One of the underappreciated parts of the hood/stoner classic Friday is the weed smoking montage about thirty minutes in. The montage scored to Rick James “Mary Jane”, features Craig and Smokey sitting on Craig’s porch smoking weed, impersonating Michael Jackson, talking over their problems and basically chillin’ out as hard as possible. Smokey later describes the scene as “….We was talking over all our problems, right? And you know how we do it… We started getting high, we got fucked upppp!”

The scene obviously speaks to anyone who has ever experienced the time dilating effects of smoking weed – especially while hanging out at a friends house with nothing to do. But, this scene also has a universality to it that goes beyond the stoner crowd. This montage is really about the way time warps, expands and contracts while you’re fully engaged, chilling with your friends. Whether it’s the days of stationary boredom born from oppressive mid summer heat when you’re an adolescent on Summer vacation or it’s a Sunday of watching football and telling your boy about “this motherfucker I work with…” as an adult, the open ended and undefined time you spend with friends is where shit gets real.

It’s where you talk about shit that’s bothering you, hopes, dreams and all the other things that are important in life. You’re anchored safely by the comfort of your home, your homeboys pad or even just your block, but still chillin’ super hard. Your mind is free to wander and get into all sorts of lofty scenarios or dark places that you normally wouldn’t go. It’s the kind of scenario psychologist would love to get you in – mentally bare and open – but that rarely happens because a psychologist’s office is not a home and that dude has never met your mom, so he’s definitely not your friend.

Watching DIY videos from Oakland’s Main Attrakionz, you notice that more than a couple of them take place around their house, on the porch, in the backyard or (presumably) on their block. It’d easy be easy to site practical reasons as to why these locations appear, but after listening to Main Attrakionz music you get the feeling that their videos are set there because that’s where they come from thematically.

Squadda B and MondreM.A.N.’s rap as if they’re perpetually in that montage from Friday, where time doesn’t behave as it does in our world and where dudes can just shoot the shit. That’s not to say they sound perpetually high, instead it feels as though you’re a third party silently listening to them talk to each other on the porch between smoking sessions. Their raps cover the usual topics of personal struggles, aspirations of recognition, girls and occasionally a little bit of pure shit talking – so, it’s basically the same shit you talk about with your friends.

What really helps sell the “lost in time” loosely confessional feel of Main Attrakionz music, are the actual beats they rhyme over. Most of their beats feature chopped up vocal samples drifting and clipping around thick synth lines and sparsely constructed bass and snare hits. There’s a thick haze of hypnotizing vowels and consonants swirling around their beats.

The entire thing ends up sounding like a particularly sad woman trying to sing you a lullaby in a language she’s simultaneously forgetting how to speak. While that proves to be very psychedelic, ethereal and affecting, the steady cadence and monotone of Squadda and Mondre’s voices serve as a lifeline back to reality. It’s a stark contrast that works to great affect not entirely sounding like anything else out right now.

Pimp C always described UGK’s sound as “country rap”, essentially saying that they were creating the same tales of everyday struggle, love and strife as (early) country musicians. In a way, Main Attrakionz gives off a similar vibe, be clear they don’t sound like UGK, but they do give off a similar feel of dudes from a very specific region unabashedly telling you about their life over some beats that are constructed to make you as empathetic as possible.

This isn’t music that’s aims to make you feel 50ft tall because it’s so grandiose and it’s not music that’s made to break you down because it’s so tragic and morose. It’s simply music that ask you to take a seat, relax for a second and listen to two dudes tell you whats going on with them, and hopefully if the music hits you right, you start thinking about what’s going on with yourself.

Download Main Attrakionz’ Best Duo Ever (Click Here)

Download Main Attrakionz’ Zombies On Da Turf (Click Here)

- Behold the Destroyer