The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

SkiBeatz: Cream of the Planet ft. Mos Def from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Just another Ski Beatz track is straight fire. From the forthcoming 24 Hour Karate School, it’s Cream Of The Planet featuring the mighty Mos Def. What more needs to be said but this is the type of beat that fits Mos like a glove. A simple beat, some jazz samples and let Mos get to work and work is exactly what he does here. This sounds better than anything he did on The Ecstatic and it bodes well for 24 Hour Karate School. Needless to say, that record is a must-own for any die-hard hip hop fan. Recommended.

“Cream Of The Planet” by Ski Beatz featuring Mos Def

So we all know that when it comes to rap music, New York is where it’s at. Right? Sure the South had a few hits and is home to Outkast, the West has Dre and the Midwest is where Eminem and Kanye call home but let’s face facts. When it comes to real hip-hop, it’s all about the birthplace: New York City. Very few artists represent New York from head to toe quite like Troy Jamerson, better known as Pharaohe Monch. Beginning with his days in the seminal rap duo Organized Konfusion, Monch has established himself as one of the most thoughtful and insightful artists going. When you hear a Pharaohe track, you know exactly what you’re getting. A flow that snaps your neck with lyrics that make you pause and hit back on your I-Pod or CD player. For further evidence of the madness, check out his new single Shine which will appear on his forthcoming third solo record calledW.A.R. (We Are Renegades).

Pharaohe Monch on MySpace
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“Shine” by Pharoahe Monch, taken from the forthcoming WAR/Duck Down release, “W.A.R.”

Love him. Hate him. No matter what your opinion may be about Kanye West. You have to give the guy credit for keeping things interesting. We’ve heard the new single Power taken from the forthcoming record Good Ass Job, right? Now this above is the sleeve. Interesting would be one way to desrcibe it… A sword through the head of a king… Could the King in the picture be none other than Kanye himself? This, my friends, may be one of those things that make you go hmm… Nevertheless, once again it’s all about Kanye and no matter what his name will be on the lips of many for the next few months leading to the release of the record. If the record is as good as Kanye will tell you it is (and I believe it will be), it would be talked about and lauded even more into the new year. We shall see…

You know we’re getting closer and closer to a highly anticipated record’s release when the leaks come flowing and the mad dash is on to be the first post the leaked tracks. Yeah well, I may not always be the first to get my hands on these leaks but at least I admit it. I like to take some time to actually listen to the song, take it in, let it run a couple of laps inside my brain before posting. Do you know what I mean?

With that said, General Patton is a track off of the upcoming Big Boi record Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son Of Chico Dusty coming at you on the 6th of July. We’ve heard Shutterbug and nodded in approval with its earnest homage to the early days of hip-hop. Patton is an exercise in what the Dirty South sound is all about. You got your boom-bap percussion with a notable emphasis on the boom part and the rest is all Big Boi. In my opinion, he and his partner in crime, Andre 3000 are two of the more underrated rappers in hip-hop. Let this track soak in a little bit and you will surely see where I’m coming from. This record is going to be good…

“General Patton” by Big Boi, taken from the forthcoming Island/Def Jam release, “Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son Of Chico Dusty”

Are you cool? I ask because only the coolest boys and girls are up on the new mixtape available for free right now by one of Chi-town’s brightest and greatest, The Cool Kids.  I’ve had a special affinity for this rap duo for some time now mostly because of how fresh their take on old-school hip-hop sounds. No frills to be here. Just the beat and let’s go.  On my favourite cut, Volume II, I immediately thought I was listening to a remix of EPMD’s Ya Gots Ta Chill as the interplay between Chuck & Mikey is similar as is the beat itself. Don’t take my word for it as far a how good this is. Go download it yourself for free! If it’s for free, it’s for me!

“Volume II” by The Cool Kids, taken from the mixtape “Tacklebox”

If you love that, then… click the link below!

“Tacklebox” Free Download!!

The Cool Kids on MySpace
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Chuck Inglish on Twitter
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Well well well! What do we have here? I get an interesting submission in my inbox this morning (Yes, I do accept submissions!) from an up and coming rapper straight out of Strong Island named Hoodie Allen. (Note: Strong Island = Long Island, New York. The natives of said locale tend to pronounce it LAWNGUYLAND.) Hoodie is a 21 year old rapper who has a brand new mini-mixtape coming out called The Diamond Cuts featuring a very catchy song called You Are Not A Robot. The track samples you guessed it…I Am Not A Robot from the one and only Marina and The Diamonds. Hmmm… potential up and comer from Long Island where so many rap legends honed their craft dropping verses over a Marina sample. How is it? You know what? I’m digging it.

