Speaker

Jay Electronica

2007-08-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

The power of music is impressive, especially the red-headed stepchild that is known as Hip Hop. Slandered oft but admired incessantly by millions. On a daily basis, we are bombarded by an abundance of messages that glorify misogyny, violence and hyper sexuality, so much so that we tend to forget how powerful & beautiful Hip Hop really is and the potential it has as a genre. This energy that I speak of above is every so often encapsulated in the form of a gifted emcee. His name is Jay Electronica. I found out about him reading Just Blaze's Blog. Just dropped a track Jay Electronica had where he was rhyming with no drums. I was speechless. I hadn't heard anything like it before. Check it out below.

PS:For those of you who think there's no such thing as Down South Hip Hop, Jay Elec is from the N.O.

Jay Electronica-The Pledge

We'll Be Right Back

2007-08-22T12:08:00.001-07:00

We've been experiencing technical difficulties. I got a monster of a post coming later on today. I'm about to begin posting regularly again. Sorry for the delay.

Guilty Simpson

2007-08-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

J-Dilla handpicked this fellow Detroit native emcee, Guilty Simpson. Stones Throw signed him. That should give you an idea of Guilty Simpson's potential and ability. He's done work with Dilla, Phat Kat, Skyzoo, Black Milk and a score of others. He's renowned for being passionate about making quality music with no boundaries & keeping it extremely gully--what a combination. Check out his new track "Before I Die" featuring the Heliocentrics then comment. Sorry for the delay; expect a torrential downpour of dopeness in the coming days.

Guilty Simpson-Before I Die featuring the Heliocentrics

Feist-The Reminder

2007-08-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Leslie Feist (Feist) has been writing and recording music for over 16 years. Her experience as a songwriter and musician has propelled her to a level that many solo pop artists won't achieve in their lifetime. Feist isn't new though; she's far from a gimmick. And she'll probably be around for a long time. Her album, The Reminder is lush with electro-jazz and britpop textures.

"1,2,3,4" is vibrant with bluegrass, choirs, horns, and Feist's spirited vocals. "My Moon My Man" is geared more as a Indie Rock song with a Britpop direction while "So Sorry" is a study in complexity and restraint, little to no instrumentation; very minimalistic. The album trades sensitivity and complexity back and forth with ease. As the album progresses, the songs gradually build in intensity like "The Limit to Your Love" which harnesses the lucidity of Feist's voice with lush guitars, timpani, and strings or fall back into "Sealion" a song patterned after Nina Simone.

Feist is an intelligent pop singer, and she is making the kind of music that Carly Simon, Carole King, and Joni Mitchell (yea, like that) would be composing if they were young woman in our era. With a few more albums and a little more experience, she will be making music that not only stands the test of time but also transcends the candy-coated playfulness of today's pop scene. The Reminder is a big step in reinventing the wheel.

Van-Go Tha Hustla

Greatness All Around Us: Jon Brion

2007-08-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

What does Kanye West's Late Registration, the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Punch Drunk Love have in common besides being masterful artistic works? It's as simple as looking up at the title above or the picture. But, just judging from the picture above you'd think he was a run-of-the mill caucasian man. Truth be told he's more like a musical genius. Jon Brion is multi-instrument musician, a producer and a composer. He started doing his thing around 17 when he dropped out of school to pursue music professionally. His mom was a jazz singer, and his father, a band director at Yale and both siblings heavily involved in music; even a dunce could see what the future held for Jon Brion.

