“A Tribute to The Notorious B.I.G.” (Press Kit, May 1997)

"On Wednesday, May 14, at 12 noon over 200 radio stations across the country participated in a 30 second moment of silence in honor of the late Notorious B.I.G., followed by the world premiere of two new tribute tracks "I'll Be Missing You" and "We'll Always Love Big Poppa." At the same time, MTV aired the tribute video to "I'll Be Missing You." Bad Boy Entertainment's CEO, producer and artist Sean "Puffy" Combs comments on why he decided to honor Biggie in this way, "I wanted to tell B.I.G. how I was feeling. I wanted to have one last conversation with him. The concept of the tribute single was to express my personal feelings and the feelings from the Bad Boy family. This is our way of speaking to Biggie, letting him know how much we loved him." ... "I'll Be Missing You" features vocals by Combs with Evans and 112; it was written by Faith Evans and Todd Gaither (Sauce Money) and produced by Combs and Stevie J. The song was inspired by the Police hit, "Every Breath You Take" and the chorus of the song is reflective of Puffy's and Faith's personal feelings of B.I.G."

"The flipside, "We'll Always Love Big Poppa" is written and performed by Bad Boy Entertainment's newest group The L.O.X. The track is produced by Damon Blackmon and was first performed at B.I.G.'s funeral. "It was their personal artistic expression of how the group felt about Biggie and how he affected the lives of so many people," said Combs. "If you knew him, you would love him," said Jay from The L.O.X. "It is sad we had to do this song as our first video." ... Bad Boy Records, Arista Records and BMG Distribution have agreed to donate all profits from sales of the tribute single to a trust for the benefit of Christopher Wallace's two children, T'Yanna and Christopher." R.I.P. B.I.G.

The original press kit from May 22, 1997...

Brock Berrigan "Utah" (Instrumental Album)

Beat maker, music enthusiast, and multi instrumentalist Brock Berrigan returns with his latest instrumental album entitled Utah. Speaking on the project, Brock says "This album was inspired by hiking slot canyons, climbing mountains, and driving through the desert of Utah for 2 months. This album is a culmination of 2 decades of making music. Have a few drinks, sit back and enjoy. Cheers!" With 14 instrumental tracks in total, it's another great listen. Vinyl available HERE. Listen below...

Fatt Father "King Father" (Album Stream)

Detroit emcee, Fatt Father, releases the long-awaited “King Father” LP. The riveting 12-track album is composed of rock solid production, accompanied by well-stitched rhymes, and reality-driven concepts. The production credits include Scud One, Marv Won, Trox, Foul Mouth, Blizzard, and Becoming Phill alongside features from Quelle Chris, Finale, A-Minus, Isaac Castor, and more. I got put on to Fatt Father through DJ Eclipse's Rap Is Outta Control radio show, and I've been locked in since. The Detroit music scene is always bubbling with music in the underground, he's comin' up...

Happy Born Day, Elzhi! (Playlist)

Happy Born Day to eLZhi, one of the greatest lyricists PERIOD! The bio on his website shares, "Before the world ever heard the name Elzhi, the young artist was sitting in the back of classrooms thinking of rhymes and spitting verses, while his friend Fes banged out beats on lunchroom tables and battled rival emcees on the blacktop after school. He sharpened every blade in his arsenal, developing his style to measure up against the competition in Maurice Maloneis Hip Hop Shop, the legendary proving ground for Detroit Artists that has produced some of the greatest emcees in the world. Elzhi spent years paying dues, writing songs, entering battles, and recording demos until he made his international debut on Come and Get It, a standout track from J Dilla’s album, Welcome 2 Detroit.  The critically acclaimed song drew massive attention to the mysterious artist, and made his EP, Out of Focus, highly sought after.  Following that, he released the critically acclaimed Elmatic as a tribute to Nas as well as to Elzhi’s hometown of Detroit." To celebrate his birthday today, I put together a quick playlist of tracks - mostly solo records with a few features mixed in. It is by no means a reflection of his full discography - in fact, it barely scratches the surface, but these do represent some of my favorite Elzhi cuts nonetheless. From his early "Out of Focus" EP to today, eLZhi remains one of our culture's most gifted lyricists, poets and MCs. Be sure to reach out HERE and wish him a Happy Born Day! The art above is by Aleks Skrok, you can order a poster HERE.

