M-Phazes Is The Future

He's a producer out of Australia of all places. I've heard the name here and there, but this one song has made me a believer. One of the best songs I've heard all year from Median's very dope new Relief In The Making mixtape which you should have already downloaded at djlowkey.com

Kenn Starr featuring Median and M-Phazes - Back At It Again

http://www.zshare.net/audio/29473344767a8e/

http://www.myspace.com/mphazes for more

Tearing down the myth that “Return Of The Mac” is a good album.

On the music discussion message board of my choice there lies this notion that Prodigy just put out a worthwhile solo disc. The same Prodigy we loved on The Infamous, Hell On Earth, Murda Muzik*, HNIC, Free Agents**, Amerikaz Nightmare***; just because Mobb Deep dropped a stinker with the G-Unit affiliated Blood Money and he’s back spitting hard over Alchemist beats folks have deluded themselves into believing he’s still the one. I have a close listening, discerning ear and I don’t easily buy into dreams. Much like the way I want Nas to put out completely solid albums in this day and age and I’ve accepted the fact that he’s lost the ability, Bandana P barely cares about this rap thing anymore. I have a set formula for what makes a good song: good beat + standard verse + decent hook = good song. You take Nore and your expectations for him, if the beat and hook are cool then he made a good song. By this line of reasoning Prodigy hasn’t been living up to the bar that he previously set for himself, and that’s when you should hang it up as a MC.

Perhaps P has never recovered from a depression brought on by the SummerJam screen, maybe his well documented physical ailments have debilitated him from really focusing or he could just be going through the motions of trying to maintain street respect knowing at the end of the day he answers to Curtis. In any case, I’ve played this album he put out on “The Graveyard” twice or thrice and while I tried to convince myself it was hitting the first time, it became more underwhelming with subsequent listens. I’m giving it one more spin just to be sure it isn’t me who’s tripping.

The Rundown:

Return Of The Mac – He’s spitting very hard, but saying absolutely nothing. It seems like he put no thought into the verses, just running with Busta’s “New York Shit” rhyme scheme and talking tough. I can say why people would be so enraptured in the beat that they’d consider this a great song.

Stuck On You – The beat/sample is killer, 8 years ago P would have done damage to this. He was actually spitting on the second verse, although he could have done better than “I got big jumpoffs that fit down my pants leg”

Mac 10 Handle – Again it’s very hard, but very empty of substance or originality. Not to mention how much this sample has been used.

The Rotten Apple – Boring from the beat to the verses

Take It To The Top – The beat makes the song, the hook is pretty strong. But he isn’t saying much

7th Heaven – He started off the first 4 lines rhyming I’m feelin’ good with I’m feelin’ good. Uninteresting overall

Bang On Em – Good beat, the verses didn’t hold my attention

Nickel And A Nail – Okay he was spitting here, no complaints.

Legends – He killed it here too.

Stop Fronting – The hook is classic cocky Prodigy, but the verses were kinda blah.

In sum I likely wont be revisiting this album again. Alchemist came through for the most part, but my ears say Prodigy mailed his performance in.

* - I don’t have a substantive verdict on this album, I played it like twice. But everyone loves it.

** - Criminally underrated

*** - The last time they really put their heart into it as a group.

Camp Lo is officially my favorite group of all time (3 new songs)

ATCQ will always hold the throne as my personal greatest rap group of all time (maybe I’ll do an entry on it soon), but Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede are my favorites. The first time I saw the video for “Cooley High” my mind was blown and when “Luchini” came out I knew I was buying Uptown Saturday Night the day it dropped. Cheeba has the voice, Suede has the lyrics and they always combine forces for abstract pieces of soulful wonderment.

If you missed their solid sophomore effort Let’s Do It Again, stop sleeping and go hunt it down. Last year they put out the Fort Apache mixtape (on ITunes I believe) and have recently dropped Black Hollywood. This winter they will be releasing a whole new album Another Heist under Ski Beatz’ company Redefinition Records and if you’ve heard the stellar “Trip For Two” you know it’s going to be crazy.

