Blog: Mind Inversion

As many of you know, ?uestlove is probably the biggest J Dilla fanatic there is; I guarantee he has just about every piece of music that James Yancey composed. ?uesto was on Hot97 today as a guest dj, and every song in his show was related to J Dilla; I only wish I could have listened to this live because ?uestlove is one of the most knowledgeable musicians of all-time, and I can guarantee he put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this. As far as a dj set is concerned, ?uestlove [...]

I still can't believe that this man is gone because it always saddens me to think about Jay's passing. Jay Dee truly was a producer's producer, and no one will ever be able to top Dilla's abilities. I feel as though I am a very fortunate human being; experiencing and finding out about Dilla's music is truly one of the greatest things that has happened in my life. His music is something that I will always be able to confide in whether times are good or bad, and I thank him for that. For those of you fortunate enough to [...]

The more I explore the more I realize I will never be able to discover all of the music the world has to offer let alone our own nation. Made of Wood makes me realize that this is why I am trying to discover as much of that music that I can. On the new album, The Chill/Funk Trip , you will get an instrumental barrage that can be described as Downtempo with 702s Funk and modern Jazz elements. In an email I received from I AM PR Agency it suggests that you listen to this [...]

Earlier today Murdoc the front animation-man announced who the guest collaborators were for the new Gorillaz track via Soundcloud . The two lucky artists are Andre 3000( Outkast ) and James Murphy( LCD Soundsystem ). The group of men will be releasing "DoYaThing" in two weeks on February 23, 2012 and will be available for a free download on that day via Converse.com . Anytime you get 3 musical geniuses together you know something brilliant is going to happen and anytime James Murphy is working on something new I want to know. Having the brainchild of LCD Soundsystem team up with Gorillaz [...]

Wow, from the start of the new album Country by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad I am amazed and I am astonished. I first heard of this band while attending a G-Love and the Special Sauce show at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Their live show was an unreal jam session filled with plenty of energy that got the crowd dancing. Country may get your foot tapping a bit while you are sipping a whiskey down at your local saloon. Country is an album with an acoustic, slowed down blue grass sound with folk and [...]

The Black Keys have released their official music video for the new single "Gold on the Ceiling" off of El Camino. It is a very catchy song and the video features the two rockers from Akron, Ohio performing in the studio, on stage and preparing for the stage. The video seems to put a little smile on your face as you watch the amount of effort and the amount of fun the two are having. If you haven't checked out the video yet, go ahead and if you haven't heard the song yet, it is [...]

As I sit here and ponder what to write for my annual Dilla Day post, I find myself thinking about the first time I heard James Dewitt Yancey's music: A friend had told me to check out the track "So Far To Go" off of Jay's album, The Shining . From the second "So Far To Go" started playing, I was hit with a myriad of emotions, and I had no idea how to comprehend what was bombarding my ear drums; once the piano section kicked in right around the two minute mark, I damn near burst [...]

I really hope that this means Fashawn & Exile are close to finishing Fashawn's sophomore effort The Ecolog ; Boy Meets World is still one of my favorite albums to this day. I spotted this gem at 2DopeBoyz yesterday, and needless to say, I fucking love it. The chemistry that is shown between Fash & Ex is amazing; even though Exile is a below average emcee, his style blends very well with Fashawn's witty wordplay. Even though Exile doesn't spit bars that will leave your face molten, he makes beats that surely will; I don't [...]

I spotted this the other day when I logged onto Facebook, but I really didn't have time to post it because of school work. "Still Standing" is the latest cut off of W.A.R. ( We Are Renegades ) to get the visual treatment, and much like "Clap (One Day)" , the video is very deep and has a lot of emotion behind it. If you still haven't succumbed to greatness and purchased Pharoahe's latest album, which is arguably one of the best efforts of 2011, break your headphones, and never listen to music again. Filed [...]

Let me paint you a picture: the year is 2004; I'm a junior in high school, and it's spring time. The weather is beautiful outside, and the country roads welcome my friends and I with open arms; more impressively, Lil' Wayne could rap... and well. More often than not, Tha Carter was the soundtrack to those beautiful afternoons. On "This is the Carter", Lil' Wayne boastfully says "I'm finally perfect"; that statement couldn't be more true about Wayne's fourth solo outing. Mannie Fresh's production on Tha Carter is near legendary, and Lil' Wayne's vivid imagery and [...]