He's worn different hats throughout his career. He's been a band member of The Bats (early 80s), Til' Tuesday (late 80s) and The Grays (mid 90s). He's also done the solo thing with a brief stint on Lava/Atlantic. During that time he released Meaningless, (97) his solo album. He played various instruments on Sam Phillip's LP Omnipop; produced albums for Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, Eleni Mandell, Rhett Miller and Evan Dando. Brion also composed movie scores for Hard Eight, Magnolia, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punch Drunk Love, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I (Heart) Huckabees and The Hard Break-Up. I can't speak for all of these movies but the score for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Punch Drunk Love are nothing short of incredible. The combination of the overwhelming visual aesthetic and the audio accompaniment combine to compel you to FEEL. I know it seems awkwardly phrased but watch and listen to either of those movies and you'll understand perfectly. I almost cried watching Eternal; no punchline intended thats simply the truth. Later in his career, he's moved on to production which seems like a natural transition. Besides the list above featuring the likes of Fiona Apple and Rufus Wainwringht, he played a major part (executive producer) on Kanye's opus, Late Registration, and his upcoming release Graduation. He's currently working with Dido, Spoon and The Section Quartet. The guy's resume is nothing short of official. Still not convinced, the guy had tendonitis in his hand and performed his regular set of covers and original works at Largo (LA club) with one hand. If you're not impressed with that then you're either half god or a robot. Here's some tracks to preview.

Jon Brion-Eternal Sunshine Theme

Jon Brion-Punch Drunk Love

Aimee Mann-One

Kanye West ft. Cam'ron and Consequence-Gone

J. Burnett

Horace Silver

2007-07-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

I found out about Horace Silver on accident. I found myself in the place that feeds my information addiction (the public library) looking at the documentaries and stumbled upon A Great Day in Harlem. The film was about the creative birthing and execution of photographer Art Kane's black and white picture of 57 of jazz's greatest musicians taken in 1958 on the steps of a brownstone in none other but Harlem, New York.

The most entertaining aspect of the documentary was the interviews of the still-living musicians interwoven with the tale of how it all came to be. I never would have known Dizzie Gillespie was hilarious and I wouldn't have found out about electric pianist Horace Silver, the man who helped create "hard bop", a branch of jazz that combines components of R&B and gospel.

I found his 1972 Blue Note Records release All (Phase III), a weird, new-age devotional album with song titles like "My Soul Is My Computer" and "How Much Does Matter Really Matter?" Now it might seem anachronistic to say something created in the seventies was "new-age" considering that it's a late 20th century movement (around the 1980s) but consider this: these people had Psychedelics. Need I say more?

On this particular album, Silver enlists a few vocalists to sing over his compositions and even sings on a few himself. Sounds like a gem, right? Not exactly. A friend listening to the album with me said that it almost sounded like Christian lounge music. Terrible, I know. But, the second-to-last track named 'All' stood out. Silver sang a swanky sort of melancholy melody layered over his deliberate but lighthearted playing that I remember listening to a lot at the end of long, frustrating days. That was enough to send me on the chase.

Since then I've heard seven of his releases and two of them seem to stick out in my mind as better than average. The first is his 1968 album Serenade To A Soul Sister. The record jacket has an average quality picture of what you could almost imagine was just a picture of Silver's friend that he decided to use for the cover. But, the casualness of the photo really sets the tone for the informal sound of the rough-around-the-edges production of the album (keep in mind that I'm talking about the vinyl album, not the re-mastered CD). It begins with "Psychedelic Sally", a song just over seven minutes that starts quickly with a chorus of happy, blaring horns and continues through with every track building on the last to end with a slow, sentimental song called "Next Time I Fall In Love." On this song Silver plays with a sincerity and pace that reminds me of Monk's "Ruby, My Dear."

My favorite thing about this album is the chorus of horns. I could be wrong, but it sounds like every time they appear on a track they are notably crisp and layered with two octaves being played simultaneously. The entire album is energetic and maybe a little more funky than I think most people would categorize traditional jazz to be.

His 1999 release, Jazz Has A Sense Of Humor, sounds something like you would imagine an album with that kind of title would sound like without being too boring or predictable. It starts real sultry with silky, upbeat horns over Silver's whimsical playing. The tone of the album is consistent even though the tempo speeds up in "The Mama Suite, Pt. 1: Not Enough Mama" but never drops below mid-tempo. My favorite track on the album has a few different angles to it. On one hand "Ah-Ma-Tell" almost sounds like Silver's jazzier interpretation of the songs that could be found on 1964's "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi. Yet at other times portions of it sound like and sometimes evoke the same listening experience of "It's Your Thing" (the Jackson 5 version, not the Isley Brothers'). If it had horns, that is. Like a much faster, less funky version. Sometimes it even sounds like it could have been a James Brown song. Call me crazy...or simply comment and disagree with me. It won't hurt my feelings.

