Six years ago, James Yancey was born in Detroit, Michigan. On February 10, 2006, James Yancey died in Los Angeles, California. In the years in between, the man known as J Dilla became one of the most acclaimed producers in hip hop history. It’s difficult to say much about Dilla that hasn’t been said. His life has been analyzed from every imaginable angle. The dispute over his estate has been discussed to nauseating end. His beat tapes are as popular in smoky freestyle sessions as they were in 2005. Luckily for us, the folks over at 92BPM have given us a part of Dilla that could have easily been lost to history. Earlier today, they uploaded an interview Dilla gave on Gilles Peterson’s World Wide BBC show in 2001. Dilla dishes on Welcome 2 Detroit and several other topics. Beyond the subject matter, it’s incredible just to here Yancey’s voice. Rest In Power.
It has always astounded me how artists like Lil B and Main Attrakionz, and to a lesser extent A$AP Rocky, will look in the most obscure places for their beats. It is fair to say that Clams Casino would have never reached his current level of fame without Lil B putting him on three years ago. The same could be said for the rising Keyboard Kid, or for what Rocky has done for SpaceGhostPurp or ASAP Ty. That is why it is no surprise that the newest beat tape from Nem270, who has recently produced for Lil B, Main Attrakionz (as well as solo work for Squadda B) and Shady Blaze, is straight fire. Nem, an Ottowa native, has been making beats for the aforementioned artists since 2010, but hasn’t received much acclaim until recently. Nem’s newest tape, Desktop Pain, is a collection of unreleased beats selected by Brooklyn/Western Massachusetts “download fashion boutique” Triple You Tapes. Like Clams Casino’s Instrumentals, the tape easily stands on its own, as opposed to say, the recent araabMuzik (who has some pretty oversized opinions about himself) tape. Some of the beats fit into the ambient range favored by Main Attrakionz (“Desktop Pain”), while others have banging percussion (“Perfect Cold”). Not all are meant to rapped over, but all do stand up well as individual tracks. The EP is a little bit rough around the edges, but should stir up some intrigue in the young Ottawan. Download/stream Desktop Pain below.
Amid Sunday’s Super Bowl hysteria, we managed to miss a brand new freEP from the hot spitta himself, Curren$y. The most consistent hip hop artists of the past five years is back with the Here EP. The tape is more of a short mixtape than an EP and features Kanye’s “Drive Slow” beat and a redone version of Madlib’s “What Can I Do” (and its Luther Ingram sample). Like most Curren$y releases, he spends most of his time waxing poetic about weed, women and his crew. Download Here at Dat Piff.
Got a new track from Memphis spitta Cities Aviv for you today. Cities makes self-dubbed “pop music for the unpopular,” but it is more along the lines of old school Three 6 Mafia mixed with some West Coast futurism. Aviv’s heavily layered tracks can come off as dense at times, but the sample heavy production fits into the “cloud rap” genre inhabited by the likes of Main Attrakionz. Cities has a new track called “Flex Your Gold” and it’s the beat is pure fire. Not sure what that sample is, but it’s executed masterfully.
Yesterday, I highlighted L-Vis 1990’sD’Angelo remix and mentioned that a number of other remixes have become popping up across the electronic music spectrum. The Night Slugs headman definitely put his mark on “Untitled,” transforming it into a pulsing house track, but I believe he has been bested. One of 2011’s most hyped artists, James Blake, debuted his remix of “Left & Right” off of D’Angelo’s classic Voodoo, on BBC Radio One. The track is the newest member of Blake’s Harmonimix series, and brings the listener back to the Londoners fuller, earlier works (his A Milli remix is a favorite of mine). For now, a stream of the radio rip is the only version available, but hopefully we’ll get lucky, and get graced with a 320.
*Jesus does not appear in this video, but images of the lord are everywhere. Seek and ye shall find and by way, Blu is not Jesus and neither are you, Thank You*
That’s the message scrawled across the screen at the beginning of the video for his Madlib produced single, “Jesus.” Provocative to say the least. The technicolor visuals go hand in hand with the warm vibe of the track, while the imagery is a mixture of religious monuments and LA gangbanging scenes. A drive-by shooting, prostitutes and parties are interspersed with various churches and beautiful Southern California boulevards. If you’re not interested in reading too deep into what Blu and director aaronisnotcool are attempting to say through the clips, just enjoy the revitalization of one last summer’s best collaborations as the weather warms up.
Nice little mix from Dropping Gems representative LDFD in anticipation of his upcoming US mini-tour. LDFD falls on more hip hop/glitch oriented Dropping Gems artist scale and this mix features a hard hitting combination of originals and recent contemporary tracks from A$AP Rocky, Young Jeezy and indomitable Riff Raff. Stream/download below.