The 3 songs I’ve put up:
Soul Fever has that John Travolta Saturday Night Fever pointer finger in the air flavor, like Q-Tip said “the beat feels like a never ender”(off of Black Hollywood)

Sweet Claudine is a tale about a black girl lost, listen to the strings. It’s nothing short of beautiful (off of Black Hollywood)

I Couldn’t Care Less could be a club banger, about lost love (off of Fort Apache)

http://www.zshare.net/download/2875041322213d/

Black Hollywood is available now on Traffic Entertainment/Good Hands Records

Ski Beatz - Beatz, Rhymes and Samples

If you dont know the name Ski Beatz by now, you've been living in a cave the past decade. He's responsible for classic work by the likes of Jay-Z, Camp Lo, Sporty Theivz, and Pacewon's "I Declare War" amongst other bangers. This is a compilation of his career's highlights and samples he used done by JNOTA and DJ Raize, two good dudes I came up through some bulls**t with. Ski still has it nowadays, proven by this heart breaking Jean Grae joint on here.

Enjoy:
http://www.zshare.net/download/28021167239888/

Xzibit - 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz

I discovered this album in late 1998 by browsing the legendary Davey D's forums. It was all everybody was talking about, so I went out and copped it. There are a few cheesy joints but plenty of heat ("Chamber Music", "What U See Is What U Get", "Handle Your Business", "Focus", "Deeper", "Los Angeles Times"), and "Shroomz" was where I discovered the infamous "Funky Worm" sample. Lyrically Xzibit was focused and killing it, before he got the wack car detailing show on MTV.

http://www.zshare.net/download/2736028807461b/

The Knock (Unofficial Mix)

No concept that took much thought here, the essence of a hip-hop "banger" is the drums for me. This is just a collection of tunes and instrumentals I dig primarily from the mid-late '90s era, if you scrunch up your face or risk neck injury then my job is done. This is a mini Dilla tribute of sorts but there is heat from plenty of other sound providers.

Enjoy and leave comments.

http://www.zshare.net/download/27157796fc1bbd/

Skyzoo, Torae and DJ Premier need to form a group together

These two songs display incredible chemistry on the part of all three.
Skyzoo is a great street rapper with a dash of intelligence, I'm late on the bandwagon but he's been grinding it out for a few years now and will be dropping a new mixtape Corner Store Classic in the coming days. Torae shows great promise as well and I look forward to discovering more of his work.

"Get It Done" and "Click" http://www.zshare.net/download/2708107a761814/

Skyzoo's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/skyzoo
Torae's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/dayoungvet

Count Bass D – Dwight Spitz

Repping Nashville, TN Count Bass D is quite possibly my favorite slept on artist in the game. For over a decade now he’s held his own behind the boards (producing with machines and playing instruments) and on the mic. Anyone worth their weight in underground Hip-Hop is already aware as he carries family ties with the honorable MF Doom, J Rawls and other underground acts. This album features guest appearances by Doom, Edan, J Rawls, Rayna Shine (she’s ill, trust me) and Dionne Farris amongst others. Count’s rapping is a bit of an acquired taste to be deciphered but he kills it. His beats? Forget about it, next level. My boy Squeeg put me on to this when it came out (in 2002 I believe) and I’ve been a diehard fan ever since.

http://www.zshare.net/download/2638725ed452ad

Cru - Da Dirty 30



One of Def Jam's last "Hip-Hop" albums before they started chasing trends and/or letting Jiggaman and DMX carry them on their shoulders. "Pronto", "Just Another Case" and "Bubblin'" had New York radio on fire in the summer of 1997. Yogi, Chadio and The Mighty Ha brought it hard (no one else would dare sample Sade on a song about their "everlovin' bitch"), kept it true to the city's heart (we haven't heard Antoinette since) and just delivered a comedic smorgasbord full of bangers. It's a shame they never came back out, last i heard Yogi was down with Diddy's Hitmen team of producers.

