DOWNLOAD: Hits From The Blog: A Few Overlooked Gems From 2011 (COMPILATION)

Fresh Out The Box – Episode #13 (12/15/2011)
 
Tracklist:
1. Main Attrakionz & Shady Blaze (Green Ova) – Change (Prod. by Friendzone)
2. Main Attrakionz – Suffocation (Feat. Danny Brown)
3. Schoolboy Q – Niggahs Already Know
4. Nesby Phips – Goodbye 2 Da Lockout
5. Action Bronson – White Silk
6. Shaz IllYork – Tango With The Cash (Feat. Maffew Ragazino)
7. Indy 500 – Red Carpet
8. Willie The Kid – #TheFood
9. Jaylib – Strapped Four-4 Mix (Feat. Guilty Simpson)
10. KA – Iron Works
11. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – The Big Fat Kill
12. Danny Brown – Monopoly (Prod. by Quelle Chris)
13. El-P – Purple Metal
14. G-Side – No U In Us
15. Boldy James – I Sold Dope All My Life
16. Denmark Vessey – Green Party Swishercrat (Feat. Quelle Chris)
17. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – The Gold Watch
18. Roc C – Starchild (Prod. by The Alchemist)
19. Giggs – Man A Dead
20. Peedi Crakk – N.P. Rebel
21. El-P – Rush Over Bklyn
 
ENJOY.
 
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For the past week we’ve seen a bunch of people tackle this album. Writers these days take themselves way too seriously. That or they have these agendas in writing these reviews just to grab a few hits and if they’re lucky maybe a couple of RTs. I’m not a writer. I’m a simple man, I like my beans and rice. We live in a world that is quite simple if you ask me. It’s black, it’s white. It’s good, it’s bad. It’s hot, it’s cold. It’s yes or no. These definitive answers shape who we are.

There is no need to string together a wordy review that only serves as self-indulgent drivel just to deliver one adjective in describing Undun.

We’ve been spoiled for practically two decades now with progression, not regression from The Roots crew. We want Malik B. We miss Len Hub. We want more N.T. collabos. We want more Black Thought verses. We want lengthier tracks and albums; [insert Elaine] yada yada yada.

This album is best listened to front to back and then back to front. It’s not an album, it’s a soundtrack of life. It doesn’t matter if you’re connected to Redford Stephens or not. It’s bigger than him. It wouldn’t matter if was Tony Wycek. It’s almost as if the album is bigger than the music itself.

This is something that could possibly be turned into an off-Broadway musical. For the past few albums I’ve never given The Roots a fair shot off the first listen and trust me, I’ve sipped the juice plenty of times. They set the bar pretty high on Game Theory, the album, many will agree, where Black Thought separated himself from a great lyricist to top 25 of all-time.

But The Roots have always been about taking chances. Thirteen fucking albums now. How many hip-hop groups can you say have had the longevity that The Roots have had? Not Wu, Tribe, De La, Public Enemy, Outkast, Freestyle Fellowship, Geto Boys, Ultramag, Mobb Deep or Gang Starr. None of them ever had the longevity and consistency that of The Roots. That’s not me saying The Roots are the best ever, that’s me daring you to come up with one group in hip-hop who has even remotely put together thirteen quality albums time and time again.

For me to point out the great cuts on here is foolish. You aren’t supposed to pick and choose. You wouldn’t skip to the Winston Wolf scene in Pulp Fiction when watching–would you?

So, do yourself a favor, listen to the album the way it’s supposed to be heard–in its entirety. You’d be doing yourself a huge disservice by skipping around. And while I’m not claiming this is their best work, it is their most fascinating work to date. I know so many of you will be quick to say, “but there are only 9 real tracks,” but if you listen to the entire album, its 14 chapters. By the way, Illmatic only had 9 “real” tracks too.

So get past yourself and the way you want their albums to sound these days. I promise you it may not hit you right away, but with each listen the album will continue to impress and leave you wanting more.

These boys hit their stride awhile back, now they’re just playing with house money and parlaying it into more wins.

