Back in 99, my friend's introduced me to all things DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Latyrx etc. etc. And then I heard that track that was definitive for me; I Changed My Mind. After hearing that, I thought Lyrics Born was like a 50 year old African American. But of course at the time I heard that, he was like late 20's and he's half Japanese/half italian?! His voice alone is interesting. I didn't know he was doing voice over work for Cartoon Network but it makes total sense.

This d00d has been super busy, bustin' out albums and collaborations left and right, but we're excited to be hearing the next; The Lyrics Born Variety Show, Season Pho (4). It features more collaborations and remixes with friends like Automator, Gift of Gab, Lateef, and Joyo Velarde, Born's wife! The album has a funky music video for the DJ Erb remix of Funky Hit Records. That joint is also the single for his 2010 release album, As U Were. Check that vid twice, and get the track below. Also check the tour dates here.

Funky Hit Records

Labels: hip hop

It's been almost a decade, feels even longer since the well respected Train of Thought debut album from Reflection Eternal, an awesome slamma-jamma collabo between DJ Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli . They're back with a brand new album called Revolutions Per Minute with an excellent first single out appropriately called Back Again. You'll be hearin' a lot about this album when it drops later this summer. Check out the video, get the mp3 below. Also Check out the video for The Blast from the debut.

Back Again

Labels: hip hop

I am super excited to hear that Q-Tip is gonna be releasing Kamaal the Abstract, the long awaited, long stalled, long lost album that's been lingering in the underground for near a decade! The albums got jazz and soul influences with Q-Tip's self produced beats and instruments. Don't get me wrong, I love the new stuff, but this has a bit of Tribe with a kick of pop and more uniques than you're used to. Of course, if you're already a fan, you would already have this entire album. This is gonna be well received, be sure you pick up your copy when it drops mid September via Battery Records. It's going to be interesting to hearsee the sonic-fied reworked version of the tracks. But as long as it's droppin', I'm happy. Check out the last track below

Even If It's So

Labels: hip hop

If you've never heard of Herve 'RV' Salters, he's the French musical keyboard genius behind General Elektriks and the keys for peeps like Curumin, Jel, Blackalicious, etc. etc. He joined the Quannum crew who released his dope debut, Cliquety Kliqk, which was filled with cinematic fused hip hop, soul, funks, and plenty of pop. On his new joint, Good City for Dreamers, he packs a heavy tribute to his favs like Stevie Wonder and David Bowie while keeping a definitive GE arrangement with a ton of creativity. Herve is all over the place with this album. Track to track, it's a whole new gig with a lot of style, and Beck like flow.

This new stuff drops September 22nd and y'all need to look out for the pre-order. The album is Serious Swank (yea I said serious swank, you'll know when you hear it). You can stream the album on the site here. He's currently touring in Europe, check dates. We got the single and the complimentary/supplementary video. So good.

Take Back The Instant

GENERAL ELEKTRIKS "Take Back The Instant" from discograph on Vimeo.

Labels: Funk, hip hop, indie

Shy town's Yea Big and Kid Static are at it again! Their forthcoming album, The Future's Looking Grim, is digitally dropping in April via Jib Door but we've got the single for you! BOTS is an all out tribute to their favorite 8-bit video game character, Mega Man. It's dope and complete with full on Mega Man sounds made into beats! While you wait for the new joint, you can check out some dates in your hood. Also check out this dope video for "The Life Here," one of my favorite tracks from them.

Bots

Labels: Electronic, hip hop

Canadia is non-stop. I know I keep saying that but it's because they don't stop. There is much coming out from our neighbors above and Dragon Fli Empire is a perfect example. Their new album is Redefine and Teekay (emcee and producer) & Cosm (DJ and producer) have done up some new dope stuff with some help from Cadence Weapon, Raashan Ahmad and Moka Only amongst others. DFE has helped me put some belief back into hip hop and you will definitely hear why. I love the jazzy, soul and funky stuff they carefully throw around. Judging by the video, it looks like they are having fun and their music really reflects that. Look out more from these guys, hopefully they'll be poppin down for some dates. We got some dope tracks below from earlier albums. Check'em out.

D-E-F
Headphones

Labels: hip hop

In the case you haven't been watching BET or reading any popular mags, we'd like to introduce to you K'Naan, one of the illest hip hop artists and I mean real hip hop, you know the kind that has real dope beats and conscious lyrics. K'naan is from the war torn streets of Somalia and his poetics definitely speak on it. He's come a long way and still has lots of room to grow. K’Naan grabs samples and traditional to contemporary live instrumentation to make his unique sound. On his sophomore album, Troubadour, he gets help from respectables like Mos Def and Damian Marley. We hope K'Naan will continue to spread his lyrics and poems through these mainstream released albums. We got two early released tracks for you and also check out his video below for Dreamer.

Somalia
ABCs

Labels: hip hop

I musta watched Shad's The Old Prince Still Lives At Home video atleast 10 times at work today. It's done so well, not to mention Shad's dope story telling rhymes. And y'all will probably be surprised how "accurate" this video is. If you haven't heard his '05 debut When This Is Over or his '07 sophomore The Old Prince, you gotta go pick those up. Get'em Here. Be on the look up here for a tour hopefully soon, and more deets about his '09 release droppin earlier in the year. Ahhh stuff to look forward to in 2009! Check out that video I mentioned and also a track from the sophomore!

I Don't Like To

Shad - The Old Prince Still Lives At Home

Labels: hip hop