http://www.zshare.net/download/2580949c5d9ef7/

An Open Letter To Talib Kweli

As a diehard fan you’ve thrown me for a loop for what has been nearly the past decade. I wont pretend to know every word of “The Manifesto” but when Black Star jumped off I was all the way on board. Everyone preferred Black Dante, but aside from his show stealing thunder on “Thieves In The Night” I always felt you held your own, even preferring you as my favorite half of the duo. Reflection Eternal? Forget about it, Train of Thought was pretty much heat all the way through. People claimed you were too commercial with “Waitin For The DJ” but it was a soulful club banger and I loved Quality ("Wont You Stay" is my second favorite Hip-Hop love song of all time) “Get By” is recognized as a universally certified classic at this point (the remix with Busta and Jay-Z did wonders) and your appearance on College Dropout’s “Get Em High” introduced you to an audience who was still sleeping and only knew you as “the nigga who did Get By”.

You were on the cover of XXL with Dave Chappelle, and Jigga’s infamous co-sign on “Moment Of Clarity” made the world stand on its ear. You were next in line to break through to the mainstream, already receiving the respect of heads in the know and working with commercial acts that were renowned for their artistry. What happened? I know of the well publicized Geffen debacle, but there’s no defending some songs on The Beautiful Struggle, that was your Nastradamus. For ’05-’06 you fell out of my good graces, releasing forgettable mixtapes and collaborating with “hard” rappers in hopes of expanding your audience. Although I’ve never been too tough on Strong Arm Steady, the Jean Grae & MF Doom affiliations have been a great look. Nonetheless I had written you off as a dude who had lost his hunger and traded integrity for a piece of shine (see: Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Nas on “You Owe Me”). Liberation dropped and I was intrigued enough to listen, happy that one half of Black Star still cared enough to attempt making a difference in music. You regained some of the lost love here, as this was a pretty thorough release.

Which brings me to the point of writing this: Your legion of fans are awaiting the forthcoming Eardrum and early hype from the press says you’re back stronger than ever. Can the once mighty champion of “real” Hip-Hop return to his roots, moving people to the light now that he’s nearly a household name? The answer is a resounding yes as you’ve come into your own with your most focused and complete effort in years. The soul is back in your music, no longer are you trying to make songs that can spin alongside G-Unit (“Back Up Offa Me”) or leaving your lane hopping in the Delorean to the future (“We Got The Beat”). Your craft has gone to levels previously unseen, managing a UGK collab that doesn’t sound like a New Yorker pandering to the South’s present reign on “Country Cousins” and "Soon The New Day", a tale of pulling women featuring Norah Jones sensually killing it over a Madlib beat. This is masterful achievement of things that just shouldnt go together on paper.

The album is a return to your roots without sounding like you’re stuck in the ‘90s as “Hostile Gospel” is one of the best songs in your catalogue to date, with Just Blaze incorporating classical music and the black church into his standard knock and you coming back for the people who need your message most. Then you even proceed to take it a level deeper and criticize religion from a worldview on “Hell”, this is topic material extending past the outer reaches of “I’m real Hip-Hop to the core.” However, avid supporters of that facet will be more than pleased as “Say Something” is lyrical murder with Jean Grae, Pete Rock produces “Electrify” (reminiscent of the late great Dilla’s classic soul phase) and KRS-One appears on “The Perfect Beat”. Never one to exclude the ladies, “In The Mood” finds Kanye meshing Roy Ayers with the subterranean, while Will I Am takes it to the clubs (all the while not sounding fluffy) on “Hot Thing”.

I’m glad to see you’re operating on all cylinders and having fun doing you once again rather than trying to fit a label-driven mold. Eardrum has heat for the streets, as well as Hip-Hop purists and anyone in between. Man, woman and child alike seeking to zone out, nod their heads, think and elevate will assuredly be moved by this work of art.

Signed,
Young H

P.S. – That “I don’t make music for my fans” rigmarole you said on The Roots website a few years back was cockamamie jive talk. On behalf of your sometimes fickle fan base, I thank you for this album. Now, stop toying with our emotions and stay at it like this. Blacksmith, keep it rocking.

Struggle & Swagger

Backstory: Maybe a year or so back, our fearless hero (always in search of creative inspiration) said to himself “I’m going through some things, let me put together some music for when I’m stressed out.” His problems weren’t that immense and his self-confidence always helped him pull through, thus Struggle & Swagger. It was just a working title that was scrapped, but then 2007 started kicking his ass in ways unimaginable.

