Sometimes, giving people something old is exactly what's needed to restart their desire for something new.
This is the method used by UMG's Royal Fam, a group made up of Prophetic, Ka$h and Yo-Dot (managed by Axtra). Last week they debuted a new webtape, UMG's version of the online mixtape, which is a compilation of many of the older songs they had in their reserves.
Coming from mainly 2005, with a few of the Yo-Dot tracks coming from 2007, you can hear the heart and hunger of the younger versions of Proph, Ka$h, and Yo-Dot, often over some very familiar beats.
"Coffee is for Closers" showcases the humble beginnings of the core of a unit that to this day still makes music together, is still great friends, and is now maneuvering the waters of the business side of the industry.
The three stand out artists, that have been concentrating mainly on solo work for the last few years, are planning for possibly a couple more Royal Fam projects to be released in 2011.
With a Prophetic album, a Yo-Dot webtape/album, already scheduled for this year -- and probably new Ka$h as well -- Royal Fam is obviously doing whatever they can to continue to cement their legacy in Milwaukee hip-hop.
For fans of Milwaukee hip-hop, that isn't a bad thing.
You can get the webtape "Coffee is for Closers" by clicking here.
Born in Milwaukee and raised in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Concordia University Wisconsin alumnus Poppe has spent the majority of his life in or around the city and county of Milwaukee.
As an advocate of Milwaukee's hip-hop community Poppe began popular local music blog Milwaukee UP in March 2010. Check out the archived entries here.
Though heavy on the hip-hop, Poppe writes about other genres of music and occasionally about food, culture or sports, and is always ready to show his pride in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
