Once again, it's been a long break since I've done Beats and Beer Friday, but I'm excited to bring it back. The beats and beer selections this week juxtapose each other a bit; my music selection is an up and coming artist who I guarantee will make a big splash in hip hop, while the beer selection is a regular favorite of mine that is sadly going to no longer be available where I live.
Beats
G-Eazy
Now in the past, I've highlighted a specific album, but this time, I'm focusing on an artist as a whole because I've been so enamored with exploring his music. I pretty much discovered G-Eazy by accident after recently listening to the A3C Volume I Compilation. I had originally copped the album for a few other artists that I enjoyed, but his song 'Rebel' suddenly became my runaway favorite from the collection.
As I usually do, I proceeded to do my Internet research and found a couple of albums of G-Eazy's, which I downloaded and immediately started playing for I went to bed. Needless to say, I was sucked in. I went to bed not wanting to put the headphones down, and was very excited to start playing his music again when I woke up and headed off to work.
It's hard to pin a specific style down on this Bay Area emcee and producer. A number of his songs off of his most recent release, Endless Summer, have a retro pop feel (samples of The Crystals and Dion, among others, certainly help contribute to this), while track off his ealier release, The Outsider, touch on dubstep, club rap and even R&B influences. However, unlike other artists who do this because they can't grasp where their 'place' is in hip-hop, G-Eazy successfully pulls off all of these incarnations. It makes his music consistently fresh and enjoyable. I suggest gathering up as much of his music as you can, going on a long drive and hitting shuffle on his songs. You won't be disappointed.
Want to find out more about G-Eazy? You can visit his website, Facebook page or Twitter page.
Beer
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
The states of Kansas and Missouri received some sad beer-related news this past week, as we found out that Bear Republic, out of Healdsburg, CA, will no longer be distributing in either state. While many breweries are scaling back distribution due to heavy demand, and the Kansas City area has felt a couple losses because of that, seeing Bear Republic go is incredibly disappointing. A consistently good and well-priced brewer is something you never want to see disappear, and in this case, it hit close to home because Racer 5 was one of the first IPA's I ever tried.
To me, Racer 5 is simply one of the best balanced IPA's around. It has a nice hit of hops without being overloaded with bitter aftertaste, and there's a touch of sweetness that compliments the hops without turning it into a sugary mess. If the BeerAdvocate and RateBeer reviews are any indication, the majority of people who have had this beer tend to agree that it's an excellent example of the style. Plus, at a pretty respectable price point, it's something that a craft beer 'rookie' can try without having to worry about blowing money on something they won't enjoy.
So Racer 5, and Bear Republic as a whole, I salute you. You will certainly be missed around these parts, and I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. I have every intention of stocking up on Bear Republic brews over the next couple weeks before they disappear from the shelves. And for all of you that still have Bear Republic distributed in your area, don't pass Racer 5 over. Grab some for yourself this weekend and enjoy.
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