Worldwide Critical Acclaim for AWKWORD ‘Bars & Hooks’ Video

The number-one single off AWKWORD’s forthcoming DJBooth-sponsored World View album, “Bars & Hooks” has been played and downloaded tens of thousands of times since its release December 2011; and two Sundays ago (April 29) The Source Magazine world premiered the official video, directed by Andre Ward of Across the Bridge Productions and featuring the full cast of characters: AWKWORD, Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, The Incomparable Shakespeare and Harry Fraud.

Within a week, the “Bars & Hooks” video had accrued 20,000 plays, thanks in part to great features from the likes of Complex Magazine, Hip Hop Wired, Okay Player, Hip Hop DX, 2 Dope Boyz, Nah Right, You Heard That New, etc. — without a single dollar spent on promotion.

See below for some of the rave reviews, plus a list of top links (a couple sites posted it twice!).

And feel free to click the links to vote-up or comment on the video/song. They take notice. And we appreciate.

Reviews

Complex Magazine:

New York City rapper AWKWORD just released the visuals for his collaboration with Sean Price and The Kid Daytona “Bars & Hooks,” produced by Harry Fraud with The Incomparable Shakespeare on the chorus. These guys are taking it back to the essence of NYC hip-hop with this one. Pay attention.

Okay Player:

AWKWORD takes hip-hop back to its essence with this brand new video “Bars & Hooks” featuring Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, and The Incomparable Shakespeare (with Harry Fraud on the beat). The title says it all, what more can you ask for?

Hip Hop Wired:

Some rugged Hip-Hop for your Monday morning. Awkword drops “Bar & Hooks (Keep It Moving [K.I.M.]),” featuring Sean Price, The Incomparable Shakespeare and The Kid Daytona. Harry Fraud hooks up a beat heavy on flutes and brolic drums. Keep it moving and peep the video for “Bar & Hooks”.

2 Dope Boyz:

The entire song is called “Bars & Hooks (Keep It Moving [K.I.M.]).” Harry Fraud on the beat, and a bunch of talented emcees on the raps make for one good combination.

Hip Hop DX:

Finally… some grimy, boom bap, bully foot East Coast shit. This goes super hard.

The Sermon’s Domain:

AWKWORD, Harry Fraud, Sean Price, and The Kid Daytona are to backpackers what Future, 2 Chainz, Ross & French are to main stream. this collab is huge. and Andre Ward form Across the Bridge Productions brings this Harry Fraud production alive.

Ruby Hornet:

“Talking about the jerks in the game, you know who you are.”

AWKWORD brings some of NYC’s most talented emcees together for 4-plus minutes of dope NYC rap on “Bars & Hooks”. The posse cut features Sean Price, The Kid Daytona, and The Incomparable Shakespeare, with production from Harry Fraud. The video is directed by Andre Ward, who does a great job of not over visualizing this straightforward record. Watch it below. Shouts to AWKWORD.

Digiwaxx:

Don’t worry about the lengthy title, just press play. Its about time NY emcees re-take the throne. Can’t go wrong with P! With a song title like “Bars & Hooks” what else you expect. La musica de Harry Fraud.

Revolt Radio:

AWKWORD releases the crazy visuals for the street heater “Bars & Hooks”… Everything is hot bout this track — the cocaine beat by Harry Fraud, the sick verses, and the video just puts it all in perspective.

Ecko Unlimited Italy:

These guys are doing back the true New York style of the past. [translated.]

Pop Killer (Poland):

Oh yeah, i enjoy that song since its release (December), and finally shot him a video. [translated.]

aik.éqt & fngrprnt (Germany):

The new week starts again more than epic. Rotate your boxes to enjoy the brilliant weather, and to this unspeakably sexy sound! The track can be found on the album “World View” by AWKWORD again and is just one of many other beads. AWKWORD released on Sub City Productions / DJ Booth, and up to mischief in no less a city than the metropolis of New York City Hip Hop. The guy I’ll keep an eye on each case. Until then, enjoy the track and listened to the album purely sometimes! [translated.]

Honorable Mentions

‘AMERICAN’ (U.S.)

• Duckdown.com
• DJ Bobby Trends (Hot 97)
• The Combat Jack Show
• Dallas Penn
• Nah Right
• You Heard That New
• DJ Booth
• UndergroundHipHop.com
• The Well Versed
• Xclusives Zone
• Kevin Nottingham
• Donuts & Milk
• The Tony Grands / Reading & Writing Is For Dumb People / Ear Hustlin
• The Mad Bloggers
• Hip Hop Ruckus
• Its Bizkit
• Ashley Outrageous
• 808 Crate
• Hip Hop Dependency
• Dope Music Blog
• Dork Mustache
• Heavy Mentalist
• Just A Love Thing
• We Goin In
• Eastside Morales
• Rock The Dub
• Refined Hype
• Crayon Beats
• Emilio Sparks
• Above Ground Magazine
• Hip Hop Site – 1 x 2
• Gorilla Leak – 1 x 2
• CyberGorillas
• Good Music All Day

INTERNATIONAL

• The Hip Hop Chronicle (England/United Kingdom)
• DJ Loscar (France)
• WHUDAT (Germany)
• KINGSIZE (Norway/Scandinavia)
• Yappari HipHop (Japan)
• Illegal Promo (Portugal)
• Versos Perfectos (Spain)
• Sunete Sub.Sol (Romania)
• Hip-Hop.sk (Slovakia)
• Street Poets (Netherlands)
• Music Kitchen (Lithuania)
• HipHopaholic (Russia)
• Ozarts Etc (Belgium)
• Funky Unk (Mexico)

For more rave reviews, including mad love from Japan and elsewhere in Asia, click here to read the late 2011 write-ups on the “Bars & Hooks” song; and follow @AWKWORDrap on twitter — he reads, responds, retweets, etc.

And if you want to watch AWKWORD on your TV, stay tuned for the next post on AWKWORDrap.com…