Jamo Gang "Walking With Lions" (Album Stream)

Jamo Gang consists of LA legend Ras Kass, NYC veteran emcee El Gant and J57 on production. The trio’s debut album Walking with Lions is now available via Fat Beats Records featuring DJ Premier, Slug from Atmosphere, Sid Wilson from Slipknot, Sick Jacken from Psycho Realm, and Slaine from La Coka Nostra. J57 handled all of the production except for “The 1st Time” which was produced by the living legend, DJ Premier. Walking with Lions embodies head-nodder boom-bap infused with big sounding, lush soundscapes as Ras Kass and El Gant command the listener’s attention speaking on subject matter ranging from school shootings to what life would be like with a nuke arriving in 38 minutes! Yessir... Enjoy the new album from my Fat Beats brother J57 and the Jamo Gang below...

Mick Boogie "Break The Monotony" (Live Mix)

A note from MICK (f/k/a Mick Boogie) about his latest mix: "This was my live set from DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's "Break The Monotony" Instagram Live Block Party. One hour of vibes and classics. I started my set with an Andre Harrell tribute, moved into some Pete Rock and Heavy D, then smoothed it out with some DeBarge. From there, I hit that D'Angelo and Common chamber, rocked some Bobby Caldwell and Roy Ayers, and thru in some Sly Stone. Then I moved into a party zone with Naughty By Nature, Jay Z, and EPMD. Followed by a more uptempo party vibe with LL Cool J, Chubb Rock and De La Soul. I then concluded with The Whispers, Rick James, and The Ojays. Plus... sooo much more that you'll discover once you listen." MICK provided the vibes, dig in below...

Happy 50th Birthday to Ghostface Killah!

Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an MC, songwriter, actor and member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Ghostface Killah is critically acclaimed for his loud, fast-paced flow, and his emotional stream-of-consciousness narratives containing cryptic slang and non-sequiturs. Pitchfork argues, "Ghostface has unparalleled storytelling instincts; he might be the best, most colorful storyteller rap has ever seen." That's pretty spot-on, in my opinion, but if you doubt it, he's got the discography to back it up! Today marks Ghostface Killah's 50th trip around the sun! In an interview with AOL - which I used for my FreeOfStyle mixtape - Ghostface says, "My lyricism is crazy different from people, because I got style. I have swag ... I swing from a different web than a lot of these other emcees... I can go from women, to my struggles, to how I feel that day ... It's all about using your mind, knowledge is infinite!" You can't argue Ghost's place as one of the greatest MCs of all-time, so once again, Happy 50th Birthday - give that man his flowers, and, in his own words, "With root beer thoughts, here's a tennis court for your birthday!"

An original Ghostface-inspired Birthday card, available HERE.

Mobb Deep "The Infamous" (25th Ann. Expanded Edition)

In commemoration the 25th anniversary of Mobb Deep’s The Infamous, Sony Music has released a digital-only expanded edition of the groundbreaking East Coast rap masterpiece. The Infamous – 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition includes bonus tracks “Shook Ones, Part I” (Original Version), and Infamous sessions mixes of “The Money (Version 2)” and “Lifestyles Of The Infamous,” now available digitally for the first time. A deluxe 12″ vinyl 25th-anniversary edition will be available later this year featuring the original album in its entirety and a variety of rare mixes, alternate takes and unreleased tracks recorded in 1994 during the making of the album. “When Prodigy and I started on The Infamous album, all we wanted to do is to make good music - give the world a glimpse of our lives - put out an audible image of Queensbridge so that people could hear what we see every day. I guess we were successful because 25 years later, many believe that this record is one of the greatest hip-hop records of all times," said Havoc. R.I.P., Prodigy... listen to the classic album below.