Update: LDFD is actually a member of Daedelus’s label, Magical Properties, not Dropping Gems
Follow up to our sounds of the Astral Plane with MF DOOM and Dave Sitek. Tenth year anniversary for Lex Records means multiple collaborations with MF DOOM! For the anniversary, the label is set on releasing a compilation called Complex. DOOM is featured on two tracks, Retarded Fren and Rhymin Slang, the latter is my favorite. You may have already heard DOOMs track, Retarded Fren, with Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jonny Greenwood. I wasn’t all to impressed by this combination of two stellar artists and it had a whole lot of potential. This is just my opinion on the track, I think DOOMs bars leave the listener asking for more because of his slow delivery throughout the track.
I think both artists individually are phenomenal, Thom Yorkes production and sampling of Proven Lands by JonnyGreenwod is great but we dont see the best that both of these artists can put out.
DOOM is also on another track that was recently released, produced by Jneiro Jarel called Rhymin Slang. The song is remixed by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek to bring out a heavy hitting cut. The bass comes through hard and the British MC, DELS, is also featured.
Back with the third installment of “Sounds From The Astral Plane.” We missed last week, but we’re back to satiate your thirst for the best tunes from the independent/underground worlds. Enjoy.
First off, we have a preview of the brand new single by everyones favorite Jurassic raver, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The track, titled “Tapes & Money” will not not be released for another two months, but this three minute preview will have to do for now. The Oxford native turns in another solid effort here with another feel good track with some bouncy synth stabs and a catchy chord progression. “Tapes & Money” will be released in April followed by TEED’s debut album in May.
Stream: Shlohmo: “wen uuu (Salva Remix)”
Friends of Friends label mates Shlohmo and Salva team up for this remix in anticipation of their upcoming European tour and the Tuesday release of Shlohmo’s Vacation EP. Here, Salva takes the ultra-smooth, meandering “wen uuu” and turns it a completely different animal. Maintaining the pitter patter sounds and the chopped vocals, Salva adds a nice kick and some futuristic synths to create an uptempo banger. Cop Vacation on Tuesday and check out Salva or Shlohmo on tour if you’re in the EU.
Amid all the hype surrounding D’Angelo’s return from his decade long absence, a bevy of remixes from across the electric music spectrum have started popping up. My favorite so far has to be from the Night Slugs head honcho himself, L-Vis 1990. L-Vis takes D’Angelo’s “Untitled” and turns it into a subtle house track.
Stream/Download: JJ DOOM – “Cockney Rhyme And Slang” Feat. Dels
JJ DOOM is the collaboration between experimental hip hop producer Jneiro Jarel and the legendary MF Doom. Several months ago, Dave Sitek released a remix to the duos track “Rhymin Slang” and set the indie and hip hop world ablaze. Now, Grime MC Dels has added a verse to the track to add another dimension to an already hot song.
Now this may not be ‘new music’ per say. The EP was released in 2010…but it needs to be up on this blog. It ties in perfectly with my previous posts on BadBadNotGood and Robert Glasper. If you liked either of those phenomenal bands be sure to check out this EP! The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a 8-piece Chicago based group. With Gabriel Hubert (trumpet), Saiph Graves (trombone), Tycho Cohran (sousaphone), Amal Baji Hubert (trumpet), Seba Graves (trombone), Tarik Graves (trumpet), Uttama Hubert (baritone, and Gabriel Wallace on the drums. With the exception of Gabriel Wallace, the members of Hypnotic are all brothers. The band has performed with Mos Def, Aquilla Sadalla, Phil Cohran (their dad), The Recipe, Nomadic Massive, and Tony Allen.
On the Heritage EP, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble recorded 5 solid reworks of some classic cuts. They reworked tracks by Fela Kuti, Madlib, Jay-Z, Art Of Noise, Outkast and MF Doom. Mos Def scored the set for these amazing reinterpretations as well. I’m almost positive you wont be able to recognize what the original is for some of these tracks because of the way these guys build off of the original beat. Check out their rework of Outkasts Spottieottiedopaliscious below and this AMAZING live show at the Red Bull Music Academy.
Funky interpretation of Spottieottiedopaliscious. Along with this EP, they have released a slew of other material. Whats really cool about this band is that they started off playing around different subway stations in New York and worked up from there. All of their music can be bought on itunes or found on mediafire. Their first two albums, which they sold in 2004 and 2005, Flipside and Jupiter started off their musical conquest to, from one interaction with a bandmember, “Support live music, people,” he called out, stepping in line with his bandmates. “Bring back real music before it’s too late.” Their Self titled album Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is also quality.
The Astral Plane 