What happens when:
- Your funds are low, you can barely pay your bills and there’s nothing in the fridge you really wanna eat.

- You’ve been waiting 2-3 weeks for this job to call you back with a start date, doubting if you’ve actually even been hired.

- It’s summer, you’re in a hot apartment with no AC and a fan would be a luxury.

- Your ex (who used to be one of your best friends) is coming at you with that “C. Grizz 9 to 5” fuck you attitude, because you’re not busting your ass to make her happy POST BREAKUP.

amongst other setbacks and disappointments you’ve experienced this year?

You go back to the drawing board

Typically I feel anything over 16 songs borders on overkill, so the original plan was to do 8 songs encompassing struggle and the other half swagger. But then all of that above and then some happened, so it’s 75% struggle and 25% swagger these days.

This is for anyone out there presently going through trying times. Let go of fear and keep pushing, we’re gonna make it.

http://www.zshare.net/download/25469394064b1a/

Shadowman: Miami's best MC that you probably havent heard.

Shadowman is from the south but he spits like a New York vet, and he stole the show on DJ Spinna's Beyond Real Experience Volume 2.

I was saddened to discover he just came home from a three year bid, which explains his absence all of this time.

http://www.zshare.net/download/24898759f609b5 - Three of his best songs: "Breathe", "My Style" and "Rap Shit".

For more, direct yourself to http://www.myspace.com/shadowman

Black Milk: Popular Demand - @@@@ 1/4
Phat Kat: Carte Blanche - @@@@ 1/4

It has been a little over a year since legendary track wizard Jay Dee departed the physical plane, leaving a void that wont be filled in not only his home city of Detroit, but Hip-Hop’s culture altogether. In his absence various unreleased recordings have surfaced, but soon will come the point when the last of Dilla’s seemingly endless work will be heard. While a handful of friends and affiliates have sworn to uphold the legacy, “The D” has the heaviest weight on its shoulders. Black Milk and Phat Kat have presently chosen to carry the torch, with their respective releases Popular Demand and Carte Blanche expected to reflect the soul and gutters of the Motor City.

Black Milk has followed in Dilla’s footsteps, wearing the hats of MC/Producer while equipped to make both look easy. Having started out behind the boards for Slum Village, he released the slept on Sound of the City in 2005 and has gone on to produce for the likes of Pharaohe Monch, Lloyd Banks and Canibus while still in his early 20s. Although influenced by Jay Dee, Black Milk’s hyper-soulful style of production is one that only he can lay claim to. Even more impressive is his confidence behind the mic; while Black has established a buzz for his beat making acumen, he wants equal respect for spitting as he takes a relentless approach with his lyrics. Popular Demand’s lead single “Sound The Alarm” (featuring Guilty Simpson) serves as a warning call that he’s arrived to stake his claim and the album doesn’t fail to shine light on the rest of his family from the 313, as he celebrates how far he’s come with Phat Kat on “Lookatusnow” and reunites Slum Village’s Baatin, T3 and Elzhi for the raucous “Action”. Black Milk defies convention with “U” as he manages the rare feat of making a love song that knocks without sounding soft., conversely “Three + Sum” breaks down the art of the ménage a trois without straying from his trademark sound. James Yancey would be proud as Black Milk fully espouses what some would see to be the contrasts of material flossing while keeping his art authentic.

Phat Kat is possibly the most monstrous MC to ever bless a Dilla cut, having long ago established his reputation for classic collaborations such as Welcome To Detroit’s “Featuring Phat Kat” and the “Dedication To The Suckers” 12 inch. Carte Blanche is more of the same as he holds onto the “If it aint broke…” adage for dear life. Diehard fans of Dilla and Phat Kat’s chemistry will take a welcome ride to the future with “Cold Steel” and “Nasty Aint It”, while “My Old Label” is an uncut raw banger and “Don’t Nobody Care About Us” has already come to be considered one of their quintessential works together. Black Milk (considered by many to be the next best thing out of Detroit) holds down production and vocally guest stars alongside T3 on the sinister “Danger”, and also comes strong behind the boards on “Cash Em Out”. Phat Kat’s primary drawback is he limits himself to battle raps (“I’m better/harder than you.”) or discussion of being a rapper (“F*ck a major label, I’m independent now.”) With even the sensual “Lovely” being based around meeting women at shows, there seems to be a lack of creative inspiration at hand with his verses. Vocally Phat Kat explodes on each track as if it’s the last time he’ll be heard but he lacks wit while riding his one trick pony, so he may need more diverse topic material to hold an audience’s attention in the future.

