I was introducing a friend to Brother Ali yesterday, which made me go back through my collection to find my favorite tracks to send out. That led to searching on the interwebs, and I found a mixtape from the Brother I had never heard before! I figured that since Off the Record is from 2007, and maybe Brother Ali heads I know have not heard of it, it was worthy of a post. A big fan might recognize some of the songs, but most of the 12 tracks are exclusives, buddy.
Download "Off the Record", a mixtape by Brother Ali and his DJ BK-One, here
Thats his little boy Faheem in the pic, by the way. And I gotta say, he spits for a six year old.
It seems like this came out of nowhere, but its shaping up to be my favorite remix project that I've ever heard. Everything sounds so natural and meant to be, just check it out and comment if you think differently. Oh, and obviously it's free. As I just learned, the name (and the music) comes from a mixture of Fugazi and Wu-Tang Clan, as described in more detail on the Wugazi website:
Wugazi is a labor of love by Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy.
A year’s worth of cutting up every imaginable Fugazi record and trying
out every Wu-Tang acapella they could get their hands on, resulted in Wugazi: 13 Chambers (a must listen for anyone who even looked at a skateboard in the 90’s).
Cecil Otter is an emcee & producer, and one of the founding members of Doomtree. He has contributed to over a dozen records. His most recent full-length, Rebel Yellow, was re-released by Sage Francis for Strange Famous Records. He’s now recording his solo project, Porcelain Revolver.
Swiss Andy is a musician & producer residing in Minneapolis. He has been a contributor to several bands including The Millionth Word, Field Guide and The Swiss Army. He is currently working on a remix of Rebel Yellow.
Fresh off of mainstream success from the Eminem-assisted EP Bad Meets Evil Hell: The Sequel, Royce is set to drop a new LP entitled Success is Certain a week from now. We got it a week early for ya. Assists are relatively small, from Eminem (half a chorus) on Writer's Block, to Travis Barker on drums on the track Legendary, to Slaughterhouse companion Joe Budden on My Own Planet. Lesser-knowns Kid Vishis, Nottz, and Adonis also stop in to help the cause of Royce, who is now unquestionably the biggest name is the Slaughterhouse quadrant (Brooklynite Joell Ortiz and Californian Crooked I round out the group).
As for the cd, it seems to me that after all the time waiting for the limelight, Royce has become somewhat complacent while in it. Taking a likeness from His braggadocio has always bothered me some, but none more on this cd. Legendary begins the cd, establishing the theme of self-promoting swagger. Royce doesn't often get out-rapped, but on My Own Planet Joe Budden does to him what Eminem does on most of Bad Meets Evil: not ethered by any sense, but definitely a TKO to borrow a boxing reference.
Royce opts for a lot of beats that try to be fast, hard and anthemic, on what seems to be a follow-up to 2004's Death is Certain. The titles tell an obvious story to the mind of Royce during these two recording sessions. in 2004, Royce was desperate, angry, and willing to spit bars to prove a point- that he was better than your favorite rapper. Personal struggles made the project easier to relate to.
The closing track, I've Been Up I've Been Down, addresses his "roller-coaster of a career", it seems to be too little, too late. Through one listen the project, Royce seems to be too focused on the two images on his album cover- cars and cash. The last line of the cd, Royce proclaims "They can take away the cars, they can take away the cash, but I bet ya they can't take the realness that's in me." Realness, maybe. But Success is Certain is certainly far from the pantheon of Royce's career. It is a shame that the biggest release Royce will likely ever receive does not contain his best work, or even a banging single, with apologies to Legendary and On the Boulevard. Oh well, Detroit could do much worse: at least he's not Big Sean.
Macklemore finally lets loose the video to Wings, a heartful look at kicks, specifically Jordans. The video was directed by Zia Mohajerjasbi, and off of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' VS. EP. Definitely worth the five and a half minutes of your time.
Happy 7 11 day. Get your free slurpees before time runs out. The picture is that big because it is that important.
Couple of recent cd's to check out. All shouts to HHA because I am too lazy to change all the DL's to Back on the Scene Prometheus Brown and Bambu Walk Into a Bar- I'm sure my slightly Jewish co-blogger will let you know his feelings on this one once he is done celebrating the Sabbath. Or just whenever he feels like it.
