I did this Sade-themed topically stoner-oriented mix for Passion Of The Weiss’ mix series. Included are some awesome rap songs sampling Sade, some chopped & screwed versions of Sade songs, and a few brilliant stony oddities that somehow combine the former with the latter to mind melting results. It all came out pretty awesome if I do say so myself, including the typically awesome cover by John Turner Jr. You should download it and listen to it while smoking like 6 scorpion shaped joints in a row.
There is a much more detailed description of all this on PoW, including the rationale for my selections and why certain things didn’t make the cut. You can read all that HERE. S/O and thanks to my girlfriend Jenna for helping a bit, and to John for the cover, and to Jeff for hosting it.
Traklist:
01. MF Doom – Doomsday
02. Curren$y – Famous
03. Sade – Cherish The Day vs Z-Ro – Respect My Mind (C&S By Drobitussin)
04. Kool Keith – I do What I Want
05. Sade – No Ordinary Love vs Three Six Mafia – Where Is The Bud (C&S By Slim K)
06. AZ – Payback
07. Sade – Smooth Operator (C&S By Drobitussin)
08. LG – Blue Diamond Ft. Paasky
09. Sade – By Your Side (C&S By Drobitussin)
10. Sade – Feel No Pain (C&S By DJ Screw)
Dr. Millionaire used to be Isaiah, one half of the underrated duo Isaiah & Hovey. Here he returns solo, still doing what he was good at before – rapping well with an engaging ‘cool mothafuka’ flow, dropping some good lines, sporting an amusingly casual attitude toward doing hard drugs that goes beyond de rigueur molly references. Nothing here is really new, but it is entertaining and worth a spin.
SLASH really doesn’t make enough music, considering how well she can rap. Hopefully this is a sign of some new things coming on the horizon. Also, note another great beat by Parallel Thought.
This record is a collaborative between myself (MarQ Spekt) and experimental, proto-new wave musician Gary Wilson (Stones Throw). It’s rare that you get the opportunity to work with the actual artist rather than just sampling his records. Gary opened his vaults and provided ample soundscapes. Some of these instrumentals date back to 1973 and may have been heard before. Others may not. The ending result is a pure creative expression and meshes Hip Hop, Psychedelic, Jazz, Funk…. Soak up the vibrations and Enjoy!
This is the kind of idea that makes me enjoy the fringes of rap more than what’s in the spotlight. With that said, Broken Mazes sounds weirder on paper than it does in the headphones. Gary Wilson is an awesomely strange dude with some outré music under his belt, but for this project Spekt wisely sticks with the more accessible sides of Wilson’s catalog. It’s all breezy jazz-funk with some vague psychedelic touches for extra oomph, a wide open field for Spekt to run his free-flowing bars. The result is relaxed and enjoyable, if at times a bit unfocused – kinda like a good open-ended improv session by a talented jazz band. Very appropriate for the summer, I can see why Spekt decided to hold off the release until now.
This is the best thing AZ has done since…. well, since that song with Rae. He’s having a damn good year. AND this dropped on the first day of official ‘timbs in the tropics’ weather in NY, which can only be read as a good omen. Gotta give Statik his due credit here too, I’m generally not a fan of his production but he nailed this one.
Two things that I’m most enjoying about this new eXq release:
1. The fact that he actually released this thing as a properly packaged maxi-single – several remixes, instrumental, and an accapella are all included; the only thing missing is a random tacked on B-side. This approach feels refreshingly thorough in the age of hastily uploaded and poorly tagged mp3 drops. The whole pack can be downloaded HERE
2. theMFK’s Waved Up version, which is my favorite of the 4 available version.
Almost 2 months after suffering the unimaginable tragedy of loosing his newborn son, Shady releases a new album. I don’t want to speculate on the relationship between these two events, certain conclusions that seem obvious would also likely be very specious. But it does very much sound like Shady is venting on The 5th Chapter, not just personal matters but also his frustration with being a rapper and all the accompanying bullshit that comes with that territory in 2013. And the result is some of his most pointed and poignant music to date.
The menacing yet strangely smooth sounds of Gorgeous Children will ring out pon NY this weekend on several occasions, HERE & HERE. You should not be a bitch a go to at least one of those shows.