Hoodie’s delivery reminds me a bit of a Lupe Fiasco or even a more playful B.O.B. and he definitely has the skills to go somewhere with his project. I’m personally interested in hearing a lot more from him. If you’re into the underground hip-hop scene, you’d be remiss not to give Mr. Allen a chance. A clever take on a Marina favourite makes Hoodie Allen an artist to keep an eye on.

“You Are Not A Robot” by Hoodie Allen

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The pouting prince of hip-hop. The sworn enemy of George W. Bush. Taylor Swift’s BFF. Kanye West is about to make his return. You have been warned. It’s time for the first shot from his long-awaited forthcoming fifth record entitled Good Ass Job. The song is called Power and…wait…is that King Crimson I hear? Prog-rock sampling by Kanye? Taking a bit from the track 21st Century  Schizoid Man should rile up a few dinosaurs into crying about one of their treasured artists being used as a *gasp* sample in a rap song.

Mr. West has ditched the singing that dominated 808’s & Heartbreak and has gone back to rapping which should quell the cries of SELLOUT that could be heard from the closed-minded minority of hip-hop purists that refuse to acknowledge the year is 2010 and not 1978. This song is for them. Nothing new from Kanye to be heard here. The production is top-notch. A back-breaking beat that begs to be cranked out of every truck rolling through the hard streets of suburbia. The familiar detached and at times lazy delivery that’s made West the household name that he is. Truth be told, it’s not the home run I was expecting out of the box but it’s definitely not bad by any stretch. Hopefully this isn’t the official first single. Either way, it’s great to finally hear some new Kanye.

“Power” by Kanye West, taken from the forthcoming Island-Def Jam release, “Good Ass Job”

Certain things in life are simply taken as fact. One such truism most people may not be aware of is that whatever the members of OutKast get involved in, it will be brilliant and nothing short of genius. Take for example, the promotional video for Big Boi’s new single Shutterbug. Take a great song, add a backing band of puppets, some vocoder and a healthy dollop or two of pure unadulterated fun and you have another winner. Me likey lots!

Could it be? Is it possible? No way! A new record from the MF Doom/Madlib collaboration better known as Madvillain?! It’s about time if the word from the grapevine is true! In my most humble opinion, the duo’s debut 2004’s Madvillainy ranks right up there as far as best rap debuts of all time. The perfect storm consisting of Madlib’s jazz-influenced production wizardry colliding with Doom’s spastic delivery.

Along comes the news of the duo contributing a brand new track to be featured on the Adult Swim Singles Program and it’s a very brief track called Papermill. The track is so brief that it comes and goes in a snap and feels more like a teaser than an actual finished product. I won’t quibble about it too much as I’m simply ecstatic that there is finally some new material from Doom and Madlib coming sooner than later. If you haven’t heard this pairing as yet, listen to Papermill and get your hands on Madvillainy right now.

“Papermill” by Madvillain

“They said he’s busy hold the line please
Call me crazy, I thought maybe he could mind read
Who does the blind lead?
Show me a sign please
If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?

And why do haters separate us like we siamese?
Technology turning the planet into zombies
Everybody all in everybody’s dirty laundry
Acid rain, earthquakes, hurricane, tsunamis

Terrorist, crime sprees, assaults, and robberies
Cops yellin’ stop, freeze
Shoot him before he try to leave
Air quality so foul, I gotta try to breath
Endangered species
And we runnin’ out of trees”

So nice of The Roots to take a break from their busy schedule being the house band for Jimmy Fallon to grace us with a brand new record. We’ve heard the title track from the band’s forthcoming new record How I Got Over and for a few brief minutes, we felt as if all was right with the world. We may breathe again as the official first single from the album is now making its way through the internets.  This one is called  Dear God 2.0 and once again The Roots fail to disappoint.

The song itself is a bit of a rework job of a track by the group Monsters Of Folk which features Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) as well as M. Ward. 2.0 features James singing the hook and as usual Black Thought once again makes the dire and desperate sound like a sort of clarion call to action.  Quite simply, this is yet another track that shows how far ahead The Roots are from their contemporaries. Almost twenty years in and the band is still at the top of their game.

“Dear God 2.0″ by The Roots, taken from the forthcoming Island/Def Jam release, “How I Got Over”