We Speak Hip-Hop
Dios Negasi drops “West Testament” ft. Blu
L.A. unites! Emcee/Producer Dios Negasi enlists Blu for new single “West Testament.” Presented by Chamber Music Ent / Reagan Era Records the track is available via digital platforms and is taken from the forthcoming Black Violin 2 LP. Rugged spittin over a deadly dose of boom-bap, Dios and Blu’s chemistry actually goes back to the early days of the millennium. As he relates “Blu and I were in a crew called L.A. Metro in the early 2000’s. Along with Donell Smokes (Black), Spit Fiya, Co$$, Skrillz Dior and Loops (Anthony Cruz). We did a ton of shows together all over L.A., San Diego and New Mexico. We actually have a few other tracks together to drop after Black Violin 2.”
Listen to “West Testament” ft. Blu: https://youtu.be/Blotviafga8?si=znjP9KEpAUkVUjXN
This drop follows a steady stream of head-nodders from Dios Negasi dropped this year. This includes other singles from the forthcoming album including collaborations with Ghostface Killah, RJ Payne, Conway The Machine and Young Zee (links below).
Listen to “God’s Walabee Clarks” ft Ghostface Killah: https://youtu.be/_9e-6RgHQ40?si=bXQRrDDcd9eu2O0i
Listen to “Black Scrolls” ft. RJ Payne: https://youtu.be/4E_h7J51vY4?si=hHVgnl186s483K34
Listen to “Domingre Gang” ft Young Zee: https://youtu.be/vlAXcUVPnx0?si=upqgjC77nbCIAoWT
Listen to “Only God Can Save You” ft. Conway The Machine: https://youtu.be/RtJFtgB4i-A?si=PniBaa-Fydz100nh
In addition he dropped the collaborative LP Iron Angeles, which was fully produced by Tone Fultz and features many of his Reagan Era Records cohorts.
More Info: https://www.instagram.com/diosnegasi/
All Said And Done, the latest chapter of Hieroglyphics is here! The third official full-length album from the Oakland, California super-crew is now available via streaming, vinyl and CD editions (links below) with hand-drawn album cover courtesy of Shomari Smith. A legendary amalgamation of hip-hop entities, Hieroglyphics is composed of Casual, Souls Of Mischief (a quartet composed of A-Plus, Opio, Phesto and Tajai), Del The Funky Homosapien, Domino, DJ Toure and Pep Love.
Recorded over a nine-month period in 2025, All Said And Done (the first official Hieroglyphics release since 2013 mixtape The Kitchen) is a fully self-produced affair (with tracks handled by A-Plus, Domino, DJ Toure with the only additional assistance from multi-instrumentalist Jim Greer and cuts on one track by DJ D-Styles of The Beat Junkies). Speaking on the album title, Casual stated that “it refers to this album being the skill level that we would like to be remembered for.” He also says that the album track “Uplifted” is a personal highlight that will “last to tell the story of HIero if no other song does.”
An official video for the track “The Way That It Be” featuring performances from Casual, Pep Love and Tajai was just released (link below).
Watch the official video for “The Way That It Be”: https://youtu.be/FlDWQ89MCcg?si=qB8Ct-Lp4GWrdzwq
The crew also just completed a North American run promoting the release of the album, which hyped the track “Drum Talk” (featuring Casual, Phesto Dee, Tajai and Del The Funky Homosapien).
Listen to “Drum Talk”: https://promo.theorchard.com/OTf4THL8AWSMaUDoZPgu
The tour culminated in the 2026 edition of the annual Hiero Day celebration in San Francisco. However this Saturday (September 12) will be the launch of the first Hiero Day Canada (to take place at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver)
Stream/Purchase LP/CD All Said And Done: https://hieroglyphics.com/
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