWard realize hip-hop was an avenue for improving the lives of individuals around him.

"The ultimate purpose is to help people," hoWard said. "I try to make music that speaks to people. Music that is timeless. That's what I try to do. When I make music I go in with the mindset to make classic material."

But the creation of quality material is just one part of hoWard's hip-hop equation. According to hoWard, local music doesn't sell because artists are not fully invested in their product from its creation to its delivery to the customer. Creating quality material is the first step, but artists often fail to market and promote the product, don't work hard enough delivering the music to the masses and are often too aggressive in their approach when attempting to sell the music to strangers on the street.

But with the Motivation Mixtape and the upcoming I Am Music, hoWard plans to follow through on every aspect of his four-prong attack in an attempt to break out as an Arkansas hip-hop artist. And if he fails? It's not a consideration.

"I got faith in Arkansas," hoWard said. "I'm not giving up on Arkansas. I would like for Rah hoWard to be a household name in Arkansas. ... That's one of my goals." - The Sync Magazine