And that one adjective you’re waiting for; great. The album is fucking great?!!!??! –Philaflava

Let’s be specific (peace Funkmaster Flex), the other day I dropped my 10 most underrated rappers of 2011, so it only made sense to drop my best rapper too. This isn’t an all-time list, it’s current and I could only award this to a rapper who is, well current. Andre 3000, you might be on another level and universally accepted as the greatest rapper living and who am I to disagree? You are, but these once every few years cameos on these bullshit R&B tracks ain’t cutting it.

It ain’t Jay, shame on you for even thinking that. It isn’t his apprentice Mr. Electronica, who by the way he should be dropping his once-a-year track in December to continue giving your iTunes blue balls. His lack of new material and a Saigon(ish) career pattern is not helping matters. I can you assure you it’s nobody who would rock a smedium t-shirt. Nobody that you would consider a hipster or vegan. It isn’t a new radical skater. It isn’t lazy self-absorbed artists who continues to produce lo-fi albums for your listening displeasure.

Who does it leave then? Nas, maybe, but we all know he lost a step or two over the years. Could it be Jada? Sure, Jadakiss is like the New York Jets, he looks great on paper but when it comes down to business he can’t close and I’m still waiting on that great album from him. So the argument could come down to Pusha and the man who I awarded it to. Pusha is just getting better with age, but when you see who is #1 it’s hard to dispute facts.

Maybe 2012 will be different but there isn’t a rapper IMO who has deliverer quality time and time again than this man. I hate the word swag, so I will just say this man’s style is just too damn cool. It sounds effortless like the way DOOM spits, but it’s extremely layered with witty lyricism and tons of rewind material   If the Dos Equis guy was a rapper he’d be this one. –Philaflava

Click to see who is the best rapper of 2011.

Some bonus mp3s courtesy of the great people of Philaflava.

Download Zip File 1

Will Vill – Not a Game ft. Roc Marciano
Wu-Tang Clan – The Black Diamonds (Ghostface, Roc Marciano & Killa Sin)
Random Axe – Chewbacca ft. Roc Marciano
Meyhem Lauren – Crossroads ft. Roc Marciano
Ray West – Move Back ft. Roc Marciano & A.G.
Roc Marciano – Scarface (3:33 Remix)
Sick Team – Lyrical Assassins ft. Roc Marciano
Beneficence – Monetary Policy ft. Roc Marciano
The Planets – Sound Clash ft. Roc Marciano
Arch Druids – Scorched Earth Policy ft. Roc Marciano & Planet Asia
Sean Price – How the Gods Chill (Remix) ft. Roc Marciano & Meyhem Lauren
A.G. – Marcberri

Download Zip File 2

Sketch – Chain Smoking Remix Feat. Roc Marciano and Reef
Roc Marciano – The Prophecy Oxidation Remix
Roc Marciano- Snow Remix Feat. Sean P
Roc Marciano- Slugs Thru Ya Papaya Feat. Killah Priest
Roc Marciano – Scarface
Roc Marciano- My Persona
Roc Marciano- MVG
Pollyn- Cold Sweat Feat. Roc Marciano
MMG – Helpless Dreamer Feat. Roc Marciano, XO and Tranquill
J- Love- Tricks of the Street Feat. G Rap, Cormega and Roc Marciano
Blaq Poet- Bushmaster Remix Feat. Roc Marciano and Wais P

We’re still a few months away from the year closing out, but we all know the 4th Q is usually for big names, big labels and even bigger releases. This list is about 10 rappers who have been grindin’ for years. True lyricists who each put in work year in year out and still seem to lack the appreciation they rightfully deserve.  This isn’t an all-time list, it’s just a group of 10 rappers I feel are currently underrated, unappreciated and warrant the recognition.

Hip-Hop has  been good to us these past years. With the emergence of Big K.R.I.T., Danny Brown, Freddie Gibbs, French Montana, Action Bronson, Tyler The Creator, Fashawn, Pill, Mr. Muthafuckin’ Exquire, Blu, Elzhi, G-Side, ASAP Rocky, Curren$y & Roc Marciano just to name a few, we’ve had to double up on our hard drive space.

