Mac’s back at it again, this time after Pitchfork smacked Blue Slide Park with a 1.0 rating. They gave Camp a 1.6, though, so I’ve come to grips that Pitchfork is just an aggregator of all things buzzing right now. That sounds like every blog, including ours, but Pitchfork just has a snobby way of doing it. Damn. The people love it. Good to see Mac finally got a Supreme sticker that faces the right way. Enjoy.

Mac Miller - Jerry’s Record Store

Lame. This beef is lame. Common originally dissed Drake in “Sweet” off The Dreamer, The Believer, dropped in December, sort of calling him soft but mostly just pounding his own chest and proclaiming himself a hip-hop god. Then Drake dropped this verse on Rick Ross‘s Rich Forever mixtape, responding to the sucker-punch with lines like “It bothers me when the gods begin to act like the broads”, “I just ask that when you see me, you speak up, that’s all”, and “Back when if a ni**a reached it was for a weapon. Nowadays ni**as reach just to sell their records”. The last line is my personal favorite because that’s all a listener can deduce from this beef. Common’s been around for a minute now but The Dreamer, The Believer was a comeback of sorts. He had the ear of the public at a time when Drake is running the game, but Common sees a perfect opportunity to call him out for being soft. Nobody’s disputing that. Drake’s a lover, not a fighter, and he didn’t want any trouble with Common. He didn’t want beef with Pusha T either, but he got it. Cheap beefs like these are tacky and just prove emcees feel threatened by Drake. Common seems to be reaching to sell records. I can guarantee neither of these guys will be reaching for a weapon, though. Hoe ass ni**as. Just look at that artwork. Ridiculous.

Common – “Stay Schemin (Remix)” (Drake Diss)

Hodgy Beats of OddFuture has recently released a few tracks and I threw them into a post for all of you. He is also working together with Left Brain of OddFuture and combined their collaborations is entitled MellowHype. That basically describes all of their work, super mellow tracks with a tad pinch of hype. Hodgy has a nasty flow so be on the lookout for his upcoming mixtape.

Hodgy Beats – “BKLYN”

Hodgy Beats ft. Juicy J & Domo Genesis – “Lift”

MellowHype – “45″

Chiddy Bang – “Ray Charles”

Wale and Macklemore together on the same track? Yes, please! Not to mention hot up-and-comers Tony Williams & Emilio Rojas. Hot damn. This fun party track comes off Tony Williams’ upcoming project Some of My Best Rappers Are Friends, which has plenty of big name features. Lovin’ the Parks and Recreation shoutout in Macklemore’s verse. Let this aid and abed your poor lifestyle choices this weekend. Production by Oddz N Endz.

Tony Williams ft. Wale, Macklemore & Emilio Rojas – “Blazin’ High”

The best grunter in the hip hop game aka MMG boss Rick Ross has come out with a new mixtape, titled Rich Forever. While I have not heard much hype about it, it is nevertheless post-worthy. Apparently this is a tape made in preparation of ROzay’s next album God Forgives, I Don’t. With features from MMG partners Meek Mill, Pill, and Wale as well as other such as John Legend and Nas, this mixtape has some promise to it. Hopefully. Check it below. Happy Friday!

IAWT is proud to be the absolute first to present you all with the release of “Now We’re Through,” the latest track off of Danny Asroff and Mdot Burks‘ upcoming collab album titled High Off Life and Other Things. I’m so glad Danny sent this our way because these guys really have a talent for tapping into our emotions, and that’s a major part of music for me. What is music if it’s not honest, or if listeners can’t relate to it? “Now We’re Through” explores the pains of a relationship in which one person doesn’t support the other’s passions and dreams. Danny put it best:

“If you are in a relationship with a person that supports what you do, they are the one. If they can’t, cut them loose, do your thing and chase your dream. Don’t let anyone hold you back.”

Those are probably some of the greatest words of relationship wisdom I’ve ever heard. Danny and Mdot remind us that sometimes, you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Be on the lookout for High Off Life and Other Things which is anticipated to drop within the next three months.

Danny Asroff & Mdot Burks – “Now We’re Through”

Eliminate never fails to impress me. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a huge fan of dubstep. However, I am always open to giving the genre a chance. That being said, Eliminate is one of those dubstep producers whose music I always enjoy. This electro-dub remix of one of my favorite The Dean’s List tracks, “Dear Professor,” is magnificent and very dance-able. Eliminate makes a perfect place for hip hop and pop elements in dubstep music – the driving synths blend perfectly with the hip hop beats, the dubstep bass drops, and the high-pitched vocals. This will definitely be on repeat while I’m exerting the last tidbits of my energy on the elliptical later this afternoon. Don’t sleep on this – cop the download below.

