Curren$y - King Kong

Here are the Jonah Schwartz shot visuals for Curren$y’s lead single for Pilot Talk, King Kong; Pilot Talk, drops June 15^th.

Wu-Tang / El Michels Affair Remix Project Enter The 38th Chamber Releases

Here are two leaks from Enter The 38th Chamber, a project that features several artists making their own versions of Wu-Tang classics using El Michels Affair’s instrumental covers. C.R.E.A.M. features A-Plus of Souls of Mischief and Knobody of the Hieroglyphics crew. The second leak finds Von Pea of Tanya Morgan and Spec Boogie of Lessondary crew putting their own spin on the late Ol’Dirty Bastard’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya.

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A-Plus & Knobody - C.R.E.A.M.

Von Pea & Spec Boogie - Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Oddisee - Odd Spring

Damn, how time flies. About a year ago Oddisee of Diamond District released Odd Summer, the first in his Odd Seasons series. This series as he puts it “was a way for me[Oddisee] to be creative for no reason other than creativity. That's why they've been free releases.” Enter Odd Spring - sadly the fourth and final installment in this illustrious season-themed series. Despite the unpredictability of the weather, Oddisee’s latest effort, like the sun, will certainly help put a spring in your step upon listening. Be on the lookout for the vinyl box set which contains all four seasons in the coming months.

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Oddisee - Odd Spring

CurT@1n$ - Letter To The People Pt. 2

Here are the visuals for CurT@1n$ well penned Letter To The People Pt.2…keep truckin’ homie f*ck zhe haters…

Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down Rehearsal & Reprise

Here are two tracks courtesy of Donwill which give listeners insight into Tanya Morgan’s rehearsal for So Damn Down for their first live band show at SOB’s recorded by DJ Low Key on his iPhone; hence the distortion. Peep the entire room correct Donwill on his verse, and for the reprise, listen to the ending that could have made the final cut for their album, Brooklynati. Be on the lookout for The Sandwich Shop (drops May 18th), a mixtape with Von Pea and Donwill on the mic featuring production entirely by The Roots.

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Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down (Band Rehearsal)

Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down (Band Rehearsal Reprise)

Marco Polo & Ruste Juxx - Nobody

Here is the Todd Angkasuwan directed video for the Marco Polo’s & Ruste Juxx’s Nobody. Despite the video’s shoddiness there are several hilarious shots; peep the 2:47 mark…

Greg Nice - DYWCK

Greg Nice, ½ of Nice & Smooth, took the stage at LA’s AFEX party with DJ ADAM 12 to perform Gangstarr’s classic DWYCK in honor of the late Guru…On another note f*ck Solar.

Dead Prez - The Beauty Within

Taken from their forthcoming mixtape with DJ Drama, here’s DPZ’s rendition of B.O.B’s Nothing On You. Dedicated to the beautiful mothers of the world (especially you momma, you have being through hell and back and are still standing strong. Rest assured there are no ceilings to your success, roger!), this track finds our contemporary revolutionaries flipping this radio hit a la some of the tracks found on their mixtape Turn off the Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 2: Get Free or Die Tryin'. Look out for Revolutionary But Gangsta Grillz dropping June 10th.

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Dead Prez - The Beauty Within

@ the picture - "black is back get a suntan bitches"

Freddie Gibbs - The Ghetto

Whether Freddie Gibbs out of Gary, Indiana warrants comparisons to Tupac is still up for debate. Nevertheless, I was completely in awe, but more importantly impressed with his single and video for The Ghetto taken from his forthcoming mixtape, Str8 Killa No Filla. As the title suggests, the track finds Gibbs shedding some light about the ghetto over an instrumental previously blessed by the likes of Milkbone and Big L.

The Stupendous Adventures Of Marco Polo (Tracklisting)

Fresh off lacing Sean P’s protégé, Crown Heights own Rustee Juxx, with his patented style of head-nodding beats, Marco Polo is proud to announce the release of The Stupendous Adventures of Marco Polo through Duck Down Music. The album is a collection of unreleased tracks, B-sides and remixes that would have otherwise gone unheard. Coming along for this MP orchestrated adventure are the likes of Royce Da 5’9’’. Elzhi, Large Professor, Diamond District and lesser known acts like, Shylow, Red Clay and accordingly MP feels, “This album was an opportunity for me to introduce people that my fans may have never heard of before -- guys like Shylow, Red Clay and Saga,” explains MP. He continues, “I want people to know that when they see my name attached to something, they’re getting quality and consistency. This album is for the hardcore MP fans out there that just wanna have something to rock while I’m working on Port Authority 2. I’m locking myself in the lab on some caveman status for that one.”