There are always going to be rappers with strong co-signs, better geographical residency or those who lean on friends and favors for that mass appeal. I wanted to put together a list of 10 active emcees that all deserve your attention and in my opinion are truly underrated.

So without further ado, here are my 10 Most Underrated Emcees of 2011.

10. Turf Talk

Point blank, one of the sickest rappers to come from the Leftcoast since Ras Kass. Download the new mixtape Return of The Jedi here.

9.  Phonte

Some people have dismissed Little Brother, but in doing so they dismissed Phonte. Bad move holmes. Phonte continues to find his zone as he is entering his prime. He recently released Charity Starts At Home and the stellar “The Good Fight“ is just a taste of what you’re missing.

8. Tragedy Khadafi

The man didn’t get the props as Intelligent Hoodlum and in 2011 he still doesn’t command the respect as Tragedy Khadafi. This is the man who gave us Grand Groove , made The War Report classic. If you ask me he is just as responsible for putting QB on the map as MC Shan or Nas. Tragedy hasn’t lost a step and before its over people will realize just how great a lyricist he really is.

7. Open Mike Eagle

I could write a bunch of shit to sell you on why Mike is so underrated or I can just post these two videos.

Nightmares

6. Meyhem Lauren

While his partner (Action Bronson) has been making plenty of noise of his own, this Queens native has been winning over the internet one blog post at a time.

Animal Science (Crossroads) feat. Roc Marciano

5. Shad

Had Shad lived in the Tri-State he’d have a much larger presence. Unfortunately he isn’t down with Lil Wayne, so this Canadian rapper by way of Kenya will have to continue making dope tracks to win the U.S. over, one state at a time.

Yaa I Get It (Oddisee Remix)

4. Sean Price

We’ve been waiting on Mic Tyson to drop for years now. It was suppose to drop before the real Tyson even became an actor. By the time this album sees the light Iron Mike will probably be on Inside The Actors Studio discussing his accomplished film career. There aren’t many emcees as honest and entertaining as P, but I think I speak for everyone–DROP THE ALBUM already!

Figure Four

3. K-Rino

There may not be a rapper as hard working, consistent and equally as talented as K-Rino. He is truly hip-hop’s best kept secret and has been for years.

2. Slug (of Atmosphere)

Slug is no stranger to the game and while he’s been doing this for almost a few decades now, he’s finally breaking into new territory. Whether it’s a KRS-One & Buckshot collabo, a  Bun B shout-out or Joe Budden personally courting for him to get on his new album, Slug is reminding people why he is one of the best story tellers in the game.

Atmosphere – Beware

1. Black Thought

As far as I’m concerned, until the day he retires Black Thought will always be #1 on this list. He hasn’t spit a weak verse in forever. He continues to get better with age and he pretty much eats up every guest spot ever given to him. Black Thought is the epitome of a rapper’s rapper. He is without a doubt the most underrated emcee of this year, last year and forever.

Men @ Work (Live)

B is for Beatboxing.

Remember when you played on your high school basketball team?  Remember before, and after the game, when you couldn’t listen to music in the locker room because no one had a stereo?  Luckily, there was always the one teammate that kept everyone entertained through his ability to create a beat with his mouth.  He usually wasn’t the best athlete, probably wasn’t the team captain, but always kept everyone in high spirits after a loss, and certainly had an important spot on the team.

Everyone who can identify with that situation can understand how invaluable beatboxing is.

So it’s not surprising those artists who were able to incorporate their unique talent, like Doug E. Fresh, were successful early in their careers.  Buffy from the Fat Boys, as well as Biz Markie, were two more innovators who brought beatboxing to the forefront of hiphop by effectively layering music with their uncommon gift.

And it’s important to note that while almost anyone can make noise to generate a simple beat with their mouth, only the truly gifted and well-rehearsed have the ability to create art.  The rest are lucky if the end result is something other than an annoying Boom-Chh-Boom-Boom-Chh.