Here are a couple tracks from Jazz Has A Sense of Humor:

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Ah-Ma-Tell

Kristian

World Meet Fela Kuti

2007-07-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Fela was returning from the [United] States circa the Black Nationalist movement back to his native, Nigeria, with his band the "Nigeria 70." It was a promoter that dimed him and his band out; citing the fact that they were in the US without proper documentation that sent him back prematurely. Upon returning to Nigeria, Fela did two things. He renamed his band the "Africa 70" and erected the Kalakuta Republic, a recording studio and a commune for the band. It was Fela Kuti's independent state in the heart of the motherland. His enterprise continued with the emergence of two clubs: the Afro-Spot & the Shrine. The popularity of Fela and his music in Africa as well as his growing political awareness rose simultaneously. This put him in direct opposition with the ruling faction who terrorized the Kalakuta Republic with suspect search warrants and unwarranted intrusions. Fearful of Fela's growing popularity, the government intended to incriminate him by planting a joint of cannabis on his person or in the premises. He discovered the plot and ate the joint. Police responded by taking him in custody and waited until he moved his bowels to examine his excrement. Fela was able to secure the feces of another inmate/supporter and with no evidence of Fela being guilty, the government freed him. The result of this whole ordeal was "Expensive Sh*%," a track describing the whole story.

Most tracks don't have such colorful anecdotes behind them, but we're dealing with an extraordinary character. Fela was the creator of Afrobeat (a fusion between jazz and West African highlife), a fervent human rights activist, multi-instrument musician, composer and "political maverick." My words don't do justice to this man's legacy. Read about him here. Check out Expensive Sh&% and He Miss Road below.

Fela Kuti-Expensive Sh@! & He Miss Road

Quantic: Off The Beaten Track

2007-07-24T05:50:00.000-07:00

I always like to know who I'm listening to when I'm enjoying music I haven't heard before but when I'm genuinely intrigued by what I'm hearing I want to know names, dates and more. So, you can imagine how distracting it was to have a friend casually drop a gem in my lap on a CD-R with no track list, no album title, no nothing. Just one word scrawled on it: Quantic.

Quantic is Will Holland, a man who lists both Fugazi and James Brown as influences. That should give you a pretty good idea of the range he possesses and one listen to "Tell It Like You Mean It" from his album An Announcement To An Answer will drive that point home. The song begins with slow, warbling horns alternating between two notes over some extremely subtle lo-fi fuzz before launching into an almost cuban-sounding drumloop. He quickly molds it into an electronic song while still holding onto the same sentiment before bringing you back right where you started. And he does it in less than five minutes.

My favorite thing about this guy? The man loves vinyl. And probably obsessively, if his album Off The Beaten Track is any indication. The album was limited-print CD released almost exactly two years ago of 25 rare soul/funk/afro-cuban/jazz tracks from his 45 collection. The album starts with someone lightly tapping on a snare, barely grazing a cymbal and gently keeping time with a bass drum. The reason I use "someone" is because the official track list for the album might not exist anywhere except on the actual CD insert. Not only is this album no longer for sale anywhere (unless you find it used), but Quantic doesn't even have the track list available on his website. Not even my most trusted vinyl source, Dusty Groove America Dusty Groove could help me out. Interestingly, I found the name for most of the tracks on Vinyl Vulture's Vinyl Vulture message board from a bunch of music geeks who, I must say, had some pretty impressive knowledge. But that was only about 75% of the album they could decipher.

