SP1200 producer Gensu Dean and Cali-Microphone legend Planet Asia have released their new album Abrasions. The hard hitting album is 17 tracks deep with no filler. Featuring Grammy Award Winner David Banner as well as the Gold Chain Military, Tristate, Killa Kali, Shawn Pen, Twin Gambino, Tragedy Khadafi, and more, Abrasions is one of the hardest hitting new records of the year.
To celebrate XXL Magazine debuted the kick off joint "Bar Mitzvah"
this morning and we are giving away the single free to those who need a
taste before jumping into the whole album. Listen and enjoy, Abrasions is the first real contender of 2013!
Keiph Ali recently released ashort documentarygiving the people a peek into the making
of KeepDopeAlive, a Keiph Aliand Rozartproject. My reason for pointing this out isbecause you hardly ever see many new artist willing to connect to theirfans in such a organic way, that tells you what kind of person he is. That's why I posted one of his new singles below because I thought his passion and lyricism is unlike most. Let us know what you think.
This new joint off of Martin $ky's upcoming Mixtape titled Time(less),
which is set to drop April 12th. Also, it's one of his first singles he has dropped since the "Invitation" track. Working with two of the dopest Underground producers in the game, Flying Lotus & Madlib, I'm sure Martin brought his "A-Game" for this LP. Be on the lookout next month for this joint, I know I'm getting mines.
Raekwon releases a new smooth out joint "86" featuring AZ & Altrina Renee the video directed by Last American B-Boy. This is a good look for The Chef nice little groove and everything, checkout the visuals below.
Meta P is a Rhode Island
Native who is known for everything from dark "Horrorcore" to to deep and
touching subjects such as "Dragonfly," which explored the recent
death of his twin sister; which was verified on his most recent LP Edison Ink.
In June 2012, Meta was named "Best Rap Act of 2012" by
the Providence Phoenix and has been featured in the Boston Phoenix, East Bay
Newspapers and Fox Channel 12 in Providence. He has also been seen on stage with
acts such as Onyx, Action Bronson, Raekwon and appeared on tracks not only
with Celph Titled but Apathy and DJ Doo Wop just to name a few. This joint picks up where Jay-Z's Death To Autotone joint left off and I agree totally agree with the message. Checkout the visuals below.
HipHopLegend Talib Kweli speaks on growing up in the "Melting Pot" of
Brooklyn and what diverse communities can teach us about self-identity
and heritage. If people really sit back and think about what that really means they should be offended. I want to keep my culture alive for my kids and my kids kids kids. It doesn't mean we can't live together we just need tolearn and respect the differences of others.
I just had to share this interview with you guys, my man Terrence Howard stopped by Power 105.1 The Breakfast Clubto drop some knowledge on the young crew. He talks about love, life, his beef with Jamie Fox, and why it is so hard for a woman to be in a relationship with him. Damn...real talk I felt like it was me that was talking...lol I'm just saying...go check out the video below it's pretty deep.
As she
prepares her debut album, one of the West Coast’s most promising new artists,
Marz Lovejoy, has linked up with director GRVTY to film a set of visuals,
accompanying her latest track,"DOLO." The video illustrates Marz's
uniquely exuberant personality and coincides with the track's independent
nature.
Lately, Marz
has been busy working with Grammy Award winning producer Om’Mas Keith
(Frank
Ocean, Odd Future, Sa-Ra),
who has signed-on to executive produce Elephant Soundz. Marz
is also coming off quite a busy year in Hollywood. She recently finished filming for
director John Stockwell and producer Gordon Bijelonic’s forthcoming
film, Kid Cannabis. Earlier this year, Marz made her cinematic
debut in Common’s LUV which debuted at the Sundance Film
Festival. In 2010, she released her debut EP This Little Light Of
Mine, at just 19 years of age, to critical
acclaim.OkayPlayer.comdescribed the EP “an excellent debut…[Marz] has the
ability to craft catchy hooks to make some noise in the mainstream crowd, and
she has the lyrical prowess to hang with the best of the underground.” She has
since toured the country and/or shared the stage with the likes of Eykah Badu,
Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Wu-Tang Clan, Yelawolf, just to name a few. It appears that Marz is the "Complete" package as far talent, looks, and charisma. Checkout her video below and tell us what you think.