But it’s not just the ability to emulate instruments that contribute to the art form.  Each artist is also a master of impersonation when it comes to reproducing another artist’s voice.  Then there’s the bass line, and a flawless recreation of a variety of scratches and sound effects.

Take into consideration that as an individual, the artist is usually duplicating a sound originally created by a three or four person band, or a synthesiser, or more than one sample from record.  Adding the imitation of a voice, and contrasting all of the previous elements with cuts from a make-believe turntable, it is truly astonishing when you consider the accuracy with which it is done.

And in 2011, while music continues to develop sonically, beatboxing is still just as relevant on stage as it was in the high school locker room.

Freaks and Geeks from Donald Glover on Vimeo.

A few weeks ago I caught the video Freaks And Geeks and was really impressed by the talents of Donald Glover, actor, comedian and rapper. Don’t get it twisted though, he’s been rapping longer than he’s been doing his Community thing. Troy Barnes maybe the only thing you know him as, but Childish Gambino (his moniker came from Wu-Tang name generator) is somebody you should definitely watch out for. –Philaflava

10 Reasons Why Childish Gambino Is Better Than Drake

10. Because he does Drake better than Drake and doesn’t even need auto-tune.
9. Because he has been rapping waaaaaaaaaay longer than he was doing sitcoms (like Drake).
8. Because he dropped his first album in 2008, while Drake dropped his in 2010.
7. Because he you can tell he is very serious about his craft and sincere about his lyrics. He may swag it up, but there is just as much swag as there is self-deprecation going on.
6. Because he knows who Odd Future is and likes them!
5. Because Drake is so damn easy to hate.
4. Because the name Donald Glover doesn’t sound a faggy as Aubrey Graham.
3. Because he is the closest we’ll ever get to being near Alison Brie’s sweater puppies.
2. Because he is a much better actor than Drake. Community > Degrassi all damn day.
1. Because he isn’t Canadian.

Not Going Back

Download The EP

More info @ http://www.iamdonald.com

A is for Andre 3000.

Andre isn’t the most underrated or unnoticed in the game, I’ll admit that.  But he is definitely underappreciated, and he was always the more talented member of one of the best duos of all time.

Because first, you have the albums.  Between six full length records you don’t have to dig much deeper than Outkast’s debut single Players Ball to hear Andre outshine his counterpart, as the performances on the song, along with the rest of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, foreshadow the remainder of the group’s catalogue.  And that’s not to say Big Boi isn’t skilled in his own right, because he is, and in a lot of groups he would be the better rapper.  Just not in this one.

Then we got ATLiens, Aquemini, and Stankonia from Outkast.  You can, and I will, make the statement that Dre was the motivation behind the Outkast sound for (at least) these three albums.  If you look comparatively at the solo work of Big Boi, and the solo work of Andre 3000, there’s an obvious difference in style.  Big Boi has always put out records with, for lack of a more appropriate description, a safer sound, while Andre seems to eternally be trying to expand his craft and evolve with each album.  These three albums progressively developed the Outkast sound similar to the way Andre continues to develop his own.  ATLiens took the sound from Southernplayalistic and tweaked it a little bit, making it a little more spacey and soulful, and a lot more who-cares-what-you-think.  3000 essentially perfected the sound with Aquemini, and then changed it up even more with Stankonia.

You could also argue that any one of the first four Outkast albums was their best.  The truth is that Aquemini is, and always will be.  It was easily the most polished.  It’s a top five album in Rap, ever.  Every verse Andre has is dope.  His patterns on the album (and in his other work) still amaze me.  He has the ability to structure a verse in any way he wants, and not once does it sound unnatural.  And he still continues to grow stylistically on the album.

Following Stankonia, another experimental sounding album that was the result of the most obvious change between projects for Outkast (the patterns are still innovative), Andre 3 Stacks put out The Love Below to go along with Big Boi’s Speakerboxxx.  The Love Below left diehard Outkast fans not knowing what to think.  Featuring the singles Hey Ya and Roses, it doesn’t belong in the same genre as all other Outkast releases.  But either way, it’s a dope album musically.  What’s even more impressive, is Andre produced the entire album himself, with the exception of the previously mentioned Roses.  And in case his fans were worried, A Day in the Life of Benjamin Andre is the only song on the album Andre raps, and he definitely doesn’t disappoint.

