While debut album Thank Me Later may have been one of the more heralded releases in the hip-hop universe this year, it also signaled Drake’s complete upheaval away from rap and towards R&B. From his search for hip-hop credibility on Room for Improvement, to his neo-soul sensibilities on Comeback Season and culminating in the R&B-fused So Far Gone, the chameleonic rapper’s mixtapes have charted his change in style on a yearly basis. Unknown to those who became aware of the artist only after break-out single “Best I Ever Had,” So Far Gone was met with some dismay by a selection of Drake fans. (more…)
I have to say; I’ve heard of shows where a producer will conduct a beat on the spot live, I’ve heard of producers battling with pre-made material live and of course I’ve heard of emcees battling live. But producers battling against other producers with beats they have to make live in front of judges? With an audience and a strict time limit? That was something new. Tonight (Friday Oct 22nd) will mark the final installment in Sound Battle Royale’s $1500 Toronto-based tournament to find out who’s sharpest on the boards. Four producers have fought their way to the finals after winning a qualification battle that’s been taking place over the past 6 months and will now duke it out in front of a judging panel, an audience and special guest beatmaker Jake One. Check after the jump for more info on the tournament and media clips.
One of the finest new rappers to break through into the blogsphere conscious just dropped the third single from his TSOL album. The LP is one of the best to drop this year and it even gets a special American distributed release on October 5th. Three for three! If you’re still new to the shtick, check after the jump for two more dope vids, tour dates and an introduction.
Possibly best known for his quick feud with Busta Rhymes over the “Arab Money” hook, the Dubai raised, Montreal based Narcicyst just dropped the visuals for his new single. Dope song, dope video. Can you count the cameos?
As utterly derided as he was for his Escobar personna during the late 90s, this is still one of my favorite non-album joints by Nas. The clean version received a wide release on the Men in Black soundtrack, but check the dirty flip from the 12″.
Just how many more of these can we cram in before the official end of summer on September 21st? Let’s get to 10 while the weather is right, starting with the seventh installment of the SLS series. Somethin’ for your car, somethin’ for your hangout spot, or just somethin’ for you to chill to. Hella shouts to dirt_dog from TROY for the artwork. Download link, tracklist and links to the rest of the series after the jump.
A quick follow up from the Death Row: Unreleased compilation we dropped a while back. Passed on by our graphics designer extraordinaire dirt_dog from the TROY side of thangz is “Hot One” by OFTB. The Watts trio were signed directly by Suge Knight after impressing with their first album Straight Up Watts and droppin’ a grip of successful underground tapes which spread through South Central in the early 90s. Their Blood affiliations did little to dissuade the nation of Death Row behaving more like a marauding gang than an organized record label, but it eased the tension Suge was having with his own people. In no small part due to the fact that the three biggest acts signed to the boutique were all from Crip neighborhoods, two of whom claimed to be active. This joint was originally featured as a track on the Murder was the Case vinyl sampler, but didn’t make the final cut on the CD platform. A shame as it’s dope as fuck, and in combination with Above the Rim’s “Crack ‘Em” would’ve meant they’d have had a hot joint on each of Death Row’s major releases that year. There’s also the possibility that it was being held over for their Death Row debut, a lost tapes version of which dropped a few years back.
Only four weeks of summer left officially, so make sure you bang it out with the sixth installment in the SLS series. Somethin’ for your car, somethin’ for your hangout spot, or just somethin’ for you to chill to. Hella shouts to dirt_dog from TROY for the artwork. Download link, tracklist and links to the rest of the series after the jump.
Shot from the eye of the hurricane in South Central Los Angeles moments after the Rodney King verdict was announced, Matthew McDaniel’s footage is as raw as it gets. Capturing an open sore, where uprising met opportunism, the documentary is edited into a video nasty melange of sound bites, violent rhetoric and hopeless frustration. However, it’s perhaps more notorious for its sampled use on Dr Dre’s post-King opus The Chronic. “The Day the Niggaz Took Over” and “Lil’ Ghetto Boy” both snatch the soul with a couple of poignant quotes, but to truly experience the sheer anger, it’s best to catch the whole show.
