“Phranchyze is quite literally battling his way to national prominence. The 26-year-old local rapper, otherwise known as financial adviser J.J. Shaw, is an emerging star…” (Austin Powell of Austin Chronicle). The bulk of notoriety for Austin, Texas’ Phranchyze, 27, stems from his hilarious, quotable, caffeine-and-purp fueled rampage through underground rap battles; it’s a talent that’s taken him around the country to represent in all sorts of competitions.
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“Phranchyze is quite literally battling his way to national prominence. The 26-year-old local rapper, otherwise known as financial adviser J.J. Shaw, is an emerging star…” (Austin Powell of Austin Chronicle). The bulk of notoriety for Austin, Texas’ Phranchyze, 27, stems from his hilarious, quotable, caffeine-and-purp fueled rampage through underground rap battles; it’s a talent that’s taken him around the country to represent in all sorts of competitions. Forget about that for a sec. Phranchyze is on a notoriously short list of battle cats that first and foremost make music you want to load into your head. There’s no drivel about lyrical bloodbaths or ill mathematics, but rather a corpus that plays like a cursory rundown in swagged out fresh shit. On Flowmasters (2006, 2007), Phranchyze was smooth, crispy, and hungry to show the world his abilities. His crossover style burst on Customs (2008), and featured a behemoth regional sneaker pimp anthem for the heads. 2009’s Errybody Hates Me dropped during the South By Southwest Music Conference and took the flow high octane. On it, he worked with mix-tape legend DJ Rapid Ric, and the album spotlit Phranchyze’s love for Austin and annoyance with popular culture. 2010’s The Black Larry Bird was Phran unhinged with stalker odes to porn stars, learned hometown hero raps brimming with persona, his biggest hooks, best laid-to-wax stanzas, and over the top production value. 2011 was more work by way of two breezy spring mixtapes that went hard like girls showing skin after a long winter. French Phrantana and Gucci Phran kept the chains moving by focusing on humor and parties. Earlier this year, the wealth of perfecting the steez via years of acclaimed output came to a head with S.T.A.R.S., his most complete and accessible record to date. The LP is cohesive, full of knocking original beats; the collaborations with longtime friends are fun and lack the hired gun mechanics of most guest spots. It’s esoteric music for the collegiate stoner kids that LOL at the references, but it’s also loud and instantly likable. Pass the blunt, and fire up that Arkham City.