The Dean’s List – “Dear Professor (Eliminate Remix)”

I have to admit, I was not a fan of “The Motto”, actually it was one of my least favorite Drake songs in a while. I know, I know, most of you think it “goes so hard”, but I just didn’t see it. Nevertheless, this remix could not go un-posted. Wiz Khalifa recruits the help of the newest Taylor Gang member, Juicy J and SF Bay-area artist Berner to hop on Drizzy and Wizzle‘s, “The Motto”. The title of this remix seems to have been the theme of my winter break, so I can roll with this I guess.

Wiz Khalifa ft. Juicy J & Berner – “G.F.U.”

Vizzy is one of the most real emcees out there right now. Can anyone honestly disagree? He raps about real things that we all can actually associate with, and this dude stays true to himself. He knows that he is weird and doesn’t give a F*#k. Well here is the latest and XV is already rapping about the end of the world…. 2012 let’s gooooooooooo.

XV – “#EndOfTheWorld” (Prod. by @TheAwesomeSound)

Tyga has to be one of my favorite rappers for sure. Just a dirtyyyyy flow, and he is mad original. He is basically super dope. He recruits Weezy F for this banger, though Wayne’s verse is sort of lacking. Regardless, Tyga’s dope verses make up for it. Hit the jump, and sorry for the delay on this track (I know it’s been out for a few days).

Tyga ft. Lil Wayne – “Faded”

This duo right here is gaining ground real fast. Kendrick being featured on Drake’s tour and ScHoolboy Q being dope as F**#, these two are doing it big. Here is ScHoolboy’s latest and you will find nasty flow and a few solid verses on this track. I give them more and more credit as both of these artists keep releasing dopee tracks. Hit the jump. SkUr

ScHoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Blessed”

One of the hardest working rappers in the game, Curren$y, looks like he’s continuing that trend for 2012 as well. The dude just loves putting out fresh tracks, which benefits both him and his fans. And while this may be a new year, this track is the same old Curren$y type of track that I’ve grown to love. Spitting over B.G.’s “Cash Money Is An Army”, “Plot Music” is a definite addition to my Curren$y playlist. Jets.

Curren$y – “Plot Music”

Roman’s Page

Roman – “One Love Baby”

New A$AP Rocky that just dropped today and it is dopeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! This track has the usual bangggin’ Rocky verses with an interesting hook. Not to mention, the beat is super chill and a little spacey. SKUR

A$AP Rocky – “Pretty Flacko”

Here is T.I.‘s latest venture hosted by Grand Hustle. There are a ton of features on this mixtape, and this tape brings back some old T.I. sounds mixed with some entirely knew sounds. Not sure what I think of it yet but either way check it out. The title track for the album is featured below too. Happy New Years everyone!

T.I. ft. Young Jeezy – “F*ck The City Up”

In Audio We Trust is here to help you re-live the best of 2011. Our writers have listed their top hip-hop albums, indie albums, mashups, covers, collabs, and remixes. Top mixtapes of 2011 will be here shortly. That deserves its own post. Enjoy.

TOP HIP-HOP ALBUMS
Hip hop has long been a passion of mine. Going off of that, I cannot remember the last time I have ever been so happy about the state of hip hop in the overall music industry. The year 2011 treated hip hop well, with an explosion of young, passionate, promising, and most importantly, talented. That’s the good news. The bad news for me: it makes my job of selecting the Top 5 Hip Hop Albums of 2011 extremely difficult. That’s a good problem to have, though. Well, without any further adieu, here is the list of IAWT’s Top 5 Hip Hop Albums of 2011.

5.) J. Cole – Cole World: The Sideline Story

You know it’s been a good year if I put J. Cole, personally my favorite artist, at the #5 slot. His debut album was an absolutely phenomenal keystone to what appears to be the beginning of an amazing career for the Fayetteville, NC, native. It puts a smile on my face to think back to listening to The Come Up, and now listening to this album and thinking about how far he’s come. I have a feeling that J. Cole’s name will be appearing on this list again in the coming years. Here’s my personal favorite track from the album.