Detroit continues to blaze trails through the underground with Popular Demand and Carte Blanche. Black Milk is steadily grinding, rumored to be doing collaborative albums with Sean Price, Pharaohe Monche and West coast up and comer Bishop Lamont, while Phat Kat will likely be blacking out as long as there’s a mic present for him to rip. Here’s to the Dirty D’s further prosperity in representing its heart, struggle and pain through Hip-Hop.

Black Milk's Popular Demand is out now on Fat Beats Records
Phat Kat's Carte Blanche is out now on Look Records

My first time on the radio

http://tinyurl.com/2od59l

stay tuned...

Two Recent Heaters from Jazze Pha

Jazze Fizzle/Fenzell or whatever you call him has been kind of spotty the past few years, but he killed it with these tracks.

Young Dro: Fresh (listen past the drawl for how this man puts his words together) http://tinyurl.com/2a8m4s

Rick Ross: For Da Low - http://tinyurl.com/ypqd9x

Elzhi - Boomerang Slang

This was serious heat from his Witness My Growth mixtape.

http://tinyurl.com/23p8pb

There's only 1 week left

I wont go on and on about how this album has changed my life, because it totally might not have the same effect on you. But only a few select albums (Muddy Waters, Operation Doomsday, and Midnight Marauders) have gotten this much endless spin from me. I already know some of the songs verbatim and I still get amped every time I hear them. This has been my saving grace this spring, being played at least once a week if not more. Blu is a beast on the rhymes, Exile is a beast on production and this album is an experience to behold. I cant nearly afford to buy music right now, but I might purchase this anyway for the sake of supporting.

Here's a track by track rundown of the advance copy with ratings

1) My World Is - An introduction on who he is, what he's here to do and why he's here to do it. The "Blu...blu...my woooorld is blu!" sample is killing. - @@@@ 1/2

2) Simply Amazin - Murderous battle rapping, attacking the mic with reckless abandon. Boom bap heaven - @@@@@

3) Juice n Dranks - Blu and Ta'Raach (aka C.R.A.C. Knuckles) exchange heat over a laid back beat. This is cool, but not outstanding. - @@@@

4) Cold Hearted - An introspective winner about tough times he's seen with his family, the soulful singing of Miguel Jontel brings it all together wonderfully. It's a bit hard to understand what exactly his rhyming is about, it requires a close listen. - @@@@ 1/2

5) Good Life - A song about struggling towards betterment through the tough times. I can relate heavily to the first verse. - @@@@ 1/2

6) Blu Colla Workers - Again I can relate to balancing life, women and the work grind. Upsetting a woman because she feels like you arent doing enough? Yeah I relate. Amazingly enough this could work at a "backpack" party, it has somewhat of a club kind of vibe to it. - @@@@ 1/2

7) I Am - One of 2007's best Hip-Hop songs, period. The beat is a light piano but boy does it knock and the way Blu structures his verses with the vocal sample is nothing short of amazing. He breaks down his life as a man, as a person, as a MC, and all other facets not to mention shouting out De La Soul and naming books from The Bible. Wait until they namedrop where the sample comes from (listen close to the verses when the beat changes) - @@@@@

8) Dancing In The Rain - I always liked this song but DonDub (for the two shoes) made me an even bigger fan. An anthem for pushing on and holding your head through life's struggles. The guitar is beautiful - @@@@@

9) Party Of Two - As a man, I dont want to hear that many "girl" records from such a talented dude. But I can relate to lusting after someone, recently even. His rhymes were still on point and the beat is hitting. - @@@@ 1/4