If you are like me and don't cringe when Hey Ma comes up on the shuffle, and even turn it up, then you might wanna check out 2002's Come Home with Me, which Hey Ma was on. I'm not going to, but you might.
Finally, Houston's own Trae the Truth comes out with his album Street King. Despite not getting a lot of national exposure before, Trae has been around a while, putting out music since 1999, and its nice to see him get a feature from everybody in the game. In particular, check on the last track I'm On, featuring Lupe Fiasco, Wale, Big Boi and a hook from MDMA. If nothing else, you will get some solid verses from the guests, but don't sleep on the truth.
The Cool Kids, hailing out of the fantastic city of Chicago, have been around the scene for years now, but various label fuckery has not allowed them to put out a cd. This all changes tomorrow when Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish drop When Fish Ride Bicycles on Mountain Dew's music label, Green Label Sound. Kinda weird, but I'm all for allowing artist creativity, and I have slammed a few Dews in my time. (Fortunately I still drop Peter North-sized loads, so no signs of the dreaded Dew-effect yet haha.)
Anyways, I was a little surprised by this cd in that that signature simple, booming production is not as evident as it was on The Bake Sale and other Cool Kids joints. The signature sound I associate with the duo seems to have slipped from memory, and Mikey and Chuck even get assistance from Travis Barker and Pharrell for a couple of production credits. The two always seem to be intent on setting trends, through music or fashion, so maybe this is just the next step. The two are not outshined by numerous guest appearances, notably Bun B, Chip tha Ripper and Ghostface. Their lyrical game has stepped up, but in my opinion this was never really what the Cool Kids were about. This cd plays more as a summer party album (see Swimsuits ft. Mayer Hawthorne and Summer Jam ft Maxine Ashley), and through a few spins it falls short of my high expectations. What seems to be a major problem in the rap game today, mixtapes and EPs end up being much better than albums.
No download link for this one, as the kids are streaming the whole album over at Green Label Sounds Facebook Page: href="http://www.facebook.com/GreenLabelSound?sk=app_178091127385">. If you do not have a Facebook and are reading this blog, I just don't know what to say to you. Also check out the video below for "Bundle Up", what was supposed to be the first single but didn't even end up on the album. Smh at what is going on over at Mountain Dew, and here's hoping The Cool Kids end up as more than just sharp dressing rappers.
Contrary to popular belief, which may have been influenced
by my lack of recent postings, I do still exist and still think about improving
this blog. Hopefully this segment is an
improvement over our last one,
and as this continues to develop I will implement a creative (at least as
creative as I can be) rating scheme to allow for people to actually understand
what I am trying to say. Because I haven’t
thought of anything yet, you will be forced to suffer through my reviews at
least one more time.
Masta Ace – A Long
Hot Summer (2004)
Ace has truly mastered the concept album. It plays like a movie and is pretty cohesive,
flowing from angry to laid back tracks seamlessly with the storyline. This provides the backdrop for Masta Ace to
shine, on classic tracks like Beautiful
and the pre-eMC Travelocity featuring
Punch N’ Words. If you are unfamiliar to
Ace or this album, smack yourself in the head several times, then go pick this
up.
Atmosphere – The
Family Sign (2011)
Atmosphere has been Twin Cities music for over a decade,
drawing almost 20,000 fans for their set at SoundSet this year. Although their music has changed dramatically
as of late, they still flex their skills on this album. Only time will tell if anymore classics will
emerge from this album, but besides a few missteps (one of which occurs when
Slug attempts to croon) the album is solid if you are willing to adapt to their
changing sound.
Masterclass –
Masterclass (compilation) [2011]
Wow. Pure beat tape
goodness that deserves to be on constant repeat. Definitely buy this if you can, but somehow
this insane ish can be gotten for free!
Visit bandcamp to delight your eardrums.
Hasaan Mackey –
Soul For Sale (2011)
Some good, hardish raps with substance from the good folks
at Mello Music Group. Nothing off the
wall amazing upon first listen, but with the free price tag everyone should
venture over to bandcamp for a listen.
Listening to this as I write the brief review, and I would say that the
previous lines don’t quite do justice to this project. It is quite good.
