Los Angeles' "ambassador of boogie funk" , Dam-Funk, has been firing out a string of free, unreleased cuts as of late, spreading the love by dropping an assortment of previously unheard tunes via Twitter . As a general rule , Dam's free/unreleased series is made up of unmastered, rolling cuts which showcase the Leimert Park veteran's free-wheeling, keyboard-drenched take on modern funk music. The latest release in the series is a top-notch tune by the name of 'Paradise', a slippery little Cali-funkateer keyboard workout that's sure to please those who like [...]
I've been um-ing and ah-ing about whether to post this mix tape up for a few days. Which is about as long as I've been um-ing and ah-ing about how to spell um-ing and ah-ing. But after sitting down and finally giving The Roots' Dilla Jawns a good listen tonight, I've realised that there's simply no future in fronting on this mix. So I won't front in the future. Questlove originally released Dilla Jawns via Twitter a few months under the title Dilla Joints (hence the scribbled and scrawled artwork), [...]
Hot damn... this is a tune and a half. I feel guilty that this has been sitting in my inbox for a while, because songs this good need to be liberated to the masses with the quickness. There's been a lot of talk recently (if 'recently' denotes the last two years) about Outkaster Big Boi dropping his long awaited solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. A string of songs have already found their way online (including the dope 'Fo Yo Sorrows' ). Now, BB has released what [...]
Still in catch up mode, but after getting through a few of my e-mails today, this little number jumped out at me. Anyone who has been paying attention to AGOMWAB lately should be familiar with Marky, following recent posts on cuts like 'Victory Lap' and the Aloe Blacc 'I Need A Dollar' cover 'Rasta Monsta' . Earlier this week, Marky dropped the first installment of his Journey To Markyland, USA EP series. Rest Stop 1 of the three-apart series features seven tracks, including the aforementioned heaters, with a few [...]
How long has it been since I've posted up something by DJ Premier? Time... that's how long. So let's rectify that by posting up some straight fire in the form of 'Project Boy', a heavy, heavy hitter from Joell Ortiz featuring our man Preem on production. If you've heard Joell go in before, you won't be surprised by 'Project Boy', which is laced with all kinds of verbal firepower. But it's Premier's beat that really sets this track apart from Joell's earlier work. Seriously, this is the dictionary definition of menacing. Tell me if [...]
What more can I say about the Brownswood Bubblers series? Not much, really. I don't mean to be rude, but if you have any sense of soul, then you will feel this compilation, put together by the one and only Gilles Peterson. If you don't feel it? Well, you're fronting. Simple as that. Devotees of Gilles' Worldwide show on BBC1 will be up to speed with what to expect from Bubblers part cinq - namely, ethereal, soul-drenched goodness that has been tried and tested by GP himself. In order to push Brownswood Bubblers Volume 5 out [...]
As you might have noticed, I've been AWOL for the last 6 days. Put that down to trying to find inner peace in Morocco. Unfortunately, I didn't find any peace (Marrakesh is a crazy town, to say the least), but I did get ripped off a few times. This has undoubtedly left me feeling a little surlier than usual, so with that in mind, let's get into ripping some music to shreds (just jokes). I'll be playing catch up over the next few days, so please see it in your heart of hearts to not get [...]
I'm not normally one for mash-ups. The skill of tempo matching an acapella with a beat in this day and age isn't really... well, there's very little skill involved, is there? And just because the tempos match doesn't mean that the track sounds good, does it? Say it with me now... NO! Sometimes, however, the planets align... things fall into place... and mash-up magic occurs. And today, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to illustrate this point with what is a slamming example. Earlier this month, the hip hop world tipped their New Eras in respect to [...]
More new music coming out of the Electric Wire Hustle camp today. This time, it's Benny Tones, the man responsible for making EWH sound so fresh and so clean as their studio and live engineer. But that's not the only string to Benny's bow; he's a pretty damn good producer, too. Benny has been quietly working away on a solo album, Chrysalis , for a wee while now, and has just liberated the first single - 'Nevermind' featuring EWH singer Mara TK - from the vaults. If you're familiar with the EWH sound, [...]
Here's an interesting one. With Erykah Badu's new album New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh dropping in the next day or so, a new video for the sublime first single 'Window Seat' has been doing the rounds since yesterday. Don't expect a big budget, stylistically slick affair here though. Instead, Ms. Badu has taken a more natural approach. Or is that au naturale? Quite possibly, because she's decided to do a one-take video where she walks the streets of Dallas, stripping off her outer garments layer upon layer upon layer, until she ends up [...]