Marz
Lovejoy’s debut album, Elephant Soundz will be released later
this year via Elephant Soundz /iHipHop
Distribution.
The Good Sin links up with Portland's ownproducer Troxto vent on all things contradictory, the struggle between doing the
right thing, or continuing to feel good doing the wrong things. This is a old issue with a new twist I think The Isley Brothers called it "Work To Do" and Wyclef called it "Gone Til November". No matter how you spin it, they are saying the same thing. This amessage I can relate to when chasing a dream you sacrifice so much to secure your future and sometimes end of with nothing. The price for success is brutal.!!! Let us know what you think of this track.
Sean Price is one of my Favorite Underground HipHop artist of all time. Even though his latest Cd "Mic Tyson" dropped last year I'm still rockin' this joint in my ride. This is just animated teaser of what to expect from theLyrical Genius. Let us know what you think.
Substantial"Home Is Where The Art Is"
continues to grace speakers domestically and internationally after
having gained critical acclaim a few months back. Since releasing the Oddisee executive produced album, Substantial has done a quick tour with Diamond District emcee yU, dropped a few bonus tracks with Oddisee, Homeboy Sandman, and others, and even was invited to do an akapelah show at the Smithsonian in DC.
"Speak about it, Then I be about it."
For the album cut "Resilient" Substantial brings on Seattle producer and Bop Alloy partner Marcus D
to provide a smoothed out, jazz infused remix. The track, originally
produced by Eric Lau, is a testament to the strength it takes to claim
your identity and walk your own path. The Marcus D jazz remix is a
perfect fit for the reflective & uplifting declarations of
Substantial. Tell us what you think about the track below.
Underground artist Upgrade, has figured out the road tosuccess with his new song "Sue Mac
Miller." It's a satire about the parade of idiots and lazy individuals who hasbeen lining up to do just
that. I initially thought this was a diss track but it's exactly quite entertaining. Be on the look out forUpgrade he's taking the DissTrack to a whole new level(LOL), in the meantime checkout his visuals below.
With over 50,000 views on you YouTube, lyricist Damond Young has definitely got the industries attention withseveral offers on the table. Stares & Whispers featuring songstress Iris P is just a taste of what this young emcee is capable of. Checkout the video below and tell us what do you think.
Straight out of DetroitI present to you Reek, I young Emcee making his mark in Hiphop since the age of 17. I've never been to Detroit but through his lyricsI felt like I have. We don't have many story tellers in HipHop nowadays maybe Reek can be apart of the elite group of Emcees with that rare skill. Checkout his latest project below this dude is the truth.
Blu & Exile’sjust released some visuals to for "Ease Your Mind" off their latest LP “Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them”. I can't wait until Blu blows up he was the first Emcees out of the west coast to have a huge buzz before Kendrick Lamar, I'm not sure what happen though. He's one of HipHop's greatest lyricist checkout his video below.
Well it's about time Hardcore HipHop is in the house...!! My man “Final Outlaw” releases some new visuals for his track “FinaL OutlaW Theory II” produced by Levankhan. We just love the Hardcore HipHop even though it seem like a dying art form. I'm glad to see some artist are still sticking to that in your FACE HipHop check themout here. In the meantime check out the dope video below.
Nardwuar is up to his old tricks again; this time he pulls his well-researched trickery on hip-hop’s man-of-the-moment Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew.
Grabbing the guys at this year’s SXSW festival, the human serviette that is Nardwuar finds out that Joey might have had a man crush on Dru Hill‘s Sisqo back in the day, and also that as an entire collective Pro Era all share a love of everything MF Doom. Whilst not quite as long as some of his previous interviews, the Canadian presenter does shock producer Chuck Strangers by name checking Grenada as well as offering up some pretty cool Doom gifts.
Finishing with his usual little jingle followed by a frozen physical
moment, the Pro Era crew decide to re-dress Nardwuar with a touch of odd
fashion.
Real HipHop is in the building! Sneaking under the radar, N.O.R.E., who now goes by the name P.A.P.I., teams up with golden era producer extraordinaire Large Professor to drop a video for their cut “Built Pyramids”.