Kids These Days –
Hard Times EP
Young, witty MC firing lines the wonderful tunes of a live
band. The track Summerscent definitely put a smile on my face. If my one line description peaks your
interest at all, hop on over to the wonderful Musical Schizophrenia for
a sample track and more.
A tribute album to the classic Midnight Marauders, this
effort does not embarrass the original ATCQ crew. Although I’m not incredibly well versed in ATCQ
albums (let the stream of angry comments from our one loyal reader [if you
actually exist] begin), this is an enjoyable listen and worth the time if you
are looking to listen to new artists.
Another MMG Free Fridays Summer Giveaway, this time coming from Sareem Poems. It is quite the quality release, and once you see the guest list you'll see huge amount of talent that worked on this album. This was released several years ago, so it is not fresh enough in my mind to give a review that is to useful but just trust me and check out this free release (for a limited time only).
While we haven't really done any posts on it, Kendrick Lamar has garnered significant buzz from the underground in preperation for his project Section 80. In a time where some of the described next big things are putting out horrible singles (cough J Cole cough), Kendrick is coming through with real lyricism on top of solid beats. Some background on K.Dot- he is from Compton, is 24, and is working with Dr. Dre on Detox, whenever that is gonna come out. He also was a XXL 2011 Freshman along with Big K.R.I.T., Cyhi Da Prince, Yelawolf, and some others. He is unsigned but with probably get on Dre's Aftermath labe
With hot singles like HiiPower and Ronald Reagan and a cosign from Dre, Kendrick Lamar is here to stay. Download Section 80 and get some good rhymes in your head this 4th of July.
The hot spitta brings what he good at, weed raps over fat beats. This comes off of his 4/20 release of Covert Coup, an EP with Alchemist. This one's a real album no mixtape, but then again it is becoming harder and harder to tell the difference between the two. Curren$y is saying that you can synch up this album with the actual 80's movie Weekend at Bernie's, but I'm not buying that. He's just high. Catch the album here. Props to HHA
Also enjoy the video of people "movin like bernie" dance, aka what I do around 2 am weekend nights due to entirely too much alcohol. This kids are just as bad, if not worse.
So, my last post about Illuminous 3 turned into me raving about Doomtree, so I figured this next post should highlight the work of Illuminous 3 themselves. It turns out that they've compiled their monthly series into a convenient album format, which can be downloaded here. Tracklist is as follows:
But lets be honest, this is going to turn into a Doomtree lovefest again. The last producer to work with the Ill 3 crew is P.O.S., who is also featured on the vocals to this incredibly dope song. Check out the setup and hear from the busy and exceptionally tired P.O.S., then download the song and enjoy. Big ups to Midwest Broadcast for the links
Illuminous 3 have been putting out a free song every month as part of
their Ill Free series, and they work with a different producer for each track. Additionally, they do a producer spotlight to promote some of the unknown producers in the area and show their setup.
Not quite an unknown, Lazerbeak contributed this month's beat, and in the video talks a little about the upcoming Doomtree projects. I really couldn't be more excited for whats coming from the crew, especially after seeing them at SoundSet and the Hand Over Fist show (with a surprise visit from P.O.S.) for $3 dollars at the Triple Rock social club. For proof that I was there, go on over to Midwest Broadcast. The still shot that appears before you click on the video has some big (and tall) dumb idiot's head poised over everybody else. That is me.
We started this blog to promote the show by
making some hip hop postings related to content on the air, but in the end we
wanted to post some original stuff, making an actual contribution to the
blogosphere (also, our show is over).
My first attempt at writing and also labeling
our post showed how much of an influence those damn blogs have on me, and as my
words closely modeled how other people talk about music and “Freeness from…”
was accidently copied from Word is Bond, which I noticed about a week later.
To ensure that I’m not infringing upon
anybody’s catch phrases or ideas, I journeyed deep into the realms of
obscurity, resurrecting a piece of technology that, despite its insistence on
being one of the cool kids that you hang out with all the time, is simply
somebody that you know and like but you never really see very much (yes, check
the punctuation, that entire thing was one sentence).
