My favorite song right now...

Thanks for the inspiration, KRIT!

Quadrivi-what?

Just copped the new album from British producer/DJ Eric Lau.

It's called "Quadrivium." <-- Click the name to find out what the hell that is. Haven't checked it out in its entirety yet, but from what I've heard so far, very nice.

Long Walk Home...

Beat by Blockhead.

Giant Panda...

The instrumental of this came on Pandora, and got my head bobbin' for real...I love their energy, really cool people, too, got a chance to chill and collab with them briefly at the CE Estate (RIP) when they were in town for one of the A3c's.

Parental advisory for people at work: the Japanese member, Chikaramanga, says sh*t a few times and drops the MF-bomb, but it sounds so interesting that it's not really vulgar...

Peace to the whole crew, Newman, Jamaan, Chikara, y'all boys hold it down.

Let Me Chill...

I love this drumloop, and I really like what Detroit producer Apollo Brown did with this joint. I will be checking his new album "The Reset" for sure. Here is the remix featuring Diamond District who definitely tear it up.



Thanks to KNott for the put-on.

And the instrumental...



Check more Diamond District out HERE.

(A really dope blog-site, and I think Oddisee and them are reppin' it to the fullest. Dope artists. Support these cats.)

Front porch hip-hop...

I found this on DJ Hyphen's blog, TheAudacityofDope.com, and I had to repost. It reminded me of some of the old front porch jams we used to have with the crew (Austin on congas, JT on kneeslaps, myself on guitar, and all the fellas taking turns on the rhymes...nostalgic). We also had Mike D on the sax. He took it to the next level. Rest in peace, homie, we miss you.

Ghetto Medley...

It's amazing how many times this song has been gaffled! For me personally, none of them tops the original. Of the following, Rakim's is most nostalgic, but Jill Scott's version featuring Common is the cleanest-sounding, and the Disciples' version is the least obvious rip-off...



(Heads-up, the Grooveshark widgets may be louder than the YouTube rips, and there is no volume adjust on them...be prepared to adjust manually if you check them out.)

Spanish Hip-Hop 103...

I had to get one more quick course in before the year closed.



My favorite hip-hop duo from Spain, Solo Los Solo, consisted of Juan Solo on the mic and the legendary Griffi on production and cuts. To my disappointment, they are no longer working together as a group, but fortunately each are independently producing new material. Here was their last big video, "Todo El Mundo Lo Sabe":



And here's one of my favorites from the album Quimera, called "Brujos":

China Syndrome...

My man Eli Sweet just posted a link for his new mixtape. A collection of music he recorded here at the crib during his latest visits back from China. Some excellent verses/songs on this joint, really some of his best work to date. Mostly the production consists of tracks he "borrowed" from various producers, but he makes sure he gives credit where credit is due...respectfully. Eli is one of the nicest, and on China Syndrome, he's got his superman swagger on and shines on every track he blesses...don't sleep.



You can click the picture, or here to get to the download link. (I had to download Winzip since he made it a .zipx file, but it's worth it.)

Check the track-listing here

Below are words from Eli himself:

Album Notes

1. THIS ALBUM IS FREE. IF YOU LIKE IT PASS IT ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS.

2. I didn't pay for any of the beats on this album. Some of them were made by friends of mine, or offered by their creators for free download, but the majority were taken from other hip hop artists' mixtapes or albums without their permission. The production credits for the beats are listed below.

3. I stole that Usain Bolt punchline from my buddy Leif. We were freestyling and he dropped that shit; I thought it was funny, so I took it and ran with it. I told him about it and hes cool with. He gets props.

4. You can learn about my time as Captain Morgan in China at www.EliSweetIsAPirate.blogspot.com

5. If you like my music you can download stuff from my previous album, “Firebrand” here (www.ReverbNation.com/EliSweet).
New music will also be available for free download here: http://elisweet.bandcamp.com.

6. Eli Sweet is my given name. You can contact me at Eli.M.Sweet@gmail.com.

BlakRoc coming soon...

So currently on Brother Ali's homepage he has a blog post about BlakRoc, which is a project developed by Dame Dash with rock group The Black Keys, featuring rappers such as Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Pharoah Monche, Ludacris and more. This is definitely worth reposting, it comes out November 27th. Check out BlakRoc and peep the trailer for a taste. Shit is bangin! I can't wait to cop this.