If you’re sick and tired of the same old recycled B.S. then you need
to plug your ears firmly in to this tight little creation. Complete with
horns, “Looking At The Front Door” [Main Source]
sample, and disgusting drum arrangement, this boom bap number is exactly
what the hip-hop heads have been craving. Taken from his upcoming Student of the Gamealbum, this is a gem by any standards.
The video, shot in black and white with a blue tint, sees N.O.R.E.
showcase Queens, New York as well as spit about his LeFrak hood. Name
dropping famous ball players from Queens, the video also sees a scene
where Mobb Deep‘s Prodigy squares up
to N.O.R.E. only to then hug it out advertising the fact that the two
have made peace after their much publicised beef.
Peep the video below and prepare to fall in love with hip-hop all over again.
Marcus Troy is a rising
new artist out of New Jersey he began making music about 6months ago, since
then has garnered a pretty interesting buzz for himself. Ushering in
the #foxhound movement, he has been compared to J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and
Blu, which is a Hell of a compliment, those are great lyricist. He was inspired rap by a quote that read "Why not make the
music you want to hear?" This young dude as a real soulful sound I really like his style and charisma. Checkout his single below.
Japhia Life releases the music video for "Small World" off of his
critically acclaimed "Westside Pharmacy" album.The video is directed
by Creative Thought Media and co-directed by Japhia. Together they
bring a visual aesthetic reminiscent of 90's era Rap music. His
approach and delivery are reflective of early Nas' "Halftime" video,
and even KRS-One with "Love's Gonna Getcha".Okay now that introduction is out the way,Japhia is representation of what a REal HipHop Emceeis made of PERIOD...!! I'm going to put it out there, the reasons why most Emcee's like Japhiaremain inUnderground HipHop is because of education and ignorance. It orderfor "Ignorant HipHop" to flood the airways it has to be accepted by ignorant people. Our music is only as good as the people buying and supporting it. To be fair I will say not all Emcees can be like Japhia, but it doesn't mean he's not dope because a million people support garbage it just means you have a million ignorant people. But let me get off of my soapbox once again go support this brother if you want to heargood music you have to support good artist.
Independence is something highly celebrated by many in the music
industry today. While independent labels have been around for years and
years, it wasn’t until the decline in music sales that indie labels then
became the best way to get your music heard.
In hip-hop, labels such as Amalgam Digital and Koch, now known as E1 Entertainment, are two of the biggest names in the indie market, and then there was of course Rawkus Records once upon a time, who introduced the world to acts such as Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, and a certain white boy by the name of Eminem.
There’s one label name missing though; and while they might not be a
household name quite yet they are in fact one of the most successful
indie labels on the planet; Strange Music.
With partner Travis O’Guin, Kansas City rhymer Tech N9ne
started Strange Music in 1999. Since its launch the label has had big
successes in the form of multiple album releases, sold out tours, and
one of the biggest selections of music merchandise any label has to
offer.
Taking time out from his busy European tour schedule, Tech
N9ne sat down with Soul Culture at his first ever UK show to discuss
independent sales, Kendrick Lamar, and battling with his dark side.
Strange Music is one of the biggest indie labels in the land. With
countless artists all doing their thing on the underground, and some on a
slightly bigger scale – Tech N9ne himself has recorded music with the
likes of 2Pac and Lil’ Wayne, as well as hitting Billboard Top 200 a few times – what’s the secret?
“The key was actually having good music I think.”
“Then getting out there and showing people
that we have good music. You know what I mean? Touring being number
one. Number two being merchandise. We just did it from the beginning. We
didn’t jump on anybody’s bandwagon. We just knew that beautiful music
would spread.”
Many indie labels in the past have got to the point where they were
so successful that they ended up getting in to bed with a major, or even
sell the label to a major. Tech N9ne believes you should be heavily
compensated for your hard work – “Would I ever consider going major?
They would have to offer us a lot of money for our blood, sweat and
tears. I can’t even put a number on it. We’ve got a lot of people
[signed to the label] now. We’ve got Rittz, MayDay, Stevie Stone, Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Prozak, Ces Cru. We’ve got so many people. It would cost is a lot of money.”