What I’m talking about is a Zune, which for
me has been a marvelous piece of technology (I have owned two Zunes (30 and
120), and one Ipod (30)) which is arguably equivalent in desirability to an
Ipod (for PC users) only because none of them actually exist (Microsoft spent
tons of money generating “community” features including wireless song transfers
between Zunes, sharing playlists online, etc).
Zunes are so obscure that I even stopped calling my own music playing
device a Zune because of puzzled looks that I received.
Because I don’t think that Zunes actually
exist, simply mentioning them anywhere in the title should be sufficient,
right? No. I don’t want to alienate our readers,
so I’m including a reference to something that they understand: iTunes. This further complicates things, because
besides the fact that I don’t even use iTunes (see Zune Usage above), putting
Zune and iTunes in the same sentence makes less sense than peanut butter on a burger with mayonnaise.
If you clicked on the link then you realize I’m referencing the Jiffy Burger
from the Blue Door which is unbelievably delicious. Alas, the Blue Door is a near sacred eatery,
and I refuse to acknowledge any delusion that this effort will be half as
amazing.
Despite the efforts to be original, this segment is inspired by the legendary but now discontinued What's New in Dart's Ipod segment (from Poisonous Paragraphs then Bloggerhouse).
Now that I’ve put all of my efforts into the
preamble, this first review will be astonishingly half-assed.
Soulcrate
Music – The Heartland Panic (2010)
First heard of these guys at Soundset, only
saw a few songs but they seemed pretty decent.
Somehow they were performing in Bemidji the next weekend, which is
exactly where I was gonna be. Show was
good, sharp and funny lyrics with a lot of energy. The cd is nice and jazzy. Oh, and they’re two brothers from South
Dakota.
Blueprint
– Adventures in Counter Culture (2011)
Meant to write a review on this a WHILE back
but never did (cuz I didn’t like it on 1st listen). Obviously, this isn’t your typical rap
cd. Print sings on two songs, which both
feature ‘80s type beats that are pretty bananas. Overall I thought this was an enjoyable
listen, although he seems to push it a little too far away from his comfort
zone in some places. Read a full review
from these fellas for a more positive vibe.
Blue
Scholars – Cinemetropolis (2011)
Started off dope and then ventured toward
average for a little bit. Was really
hoping for a lot from this, and I need a second listen to give it some real
judgment. * On second listen this seems like an above average release in the
realm of hip hop. More experimental,
electronic than I would have expected, but definitely check it out (especially
cuz its Sabzi and Geo).
Blitz
the Ambassador – Native Sun (2011)
Blitz shows a progression from his last cd in
rhyme skills, and his live band sounds amazing.
If you heard Stereotype, the
production sounds very similar. The
album plays like one long jam session, which makes it difficult to single out
particular tracks because they seem to run into each other. I enjoy this style of music, and this is
definitely work checking out, although the emphasis of African pride on this cd
sometimes gets derailed by “rhyming about rhyming” – K’naan.
Face
Candy – Waste Age Teen Land
Mixture of funny and ridiculous
freestyling from Eyedea, Kristoff Krane, J.T. Bates, Casey O’Brian with
live band goodness capturing the improvisational vibe brilliantly. This is my first experience with the group,
and while I may not purchase this album it may serve as some great background
music sometime. Or a lot of the time.
Big K.R.I.T. has repackaged a few songs off of Return of 4Eva for iTunes aka mass consumption. If you don't want to listen to that whole mixtape (and I assure you you should), this EP is a great introduction to the next big thing in southern hip hop. Featuring southern heavyweights Chamillionaire, David Banner, Ludacris, and Bun B, my favorite XXL 10 for 11 member has certainly put a strong showing towards an eventual full album down the road. Check out the project here, and below check out the video for "Country Shit" ft. Luda and Bun Beeda, which has so much country shit its hard to count (Although my favorite part is Luda rapping with chicken wings in both hands).
If anybody tells me they have ever seen more weed in a video, I will call bullshit. Hell, at any singular point in their life, I would probably still call bullshit.
