New music from Rapper Big Pooh, with Apollo Brown on production. Called “Augmentation,” the track is off Rapper Big Pooh’s upcoming album, Words Paint Pictures, out on March 24.
In case you missed it, here’s two Gs, Kenny and Warren, performing the classic track “Regulators” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Weird on paper, this actually somehow works, and both dudes look like they’re having a blast.
#RIPNATEDOGG
I’m late to the game on this dude for sure, but over the last few days I’ve been listening to everything I can find by Robert Glasper. A pianist, Glapser’s music spans the spectrum from straight ahead jazz to Nirvana covers. (Seriously, check out that cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, it’s amazing). He’s taken home two Grammys, the first for his neo-soul flavoured 2012 album, Black Radio, and the second for his performance of “Jesus Children of America” off his second album, Black Radio 2. On both albums, which feature his band the Robert Glasper Experiment, Glasper explores diverse genres, from deeply soulful R&B to boom bap hip hop to more experimental sounds.
I discovered him through his Dillaludes series, which are covers of famous Dilla beats. All three are worth listening to, and he just released the third iteration a few weeks ago. Here’s all three:
Okayplayer is reporting that Glasper has a new LP, Covered, coming out on June 16th. So if you’re feeling the tunes above, definitely mark down that date and grab a copy of the record when it drops.
BadBadNotGood is a trio out of Toronto that’s been making waves recently (well, since 2011), collaborating with big names like Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean and now Ghostface Killah. Now, they’re releasing a whole album with Ghost, Sour Soul, which is due out tomorrow. In the meantime, you can stream the album on Soundcloud. BadBadNotGood manages to distill that unique grimy, claustrophobic – but always soulful – Wu sound, providing the sonic soundscapes for Ghost to do his thing, dropping complex rhymes that demand more than one listen.
Off Action Bronson’s upcoming album, Mr. Wonderful, “Terry” features the Queens rapper’s distinctive flow and complex wordplay, which are complemented by jazzy production by the Alchemist.
In related news, Bronson’s Vice series, “Fuck, That’s Delicious” – whose latest episode includes a clip of Bronson in the studio with Alchemist (see below) – is coming to cable TV. This isn’t totally surprising, considering Bronson is an engaging host, and just generally a hilarious and interesting dude to follow around. His show will no doubt be successful.
Here’s the video for the Memorabilia, the second single off Skyzoo and Torae’s 2014 album The Barrel Brothers. Spotted over at Wordisbond. Lovin’ the Shuttlesworth jersey!
OFWGKTA member Hodgy Beats released a new mix tape last week with producer Don Cannon. The full tape is available over at the OFWGKTA Soundcloud page, but here’s my favourite track, “HakuemeniB”:
Spotted over at Word is Bond, here’s a shiny new video from Jared Xavier. Featuring a smooth beat with shimmering keys and, in the background, a trumpet sample that drifts across the drums, the visuals match the tune perfectly. Check it out.
Spotted this over at Okayplayer: apparently Baz Luhrmann is bringing to Netflix a mini-series about the birth of hip hop in the Bronx (as well as punk and disco elsewhere in NYC) in the late 1970s. Check out the clip below, as well as this short synopsis from The Hollywood Reporter. Looks dope!
The Get Down will focus on 1970s New York — broken down and beaten up, violent, cash strapped — dying. … Consigned to rubble, a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them — except each other, armed only with verbal games, improvised dance steps, some magic markers and spray cans. From Bronx tenements, to the SoHo art scene; from CBGBs to Studio 54 and even the glass towers of the just-built World Trade Center, The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco — told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world … forever.
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