"We are at a great loss today. This hurts. Straight to the point. It’s dangerous to be an MC. Dangerous to be a b-ball player. It’s dangerous to have money. Dangerous To Be A Black Man. So much hatred. We live like our brothers and sisters in third world countries live. Right in America. Decisions we make about our own life be based on decisions cuz we might not live. Its so deep rooted. It’s not a easy fix. Hard to fix anything when kids are still living in poverty. I ain’t shutting up though, Nipsey is a True voice. He will never be silenced. He still is A stand up General for the People who never left his people. He is Loved by the people. Prayers for his family. Let’s keep pushing Truth for The Man. Love You, King Nipsey Hussle / Ermias Asghedom Respectfully" - Nas // He was an authentic artist; truly forward-thinking, positive and ownership-minded - all of which made him an important voice for this generation. It's a truly sad day. My thoughts are with his loved ones. I know that he's inspired today's youth to be better, do better and that's a legacy. R.I.P.
"Hailing from LA by way of San Diego, Choosey uses Black Beans to make important statements in favor of black and brown unity at a time when his voice is most needed. Autobiographical moments like “I Did” follow in the footsteps of Exile produced masterpieces including Blu’s Below The Heavens and Fashawn’s Boy Meets World, as his soulful beats have always brought honesty and introspection out of the Dirty Science crew. Black Beans captures the feeling of the beautiful struggle while navigating life’s potholes throughout sunny Southern California. Taking the good with the bad, Choosey honors family and his significant other while attacking society’s ills including police brutality and gentrification. Though Black Beans is consistent with Exile’s sound, with this effort, he sampled from a number of sources and an era that best reflects Choosey’s story personally. Combining street smarts and book smarts, the album is sure to impact listeners as he’s a testament to following his dreams while surviving everything from the daily rat race to coming up in territories surrounded by gang activity." Black Beans is a really dope album, sit and digest this one below...
EPMD brings the suburbs to hip-hop - and the funk to the party: "Sporting fishermen hats and a slack style, Long Island duo EPMD's debut, Strictly Business (Priority), was the first hip-hop album to celebrate the splendor of suburbia. "It was the Just-Ice single 'Latoya' that inspired us to rap in the first place, but we didn't come from the same kind of environment," says Parrish Smith. "Me and Erick Sermon grew up near the water, so we thought the caps would best represent where we came from. We were confident in our skills, so we had no problem being different." Signed to the now-defunct Sleeping Bag Records (where labelmates included Mantronix, Just-Ice, Cash Money & Marvelous and Nice & Smooth), the duo's first demo contained the original mixes of "It's My Thing" and "You're a Customer." Laughing at the memory, Smith says, "We didn't even know what samplers were then. We recorded everything on tape and spliced it together later." While their name stood for Erick and Parrish Making Dollars, the moniker EPMD soon became synonymous with soulful samples and computerized funk... the Sermon/Smith style laid the sonic foundation for Dr. Dre's soon-to-come G-Funk." An example of that is their smash "You Gots To Chill," watch below...
"Indeed, famed West Coast radio station 93.5 KDAY, whose program director Greg Mack was instrumental in helping Los Angeles develop its own hip-hop aesthetic, was one of the first to play "It's My Thing." Virgil Simms, Sleeping Bag's then vice president of promotion, says, "Mr. Magic and Marley Marl showed us much love at home in New York, but it was the reaction from KDAY's audience that helped break that single. We had the clubs on lock." ... Sermon says the group just flipped the records they liked. "Strictly Business was recorded and finished in two weeks at producer Charlie Marotta's studio," says Sermon, who experienced solo and group success with Def Squad after the group split in 1993. "Me and Parrish wasn't using James Brown samples because we were listening to different kinds of things; we simply sampled what we were feeling." ... Touring and working ... the boys from Brentwood are back together - and still about their business." - Vibe
LA producer Jansport J takes it back to the gritty, raw, soulful roots on his latest beat tape, StayTrue. He delivers 11 soulful, neck-snapping instrumentals, all of which were created in a single day... minus the beat for "Still Care." Jansport J was clearly in a zone that day, catch that vibe by clicking play below! Don't sleep... Jansport J's production credits include Snoop Dogg, Ab-Soul, Kool G Rap, Blu, AZ, Skyzoo, Planet Asia, Freddie Gibbs and more! Lots more on his page, so click through...
This is DJ Invasion's "Rosebudd Infantry: The Marcberg Files," which is a mash-up mixtape of Roc Marciano's vocals seamlessly blended with beats by the Alchemist. The 13-track mix also includes vocals from Vic Spencer, Westside Gunn, St. Joe Louis, Vinnie Paz, Guilty Simpson, O.C., Royce Da 5'9, Planet Asia and Prodigy (R.I.P.). DJ Invasion wants it to be clear, this is a fan made project and is not an official release from Roc Marciano or The Alchemist. Projects like this are a labor of love, and this one is especially well-crafted, so props to DJ Invasion (and the artists). Check it out below...
The Parimore EP features some of Baltimore’s finest lyricists - Ill Conscious, Guy Grams, and Dirt Platoon - alongside DJ Brans, DJ Low Cut, Street Wyze, and more on production. The 6-track EP displays seasoned lyricism over dope production, period! Baltimore has a nice movement going on in the underground, which is definitely translating overseas, where I'm sure their names ring out. Each MC brings their own style, but it meshes well together as a collective release. Dig into the EP...
Today's selection is from 1997, with DJ Rockwell and Chemta's mix tape called "It's All Rap To You." The Chicago-based duo put together an ill mix with tracks from Siah, Lateef, Juice, Gravediggaz, Dilated Peoples, Casual, Common, Reflection Eternal, Xzibit (w/ Del & Casual), Gang Starr, No I.D., De La Soul, L-Fudge, The Pharcyde, Atmosphere, All Natural, Cage, Company Flow, Defari, Natural Resource, Smif-N-Wessun, and more. The tape includes some fresh remixes and a lot of slept-on joints from the underground at the time. Dig into DJ Rockwell and Chemta's It's All Rap To You mix tape below...
No matter what part of the world your located, the line in the distance is always visible… where you’ll see the sun rise and set. After years of preparation, at last the sun rises on B Leafs debut album The Horizon. The Boston producer unites a who’s who of legendary MC’s and veterans, while placing the spotlight on some established and upcoming talent from around the Boston area. The line-up includes Raekwon, Elzhi, Large Pro, Cormega, Masta Ace, Paranom, Styles P, Crimeapple, and more. The Horizon is 100% produced by B Leafs, with engineering duties carried out by Lightfoot.