Incredible concept, bridging the genres - you know I'm with it.

Here are the first couple "webisodes" - you can check out the rest on the video section of their website) Dopeness...

My kind of hip hop...

I feel sorry for the people who listen to the commercial rap stations and actually think that it represents the culture and spirit of hip hop. Thanks to Eli for turning me on to the new album, Us, by Brother Ali.

Underground Gold Mine...

Ran across this guy's blog a few weeks ago when I was checking for new Blu material...I haven't been able to stop. I feel like a kid in a candy store...




Hundreds of independent hip-hop releases available on RapidShare, his posts date back to like September 2007. Thank you, kind sir, don't mind if I do! If you like it, support the artists, if you don't, trash it...

Jazz Liberatorz...Clin d'oeil

Smooth beats, dope emcees...a magical combination. I am halfway through this record, but so far I am thoroughly impressed with the production, the collaboration choices - in fact, I feel safe putting my approval stamp on it even before I finish listening to the whole thing. How can it be that this came out in January of 2008 and I haven't heard it? I was sleeping...

Anyone else just now waking up can check this album out on Amazon HERE.



Other artists include the lovely and talented Stacy Epps, Asheru, Buckshot, Fat Lip and Tre Hardson from Pharcyde, and more. This is my kind of hip hop.



Their latest effort released in April of this year is called Fruit of the Past and is available to peep on Amazon HERE.

Don't sleep...

Greyboy the Allstar...

Something about that Conspirator song by Quantic Soul Orchestra reminded me of this Greyboy track...



If you haven't heard of him, he is a really talented acid-jazz/hip-hop DJ/producer from San Diego, who has been an influence of mine since 1993. He has a great ear, and his music opened my mind to different ways to layer live instrumentation on programmed drum beats. Look him up, and learn about The Greyboy Allstars. Super funktastic shit...

Here's a couple more tunes from that same Greyboy album, Mastered The Art, which is one of his most recent...



Sometimes he enlisted an MC or two, not the greatest or worst I've heard...love the beat...kind of wish it was an instrumental so I could really enjoy it, though.

Real feel good music...

Many thanks to TK for putting me on to this Canadian producer, Dela, who is working with some incredible artists like J-Live, Blu, Talib Kweli, etc. Very smooth golden era hip-hop influenced beats, with great sample selection. Here is a song he did with Talib called "Life Long" from his album, Changes of Atmosphere, which according to his Myspace page, comes out today.

[Heads up: This song sounds better on his Myspace page...]



And another one featuring the incredible J-Live:

Black Spade is the truth...

Producer, rapper, and singer Black Spade is from St. Louis and makes meaningful laid back hip-hop soul music. Here are a couple tunes from his debut album To Serve With Love.





On a related note, upcoming hipster-rapper Charles Hamilton stole a beat from him and got caught. Check out the two songs in question below...

First the version that Black Spade produced on his MPC (he had it available on his Myspace page and Chuck stole it...producers beware, artists will take your shit, we've seen it happen to people we know):



Then Charles Hamilton's "Shinin":

It's pretty obvious, and it's so sad that when Black Spade asked him about it on the humble when he saw him perform it at a show, he denied it!

Thus, I repeat...Black Spade is the truth, and Charles Hamilton is a lame...

As requested by Jay Smooth, I have sworn to ignore everything that Charles Hamilton says from here on out, not that I had really listened to him, or really even heard of him for that matter. So, on that note, peace.

The majority of this content/info was leeched from the following excellent, informative blog-sites:

www.illdoctrine.com
www.complex.com
www.freshselects.net
www.rockthedub.com

Spanish Hip-Hop 102

So I'm sitting over at Root's working on filling up the new CE word-press site (which should be ready by the end of the week), and in the background this horrible movie was on starring Omarion as this kid living in Puerto Rico trying to bridge the gap between rap and reggaeton. It was so corny, I needed to cleanse my ears with some real Puerto Rican representation, so I leave you with two of my favorite artists from that region.

