Sunday, June 15, 2008

Shit, we gonna let it be known... all my homeboys don't do music...


Like I said in my last post, I've actually been busy for once, but I figure I'll give you all a lot of ear candy this post. Let's start it off with some new shit...

Nas - Hero (Produced by Polow Da Don)
The new Nas single produced by Polow Da Don. A lot of people have been hating on it on the forums I frequent but I honestly feel like it's a legit track for Nas. People complained the beat was too commercial or some bullshit like that, but it suits him real well, especially since it's reminiscent of some of his old albums, just with more powerful drums. Overall, a good track, and the last verse is NASTY.

Blood Raw - Get Away (Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)
Generally I'm really not a Blood Raw fan... his flow and voice are just generally awkward, but the beat on this track is great. The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League has been on fucking point the past few months with their recent placements ("Maybach Music", "Billionaire" [which is posted below] and "Luxury Tax" by Rick Ross, etc.) and this beat is just excellent. The woman on the hook singing "Get Away..." also helps make the song.

Lil' Wayne featuring Betty Wright - Playing With Fire (Produced by Streetrunner)
I don't know what it is, but Streetrunner's beats always get to me (in a good way). The lyrics on this track are alright, but I love the beat, especially the hard bass and Betty Wright singing on the hook. Here is some background on the beat;
"Betty Wright’s one of the old-school singers from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. I wanted that big old-school voice. My attorney was doing some things for her and he mentioned her. She’s from Miami so I was able to just get the mp3 of the hook. I told [Lil Wayne’s engineer] Fabian when we were going to mix down, “We gotta make her sound like a sample.” He put the effect to her voice to make it sound big, but at the same time, gave it a little dirt with the record crackle in there. Once Wayne heard that, it was a wrap. It kind of made it a new record. The drums were the same [as when Wayne first recorded it], but I added the guitars, more strings, and put Betty Wright on it. Sometimes that’s good to do if you don’t change the feel because you can make the artist fall back in love with the record if they were sort of losing their interest."

Bishop Lamont - City Lights (Produced by DJ Khalil)
This track also has a great beat. This is off of Lamont's upcoming mixtape "The Confessional", hosted by DJ Whookid of G-Unit fame. The track sounds slightly similar to "I'll Still Kill" by 50 Cent, mainly since it's the same producer, but has a darker and more ominous feel. The singing on the hook makes the track that much better. Lamont's flow is interesting, though, since I feel on a lot of songs he has the flow you wish 50 Cent had. Bump it.

Playa Shaw - In Da Kitchen (Produced by Nitti)
Whenever someone asks me for a CD of some heavy, dirty rap, this is one of the first songs that comes to mind. There's something about it that is just so dirty and south that makes me love. Bump this when you're mean-mugging people in the parking lot.

Bubba Sparxxx featuring Sabastian - Open Wide (Produced by Timbaland)
This is an older track off of Bubba's "Dark Days, Bright Nights" album, but still one of my favorite Bubba Sparxxx songs. With a country-rap feel to it with some nice acoustic guitar strumming and eerie strings, it's definitely a nice change to the typical southern rap song.

Rick Ross - Billionaire (Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)
Another great track produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. It just gives me that top down, temperature in the 80's feel. Great production with some pretty good lyrics.

Willie Hutch - Hospital Prelude of Love
This track was sampled on "Do It Myself" by Young Buck a little while back but the track never made the album, so it's pretty much been considered a loose street single. I absolutely love this track; there's something about the organ and Hutch's singing that just chills me out hard.

That's it for right now, but I'm going to try to upload a bunch of summer tracks later tonight if I have time. Enjoy and spread the love.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

I've been out here grindin'...

So I've actually been busy for once and haven't been able to update this for a minute, but I'm going to try to do so tonight. Got some big shit going on so hopefully I'll have a record placement later this year. Stay tuned for more good music...

Saturday, May 17, 2008

I pledge allegiance to the hip-hop...


It's the weekend and I don't even know it. It's nice to just chill for a bit and not worry about school shit. Anyway, here are some good songs for the day (well, night technically). Enjoy.

Hi-Tek featuring Willie Cottrell Band - People Going Down
This song is on my list of perfect songs to listen to on a rainy day. Although it is on Hi-Tek's second album, Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip, it isn't a rap song... it's actually a blues/jazz song. I love the keys on this song and just everything about it. A must listen.

Afu-Ra featuring Ky-Mani Marley - Equality (Produced by DJ Premier)
This is another great song I've just recently started listening to. I've had a DJ Premier beat mix on my iTunes for a long time now and always loved just chilling out to this beat, but I didn't even realize I had the full track in my iTunes library as well. Great beat with some great guitar licks and piano and classic DJ Premier drums. Great song to chill out to. Send me a message if you want the instrumental of this song.

David Banner featuring Twista - On Everything
I've been bumping this song since 2005 when Chad and I were in Pritchard watching Adult Swim and the beat for this track was in the background of one of the "bumps" at the time. After a day or so, and with Chad's help, we found the track. Whenever football season comes up, I bump this shit HARD. Granted it isn't the fight song for Virginia Tech (like my beat titled "We Are The Hokies"), but it's still a great fucking beat that will get you pumped up.

KRS-One and Marley Marl - Teachers Back
Great "throw back" track. Although this track is not old at all, it's nice to hear KRS-One and Marley Marl at it again. I'd love for Soulja Boy to start beef with them haha.

Friday, May 16, 2008

I ain't slept in eight days, I could go for eight weeks...


Alright, I think I know how everything works. It didn't take too long but I didn't want to fuck anything up. Anyway, here are some gems I've come across recently. I'm going to be posting a mix of rap, hip-hop, instrumental music, blues, jazz, maybe some rock and just good shit to either party along with or chill out to. Check back frequently because I'll be posting a lot.

DJ Khaled featuring Akon, Rick Ross, Plies, Trick Daddy, Lil' Boosie, Ace Hood and Lil' Wayne - Out Here Grindin' (Produced by The Runners)

N.E.R.D. - Spazz

Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West - Put On (Produced by Drumma Boy)

N.E.R.D. featuring Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pusha T (of The Clipse) - Everyone Nose (Remix)

Lil' Wayne - A Millie
(This song bumps HARD!)

Busta Rhymes featuring Linkin Park - We Made It (Produced by Cool and Dre and Mike Shinoda)

Kidz In The Hall featuring Pusha T (of The Clipse), Bun B and The Cool Kids - Drivin' Down The Block (Remix)
(BUMPS HARD!)

T.I. - No Matter What (Produced by Danja)
Interesting beat... reminds me of an old rock song but can't put my finger on it. I don't usually listen to songs with DJ or website drops on it, but this was the only good version I could find.

Alfamega featuring Busta Rhymes - Head Banger

Mandrill - Children of the Sun
A great, dramatic song... I don't even really know how to classify this song because they utilized a couple of different genres of music. Overall it's a funk record, but the beginning starts out like a score, the middle like a funk song, and towards the end sounds like a march. Anyway, great song and you may recognize it if you've been bumping Shawty Lo's song "Dey Know" (go to 3:12 in the song to hear the sample used in the Shawty Lo song).

Enjoy and check back soon for more posts.

Figuring shit out...


Well, I just made this blog so give me a little bit to understand how all of this shit works. I'll post my "mission statement" when I get everything set up. In the mean time, check out Kidz In The Hall's MySpace page. They're slowly becoming one of my favorite rap duo's and I enjoyed every track off of their latest album, "The In Crowd." Enjoy.