Kendrick Lamar has become known to drop something completely new when he is doing a live performance and then you never hear it again. This time, K Dot hits The Tonight Show to perform “Blue Faces.” No telling if we’ll ever get a studio version of this so enjoy the live session.
The dynamic duo of KXNG Crooked and Statik Selektah drop the second song from their STATIK KXNG project (dropping on February 12) in the form of “Everybody Knows.”
Dave East goes for his over the instrumental to O.T. Genasis and Young Dolph’s “Cut It.”
Murs and 9th Wonder surprised everyone with their Brighter Daze project and now the duo drop the visuals for “Otha Fish” where Murs laments about moving on from relationships.
Puerto Rican pride is the theme as Termanology, Noreaga, Chris River, Ea$y Money and Manny Garcia represent the island on “Latino Unification” with cuts courtesy of Statik Selektah.
Former Def Jam and current Epic Records A&R Sickamore appeared on ItsTheReal’s “A Waste Of Time” podcast and an interesting conversation came up with Sickamore revealed that Def Jam records wasn’t too fond of the idea of Cali rapper YG working with DJ Mustard.
The mere concept sounds ridiculous as Mustard has become one of the top producers in hip hop. But what ends up being more interesting is that the label was interested in pairing YG up with a legendary producer that this website is quite familiar with.
“Well at first it was like, ‘Well you know, he’s doing too much work with DJ Mustard. We should get him in with DJ Premier or something.’ That was a real thing. I was just like, you want me to just leave the hottest producer to go with Premo? I kind of blacked in the meeting. I went too hard.”
Surely, this is no slight to DJ Premier because why Def Jam wanted YG away from DJ Mustard makes little sense in hindsight given how successful My Krazy Life became. But, you have to wonder, what would it have sounded like if YG and DJ Premier worked together?
After having a stellar 2015 with the lone rhyming appearance on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Rapsody — along with 9th Wonder and the musical collective known as The Storm Troopers — was the latest guest to the small desk of NPR Music’s Bob Boilen and blessed the desk with a brief set that includes “Godzilla,” “The Man” and “Hard To Choose.” Watch and enjoy.
The “Off Top” series has become one that we look forward to because it put a unique spin on the freestyle with its throwback vibe. For this installment we find Termanology draped in the illest of Coogi sweaters and dropping nothing but heat.
DJ Absolut revisits dropping the collaborative joint from 2015 but releases the original mix instead of the one that used the instrumental for Faith Evans’ “You Used to Love Me (Puff Daddy Mix).”
Freeway returns after a relatively tough 2015 that saw him deal with some health issues and the loss of his friend Tha Jacka. His new project Fear Of A Free Planet finds the bearded emcee getting some soulful production from the likes of Jake One and Don Cannon along with a Dilla track and features from the likes of Styles P and Memphis Bleek. The Compound breaks it down below and you can stream the project now.
The Compound links up with Philadelphia Freeway in a time where the world is in a bit of chaos. With America in a funny, yet uncomfortable political race for the next president, and wars brewing globally, there is a need for substance in entertainment. The music game has a void, and Freeway is here to fill it.
Taking it back to the essence with soulful samples and legendary lyrics, Free blesses us with his new body of work including production by some of Hip Hop’s greatest producers. With sounds from Don Cannon, Jake One and Merc Beatz, this project is not missing a beat. Then, to hear Freeway rocking over a J Dilla track is simply a gift in itself. Features with artists such as Styles P and Memphis Bleek also contribute to making this project a classic. Lastly, we get to experience Freeway’s story about his kidney failure on a bonus track through the eyes of his artist Scholito. Hopefully, Fear of a Free Planet, aka The Free Tape, will inspire peace and positivity for listeners searching for a bit of hope in this crazy world.