The whole album is flawless, in my opinion, but here are the tracks that made my ears perk up (luckily, I found the titles of them):

Let's Make it Funky

Why Don't They Leave Us Alone

Kristian

Hip Hop is in the Building

2007-07-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not going into some long-winded spiel about how stale rap and Hip Hop is right now as that's the diatribe du jour that's been on repeat for about 6 months now, thanks to your boy Nas. But, instead here's a bit of respite from the trite/tired Hip Hop is Dead cliches that have been provided by blogs, websites, mags and even myself at times.

I think emcees and rappers are starting to get the picture. Major record labels and their multi-million dollar marketing budgets are not going to jolt fans out of their album-copping hibernation; neither are pre-orchestrated or spontaneous beefs that spur from nothing more than a passing whim. What's going to get people excited about Hip Hop again is the same thing that got people excited a decade ago or two decades ago: quality music. A recent trend has emerged on the net; one that is pleasing to my taste and my slim pockets. Emcees are leaking their own music and not just the crap were they throw a bunch of feckless rhymes together and say something along the lines of "what do you expect, it's just a freestyle" but they're actually putting out tracks of considerable substance. And the ironic thing is that the person who started this trend is none other then the one who underground enthusiasts consider to be the anti-christ of all that is Hip Hop, Lil Wayne. However, I'm not going to go down that route as that's another discussion for another day on another site. With that said, below you'll find some links for FREE mixtapes of artists who leaked their own music that's actually...well, kind of dope.

SkyZoo-The Cornerstore Classic

Naledge-Naledge is Power

Chamillionaire-Mixtape Messiah pt. 3

Sean Price-M.a.s.t.e.r. P

J. Burnett

Betty...Ms Davis If You're NASTY

2007-07-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

Before Lil Kim was even old enough to gurgle her first sexually-explicit phrase through the bars of her crib, Betty Davis was making jaws drop with her straight-forward sexuality and indisputable talent.

Even if given only a quick listen, the music from her albums paint grand pictures of her live performances but it's the lyrics that provide even more vivid ideas of what her on-stage persona must have been like. Imagine, if you can, what the music entertainment landscape must have looked like when she appeared.

It's 1973. The top three songs getting rotation on African-American radio stations are Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On', Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' and Gladys Knight and The Pips' 'Neither One of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye).' Now, even though Marvin's song sounds like cotton candy compared to most of the music made today, it's true that for that time it was probably one of the more comparatively vulgar songs getting played. However, one glaring fact remains: Marvin was a man and, let's face it, it's never been incredibly shocking for males to express their sexuality or make their erotic intentions public information especially in the music industry. So, when an overtly sexy woman comes along singing a song called "Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him" about how she 'can't help herself', you can imagine the stir it might have caused. Let a few more lyrics digest:

"I'm going to do it 'til the cows come home/
I'm going to do it 'til the chicken crows/
I'm going to move it slow like a mule/
I'm going to do it, yes, I'm going to do it"

You couldn't expect much less from a woman who was able to intensely influence the personal and professional life of Jazz giant Miles Davis whom she was married to for only one year. Aside from appearing on the cover of his 1969 album Filles de Kilimanjaro which also featured a song entitled "Mademoiselle Mabry (Miss Mabry)", she also served as the link between soul, jazz and rock. Not only did she introduce legends Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone to Miles Davis, she also found herself sonically supported by a number of impressive musicians. From Sly and the Family Stone and Tower of Power to the Pointer Sisters contributing to the tone and texture of her music, Betty was obviously a powerful performer if she could garner not only the respect but the help of artists of that caliber.

Sadly, history swept soul's sexy sweetheart's artistic endeavors beneath the proverbial rug and hid a true gem that defied the era's social and artistic expectations. Her self-titled album was released in 1973 and although it included all the big names, it still did not gain any commercial success. The same was true for the following two albums. It might have been due, in part, to her overtly sexual persona which drew protests and boycotts to her live performances and got her music banned from radio stations across the country.