 The Stupendous Adventures of Marco Polo in stores June 29^th

D-Stroy & Bad Seed – Buggin Out

Large Professor – The Radar Remix

Promise – The Bridge

Red Clay – Official

Ruste Juxx – Bomb Sh*t

Shylow – Whylin Out

Saga – Think of You Now

Torae – Combat Drills

DJ K.O. – Best To Do It ft Royce Da 5’9,” Elzhi & Supastition (Marco Polo Remix)

Skyzoo – Block Sh*t

Diamond District – Who I Be (Marco Polo Remix)

Skoob of Das Efx – How I Get Down (Marco Polo Remix)

Surreal – So Basic

Grand Daddy I.U. – The Veteran

Arcee – Ambition

Exile – Radio ft Ruste Juxx & Torae (Marco Polo Remix) 

Machete

After years of playing smaller, insignificant roles, Danny Trejo (you may remember him as Johnny 23 in Con Air) finally gets his big payday in his first lead role in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete. The action-packed film also stars Cheech Marin, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal( I enjoy how the likes of Rodriguez and Tarantino effortlessly resurrect the careers  of those who would be otherwise forgotten less they become fixtures on the news)  and Lindsay Lohan. 

Where's Starang?

Dru Ha, CEO of Duck Down Music pens a detailed update on the whereabouts of arguably the best member of the Originoo Gunn Clappaz, Gunn Clappa Numba One, Starang.

Where Is Starang?

 

Sha Stimuli - The Smelly Cat Song

The track The Smelly Cat Song,(Sha probably drew inspiration from Phoebe Buffay [Friends] Smelly Cat) and its video detail occurrences that all too familiar to the male specimen; Sha Stimuli offers a means to help you tell a pretty young lady that her coochie smells – cue this track… hilarity and frankness to the nth degree.

yU - On The Corner OG Remix Feat. EyeQ

Here is the latest remix produced by DJ Lord Jazz from Lords of The Underground (who employs the same Screamin’ Jay Hawkins I put a spell on you sample made famous by Preemo in Biggie’s Kick in the Door) for yU’s On the Corner featuring EyeQ.

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yU feat. EyeQ - On The Corner OG Remix
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You

M.I.A. - Born Free

M.I.A.’s new video for Born Free is clearly causing some uproar, as evidenced by YouTube removing the video from its Website. Directed by Romain Garvas, the video which draws inspiration from Children of Men and Apocalypto is not for the faint of heart, but given our present political climate it becomes even more significant. Music aside (I watch in mute till about the three-min mark because the music isn’t exactly my cup of tea) it does not take the brain of Stephen Hawking to discern that this video, art in motion, is clearly an analogy which cannot help but conjure up images of a police-state, the plight of many disenfranchised citizens of the world and what could be the end result of the recent Arizona immigration law. 

Curt@!n$ - Letter to the People Pt. 1

Here are the visuals for Curt@ins, Letter to the People Pt. 1, a track that finds Dope Boy C venting over 9^th Wonder’s instrumental for Memphis Bleek’s Alright. On another note did I detect a jab at Tyga (imjusayin)

Tanya Morgan - Bang & Boogie

Directed by Berman Fenelus, here is a video from the trio of Hardcore Gentleman, Tanya Morgan, for Bang N Boogie (For me the album[Brooklynati] picked up at this very track; I could have done without tracks 1 – 3) The video was shot in sections of Brooklyn (McDonough and Throop I think?, Whaddup Doe [J-Boogie]!) and Manhattan (Gray’s Papaya to be exact) while depicting younger versions (in spirit not in the physical) of Von Pea, Donwill and Illyas.  Von Pea explains, "We all decided to just tell the story this time and stay away from costumes and comedy." Be on the lookout for Von Pea's solo album, Pea's Gotta Have It, available this summer via Interdependent Media.

