4080Records

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.

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.