Unaware of how well his most recent EP, Boiling Point, did
sales-wise due to his non-stop travel itinerary [he was on an airplane
when the numbers were announced], when told that it did 13,000 units in
its first week Tech responds with, “To sell that many on an EP that’s
bananas… and I don’t even use that word. That’s bonkers!”
Discussing the monetary reward, he adds, “I get to keep that money
but we put back into a company… If you ever saw Strange Music [HQ] you’d
be like, “Wow.” We just bought another building also. We’re building a
studio. We do a lot of good things with our money. We sign other artists
that we believe in. It’s all boom, boom, boom.”
Keeping on the subject of sales in respect to the money taken home from it, Meek Mill’s
first week sales are brought in to the conversation. “I get to keep it.
He has to pay his back,” he claims. “In fact I really don’t know what
his deal is so I can’t say that. Big up to Meek Mill for doing those
numbers (167,000 units), and also Kendrick Lamar for doing around
250,000 or something. That’s a beautiful thing.” Staying on the subject of Kendrick Lamar, Tech N9ne was on the Compton emcee way before many other people due to his own signee Jay Rock.
“He was touring with us with Jay Rock. Kendrick was his hype man,” he
explains. “On that tour I heard some music that he gave me and there was
that one song [starts singing], ‘Pussy and Patrone make you feel alright.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah! This shit is dope.’ I then listened to a whole lot more.” The pair ended up working together on “I Love Music,” taken from Tech’s album All 6’s & 7’s.
“I love lyricists. I love people that can go. [Kendrick Lamar] is a
well rounded lyricist… He can do a lot of things like change his voice
inflection. It’s just beautiful to see.” After spitting an example of his rapid fire flow, Tech breaks down
his reasoning for why he, as well as everyone else in the Midwest area
of the United States can rap as fast as they do; “I think it’s just us
being in the middle of everything. We get music from everywhere – the
east, the west, the south – we’re just right dap in the middle of
everything and have so much to say.” Listing other Midwest emcees with
the power to flick their tongue at a mile minute – Twista, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Da Brat, Shawnna and Do Or Die – “There’s just all those styles in one mouth.” Sometimes
Tech N9ne is misunderstood. He’s been labelled a devil worshipper, as
well as someone who constantly embraces the darkness. Having told his
fans that after his K.O.D. (King of Darkness) album he would never make another dark inspired album again, Boiling Point,
which is classed as an EP, feeds into the darkness once again. When
asked about this, Tech’s response comes down to record format
technicalities. “I told people I would never do a dark album again,” he states. “But I
didn’t say that there wouldn’t be seepage here and there. Boiling Point is a little bit of that seepage. You know what I mean?” “K.O.D. will be the only one of its kind because to write that kind of music it puts you down a hole and I’ll stay there. [Boiling Point is]
seven more songs that are caused by the same thing; my everyday life,
problems with the IRS and stuff like that. It’s always gonna be there.
So as it comes I’m gonna write it.”
Nametag grew up
in Detroit’s
east, west, and north sides, constantly being shuffled around with his mother to
avoid repercussions of his father’s drug addiction. He dealt with the familial
struggles and nomadic lifestyle by burying himself into his notebook, penning
lyrics about his experiences and drawing inspiration from legends like Rakim. He
quickly became the latest member of a family chockfull of R&B and gospel
vocalists, rhyming with his friends and relatives such as his cousins, Black Milk and Black Beethoven and he got involved in
Detroit’s hip-hop history early, and in a big way: his first placement was on Slum Village’s ‘Dirty District Vol. 1’ compilation.
From there, Nametag
continued to body other Motor
City classics such as Slum Village’s Dirty District Vol. 2 & his
cousin’s Black Milk’s ‘Popular Demand’ and ‘Caltroit.’ But while contributing to
others’ artist’s projects, Nametag continued to build his own footing with a
collection of critically-acclaimed mixtapes, EPs and a full length album, ‘The
Name Is Tag’; which eventually earned the respect of indie rap
heavyweights and publications such as XXL, 2DopeBoyz, Detroit Free Press & more.
