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. ‘Too much singing, not enough rapping… and what’s with the drawn out synth beats?’ Regardless, the music connected with the blogsphere, transforming Drizzy into somewhat of an overnight celebrity. Those same fans were (delusively) hoping that his major label release would see a return to the rhymes, especially with his hip-hop credentials being questioned by the same people who give Gucci Mane a pass or masturbate over dusty records by lyrical thespians such as Group Home and Nice & Smooth, but to no avail. And when Drake announced a follow-up mixtape to the album, surely he’d give us the rap LP we’re longing for right? Nope. All R&B. But it appears there’s been a change in the plans:

“I been rapping a lot lately. Me and 40 (Noah Shebib, his producer) have been doing some great rap music, so I sort of took a hiatus on the R&B for a second. It’s cool to do R&B, I love it, but it’s just hard for me to always commit to it. Because some nights, I get in there and 40′s beats, as melodic or R&B-driven as they may be, just have that right pocket that I just wanna spit. I did this song the other night; I’ve now completed the second song for my album. So I only had one song before for the new album; two nights ago, I did the second song. I’m loving it. I’m loving the sound. I’m excited again.”

Hmm, a possible Drake album with him only rapping? I wonder what a compilation of his past work using that criteria would sound like?

Drake – The Emcee
Download Now or Download Here

01 Drake – Friends With Money
02 Drake – Do What You Do (Remix) ft. Malice & Nickelus F
03 Drake – Comeback Season
04 Drake – Man of the Year
05 Drake – Barry Bonds Freestyle
06 Drake – Money (Remix) ft. Nickelus F
07 Drake – Congratulations
08 Drake – 9AM In Dallas
09 Drake – My New ft. Tanya Morgan & Little Brother
10 Drake – Get Over It
11 Drake – Where To Now
12 Drake – Don’t U Have A Man ft. Little Brother & Dwele
13 Drake – The Winner
14 Drake – Out of Town ft. Amir & Prestege
15 Drake – The Search ft. Saukrates
16 Drake – Goodnight and Goodluck
17 Drake – Say Whats Real
18 Drake – Going in for Life
19 Drake – Scriptures
20 Drake – Closer ft. Andreena Mill

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

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.

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

A detailed write-up on how the last battle went can be found over at Hiphopcanada. For tonight’s event, check out the media below.

Interviews with each Finalist:

and of course the obligatory flyer check for our Toronto heads:

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.

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

SHAD US TOUR DATES:

10/08 Seattle, WA – Nectar
10/09 Boise, ID – Promenade Music Festival
10/11 Portland, OR – Berbati’s Pan
10/13 San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
10/14 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
10/15 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern
10/16 Scottsdale, AZ – Chasers
10/18 Denver, CO – The Bluebird Theater
10/19 Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre
10/21 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
10/22 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
10/23 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
10/24 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
10/25 Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner
10/26 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
10/28 New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
10/29 Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar
10/31 Cambridge, MA – Middle East Downstairs

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?

If you feelin it, hit up here and here

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

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″.

Nas – Escobar ’97

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

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.

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

Sounds Like Summer – Volume Seven

Download Now

01 Skee-Lo – I Wish
02 Hieroglyphics – You Never Knew
03 A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation
04 Digable Planets – Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)
05 Lost Boyz – Me & My Crazy World
06 LL Cool J – Around The Way Girl
07 Naughty by Nature – OPP (extended mix)
08 2Pac – I Get Around ft Digital Underground
09 Dam Funk – Toeachizown
10 Snoop Doggy Dogg & Tray Deee – 21 Jumpstreet
11 The B.U.M.S – Elevation (Free My Mind)
12 DJ Quik – Safe & Sound
13 Junior Mafia – Get Money
14 Kanye West – Grammy Family ft Consequence & John Legend
15 Daz Dillinger and Soopafly – Put The Monkey In It
16 The Game – Dope Boys (Travis Barker remix)

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.

Download Now: OFTB – Hot One

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

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.

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg

Sounds Like Summer – Volume Six

Download Now

01 Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock – It Takes Two
02 Digital Underground – The Humpty Dance
03 Coolio – Fantastic Voyage
04 Rick Ross – Push It
05 Snoop Dogg – Drop It Like Its Hot ft. Pharell
06 Nas – It Aint Hard To Tell
07 Big Pun – Im Not A Player
08 Beatnuts – Watch Out Now
09 Dj Quik – Quiks Groove 5
10 The Pharcyde – Passin’ Me By
11 Jay-Z – Big Pimpin’ ft. UGK
12 Drake – Friends With Money
13 Petey Pablo – Raise Up
14 Dr. Dre – The Next Episode ft. Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Nate Dogg
15 Souls of Mischief – 93 ‘Til Infinity
16 2Pac – Bury Me a G (original solo mix)

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.

Birth of a Nation: 4/29/92 – Download Now

Also, don’t forget to check out Alex’s Gang Sign Culture in LA post as a fitting accompaniment.

— Snoop Bloggy Blogg