#DaFiveFingerDiscount: Horseshoe Gang – Anti-Trap Music [Editorial]

Very excited the present the latest installment of our series Da Five Finger Discount! Before y’all spend your hard earning money to support your favorite artists, we’re wanted to provide a deal! That is why we get these artists to provide some insight into their upcoming project. Long Beach’s Horseshoe Gang broke down 4 tracks from the upcoming album Anti-Trap Music and one from last year’s EP. Cop that EP now!

First, we’d like to mention a song titled “Fist Pump Music” from our previous EP “Knocking On Rap’s Door” released last year. This song was inspired in part by a concept King Tech created. He played a few tracks DJ Khalil made for us and although all of them were dope, one stood out. The song has a vibe that appeals to lovers of music in general, not just those who love a specific genre.  This EP was also important for us as it was the first official release in two years since our album “Top Ramen N*gga” although we did then follow that up with our Monthly Mixtape series for a year. We were also working on the new album, so it laid down a marker for what was to come

This next song is off of our upcoming album “Anti Trap Music” titled “Poverty Slogans” produced by Jonathan Elkaer and D.J.E.D.D.E.H. It’s part comedy, but all real. We’re speaking on the struggle in a light-hearted way, which makes it both relatable and entertaining.  We’ve experienced homelessness and even now, we don’t front, we don’t have a lot to our names.  But it’s like a man once said, money is the root of all evil…but give us a lil of the root !  Humour is often generated through hard times, so we know people everywhere will be able to understand what we’re saying.

We have to add our song “Crooked I Robot” to this list, again off the album. Especially since it’s a fans favorite. It basically touches on how we came up under KXNG Crooked’s tutelage as lyrical robots. He used to give us rap exercises to do when we were just little kids, like 4 or 5 years old, give us some bars to learn and when he came back, he’d give us some more.  So we’re acknowledging the role he played over the years, and while we all got our own styles, apples never fall far from the tree! It’s another produced by Denmark’s Jonathan Elkaer who has also worked with our brother, so it seemed appropriate.

Our song “Shoe-icide Squad” is already being compared to songs like N.W.A’s “Fuck The Police”, which is not only high praise but also telling of how strong our message is. It speaks against police brutality in a way not many artists would attempt, although many could relate to the frustration the song conveys. We have all been arrested by the police but never spent any time in jail, and of course in the States, there’s been several high profile cases that made the news which ultimately led to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. So there’s a lot of lyrical anger and energy, and the beat Tabu produced matched that perfectly.  We know this is an issue not only for folks coast to coast in the US, but also overseas, and this was borne out by the level the track was shared online internationally.

Finally, we have to speak on our most recent single release off Anti-Trap Music, titled simply “Intro”. It’s the first song listeners will hear when they pop in a CD of our album. And it sets the tone for the musical journey through which we send listeners. It’s classic Horseshoe Gang, a hardcore punchline riddled song where we trade turns spitting bars. Featuring the best rapper of all time, KXNG Crooked. Again it’s pleasing to us to see how well shared this was worldwide online, as it endorses lyricism, and that’s what we’re all about, with a few others, bringing that back to the table.  It also feeds into the idea behind the album title, trap music being the antithesis of lyricism, so it sets the stall out early.  Another produced by Jonathan Elkaer and DJ E.D.D.E.H., as soon as we heard that beat we all knew we had to jump on it and go hard