With appearances by
Motor City vets (Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Miz Korona)
and youngsters (Mahd, Jahshua Smith)
alike, ‘For Namesake’ continues to cement
Nametag & Nameless as one of Detroit’s fastest rising
talents.
Tracklisting and credits
for Nametag & Nameless’ ‘For Namesake
Around 50 police officers stage a sit-in to protest the government's ban
on police beards according to CNN's Reza Sayah. I caught feelings behind this kind of discrimination because not only do I have a beard but my hair is longer than MostWomen. It's my own personal choice my lifestyle, UPS & Pepsi are just a couple of the companies here in the Statesthat don't allow beards as well. This is just one of many reasons why people rob, sneak, and steal their way into the US. It will be a glorious day whenthey (Government/Religious Fanatics) stop trying to place people into a boxbecause of race, sex, or religion. Checkout the video
Wax is another one of those underrated but extremely talentedEmcees, you wouldn't know this but he is signed under the Def Jam label, but since he's not talking about "Gold Everything" hedoesn't get a large budget to work with. I really like this dude's commitment and focus he probably will last a lot longer in the industry than your favorite Rapper. Checkout the visuals below I'm really feeling the title.
On 3-5-2013, the
Demigodz (Apathy, Celph Titled, Ryu of Styles Of Beyond, Esoteric, Motive,
Blacastan)released there first official full-length LP, KILLmatic, and itfeatures
appearances from RA The Rugged Man, Termanology, Panchi (of NYG'z), Planetary
(of Outerspace), Scoop Deville & Eternia with production from DJ Premier,
Marco Polo, The Snowgoons, Apathy, Teddy Roxpin, Chumzilla, Skammadix & Will
C. I have this loaded in my car player ever since it came out, I love it. Checkout the visuals below
Don't Judge" is Swerve & SYG's fourth
and final single before the highly anticipated follow up to last years Cold
Winters & Warm Whiskey.The Mixtape, properly titled Cold
Winters & Warm Whiskey 2, the cover artwork
for the Mixtape is credited to ArtByShake.com.
"We want to give a big shout-out to the
beautiful model/actress Stephanie Angulo for offering
up her photography and video footage so we could make a visual for this release
possible." - Swerve & SYG
Connecting with the term “Vagabond”, which is French in origin and defined as “relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer”, the Haitian-American rapper goes back to lyrical roots and noteworthy subjects. “This
is the only project on which I was free to do everything alone and
creatively explore my thoughts,” says Jeff. “I found myself artistically
and I felt good about everything. I think that translates more in my
music with the response it’s been getting.”
On
the project’s 10 tracks, Jeff broaches topics ranging from violence in
America on the single “The People”featuring sound bites of Black
PantherHuey P. Newtonand his adoration for Haiti on the moving Erykah
Badu-sampled “In Love With You” to embracing being a young Black man on
the catchy “I’m a Ni#@!!”.
Dre Murray’s
story is a tale that's been told by many inner city youth coming up with the odds against you. Falling in love with HipHop at an early age enables Dre to tell the gritty details of his past with first-person and
fictional narratives punctuated with witty wordplay. Although Dre Murray is no
stranger to the Mic (his first solo album, Manumit, was released in 2008), the
Houstonnative exponentially grew his audience a year later when he teamed
with producer Wit for the Hell’s Paradise Series. The success of those
critically-acclaimed albums led to other high profile features for Dre on
KJ-52′s Dangerous album and Lecrae’s Don Cannon-hosted Church ClothesMixtape.
He continues to improve his craft through participation in the nationally
publicized South by Southwest (SXSW) music and industry conference festivals. "Reality", featuring Alex Faith, Sean C. Johnson, and B.C. is just a small sample of Dre Murray's talent and commitment to the Art of HipHop. Checkout the single below.
AfterChill Moodyreleased his "RFM" album,
which included iTunes front page placement as well as cracking the Top 100 on
the HipHop album charts. Philadelphia native Chill Moody delivers a video to his
"Mathematics"Freestyle; going in over the classic Yasiin Bey(Mos Def) track. Now tell me how bold is that, he must have confidence out the Wazoo to go anywhere near that Classic. But I must admit Chill is a Real Emcee no gimmicks or smoke and mirrors he's the Truth. Checkout the videos below.
