A buddy of mine from Denver, Sean Fay, recently put me on to Macklemore. He told me to give this Irish guy from Seattle a listen so I did and what I heard was phenomenal. He’s an Atmosphere-ish type flower with rhymes that cut deep. What he spits is real and it’s intelligent. My favorite song is Otherside, where producer Ryan Lewis samples Red Hot Chili Peppers’ classic with the same title. Lewis and Macklemore teamed up for an awesome debut mixtape, TheVS.EP, which you can download here. The two are currently on tour in the Midwest with Blue Scholars, our other favorite Seattle based group of truth-spitters. Check out the songs below and be sure to hit up the MySpace to hear more of Macklemore’s stuff.
I’m reaaaaaallly digging this group here. I mean, how often do you find a hip-hop group that has three emcees and a guitar? SomeWhere else won the 2008 International Battle of the Bands but have laid low ever since. This is the first single off their debut album, Master Basement, which has me very excited.
Mashup-Germany went in on this one and turned Cudder’s Symphonies Remix from a synth-based song to more of a chill indie feel. Really diggin this track and I’m sure you will too. Also, Scouting for Girls is a dope ass name. For now, the download links have all been taken down. If I come across one though, I’ll be sure to post it up.
Spotted this over at PMA and to be honest, it’s straight fire. The sample is flawless, but why shouldn’t it be (it was produced by Aislyn of Passion Pit)? Gilbere Forte’ is yet another Philly rapper with a taste for incredible indie tunes. I’m not complaining.
This is epic. So so so good. I’m a huge Coldplay fan and I happen to also love Drake (who doesn’t?) and along comes Chi Duly to put craft this gem. I’m super impressed that he was able to so flawlessly mash two unique artists to create this. Enough talking though, go listen to it and download it!
Following in the tradition of Danger Mouse’s iconic mashup The Grey Album, October’s Very Cold is a remix album produced by Chi Duly (Nappy Roots, The Pack, Termanology). It features Drake, aka October’s Very Own, over Coldplay samples (as well as Coldplay vocals over Drake instrumental samples on intro and outro). The first track released from this project a couple weeks ago has more than 10k downloads across the internet, and was posted on the biggest record pool in the world, DJ City. The Drake x Coldplay combination under the control of Chi Duly yields a smooth and seamless sound. This shit is great.
Here it is! After months of work, Urbindex has finally finished his first masterpiece, Midnight Snack, his debut mixtape. Urbindex spits over some definitely unconventional beats on this mixtape, and we love it. It almost sounds like some old school hip-hop, but his new school flow and his witty lyrics bring a different flavor. His lyrics are packed with witty puns and wordplay, so listen closely. If you’re a Clevelander, hit up Urbindex’s official mixtape release party July 10th at Heart and Sole on Coventry.
Pogo is Australian. Pogo is a DJ. Pogo is the coolest DJ ever. I mean the guy takes random sound clips and chords from movies and throws them together to somehow make astonishingly catchy songs with equally impressive videos. One of these songs would legitimately take me years to make, but Pogo just keeps pumping them out. Ultra genius. Check out his songs from Up! and Hook and then be sure to hit the jump to see the ones from Toy Story and Willy Wonka. What I’m really interested in knowing is Pogo’s thought process throughout the whole thing. I mean, when watching a movie, how can you tell that it’s sound effects would make a good song?
I’m really feeling this joint. I’m not one to generally listen to Rick Ross but the Boss teamed up with Yeezy on this one so I couldn’t pass it up. Not surprisingly, Yeezy’s verse is the best of the three (one Kanye, two Ross) and the hook is pretty catchy. The beat is phenomenal because it’s a Kanye one… Check it out below and download it.
Meet Nero, a 17 year old rapper from Harlem that’s doing big things. It’s weird to listen to him and realize that he’s the same age as me. Nero has some crazy ass flow with some majorly creative lyrics and the dude’s only 17 years old. He’s got a new mixtape coming out in the fall titled Momentum and I’m pretty pumped to hear it. His last one, Alive & Vibrant, was hosted by illRoots and was released last year when he was just 16 and it’s solid. He’s matured lyrically a lot since then, and his newest stuff reflects that. In the most recent song, The Fifth, he asks you to plead the fifth the next time someone asks you who the next big thing is. Fuck that, I’m saying Nero.
Nas made this beat for Nneka for her LP, Concrete Jungle, and then decided to hop on a verse for a remix and the result is straight dirt sauce. Nneka is a Nigerian singer with some serious upside. She was chosen by Damian and Nas to open up for them on their Distant Relatives tour so watch out for that. I love Nas’s recent work, particularly on the album Distant Relatives, my early front runner for album of the year. He’s rapping about stuff that matters and I’m just really digging it. Check it out below and enjoy.
D. Julien turned nineteen yesterday and dropped this joint to go along with it. He kills it lyrically and shows us why he’s a force to be reckoned with in the future.
I haven’t even listened to this yet, but I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s gonna be dope. His first three songs off the mixtape, Tell Me, Get In Your Zone, and Fork In the Road were all sick. He shows us why he’s a Chiddy Bang affiliate. Check out Get In Your Zone with Chiddy from Chiddy Bang below and download the mixtape.
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