Around the time I found out about U-N-I, I was unaware of the impending wave of incredible talent to come from Los Angeles’ independent hip hop scene. During one event I ended up capturing a cypher between the Inglewood duo, Picaso and A.T. of Language Artz, CurT@!n$ and this guy from Compton named H.O.P.E.
I’d actually completely forgotten about H.O.P.E until I stumbled across the video for “Love Lotus,” which instantly grabbed my attention. Unfortunately – which, as I’d soon find out, would be a recurring trend – I didn’t see or hear much from him afterward. A freestyle here, a song there, a video here. Then his project Follow The Leader eventually dropped, which, while showing promise, was in my opinion plagued by too many attempts to “fit in.”
I still kept an eye out for his music, however. But the guy would drop a short video or a freestyle every few months before re-disappearing off the face of the planet. But judging from the first pair of singles from his upcoming We Believe In Hope Wright project, perhaps it’s because he’s working on something spectacular.
Hence where this latest edition of the (2)Dope FreEP series comes in. I plucked some of my personal favorite songs and guest verses from H.O.P.E., raised some of the audio levels a bit and compiled them all into one quickstrike collection to appease those who are also waiting for his next album to drop. I know we can’t rush certain things, but can you at least speed up the process a little bit? Tracklist and link down bottom.
01 The Fool Reading
02 Love Lotus f. Kent Jamz
03 Nightlife
04 H-O-P-E
05 Cali Soul f. H.O.P.E. & Shawn Jackson
06 Bliss f. Y-O of U-N-I
07 Start My Day ft H.O.P.E.
08 Me&Her
DOWNLOAD: H.O.P.E. – A (2)Dope FreEP | Mediafire