From the city of Philly, Emcee/ProducerD.O.E. Boy Phillyreleases his self-produced, Deuce
& A Quarter Sh#!project. "Overdose"is the first single
off of the forthcoming project and judging by thistrack I can tell theLP is going to that Real Hardcore Sh#@!, I love it. Checkout the single below and you will see what I mean.
SmCity drops his latest single "What You Don't See"featuring The Kid Daytona on Presidents Day with artwork inspired by the urban classic film "Dead Presidents."Dream Cemetery drops March 19th with guest appearances from The Last
Poets, The Kid Daytona, Maffew Ragazino & Maimouna Youssef.
Production provided by MarcNfinit, Tone P and Sean Sundance.SmCity is not playing around on this LP with this kind of lineup he's definitely going to turn some heads. Checkout the single below.
Queens-bred spitter Nutso splits bars with Q-Boro mic vet Royal Flush and Brooknam’s Shabaam Sahdeeq (a/k/a S-Dub) on “Blowing Up,” off his EP, Behind These Bars. Remixed by ELPresBeats and featuring a well-timed scratch hook courtesy of Chinch 33, “Blowing Up (ELPresBeats Remix)”
carries a rugged yet nostalgic soundscape over quotables from Biggie,
Artifacts, Mobb Deep, Slum Village and more. Sit back and enjoy the ride
as these three emcees stand and deliver.
ELPresBeats is
a boombap sample based beatmaker from the Netherlands. In 2007 he made a
trip to New York to make connections in the hiphopscene. In 2011 he
released a 12" vinyl record titled EL Pres - Glenwood Hostel EP, a producer EP that focuses on beats, rhymes and turntablism. It features the raps of NY underground mc's Jak Danielz(Cold Heat), Nutso (Poor Pocket Muzik), Starvin B, former unsigned hype (the Source) Marvalous and Creature (Rebelmatic,
Triflicts, Infesticons). The scratches are done by multiple Dutch DMC
champ and runner up Battle for World Supremacy 2005DJ Irie and fellow turntable virtuosi DJ Friss and DJ Milton.
While you can find the
Noa James performing all over Southern California at any given time and
generally staying busy, he just released his
latest project, "The Adventures of Young Orca", which available on iTunes. This project holds
plenty of features as well such as Curtiss King, Art Barz,
Faimkills, Edgar Sosa, Fredo, Andre Damar, and Aliso Black. James is
also opening fans’ ears to a few new producers, including Nabeyin,
Unite, Playa Haze, BrooksBeats, OYSM, Da Flatlyners, Villain, and Black
Cloud Music producers Phantom Thrett and Jynxx. As James continues to
prepare for the release of The Adventures of Young Orca, he has faith that fans will appreciate this EP.
The dynamic duoSpecial and Internal Quest are back with a vengeance, Special is fresh off his solo "Special Ingredient"
EP release, which featured Sadat X and Craig G (from the Juice Crew),
and Internal Quest who has a project called "Ideology" dropping March
13th. "Voltron" has been formed once again and taking people on aHipHop
ride theywill not forget. WithSpecial on the mic and the production talent of Internal Quest himself, "I Got" is just an appetizer from their upcoming
4th Quarter release.Check them out below.
The new generation are definitely preparing to take over The Industry, 19yr old Motel Eolaa HipHop producer from South East Londonjust released visuals for "Witness II" offhis debut beat tape "Kids Looking
For Gold". This kid is pretty talented its' very apparent he has study all the greats like Apollo Brown's hard
hitting solid drums, Oddisee's experimental drum patterns and classic
breaks, 9th Wonder & Exile's amazing sample play and full album
productions, Just Blaze & Alchemist's epic theatrical style of
production, DreamVille's variety and incorporation of different
genres to sample. This guy has really done his homework you other young producers need to take notes.
Jordan Solomon, a 15 year old rapper fromToronto, is making his mark in HipHop with his conscious lyrics. I must admit I was really impressed with this young dude, since most Emcees around his age are following the trend he chose a different path. Be on the lookout for more things to come from Jordan he's currently working on this first Mixtape. In the meantime checkout the visuals below to his single "Myself", this track is dope.