10) No Greater Love - Forget about it, cancel Christmas. This song knocked Talib Kweli's "Wont You Stay" from the top spot as my favorite Hip-Hop love record of all time. I cant even put into words how this record affected me. The beat and rhymes came together on some personal earth shattering shit. - @@@@@

11) The Narrow Path - An anthem for every underdog out there. You wanna talk about knock? You wanna talk about spitting? - @@@@@

12) In Remembrance - Heavenly introspection, you cant listen to this without smiling. - @@@@@

13) First Things First - Another girl record, on some honest courting shit. It's cool, but again not exactly what I want to hear from him. - @@@@ 1/4

14) Soul Amazin - Again, it's hard to talk about a song like this without overhyping it. Donwill said it took him back to the first time he heard "It Aint Hard To Tell". This is beautiful though - @@@@@

15) Life Is A Gamble - This is strong, but it's hard to follow some of the other songs that are on the album. - @@@@ 1/2

16) The World Is - He pays tribute to Nas and Pete Rock, and sets out to save souls. A very strong closer breaking down the concept of the album's title. - @@@@@

Update: Peamobile just informed me that it drops July 31st, but it'll still be on Itunes next week. As well "Party of Two" and "Life Is A Gamble" arent making the final cut. All of that aside, cop it or regret sleeping later. You have no right to complain about the state of Hip-Hop when albums like this exist, this takes you back to the era of complete efforts on the part of rapping and prodction. This will likely be my #1 LP of 2007 and it's already landed a place in my personal all-time top 10.

Binky Fingers - Where's Calvin?

This was the unofficial follow-up to Little Brother's The Listening. Largely produced by 9th Wonder, Khrysis and Big Dho, this album spread through small circles of those in the know around 2003. He kind of came from nowhere and dropped this without much of a backstory at all, but the picture above puts rest to rumors that he was a Phonte/9th Wonder alter ego.

Binky Fingers is brilliant and hilarious once you give him a few close listens. You've never heard a MC like this, he sounds kind of like a combination of both members of Heltah Skeltah minus the violence and with a lot more humor.

This has to be the only Hip-Hop album with jazz scatting in a hook ("Hey Binky"), and wait until you hear Phonte's New Edition/BBD tribute on "Ladies Man". The skits are nothing short of great comedy as well.

I'm on the hunt now that I know he put out a mixtape in '04, and he's scheduled to resurface with a new album this year. For now, enjoy this gem.

The album - tinyurl.com/2bpamc

His myspace pages - http://www.myspace.com/binkyfingerslazarus http://www.myspace.com/lazarusbinkyfingers

Quincy Jones - Back On The Block (Revisited)

This was one of my favorite albums as a kid, in 2 years it will be 20 years old and for my ears it's timeless.

What does it have to do with Hip-Hop?

1) The opening title track has Melle Mel, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane who all killed their verses but Kool Moe Dee stole the show from everyone. The beat faded and he blacked out with

AN EVERLASTING OMNIPRESENCE
IS MY PRESENT
STATE OF BEING SEEING
THE UNPLEASANT

2) Jazz Corner Of The World - A mini rap lesson on a few jazz legends by Moe Dee and Kane. The vintage late 80's fast rap flow and actual samples of the artists they're running down, combined with the song "Birdland" that follows makes for an incredible experience.

Outside of Hip-Hop, this album had gems like Tevin Campbell's "Tomorrow" (when the saxophone solo and the choir comes in, FORGET ABOUT IT) which could motivate people 50 years from now, and the super adult "The Secret Garden" with Al B. Sure, James Ingram, El DeBarge, & Barry White which surely got your aunt's panties dropping back then.

Quincy Jones embraced the youth's popular culture, while blending many genres into cohesive excellence with this one.

tinyurl.com/2lrwjd

Early Candidate For Mixtape of The Year (No, not Kanye West)

Money back guarantee you'll never want to hear 'Ye, Camron and Consequence over "Gone" again (well you're getting this for di free, but you get what I'm saying)

Classic beats, great rhymes, DJ Premier's standard curmudgeon routine, you cant go wrong here.

Enjoy:
tinyurl.com/yoxnt5