..........................................................................................

"Arms & Hammers" Almost Here, More Music From SAS! - By : Rud - February 2, 2011

Strong Arm Steady were originally an octet of West Coast staples, comprised of cipher-honed MCs, producers, and DJs who rose to counterbalance the heavy gang influence of L.A. rap in the 1990s.

Past members/current affiliates include MCs Xzibit and Planet Asia, as well as beatmaker extraordinaire DJ Khalil, who produced four tracks on Strong Arm Steady’s forthcoming and long awaited new album, "Arms & Hammers," dropping February 22nd on Talib Kweli’s Blacksmith Records.


The current incarnation of SAS is the well-known trio of Los Angelenos Krondon and Phil Da Agony, and Mitchy Slick from San Diego. As a collective, SAS have flooded the block with more than a dozen mixtapes since 2003. Their full-length debut album, "Deep Hearted," appeared in 2007, and 2009 saw the release of an innovative project called the "Stoney Jackson LP," produced entirely by Madlib. "Arms & Hammers," marks the group’s full-fledged arrival, a project we have kept you fully updated on since 2009!

In an early update we brought you the Game featured Trunk Music, produced by Lamar of 1500 or Nuthin - as well as the Original Version which featured Phil The Agony and not Game.

Less than six months ago we followed up with the video for Make Me Feel featuring Jelly Roll before dropping the Too Short featured video for On Point.

We've just been sent the full CDQ audio of that Terrace Martin produced single and can present it for you below.

Strong Arm Steady - On Point (Feat. Too Short) (Audio)

Yesterday we brought you another new track from the album produced by DJ Khalil called Klack or Get Klacked.

Other tracks on "Arms & Hammers" include "Gangsta’s" where "Kron, Mitch, and I depict the cities we grew up in. We pay homage; it’s a record for everyone, not just gangstas. If you handle your business, you gangsta about things in your own way, like a Russell Simmons," explains Phil of the DJ Khalil produced track.

Another Khalil record on the album is the concrete-hardened collabo "When Darkness Falls" with Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry of which Krondon says; "We go outside of ourselves and speak on dark situations and bring light to them. We are just being brutally honest."

Speaking of brutal, heads will appreciate the microphone savagery of Kurupt on Terrace Martin’s "Blow My Horn," and that of KRS-One, Talib Kweli, Chace Infinite and Planet Asia on "All My Brothers," produced by Nottz.

Elsewhere, note the stylings of West Coast crooner Jellyroll and the cuts and interludes of the legendard DJ Crazy Toones who oversaw the construction of "Arms & Hammers." When asked about the length of time SAS have taken to release the LP Krondon explains ; "To put out a record of this magnitude, we felt like we had to be standing next to some of the pillars that hold up where we come from and where the music comes from, but yet show it in a light that’s relevant now. That’s not an easy thing to do. That’s why we didn’t mind taking our time with it, because it’s a responsibility and an honor to paint an accurate picture."

Kron also said that Strong Arm Steady are readying a short film to delve into the meaning of "Arms & Hammers," "Those who know the street will have their own interpretations of what Arms & Hammers means, but truly, if you think about building any foundation—occupational, physical, spiritual—it requires some sort of tool. There’s an arm and a tool used to create that structure. That embodies your work ethic, your strength, your consistency. People who go off and fight for their country, even their neighborhood, are following that same motto. The film focuses on the similarities between people despite different backgrounds or different approaches to survival. Those words signify the resources and tools you use in your everyday existence."

So just what is Arms & Hammers? Depends on whom you ask!

Phil Da Agony: "It’s a great body of work, a moment in time that’ll be forever respected and cherished. It’s everybody coming together and putting their best foot forward."

Mitchy Slick: "The best of what the West Coast has to offer all in one serving— from the block to the smoke shop all wrapped up in one."

Krondon: "It’s students of the game getting a chance to present all that we’ve learned. It’s a complete embodiment of life and all the emotions that men go through. For the listener, the music is so triumphant that it calls for a picture to be painted with several different colors."

Strong Arm Steady. Many things to many people. On February 22, 2011, with "Arms & Hammers," one truth will radiate brilliantly. The West Coast has once again found its voice. Pre-order it here.

Make sure you check out recent audio drops from SAS including unreleased tracks from the last few years - many of which have gone on to be used on Platinum albums - including; Talking To Myself featuring Kobe, Do Ya Thang Girl with Casey Veggies & Picaso over a Statik Selektah production and Makings Of You produced by Pete Rock.

Discuss This Topic