But, to the glee of music geeks and vinyl vultures everywhere, her first two studio albums were re-released on May 1st by Seattle label Light in the Attic Records proving true talent is truly timeless. Do yourself a favor and purchase her music. It's worth pulling your wallet out.
Keep your ears open for the masochistic tune rumored to be about innovative guitarist Jimi Hendrix on her second album They Say I'm Different. Yes, she said 'turquoise chain.'

Kristian

Favorite Things Pt. II: Mega Mix

2007-07-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I did something similar where I posted a collage of music--past, present and future. This week shouldn't be any different should it??? That, my friends, would be uncivilized. This time I merged all of the tracks into one track so it actually seems like a mix instead of a batch of links--links that took a long time to load--like last week. So without further to say, here's the link to the mix

Mega Mix

PS-I'm not a DJ, so don't expect coherency, matching BPMs or for it to make any sense at all for that matter. The only link between these artists are that they all produce good music.

New Common: Break My Heart

2007-07-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Common is probably the poster child for quality Hip Hop music that infuses passion, creativity and raw talent. I've supported him from Can I Borrow a Dollar to the present. July 31st, Finding Forever, his seventh LP will drop and from what I've heard it's sounding pretty good. Here's one of my favorites so far...

Common-Break My Heart

J. Burnett

JUSTICE † (Cross) Review

2007-07-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

JUSTICE †, 2007 VICE RECORDS, ED BANGER

JUSTICE is comprised of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. Some considered the pair to be next in line to take DAFT PUNK'S throne after their depressing Human After All album and breathe some life back in the Dance genre. The † (or Cross) album released July 10, 2007 is JUSTICE'S first official release after a slew of dance remixes dating all the way back to 2003. With as much anticipation as a Harry Potter novel, † is here and all the critics including myself agree upon one thing which is that this album is decent; but certainly not great.

With all the hoopla and anxiety that led up to this album, I have to admit that this album was on the right track and JUSTICE definitely has cemented themselves as a group with a promising future. Songs on the album such as "Newjack," "Phantom II," "Stress," "Genesis," "One Minute to Midnight" and "D.A.N.C.E" are good songs paired with the all ready familiar "Waters of Nazareth" and "Phantom." The guys know how to expand sounds and they don't stop until your ears have been totally obliterated which is the only reason why I feel the album suffers. The loudness sometimes detracts from the actual musicianship and perfectionism put into the songs. Unlike DAFT PUNK, JUSTICE uses a arsenal of Lo-Fi sounds, distorted samples and Vocoded guitars as a crutch which says to the masses that we're louder, harder, and will rock you out of your happy disco existence. The songs are glitchy, industrial, and loud which is good or bad depending on the listener. As for The "Party," "Let There Be Light," and "DVNO" all of which left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure why these songs were approved to be on the album. Uffie's style makes "The Party" sound contrived, "DVNO" is just a throwaway track with a throwaway singer, and well..."Let there Be Light" is just irritating and annoying. Last but not least, is "Valentine." You'll have to ask JUSTICE what they were thinking by putting this track on the album as I believe they probably wanted the remixers to do something with it. Anyway, I dig the album and I think it deserves to be in the middle of any DJ or avid music listeners catalog. Recommended Songs: "Genesis," "Newjack," "Phantom II," "D.A.N.C.E"

Check out the mini-mix.

Justice Mini-Mix

Van-Go Tha Hustla

Villains Gotta Eat Too: MF Doom MM Food Re-Release

2007-07-20T07:04:00.001-07:00

Next Tuesday, July 24th, MF Doom is re-releasing MM Food. The LP originally came out in 04; dope album, not as good as Operation Doomsday or Madvillainy but definitely better than 97.3% of rap albums that came out since then and recently, for that matter, which would make it a damn good. I just finished listening to it actually and I enjoyed it (alot) and I hate on EVERYthing. If you haven't experienced MF yet, it would be a good starter and if you have...why not kick a few dollars to your favorite supervillain.