And then there are the guest appearances.

One of the first guest appearances from Andre 3000 came in ‘95 on the Goodie Mob classic Thought Process.  He had the last verse on the track, usually the slot reserved for the best or most anticipated verse, and rightfully so.  Following Cee-Lo in his Goodie Mob days is no easy task, but Andre, while completely relaxed, blends on the beat better than any member of the Mob, delivering one of the best verses on the Soul Food album.

And he is still killing every verse he drops 15 years later.

Backing up to 2006, Andre crushes his verse on the Walk It Out Remix.  Which is just a horrible, horrible song.  Why he hopped on the remix of this, instead of something that wasn’t hot garbage, I do not know.  I can only guess money.  Lucky for everyone he has the first verse, so you only need to listen to 1:30 of the song until you can hit stop (unless, for some reason, you’re a Jim Jones fan).

Since 2007, 3 Stacks does an average of three verses a year (’07 – 6, ’08 – 2, ’09 – 1, ’10 – 4), and with the exception of 2008 – wherein his verses just aren’t on the same level, drops one of the better verses of each year.  In 2007 Dre got (not got, but GOT) Jay-Z and Ice Cube on the 30 Something Remix, follows that up with one of the best verses of the year on Devin the Dude’s What A Job, and tops that with, in my opinion, the best verse of the year on (arguably the best song of the year) UGK’s International Players Anthem.  On his only appearance of 2009, Royal Flush alongside Big Boi and Raekwon, Andre takes one minute and 40 seconds to stake his claim to one of the best verses of the year.  Last year, he takes care of business on both Big Boi’s Looking For You, and I Do with Young Jeezy.  This year he’s off to another solid start doing damage on Kesha’s Sleazy Remix.  Don’t worry; Andre has the first verse again, so you won’t be forced to suffer through too much Kesha.

Andre 3000 is in his mid 30’s now, and as much faith as I have in him being able to kill every guest appearance until he’s 45, I’d prefer if we could get at least one more Outkast album instead.

I just don’t know if that will ever happen.

Blu – Amnesia
Release Date: February 15th, 2011

Los Angeles MC/producer Blu has earned widespread acclaim for his collaborations with Exile, Ta’Raach, and Mainframe, and is currently at work on his major label debut for Warner Brothers. While fans wait, New World Color is happy to announce a digital EP (also available on limited edition 10″ vinyl) featuring music from Blu’s love-themed concept album Her Favorite Colo(u)r, as well as previously unheared material.

The 7-track EP, titled Amnesia, is sure to please Blu’s burgeoning fanbase. On tracks like the HFC standout “Amnesia” and the never-before-released “Amnesia(Rewind)”, the SoCal native explores the complexities of love and relationships while his own understated production sets the mood. The collection also features previously-unavailable instrumentals, showcasing Blu’s skills behind the boards. Amnesia goes digital on February 15th, just in time for Valentine’s day, and the collectible 10″ vinyl version hits stores shortly after, on March 1st. A full release of HFC is set for this spring.

Tracklisting
Side A
1. Amnesia(Original)
2. Amnesia(Instrumental)
3. Amnesia(Remind)
4. Amnesia(RewindInstrumental)
Side B
1. Since(Original)
2. Since(Instrumental)
3. GoodMorning

Almost a year’s worth of impossibly high expectations has been met and exceeded. Simply put, this is a great album. You need to hear it.

You can stream the whole thing below, and underneath that you can find some bonuses: a song that didn’t make the album, a video for Relaxin’, plus a few rambling subjective thoughts about the album from yours truly.

BONUS FEATURES:

G-Side – Bass!! ft. Freddie Gibbs and Stevie Joe (via dirtyglovebastard)

DOWNLOAD: G-Side – Relaxin’ ft G-Mane

New luxuriously appointed visuals for Relaxin’, which we featured as an exclusive download a few weeks ago.

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FIN