Rap/reggaeton legend Eddie Dee:



And the super-swaggerific Tego Calderon:



[REVISION: After posting this, then reading more about Tego Calderon on the wikipedia page about him, I learned that he actually turned down a role in that movie I mentioned earlier ("Feel The Noise") and chose instead to appear in John Singleton's "Illegal Tender" out of respect for the director.]

More to come on these two cats...

Pete Philly and Perquisite...

Positive hip hop at it's finest, this Dutch hip-hop superduo caught my ear a few years back on a mix a friend made for me. Their music was so refreshing and authentic...and my prejudiced ass couldn't believe it when I found out Pete was a white kid out of Amsterdam, originally from Aruba. With that accent and swagger, I would have sworn he was from the States...hmmmm, Philly perhaps?

[CORRECTION: I was just informed that Pete Philly is actually of latino descent...this just further exemplifies the way we categorize people based upon superficial characteristics.]

Before you continue, take a moment to check out these two masterpieces from their debut album, Mindstate.

"Grateful," a great video accompanies this one:



...and "Hope" featuring the legendary Talib Kweli. Pete's first and last verse are especially note-worthy on this heartfelt anthem about keeping the faith in the face of war and adversity...great overall song and vibe, one of my favorites for sure:



They seemed like such cool and down to earth people, so when I stumbled upon their Myspace page, I had to hit them up just to let them know how much I appreciated what they were doing for rap music, and that in my opinion, "Grateful" was "an eternal classic." A few days later, Pete hit me back and said thanks, and that he had gotten the chance to check us out and was really feeling it. We sent them a package of wax and CDs, and they returned the favor. We were eventually asked to do a remix of "Lazy," one of the songs off of Mindstate. They were in the process of doing a ReMindstate project (same concept, but all remixes by their favorite artists). We were honored, and Pete seemed to like what we did, because he ended up dropping a verse and some extra singing vocals on it, which was not the original plan. You can check it out below on this lo-fi version that someone ripped to the tube:



Anyway, those two albums, plus their last full length release, Mystery Repeats, are available on the US label ANTI-, which is also home to amazing artists and friends from Orlando, SoliLLaquists of Sound, and Australian singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd.

Do yourself a favor, and take the time to learn more about Pete and Perq. Make sure you buy all their music, and check out other releases on Perquisite's own label, Unexpected Records. For current info, you can check their official website. Show them some love! I'll leave you with two more stand-outs from Mystery Repeats -- I can't help it, everything they do is worth sharing.

Here is "Empire":



and "Time Flies," also from their sophomore release:



Don't sleep...

An introduction to Onra...

First of all, another happy birthday to my brother TK who turned 29 on the first of May. A seemingly endless well of positivity, I hope he has thoroughly enjoyed his birthday weekend. Today, I spent the majority of the day immersed in my usual internet perusal of cool new music (which is really just searching a couple trusted blogs and branching out from there). The first to catch my attention was a Vietnamese French producer named Onra. (Check him on Myspace.) A tasteful producer with a very Dilla-esque sound, he went to Vietnam back in 2006, and came back with a bunch of vintage vinyl he found while crate-digging on the streets of Saigon. His latest project showcases the beats he made out of the old gems acquired on that excursion, and is entitled "Chinoiseries" (see definition and reference here). I have yet to hear more than a few selections from this project (available along with his other releases on boomkat.com), but what I have heard is really refreshing.

Here's a taste of "Chinoiseries" courtesy of the tube:





The album I have been bumping while writing this is a project he did with another producer named Quetzal on BoBun Records in 2007. It is called "Onra & Quetzal Present Tribute", and it is entirely sampled from classic soul records. It is a very relaxing listen, and highly recommended if you like instrumental hip-hop in the Dilla/Madlib vein. I found a site that had a megaupload link to grab the whole album, click the album cover below to download it while the link lasts.



It looks like they put out a "Tribute 2" in 2008. I'll have to check it. In the meantime, check out this record of Onra's courtesy of LastFM...it's called "1.0.8" and it is dope! The site is okay, not too familiar with it, I logged in and it still made me keep pressing play after each song, but at least it let me listen to the entire album.

Off to go get some lunch...

Morning funk...

I needed some songs to pull me out of the funk before I slide to work this morning...I turned to Blu.



Check out a young Blu...



And if you don't know Blu, get Below The Heavens...if you can find it.