The project is getting mad press these days, so we thought we’d update our last post and bring it back to all you loyal readers. As you know, the concept is that the Black Keys (a rock band) have collaborated with 11 hip hop/R&B artists. They’ve done stuff with the RZA, Mos Def, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monche, and Q-Tip.
Now, I haven’t been a big fan of these type of collaborations before. I mean, quite honestly, Mos Def’s affinity for this (remember The New Danger?) style has been the most to me, but even that didn’t win me over. Still, BlakRoc does a decent job of blending this all together in a way that sounds dope.
Below is their collaboration with our man, the mighty Mos Def to give you a little taste.
Big ups to the HVW8 project (heavyweight, get it?) for doing something dope and classy at the same time. From the sounds of it, the guys over at HVW8 had a homeless guy beatboxing in the parking lot behind their gallery, and he was pretty . This guy, named Red, had originally come to LA as an aspiring hip hop artist back in the 1990s. Things hadn’t worked out the way he wanted them to, and he was out struggling to make ends meet.
Encouraged by his raw skills and talent, HVW8 got Red into Computer Jay’s Echo Park studio for a couple recording sessions before he was prematurely incarcerated on a parole violation. Only able to record one complete take in the studio, and after his re-arrest, HVW8’s Tyler Gibney and Addison Liu reached out to CHOPS and Dam-Funk to apply their world class talents.
CHOPS, who has produced for Jeezy, Game and Bun B to name a few, heard a sound along the lines of Roger, but with a new hardcore West Coast style; he was up for the challenge of working on the track without Red’s presence in the studio. Meanwhile, Peanut Butter Wolf of Stones Throw Records was also excited about what he heard and had their resident funk maestro Dam-Funk busy at work lacing the track into a new West Coast funk classic.
So dang, this guy went from homeless to dropping a release on Stones Throw Records. And he’s definitely not bad. It’s a really interesting sound, one that’s totally human-powered. It’s got a throwback vibe for sure, and quite honestly it’s just nice to see someone’s dream coming true after all these years.
Here’s a little sample of Red’s work:
Here’s the official trailer for his studio release.
Not too many people remember all of 2Pac’s acting endeavours. Those that do focus mainly on Juice and Poetic Justice. The lesser known movies are pretty numerous, but one of my favourites is Gridlock’d. A quick little tidbit is that the Gridlock’d soundtrack was actually one of the first CDs I purchased.
The movie itself was…mediocre, but the soundtrack is actually really pretty good. It had actually completely slipped my mind until the track below popped up on shuffle the other day.
Something about it just appeals to me, and I can’t tell you why. I know it’s not the dopest track we’ve posted this week, and some of you may even beef with the choice of posting anything by 2Pac. But it’s worth bringing some attention to his lesser known work.
Holy dopeness. This is one new hip hop album I’m truly excited about. Souls of Mischief have just dropped their newest album titled Montezuma’s Revenge.
The album is shaping up to be great Tour Stories is one of the best tracks I’ve heard. Not even just this year. It’s an unbelievable effort from some aging hip hop legends. I’m not even going to bother giving you a hip hop history lesson for the Souls of Mischief, because if you don’t know who they are then you and I may just straight up have a problem.
Just playing. The Souls of MIschief are a strong contingent of emcees who also run with the Hieroglyphics crew. A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai gave us the ever-so-classic ‘93 til infinity, the memorable track that has to be in my top ten songs of all time. This effort, their 5th album to date, is no slouch of an effort. The sound of this new album is pretty consistent with what they’ve been doing. It’s co-produced by Prince Paul & Domino, so you know it’s going to be full of pretty strong piano samples and mellow hooks.
I haven’t had the chance to hear the entire album in detail yet, so I won’t spoil it for you by posting half-finished thoughts. But I do want to encourage you to check it out.
It’s a strong effort to be sure, and I’ve hooked you up with some youtube goodness below to check it out.
Here’s Proper Aim off the same album. A very different vibe, but shows how diverse they can be.
Here’s further evidence of vinyl’s slow resurgence as a viable audio format (a theme we’ve discussed often here at 4080): recently announced it will release latest audio book, Live For Your Listening Pleasure, on vinyl (in addition to other formats).
But is it really because vinyl is once again in the ascendancy? (In its report on the story, the New York Times “[vinyl] albums are enjoying something of a renaissance, posting $57 million in sales in 2008, more than double the previous year and the best for the format since 1990.”)
Apparently not. According to a Hachette representative, the company was “drawn to the idea precisely because it was quirky. Mr. Sedaris’s “audience is very attuned to irony and is going to find this funny,”” the rep said. Hilarious.
This is relatively old news, but I completely missed the boat on it when it first came out, and it’s dope, so I’m posting it anyways.
is a producer from Ypsilanti, Michigan. , the beats on Nowalataz were made as a sort of tribute to Dilla. Here’s 14KT describing it in his own words:
“Here it is… a project I unofficially had done since 2006. It started when James Yancey a.k.a. J Dilla passed that February. To cope with the death of my favorite producer, who I liked to call my unofficial “musical mentor,” I started making ‘donuts’ …uncontrollably. I never planned to release any of the material out of respect for Dilla & his craft. I’ve shared some of the music with others, in which they would repeatedly ask me to hear it, so I decided to put a little something together and make it official. JUST FOR YA’LL.This is a collection of beats created about 3 years ago. Some ‘donuts’ style, some just around that era of 14KT beats. “Now & Laters” were always a favorite candy of mine. I used to go to Mindell’s Pharmacy in Ypsilanti back in the day and buy ALL of them. Sadly, I even stole change from my grandma’s (RIP) purse for them. They are addictive, yet fun to eat… something I found mutual when making music at the time. Ironically, I fell back in love with “Nowalataz” around this era (ask my homey Sarah “Merk Merk,” haha). Enjoy.“
As you might’ve guessed, Nowalataz has a distinctly Dilla vibe to it. Chock full of well-chopped soul samples and hard hitting drums, this LP is a regular slice of Detroit boom-bap goodness.
