Kanye claims he will be releasing one track per week from now until Christmas. You can hear one of the first of those releases here posted by my ‘Uncle Steve’. The internet is all a buzz about the track mostly due to Nicki Minaj’s verse. It feels about 60 bars long. Most importantly this track reminds me of  ‘Forever’ by Drizzy Drake. It’s yet another Kanye track and feature that is totally overshadowed by a Young Money/Lil’ Wayne signee. I think we need to start handing Wayne some music industry exec awards for the Young Money team he has assembled.

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JC Poppe sent us the promo material for Automatic’s upcoming Transistor project and the Milwaukee duo look to have a classic head-boppers album on their hands. A.P.R.I.M.E. and Trellmatic’s debut album is set to drop on August 28th and fortunately those of us unlucky enough not to reside in Milwaukee can pick up the album from the House of Mutants website. (It is a flash site, but pretty well done)

From the site:

The lead single “Once Again” is an amazing jazz infused song that showcases the honest and witty lyrics A.P.R.I.M.E. has become known for. The B-side “Black Gold” has A.P.R.I.M.E. and Trellmatic back together with their House of M brothers for a track laced with venom, dedicated to the mythical evil figure Dr.Wacktagon and all his henchmen that are polluting the music and culture the M so loves.

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Download the single here.

Bilal has a new LP coming out in Spetember called Airtight’s Revenge and as far as I am concerned its release date could not come soon enough. This track will be on the album although i am unsure whether it is an official single. I do know it is hot, hot, hot!

Restart is produced by Bilal himself alongside and Steve McKie who has worked with Jill Scott and Estelle. Now THIS is modern soul! Are you listening Ne-Yo?

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When you make a beat as hard as Boi-1da did for Rick Ross’s B.M.F, you can expect every rapper and his dog to voice a verse. That is what we have been inundated with the past week or so, lots and lots of B.M.F “remixes”. The thing is Rick Ross killed this beat:

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As far as I can hear the only verse that came close to living up to the original is Bun B’s freestyle. His Trill OG album recently got 5 mics in the source, and so Bun B is feeling himself a little, but when he spits hot fyah like this, can you blame him?

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By the way, I ‘Internet borrowed’(i.e downloaded without permission) the picture of Bun B above from the most excellent website of the New York photographer Peter Beste. Check it out his work when you have a minute- in particular his Houston I series and Houston II series. Spread the love.

Why don’t we post more songs like this? Are we scurred?? Scurred to be sensi(tive)????

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Hell no!

Good Day!

Last week’s Mixtape Monday was a mix made by the boys of Unaffili(8)d, DJ Patrick and DJ Ssagala. The mix showcased our ‘Song of the Week’ posts so far this year. Now I have been told I am observant by many women (I’m bragging). Well I noticed one song on the track list had never actually been posted as a song of the week. I assumed it was to be the SOTW for last week but it wasn’t. Well this oversight is our benefit as it gave some clever studio engineer time to mix up the original Aston Martin Music with Drake’s own version called Paris Morton Music and waa laaa here we are…7 minutes of audio goodness and YES one of the best songs of the year by my dude the honorable Officer Ricky ROOOCCCEEEE’.

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Spoek Mathambo calls himself a “slippery post-apartheid glam-rap prince from Soweto”. If this is and example of glam-rap, sign me up! It is glitchy and techy, there isn’t an obvious hook, and yet it still has cool to spare. This is futuristic Afro-pop that calls for… no, demands your attention. Me likey!

Mshini Wam is either the name of the band or the name of the song… but who cares when it is this good?

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Check out Mathambo’s blog. It’s interesting.

Source: Fader.

Black Milk’s album, due for release later this year. It will be called Album of the Year, which depending on your disposition, is either irritatingly pompous or reassuringly confident. This song, How dare you supposedly isn’t even going to make the album, and it is still SO GOOD.

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Some people make this hip-hop thang look effortless.

Cee-Lo Green strikes again. I can’t get enough of this guy. Like so much of his work before, this track cannot be cleanly categorized into a single genre, simply because it effectively blends components of multiple genres into one production.

This is a mash-up in a truer sense of the word. The beat is reminiscent of old school jungle, the background chorus sounds like it is eminating from the pulpit of a Southern Baptist church and his voice has a rich bluesy, almost folksy feel to it.

Once again, his craft is strangely appealing.

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I am a huge fan of classic soul, funk and R&B, a bias that often seeps into my DJ sets. I cannot count how many dancefloors I’ve cleared in a misguided attempt to edjumacate 21 year olds on the music of yesteryear, when all they want want to do is get crunk and back that ass up.

(The fact that they DON’T know these songs is rant for another day).

Raphael Saadiq remade the Spinners’ classic hit It’s a shame for Levi’s pioneer sessions. I suggest you clickety click over to their site and download it stat! You’ll have to fill out a form and give them your email (they are trying to sell you jeans after all), but it is well worth it.

Listen:

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Being on Roc Nation is not as good a thing for J Cole as it would appear at first glance. Few rappers have emerged from the shadow cast by Jay-Z (I can think of Kanye West and….?), and fewer still of his proteges have been mentored to any measure of success (I can think of Kanye West and….?).

However, the kid can rap. And I am not talking about stringing a few pleasing metaphors together- I am talking about taking those metaphors and weaving them into a coherent storyline.

This is off an upcoming Trackmasters mixtape. I don’t usually post mixtape songs, but this is fire!

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For years I thought Cypress Hill were straight up Chicanos from Los Angeles. Turns out that while they’re out of LA, Sen Dog is 100% cubano, and B-Real is half Cuban, half Mexican. Put them together with Miami Cuban Pitbull and Marc Anthony repping Puerto Rico, and you have the makings of a fun summer anthem a la caribeña. “Armada Latina” is the fourth single off of Rise Up.

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I am a big Marc Anthony fan (in Spanish at least), and having him sing the hook on this means it’s not getting out of my head anytime soon.

I’m not a Pitbull fan at all. The man needs Jesus more than Kanye West. And he needs Kanye West more than Jesus. Maybe then he’ll make a tolerable song. I’m also not really that into Cypress Hill–there’s only so much you can say about smoking weed. We get it.

But when they join forces to have fun and celebrate their Caribbean roots, it results in summer love. South Florida producer Jim Jonsin unexpectedly samples Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” which adds to the fun. I think I found my (far south) song of the season.

Next stop, La Habana!