Ah... Yes, so for some time now I have been digging on Prof. (musically and creatively); A Minneapolis native, south-side (Powderhorn represent!), who makes music that is of quality production-wise, catchy lyrically, and that has an easy way of relating to, even with some delusions of grandeur and vulgar hyperboles. Prof.'s imagination is over the top, and hard to overlook, but his sense of humor is something to be admired in an age of all seriousness. His music is an escape from a world of frowns and disapproval. A couple of summers ago I received a cd of [...]

Before Alchemist and Oh No released Gutter Water , I wasn't sure what to think; any time that two producing emcees collaborate on a project, I'm almost certainly going to compare their effort to Champion Sound by Jaylib. I still remember picking up my copy of Gutter Water the day that it came out, and I also remember being completely blown away. There was one immediate thought that came to my mind: Should I pour bleach into my ears to clean out the filth that I had just [...]

I spotted this one at 2DopeBoyz last night, but it was far too late to post anything, so I decided to throw it up today. Big K.R.I.T. released the artwork for his upcoming mixtape 4EvaNaDay , and he let go of the lead single as well; According to K.R.I.T., "Boobie Miles" is about overcoming all of the trials and tribulations that often seem to get in the way when you are trying to reach your dreams. "Boobie Miles" is so smooth, and although it doesn't have a producer credit, I'm fairly certain that K.R.I.T. produced [...]

• BIGKRIT - BOOBIE MILES (Prod. By Big K.R.I.T.)

I was very excited to see this pop up on my Facebook feed yesterday, and I'm glad that Jon Jon Scott posted this. This last September, various musicians got together at the Stonefly Brewing Company in Milwaukee to recreate some of Dilla's production pieces with a classical, yet modern mindset (very similar to Suite For Ma Dukes ); I was bummed that I didn't get to see Unlooped Vs. Dilla , but it looks like I might get another chance to experience a one-of-a-kind opportunity. They haven't released [...]

• radiomilwaukee - Unlooped vs Dilla (Live Recording), September 17 @ Stonefly

The second single off of the new Sleigh Bells album, Reign of Terror , has been released for viewing over at reignofterror.tv . This has happened not a moment too soon since I can not or choose not to remember the name of the first single. "Comeback Kid" has gotten me, once again, excited for the sophomore album by the popular Brooklyn, New York duo. After hearing the first single I was thinking, "Oh no, another follow-up failure to an unprecedented debut album." Major Disappointment of 2011: Sleigh Bells cancelling Lollapalooza. [...]

I'm so blown away by this effort by Copywrite that I don't even know what to say. The former MHz member, Columbus Ohio native, and frequent Rjd2 collaborator is back with his new album God Save the King dropping on February 28th. "Rest in Power" won't be making an appearance on the official tracklisting, but this cut is beyond incredible; I haven't heard Copywrite sound this hungry since he released The High Exhaulted back in 2002. If you like hardcore raw lyricism with witty punchlines, then this track is [...]

Of Monsters of Men is an Icelandic indie/folk band who have been riding the elevator of success with "Little Talks" to the top. This is a stripped down version of that song which was recorded live by KEXP 90.3 out of Seattle in the bands living room from Iceland back in late 2010. The band is still gaining momentum from this song and now seems destin to join the likes of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros as a band with a cult following. "Little Talks" blends horns with a playful chanting in the chorus and is worth a listen before your friends [...]

When Hip-Hop fanatics talk about modern day underground classics (the last 10 years), they generally always mention a few albums: Blu & Exile, Below the Heavens ; Little Brother, The Minstrel Show and Madvillain, Madvillainy . For some odd reason, I don't hear anyone talk about The Left, Gas Mask ; Journalist 103 , Apollo Brown & DJ Soko crafted the perfect record with no filler and no throw-away tracks. I've been well aware of Apollo Brown's skills on the boards for some time, but for [...]

Strength to Survive is the new album by the DC-based band SOJA . This album is produced by John Alagia who has worked with the likes of Dave Mathews, John Mayer and O.A.R. to name a few. By the time you are a couple of tracks into the new album you can tell that the 7-piece band has progressed their sound beyond the spectrum of reggae. They definitely are perfecting a blend of reggae sound with meaningful melodic lyrics and a rhythm that puts a smile on your face as you reflect on your own life. Strength [...]

The popular New York indie rock group Cults made their television debut on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" Friday, January 20, 2012. They performed "Abducted" which is off of their self-titled album Cults which was released in June of last year. You can catch the video if you head over to the site for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." This process is going to test your patience but if you are a Cults fan than it is worthwhile. Once you sit through the advertisement head to the last scene, approximately the 37:30 mark to catch the [...]