Dollar And A Dream III

4.) Kendrick Lamar – Section.80

It’s great to see the Compton emcee finally getting some recognition. Section.80 is featured on pretty much every blog’s list of best albums of 2011, and it’s no different here at IAWT. Most people would put this album at #1. I couldn’t quite get myself to put this album that high, but it definitely deserves to be on this list. I don’t think there’s anyone more passionate about his music than Kendrick Lamar. That’s something refreshing to witness.

HiiiPOWER

3.) Drake – Take Care

Yes, I know I claimed this was the album of the year in my review of Take Care. I was a little excited. But if there are two albums ahead of this one, then they’re all basically 1a, 1b, & 1c. This is the album Drake NEEDED to make. Doubters of his were growing in number after Thank Me Later, claiming he was suffering Kid Cudi syndrome (never would be able to live up to his first mixtape), which isn’t even true for Kid Cudi. But Drake showed us his true colors and variety of talent on his sophomore album. I still listen to it almost everyday. It’s been over a month. That’s a true testament of the quality of this album. I decided to include the song that best captures the overall scope of the entire album.

Over My Dead Body

2.) Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne

Jordan & Pippen, Montana & Rice, spaghetti & maple syrup, and now Jay Z & Kanye. Some combinations just work. This album sort of came out of nowhere this summer, but no one’s complaining. You know you’re going to have one of the best albums of the year if you pair up two of the biggest names EVER in hip hop. “Niggas in Paris” is one of the few songs people can listen to 10 times and not get tired of it. Don’t believe me? Ask one of the millions of people who packed the stadiums during the Watch The Throne tour. With rumors of a sequel to this album coming in the next year or so, I am ecstatic. This one was almost a no-brainer.

Niggas In Paris

1.) The Roots – undun

I had to. This album is making its way up to one of my favorite albums ever. Usually when you have albums that are supposed to tell a story (like this one), the actual track-to-track listening experience is a little weird and not as enjoyable. That isn’t so with undun. It tells a story, but it’s not too obvious, which lets you listen to tracks one at a time and not make you think that you’re missing something. The Roots have never sounded better. Had this been released earlier in the year, this would’ve won Grammys. Every hip hop artist should take note: this is how you make an album. The Roots should know – they’ve been doing it since ’87.

Otherside

TOP INDIE ALBUMS
Indie music carries a lot of different meanings. What makes the genre special to us is that it’s unlike anything that has come before it. It’s original, it’s creative, and it’s awesome. We picked our best 5 indie albums of the year because they’ve broadened our musical horizons. These albums, as a whole, are terrific and unique. If you’re not familiar with them, it’s OK. You’ll fall in love soon enough.

5) Destroyer – Kaputt

A mix of smooth jazz and indie pop-rock, Kaputt provides a dynamic, paradoxical listening experience. Its driving beats and groovy bass lines are both offset and complemented by ambient synths, soaring horns, and soulful saxophones. Oh, and then there’s frontman Daniel Bejar’s ever-relaxed vocals. As listeners, we may not be sure how to get into the music, but without a doubt, you’ll find yourself grooving right along.

“Chinatown” – Destroyer

4) Wilco – The Whole Love

Wilco has that old school indie rock feel that’s harder and harder to come by these days. They don’t depend on crazy electronic effects like some of their indie contemporaries, but they dabble. Sometimes, they use traditional, rock instrumentation and totally unaffected vocals, the likes of which reminds me of – believe it or not – the Beatles. They sound like they’re actually from that era, and that they’ve actually felt all the things they sing about. The truth is – they’re not technically indie (they’re on a major label). But give it a listen, and you’ll see. If you’re into real, honest songs, you’ll love this folk/country/alternative rock album.

“I Might” – Wilco

3) M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez described his new album as “very epic.” There’s really no better word to describe it. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is an epic concept album, full of booming, ambient climaxes, distinct instrumentations and memorable melodies. Each song is different yet similar, so the Gonzalez’s brilliance really comes out when you listen to the album as a whole. Mixing elements of rock, electro-pop, and shoegaze, this album is not to be missed.

“Intro” – M83 ft. Zola Jesus

2) James Blake – James Blake

James Blake’s debut album is not your everyday listening experience. He consistently sings beautiful melodies over atonal accompaniment, and sometimes, it’s just weird. But that’s exactly why he’s number two on this list. James Blake has managed to produce some of the most innovative, minimalist music ever to reach the populace. His vocal harmonies are straight-up genius, and the contrast within the album is stunning. Listen to “I Never Learnt to Share” for a taste.

“I Never Learnt to Share” – James Blake