The dopest beats, rhymes, and the best ish that we can find.
NPR has a full cast recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. It’s a fantastic hip hop musical of the life and times of Alexander Hamilton. You’d never have known you needed this in your life. But you do. So listen.
CBC’s Q Radio Program has been embroiled in controversy the last little while. Ever since the fall of Jian Ghomeshi 4 months ago (as of the date of this article), it has been a whirlwind of a search to find a worthy successor.
And they have one. A cerebral, excellent, talented rapper and interviewer. Shad has been announced as the new permanent host of Q.
A Juno Award-winning musician who has been nominated three times for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize, the performer known as Shad takes the reins of the show after CBC managers were impressed by his ease in speaking with other artists during a week-long audition as a Q guest host in late January, Shad interviewed a range of artists including cartoonist Art Spiegelman, opera star Christine Goerke, filmmaker and author Miranda July and actress Evangeline Lilly.
We here at 4080 welcome him. While Shad has never reached the market saturation he deserves, his albums have been incredible. He’s a critical darling, and one who is a worthy successor to such an institution.
And I leave you with Rose Garden:
I feel like I’ve been asleep at the controls lately. Somehow I just haven’t turned my mine to many of the classic greats. Case in point is Large Professor. Dope producer and lyricist.
Ordinarily here’s where I would want to get into some details of this talented man, but my brain is barely functional so you’ll have to google it.
Check out his single “Own World” ft: Fortune off his upcoming album RE:Living Legend, which will be coming through this Spring sometime (which is now!). Get your inter-webs ready.
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.
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.
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