Somehow I missed Mood Muzik 4, so this one comes out with seven new tracks in addition to a bunch of songs of 4. Any true Joe Budden fan (gotta know more than Fire and Pump it Up) knows the Mood Muzik series are some of the best hip hop mixtapes out there. This isn't the best of the series, but with Slaughterhouse not currently doing anything thanks to various projects such as Royce's Bad vs. Evil collab cd with Eminem, he's gotta do something. Check it here
Also, some individual songs relating to the above paragraph: Joe Budden- Ordinary Love Shit Pt. 3 The finale of a badass trilogy by the King of New Jers where he speaks on his relationship with Tahiry, whose ass will be more famous than anything she ever does.
Eminem and Royce Da 5'9- Lighters ft Bruno Mars (Off the Bad vs Evil EP Hell: The Sequel) Mark my words, you will hear this on the radio this summer. I'm happy for Royce that he will get airplay, but I'm not feeling this one too hard. Thanks a lot, Bruno. I wish you had stayed in bed all day and not done this song. The EP drops June 14th.
New Tecca Ninna cd, a ton of features on this one, including the likes of B.O.B., Twista, Lil Wayne, Yelawolf, Busta Rhymes, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and more. Say what you want about the guy, his grind (and flow) is ridiculous. Also, see a Tech N9ne show sometime- first show Pete and I saw together, ish was crazy. Get it here courtesy of Hip Hop Addixx.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Big K.R.I.T. stops by to drop a nice verse on Slim Thug's Coming From, a song about their hometown of Houston, Texas of Tha Thug Show. From what I've heard, Houston isn't the best place, but you gotta love where you come from, as the Thugga says. Also, maybe its just me but I think J-Dawg kinda looks like Mike Vick. In any case, I'm sure Vick could rap just as well as the Boss Hogg Outlaw member.
If you read this blog, it is likely that you know Blue Scholars, and have caught some wind of their new album, Cinemetropolois. By asking for donations through a Kickstarter campaign, Geo and Sabzi got funding for the project directly from fans and rewarded them by sending the cd to homes today. For the rest of us, myself included, download it and wait to June 14th for the physical cd. The cd itself is actually pretty interesting, as every track is named after an influential figure, be it a political actor, a film maker, or a pothead. The weed song, called Tommy Chong, features fellow Seattleite (is that correct? I hope not) Macklemore spit about chronic through "wikipedia raps". Check it out here, as well as the title track, Cinemetropolis. You guys might get a album review on this one now that Pete and I have graduated and have a lot of time on our hands to live at home apply for jobs we are way overqualified for.
I've been waiting for this one for years.... and the day has finally come. Yesterday, Elzhi let loose the free Elmatic, a reimagining of Nas' Illmatic, the best album ever. (No discussion). Elzhi, a member of the now-defunct Slum Village and a general http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifall-around badass, puts his indelible mark on the album. Produced entirely by Will Sessions, Royce da 5'9" and Pete Rock also make appearances. Simply stated, this is a must download. Check it here.
In an egregiously flawed business plan, Mello Music Group continues to promote their artists by providing free full album downloads (available for only one week). This one, which only came out last year, features the rhymes of Trek Life over Oddisee on production.
The album definitely has a west coast slant from Trek Life as well as Oddisee, who assumes a west coast mindstate to give it a bit of funk (as his Traveling Man beat tape shows that he is capable of). Although I've heard some criticism of Trek Life, I don't really hear it. He flow nices over this Oddisee ish, and really brings the energy on tracks like "As the World Turns" and "So Supreme" (this track really bangs). Definitely peep the aforementioned tracks along with the title track, and as always, download if it pleases you.
The third installment of SMKA's freeboy wonder mixtape series. I was a fan of the first volume, didn't recognize many names on the second and subsequently gave it few spins, and I still don't recognize too many names but I had to give it a shot. Save track 5 ("My Girlfriend" is an awful song), this release is definitely worth checking out. Most notable are "Live My Life", "Cloud of Endo", "Quite the Fiasco", and "So Cruel".
Peep the tracks below, and if you like, download this freebie.
So i just received the email newsletter from Project Mooncircle by downloading so many free things on bandcamp, and they had a long list of projects that had either come out or were coming out. So after taking a brief listen, I downloaded this:
and happened across this absolutely mesmerizing video.
The song is amazing, and the video completely captures the hectic sound clashes and the subdued pauses. Watch the entire thing, and if you're not awestruck then please comment and tell me that I'm crazy (I might be for doing this so early).