J. Burnett

The Noisettes

2007-07-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

Imagine the Yeah Yeah Yeahs without the pretension of a female fronted Death From Above 1979; think about how excited you’d be. Based in London, UK the Noisettes are just that: exciting, dangerous, fresh and conscious (yea, all of those). The band is composed like so: fronted by Shingai Shoniwa (vocals), with Dan Smith on the guitar and Jamie Morrison on the drums. The Noisettes present an urgent sound on their debut, What’s the Time Mr. Wolf? On tracks like “Iwe” and “Don’t Give Up” you can see why they were invited to tour alongside bands like Muse, Babyshambles and Bloc Party. Don’t take my word for it though, London's ICA described Shoniwa's singing as "Billie Holliday on PCP." Rolling Stone named them one of their bands to watch. Still not convinced, listen to this:

Iwe

Don't Give Up

H. Moore

Damn I Slept on Tanya Morgan

2007-07-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Even I sleep on cats sometimes...I'm sure many of you neither didn't know or didn't care that I blogged for Hip Hop DX but I do and so does Donwill of Tanya Morgan. I used to just peep dude's blogs because he posted some funny ass Youtubery. I'm mad slow. I didn't even know he made music until they separated the guest artist's blogs from the resident bloggers. So, I see it and I'm like "oh, dude makes music...ok." Meanwhile, I'm hearing the band's name: Tanya Morgan this, Tanya Morgan that, from people who dug their music. Well after about 3 months of sleeping (like so)

I copped Moonlighting (as you should), their debut LP and from what I've heard thus far, sounds pretty dope. See, Hip Hop is okay...

Check Tanya Morgan out on Myspace if you're broke like me, but if you got the greenbacks, do your due diligence to a talented band who makes REAL Hip Hop here. ?uestlove gave his seal of approval. If that's not enough evidence they're dope then I don't know what is.

One Love

J. Burnett

Yay Area Slappin Ya Speakers: Honor Roll Clique's that Deal

2007-07-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've been coppin alot of Bay Area heat lately; i'm diggin their electro, progressive, new wave, bright colors steez right now. Initially, this was going to be a Trackademicks post, then I said maybe I'll do a Josie Stingray post. Props to Fader for the put onage awhile back. Then, I found out they have a clique. Collectively, they're called the Honor Roll. In Clinton Sparks fashion, it may be recommended that you get familiar now as I'm sure they'll blow (no brokeback) soon. Here's the links for all of the members to give you a lil 101 on what's gonna be slappin in the Bay soon if not right now.

Honor Roll

Trackademicks (Nasty on the production tip)

Josie Stingray

DJ Tap 10

Mike Baker the Bikemaker

1of.A.kind (Sleeper Pick of the Clique)

Spank Pops

TRoyal

Mox to the More (Check out "Guzzlin Guiness")

peace

J. Burnett

Step Ya International Game Up

2007-07-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's truly interesting to see the different takes people from different continents take on Hip Hop. Not really traveling much, due to my extreme level of broke-ocity, I do most of my learning in regards to the above via the web; thank God for hi-speed connections. So when I came across the Notorious MSG, I was a bit tickled (pause) and intrigued to see what kind of sound these guys had. It's a mash up of punk rock and rap that turned out to not suck ~~balls~~. Check out their tracks here. Their level of gulliness is shocking. You've been advised!!!

J. Burnett

We Goin Digital

2007-07-15T05:56:00.001-07:00

We REALLY want to know what y'all think. So Speaker's on AIM now. The screen name is Speakermag1. Add us to your buddy list, and not way at the bottom; not that you'd ever do that, right. Whenever you want to holler at us, do so. Preciate it. Oh, also we're on myspace too now. Check out the page.

peace

Management

A Few of My Favorite Things: Saturday Night Sampler

2007-07-14T15:38:00.001-07:00

A few of these tracks are new, some are old, some I haven't even listened to, but here's a little something from me to you (word to Juelz)

John Coltrane-Lazy Bird (Alternate Take)