Here I was just the other day, thinking that it's been a hot minute since the Truth & Soul gang have sent through some new freshness. Then, low and behold, what should appear in the electronic mail today? Not one, but two little nuggets from our friends out in deepest, darkest Brooklyn. Boom! (bet ya didn't see that coming...) The first cut on offer today is from Michael Leonhart And The Avarmina 7, who serve up some sub-continental, instrumental badness on a cut known as 'Jaipur' . Leonhart - who is [...]
Late last year, respected journalist Sasha Frere-Jones penned an article for the New Yorker on that most well-worn of subjects - the death of hip hop. While offering an interesting take on the subject, Frere-Jones wasn't all doom and gloom, pointing to an up and coming rapper by the name of Freddie Gibbs as one to watch. According to Frere-Jones, the Gary, Indiana M.C. was "the one rapper I would put money on right now." No pressure then, Freddie. Now, I've made my feelings on hip hop [...]
I've had a crap day. Mind-numbingly crap. Stab your self in the hand with a pen to pass the time crap. The only things for days like these? A bit of boom-bap-inspired, speaker-shaking, take-no-prisoners hip hop. As luck would have it, I've received some new heat from Eternia and MoSS that meets this description. Just in time to stave off any more self harm. Lucky, that. If you're not familiar with Eternia (that's her on the left), here's the rundown: Canadian M.C.; currently working with DJ Premier's production buddy/partner MoSS (a fellow Candadian - that's him [...]
Aloe Blacc's 'I Need A Dollar' is enjoying a nice little buzz as of late. Being the theme song to an HBO show ('How To Make It In America') doesn't hurt the cause. And neither does that fact that it's dope. With that in mind, it was always rather likely that someone would grab it and give it a little hip hop twist sooner or later. Enter Marky , who has jacked Aloe's tune and laid some new lyrics over the top to create a song that will from here on out be known as [...]
Another day, another leak from the new Erykah Badu album, New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh . What's the chance of us making it to the release date of 30 March without the whole album being splashed across the internet? Pretty damn slim. Ah well... in the words of Dennis 'Cutty' Wise, "the game done changed" . The latest cut to surface from Return Of The Ankh is a joint by the name of 'Turn Me Away (Get Munny)', which will be instantly familiar to many a listener thanks to the sizable [...]
It's been a good few months since Jay-Z released The Blueprint 3 , but that hasn't stopped Jigga-Man teaming up with Absolut Vodka to release a quality mini-documentary entitled NY-Z . After watching the first few minutes of this 15-odd minute film, it will become clear as to why this might have been delayed a little - namely, because some real time has been put into production. Director Danny Clinch has created a beautifully shot clip that offers the viewer a fly on the wall perspective as Jigga plays the media game in the [...]
Drake seems to be pretty damn good at splitting opinion in hip hop circles. There are those who have fallen hook, line and sinker for the Canadian MC slash singer's catchy, melodic tunes. But on the other side of the fence is a sizable congregation of non-believers, who heap scorn upon any one offering even faint praise for Drizzle (sorry, I couldn't resist). Me? Rather than choosing a side in the great divide, I'll firmly sit upon the fence pending further investigation. I liked parts of his So Far Gone mix tape, but I'm [...]
Asher Roth is back in action with a new mix tape, serving up a gastronomical listening experience with the mouth wateringly-titled Seared Foie Gras With Quince And Cranberry . Foie Gras sees Ash going in over a mix of mainly pre-loved beats - with a few newbies thrown in for good measure (I think?) - from the likes of Kanye West, Just Blaze, J-Dilla, Pharrell Willaims, Madlb, Jake-One and Will-i-am. Each cut is then lovingly zigga-zigged from hear to tomorrow by DJ Wreckineyze, who creates a fast moving [...]
Black Keys boys Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are back to the grind stone, following up their well-received rap/rock project Blakroc (released earlier this year - check it out, if you haven't already done so) with some new BK material. The bluesy Ohio rock duo (who are personal favourites of mine ) recently posted a new track, 'Tighten Up', on their Myspace page. So of course it was only a matter of minutes before some enterprising soul ripped the hell out of it and sent it swirling around the internet. 'Tighten Up' is the first [...]
Today's new musical offering comes courtesy of a gentleman by the name of Marky, who has reached into his magic bag of tricks to pull out a vintage beat that may (or may not) have been churned out by Kanye West back when he was rapping through the wire . Let's let Marky - a Washington D.C. MC who's linked with SRC/Universal - tell the story. "I had this track for a (minute) now," he says . " It's said to be an original Kanye West produced track from the 'Through The Wire' days, [...]
A Grumpy Old Man With A Beard
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AirCast #09 – Stiver