Lil Wayne - Single

Lil Wayne… I know, I know, I have not checked for him since just before The Carter II and shortly thereafter; but I am single so….

Dreams were those pipes

She swear I was never her type

Wore humility like a garment

Had a short-run like Fox's Human Target

Little Brother - Curtain Call (Uncesored Version)

Directed by Matt Koza  and featuring cameos from the likes of Chaundon, Big Dho, Jozeemo and Joe Scudda; here is  the uncensored version for LB’s aptly titled single Curtain Call (Khyrysis on the beat). Little Brother's fourth and final album, LeftBack, is out now via Hall Of Justus.

(Uncensored…Why?)

Declaime - Gangsta

Here is yet another leak from Declaime’s forthcoming album, FONK, entitled Gangsta.  Declaime’s message is clear through his lyricism and accordingly he explains, "It's a message to the gangsters to wake up. This is not how we're supposed to be, and this music should heal, uplift, and cause harmony - not disharmony." FONK drops on May 4^th. 


 
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Declaime - Gangsta

R.I.P. GURU

My sincere condolences go out to the family of Keith Elam, who went by the backronym, Guru. He died yesterday after a year-long battle with cancer which was otherwise not made public till he suffered a heart attack and his consequent stay in the hospital. He was 43 years old. Guru rest in piece, rest in piece, rest in piece (Still all things aside somehow some way I don’t believe we have heard the last of this)

Comic Relief

Ever since his release from Clinton Correctional, attentive listeners have been in awe of Shyne's return-unfortunately not for reasons he would have hoped for. Anybody with sense questioned how Def Jam could frivolously shell out a million dollars to a rapper who had lost the very voice that garnered him so much attention (whether good or bad). Upon his much publicized release, particularly because most listeners sympathized with his plight, he made his aspirations public through a slew of freestyles that had us [listeners] scratching our heads...Damn homie when [I] was in high school you was the man homie/ What the f*ck happened to you? Case in point, his forgettable Un-Thinkable freestyle where Shyne, channeling his inner Jigga(I'm about a dollar, what the f*uck is 50 cents?) berates Fiddy; I need a couple of million/ f*ck 50 cents (really though?). Anyway the people over at ItsTheReal.com suggest a what if scenario through the wonders of Nintendo's Mike Tyson's Punch Out.

yU - Work It Out

To celebrate yU’s release of Before Taxes, he has decided to release two new tracks from the LP for free, Close and a bonus, non-album, song Work It Out. Before Taxes is out now.

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yU - Close

yU feat. Rodney President & EyeQ - Work It Out

Hip Hopera Example VI

It’s tipping close to a decade since Deltron 3030, a group comprised of principal Hieroglyphics architect, Del Da Funky Homosapien, DJ Kid Koala and producer Dan the Automator, unveiled their conjoined musical and theatrical concept masterpiece of the same name, Deltron 3030. Set in the year 3030, Del aka Deltron Zero alongside his trusty sidekicks Dan aka The Cantankerous Captain and Kid Koala aka Skiznod the Boy Wonder are inhabitants of a post- apocalyptic world; a V for Vendettaesque society where, you are to be inside by nine o'clock or risk getting shot. For that reason, amongst others which are made evident once the album is listened to from beginning to end, Deltron Zero armed with his rhymes scours the galaxy as a means of survival. As absurd as the album’s plot may sound, embedded within Dan the Automaton’s strikingly layered production, Koala’s sparse yet valuable scratches, Del’s outright otherworldly lyrics and the album’s interludes are themes that are very much applicable in today’s saturated music industry even ten years later. As with most concept albums, this effort is not without its features which include Damon Albarn of Blur, Prince Paul, Money Mark (frequent Beastie Boys collaborator), and Mr. Lif. Deltron 3030 is an album that even the casual hip-hop listener can appreciate. From its over-the-top lyrics to its superb production that evens samples Sesame Street of all things.

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Deltron 3030 - 3030

Deltron 3030 - Time Keeps On Slipping

Deltron 3030 - Positive Contact

As heard on Positive Contact