The entire project can be purchased from bandcamp
or if you do a quick search then it might be available here
Seems like others are on that summer's almost here (i.e. spring) tip. Here's a free mix of some funky ish including west coast classics, exclusives and some laid back jams mixed beautifully to give you 50 minutes of straight fun.
Tracklist:
1. Streiht Up Menace (Instrumental) – DJ Slip
2. Santa Rita Weekend – The Coup
3. Peace On Earth – Paul Hardcastle
4. Clean Ass Whip – DaVinci
5. Bridge Through Time – Lonnie Liston Smith
6. We Roll Deep – The Conscious Daughters
7. We Roll Deep (Remix) – The Conscious Daughters
8. Between The Sheets – The Isley Brothers
9. I’m A Player – Too $hort
10. I’m A Player (Remix) – Too $hort
11. What You Won’t Do For Love – Bobby Caldwell
12. Playa Hata – Luniz
13. Free – Deniece Williams
14. Eastside LB – Twinz
15. Ghetto Theme (Interlude) – Eboni Foster
16. Ghetto Theme – Mac Mall
17. Sliden – Cobra
18. The Show Is Over – Evelyn Champagne King
19. You Know How We Do It – Ice Cube
20. You Know How We Do It (Remix) – Ice Cube
21. For The Love Of You – The Isley Brothers
22. Bury Me A G – Thug Life
23. Curious – Midnight Star
24. This DJ – Warren G
25. This DJ – Warren G This DJ (Remix)
26. Tell Me How It Feels – 52nd Street
27. Keep It On The Real – 3X Krazy
28. Untold Story – Paul Hardccastle
29. And We Mobb In That… – Bambu
30. I Keep Forgettin’ – Michael McDonald
31. Regulate (Remix) – Warren G
32. Love Will Find A Way – Lionel Richie
33. I Don’t Like To Dream About Getting Paid – Tha Dogg Pound
34. Private Number – William Bell
35. Playaz Club – Rappin’ 4-Tay
36. Playaz Club (Remix) – Rappin’ 4-Tay
37. Playah’s Mode (Instrumental) – Khayree
38. Playah’s Mode – Young Lay
39. Playah’s Mode (Remix) – Young Lay
40. Don’t Be Lonely – Cameo
41. Distinguished Gentlemen (Don’t Be Lonely Blend) – Street Media
42. All About My Fetti (Instrumental) – Khayree
43. All About My Fetti – Young Lay
44. While I’m Alone – Maze
45. G-Funk – Nate Dogg
46. Sprinkle Me – E-40
47. Sprinkle Me (Remix) – E-40
48. Computer Love – Zapp
49. Scandalous – The Click
50. How Deep Is Your Love – Keith Sweat
51. It’s Goin’ Down – Celly Cel
52. It’s Goin’ Down (Remix) – Celly Cel
Hey errybody.This
week was our last show at Macalester, so we went all out to bring you our
favorite summertime jams.Here is the
recording of the show (somehow this got chopped up when I recorded it online),
and some of the extras that we prepared but didn’t have time to play will be
posted later.
eMC feat Phonte - Traffic
Slim Thug feat Devin the Dude – Caddy Music
Blue Scholars – Cruz
Sleepy Brown feat Pharrell and Big Boi – Margarita
People Under T he Stairs – Anotha (BBQ)
Short bus shawty
Atmosphere – Sunshine
Souls of Mischief – ’93 till Infinity
Brother Ali – Crown Jewel
*Rashaan Ahmad – Sunshine
*Notes to Self – Days Like These
*Kev Brown – Say Sumthin
*Somehow I can’t upload these as a separate file right
now.Will try later.
P.S.Also be sure to
recheck our Blogroll, it was recently updated to include more music sites to
explore.
One drop to highlight on April 26th: Blue Sky Black Death's Noir. Noir is an instrumental album that will sonically mindfuck you, imo. BSBD has done a bunch of remixes for rappers but are at their best when they lose the lyrics, and Noir is no different. Put it on to do homework or to zone out, but definitely give it a listen here.
