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Showing posts from September, 2008

Edgar Allen Floe "The Road To Streetwise"

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Being an emcee out of North Carolina has gotta be hard. After looking to be the “next” spot to blow, Petey Pablo’s fire burned out and Little Brother was left in his place to carry the torch in the underground. After some steady grinding the state seems to be starting to see it’s shine once again as emcees continue to break out and get heard. While 9th has been generous with his beat placement, being part of the Justus League crew has to have it’s advantages and Edgar Allen Floe might be a testament to them. Being a serious LB fan, I’ve always had an interest in the rest of the JL crew but outside of Scudda (don’t ask me why, dude just catches my ear) few others have ever stood out significantly. Edgar Allen is one of those few. Not spending all of his time in the studio, or at least not releasing all that he records his output is a little thin with a debut full length expected in January. A few years ago he impressed me with his previous mixtape Floe Almighty with an assortment of he

Remixes from the Brothers Jackson

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Stones Throw . The Brothers Jackson. They go hand in hand. Madlib made the music that led the Wolf’s crazy idea to be one of the most successful record labels in existence, then out of no where (to all of us, I imagine at least ‘Lib saw baby bro coming) there is a brother who has HEAT too… Lord have mercy! A few months ago I came across what was titled Madvillain 2 . I’ve been spewing my fair share of hate towards Mr. MF ( shout to Kno! ) and haven’t been impressed with much of his work since the first Madvillain, but that was a work of genius and I’ll always be excited for a second go round should we ever be blessed by the crazy duo again. But this was not a true re-match. What we have here is Madlib’s own blunted second take on the project that put the mask in the public eye. Resequencing, renaming, and completely remixing the original Madvillain record, this plays like a brand new album and for that Madlib gets all the props! But wait, what about this project from Oh No? Something

Edo G featuring Pete Rock "My Own Worst Enemy"

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As much as I love my sleep, I won’t lie I’ve kinda been enjoying waking up early in the morning before heading into work. Letting the sun rise around you is a great feeling! This morning, even after being inundated with way to many new joints ( I swear Christmas is on September 30th this year! ) to bang I decided to pop in this record from Edo G and Pete Rock My Own Worst Enemy . While it’s hard to believe this is four years old, I guess it does make sense being as I was getting ready to head to college when my boy David copped it. Go figure the kid who never pays any attention to the dudes of years past would go and cop something from these two legends before I was even up on the significance of the project. Well after four years of sleepin’ I’m finally listening and I can’t believe I never picked this up! The beats are handled almost exclusively by the Soul Brotha #1, but we get one treat a piece from Diamond D, DJ Supreme One and DJ Revolution ( who's dropin' a dope joint of

Black Spade "To Serve With Love"

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Here is a sleeper for y'all! All credit here goes to my boy Ty Davis over at the Street. He kept putting it in my ear that this kid Black Spade, who some may remember from Nicolay's solo Here , but I just wasn't checkin' it. Then he hit me off with the CD. While it def takes a little open mindedness - it is on Om after all - this record is the perfect album for a gloomy afternoon. Filled with his own production (under the name Stoney Rock) he delivers a wide assortment of beats pulling from the dusty crates we all know and love around here. While I wasn't impressed on my first listen I kept it in the deck and slowing the sounds consume you. The record is very organic with beats constantly changing and seguing into something else. You'll hear hints of Dilla, PR, and many others (he has a great tribute to all the beatmakers in "The Genius in You")in his beats but he is completly and totally his own producer. Check it & just listen.

Torae "Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself"

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While I haven't been too visible on the blogging scene for far too long, I was still listening to tracks and albums continually. This blog right here will be for those albums I hear that need to be discovered by any means necessary. Torae is an emcee out of NY spitting serious. Armed with a flow that brings to mind the best his city has to offer and a swagger on par with the "SLU" crew (Don't worry he comes harder than any of them did!) if you haven't heard the kid it's only a matter of time. Having dropped a debut "street" album, Daily Conversation , in January, he teamed up with Okayplayer , Legend and DJ Nice to put out what sits before your eyes. Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself is filled with the griminess you expect from New York, but which has been missing for far to long. Picking a number of original beats to rock on from the likes of Khrysis, 9th Wonder and Marco Polo along with some of the best instrumentals we have seen over the years Torae

Large Pro "Main Source"

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For those that know the name I expect you download this on GP alone. If you're confused just check out the discography and this interview . From his roll in exposing a young Nasir Jones to the world ( BBQ is still the cut isn't it?! )to being invovled in a number of classics, Extra P has always been on the low and one of the best to touch an SP (now an MPC) and at the same time he holds it down on the mic finer than alot of these so called emcees of today. Having laid back in the shadows, the Professor is getting ready to unleash his new joint on the world and if you have been missing what he cooks up you need to hear this. Paying tribute to, and reminding the suckers about, his former group Main Source is fresh and new displaying both Large Professsors ability to continue to deliver vintage beats, but at the same time never relying on his past. Their shouldn't be any talk about this record sounding "old school." It drops September 30th, cop that shit !