Rec-League Renegades: (L-R) Proe, Ritchie Cunning, Qumulus, and Rob Rush

Proe, an integral facet of Rec-League Records (an indie label based out of San Francisco and Santa Cruz) is the hottest rapper running you don’t know. As Matt Murphy, an honorary Rec-League member, is wont to say, “Proemeo is the world’s worst wing man.” Big, bold, and beautiful, this man physically manifests himself as forcefully as he does in his rhythms and rhymes: boy is tall, dark and handsome personified, but I’m not here to “Teen Beat” him. Although Tags on the Wall, his impressive Freshman effort, has some amazingly catchy songs such as The Falling Star Bamboozle, Brown Eyes, and The Anti-Social Boogies, the album also features some disarmingly tender songs which border on romantic social consciousness such as Lullabies and Cocaine, Just One of Those Songs and Blink of an Eye.

 

Proe's Flawless Endeavor

And this isn’t even the album I’m recommending to you. No, no. The album you want to spend your hard-earned scratch on is Perfect, his Sophomore album. On this album Proe sheds his matinee pop-idol skin and digs downs into a sultrier layer, and The Prelude is a perfect introduction to his reincarnation. Soul-steppin’ blues is the name of the game, and a low-down southern twang finds its way into some of the best songs on the album, such as Who the Fuck is Proe and my own personal favorite: Travelin’ Shoes and Sinner Blues. Quite honestly, out of 19 tracks there simply isn’t a bum song; Perfect is completely free of dead space, free of flaws, if you will. Even if you don’t like rap, you should own this album: trust me, I detest most rap but this album has settled into permanent residence in my car stereo. That’s P-R-O-E, with an E (it’s ironical) and you can find this lyrically beautiful man on iTunes or CLICK HERE for his myspace, and HERE for his label’s site.