Not newness but freeness from Mello Music Group front runner Oddisee. Way back when people actually used to pay attention to labels, who really sought to create the most talented roster and earn the trust of hip hop enthusiasts. Even though I was just a youngster at this time, I do feel the same connection to Rhymesayers and Mello Music Group. Both labels consistently put out dope music and actually work to promote their artists, and I'll check out anything that they do.
That being said, MMG is offering Oddisee's Mental Liberation as a free download via bandcamp. This album came out in 2009 but it has kind of gotten lost in my collection. In my several efforts to listen to more Oddisee, I have repeatedly made attempts to try to listen to this but it has not received much play (I am listening to it now though, and I like what I hear). This should be an instant download just by virtue that it's from Oddisee, who always murders it on the production tip and completes his songs with his honesty and laid-back flow. We've featured Oddisee several times on the show, and if you don't have this already, you need to check this out (Mental Liberation also has a pretty amazing guest list).
Edit: Even if you have Mental Liberation, this download includes 3 bonus instrumentals that were previously unavailable. For some reason, you can't download them individually (for free), so even I am downloading this again (yes, the instrumentals are that good).
Check out this great project- Wu Tang plus Jazz makes Kevin a happy man. Shaolin Jazz- the 37th Chamber is a project from DJ 2-Tone Jones and Gerald Watson. I don't know who you are, 2-Tone, but you have a great DJ name and are doing the world a great service by making this cd. Check it out here
Hey yall. Sorry for the lack of postage, I will do my best to throw some more stuff on here. I hope all you stoners had a good 4/20. To extend the party, Curren$y and Smoke DZA put out free mixtapes that actually make you feel high while listening to it. Thats at least what Curren$y says. He got Alchemist doing all the beats, so I would tend to agree with him. Check out the entire project, especially "Scottie Pippen" ft Freddie Gibbs. Got to respect the Bulls love, especially at a time when everyone in Chicago with a mic is putting out a D Rose MVP or Bulls playoff anthem. I'll just throw this mixtape on instead. Also Smoke DZA's project isn't bad either. Check it out here
Not quite new ish from Mike Dreams. We try not to provide you with an unfiltered smattering of hip-hop, so I have been listening to this for a little while and it has been growing on me heavily. This album follows the theme of following your dreams and is full of positive, inspirational hip hop that still incorporates his fight through the daily struggle and trying to make it in the industry. If you hate an r n b type influence on hooks, then listen cautiously but this is definitely something worthwhile to check out. This was definitely a breath of fresh air from some of the other stuff that I was listening to, definitely not simply rapping about rapping.
Check this out right now if you live in the twin cities. Great deals and artist employees!
http://www.fifthelementonline.com/blog/record-store-day-rhymesayers-exclusive-picture-disc-vinyl/
Well, I guess I just kinda like her. A Badly Broken Code has propelled her into the spotlight, and she has since been featured on a 10 minute special on Fox, and on March 27 received an hour long slot on Twin Cities Public Television. Her journey over the past year is briefly detailed here, and watch the special that includes live footage from her performance at the Cedar on January 23 right here.
And if you want another link, then you should click here, which seems to suggest that there will be a free performance at McNally Smith where Dessa teaches on April 18. Anyone want to go with me?
Finally a recording of our show! Thanks to every single one of you that caught
it live (likely only a single person).
Hopefully you can enjoy this ish by streaming online or even putting us
in your Zune (they’re like Ipods).
Tracklist and link below.
Wiz Khalifa – Wild and Free (feat Snoop Dogg)
Wiz Khalifa - Roll Up
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Irish Celebration
Lupe Fiasco – Letting Go
Nate Dogg – Nobody does it better
Nate Dogg – Music and Me
Cunninlynguist – Hard as They Come (feat Freddie Gibbs)
Really interesting that I found one of the grimyest rappers in the game today while I was checking out what was going on in Libya. Smh... Anyways, check the story about Freddie Gibbs here, and be sure to download the work of Gary Indiana's finest. Str8 Killa or the Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs would be two good starting points. By the way Pete and I saw him at 7th Street Entry with Shad, two very different performances but for sure one I was happy to be a part of. Gibbs also is real into sports, especially the Chicago sports scene, and is generally hilarious and on point so if you do the twitter thing check him out here