Brother Ali-Uncle Same Goddamn

Bloc Party-The Prayer

Arctic Monkeys-Only Ones Who Know

Gary Wilson-In the Midnight Hour

The Libertines-The Boy Looked at Johnny

Bill Evans-The Peacocks

Madvillain-The Accordion

Plantlife-3am

Saigon-Pain in My Life

Les Savy Fav-The Equestrian

Collie Budz-Blind to You

Diplo-Diplorhythm

Lil Jon-I'm a J(lol)
J = Junkie

Phat Kat-Vessels

Daddy Yankee-Impacto

J. Burnett

I Got That New New

2007-07-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Corny tie-in, I know....
I decided it would be kind of lame just to leave yall with only the Myspace pages so I posted more music for your consumption. Check out the new shit on:

Yesterday's New Quintet

Dizzee Rascal

Res

Aiiiighht

Management

The Revival Continues: Camp Lo is Back...Again

2007-07-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

All my faves are comin' back in da 07. First, Res then Camp Lo. What's next, a D'Angelo album??? Fugees reunion??? Nature (from the Firm)??? Nevertheless, I'm glad these dudes are back. Now, stroll down memory lane wit' ya boy with this hook:

This is it (What?!)
Luchini pourin' from the sky
Lets get rich (What?!)
The cheeky vines
The sugar dimes
Cant quit (What?!)
Now pop the cork and steam the vega
And get lit (What?! What?! What?!)

(Video Below)
Camp Lo @ Myspace

J. Burnett

Yesterday's New Quintet: New Album Yesterday's Universe

2007-07-13T08:59:00.001-07:00

Disenchanted with the current staleness of Hip Hop (circa early 21st century), Madlib created a myriad of jazz personas and voila you have Yesterday's New Quintet. If you don't know who Madlib is, please read about him using the link above, like now I mean you know if you really like music. He's a talented multi-instrument musician, DJ, producer, emcee ~~and purveyor of weed of many varieties~~. The guy's a genius. I'm listening to the new YNQ album (advance) Yesterday's Universe and let me just say this: heat. But, in a smooth jazz type of way so maybe it's cool. It's good, how about that??? Check out Madlib's profile on his myspace and check out "Free Son" as well as the other tracks on there if you haven't heard them.

*Note: I figured the MySpace wasn't enough for some of you "humps" so I took the liberty of posting some more joints just for yall. Generous of me, right. Have fun.*

J. Burnett

Open Your Ears Bloke: Dizzee Rascal

2007-07-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

I wrote some BS, trite copy yesterday that I had to get rid of. What the hell was I thinking. I apologize to those of you who read that "rose from the concrete" line (shudders). I had a writer's block thing going but I just wanted to get the music to yall. Anywho, Dizzee Rascal is an exceptional artist out of the UK. His steez is gangsta rap, but his sound is a collage of funk, garage, punk, reggae and Hip Hop. Despite his g-rap subject content, he often is able to incorporate some social commentary in as well. Throw in that UK accent and you got a winner. I first heard his material awhile back, a few months after his breakout album Boys In Da Corner dropped. Check him out. Audio/visual aid below.

For more info check out: wiki on Dizzee Rascal

You may need this too: UK urban slang dictionary

Dizzee Rascal-Pussyole(Ol Skool)

Additional Put You Onage

J. Burnett

She is Santogold

2007-07-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Found out about Santi White (Santogold) recently while I was ~~ogling~~ adding random friends on Myspace--yes, I do that other one too--I heard some of her tracks which were pretty fresh.

Wait no...I actually remember hearing one of her tracks off of the M.Ronson Versions via Fader. I didn't really dig it too much but it turns out she's got some other tracks that are dope. Now you must learn; so, politely, introduce yourself to her work with her ex-band, Stiffed, via their (ex) Myspace or just cop the Sex Sells EP or the Burned Again LP right here. Then make your way to her Myspace and turn it loud enough so your neighbors can appreciate your fine taste in music.

J. Burnett