Bun B and GLC- "Happiness Before Riches"

I've always been a fan of Bun B. He's got an instantly recognizable sound, and ridiculous flow. From the upcoming Closed Sessions, Vol. 1 by Ruby Hornet. Should be good.

Bun B and GLC- "Happiness Before Riches"

Beach House- Teen Dream

This past Tuesday, the Baltimore area dream-pop duo Beach House released their third album, Teen Dream. The music defies any sort of genre, as it almost floats in space. Comprised of B'more native Alex Scally and French-born Victoria Legrand, Beach House creates a seamless blend of keyboards, guitars, and transient vocals that will have you hovering in a music induced fantasy land. Very similar to Grizzly Bear, with a touch of cotton candy and whimsicality. Highly recommended. It's about time we got some good music around here.

Beach House- "Norway"

Broken Bells "High Road (Video)"

B.o.B. "May 25th"

Sorry about the lack of posting as of late, but there has literally been no music of note. However, you need only wait until next Monday, Feb. 1st. Mr. Bobby Ray (B.o.B.) is dropping a brand new mixtape, May 25th. I for one could not be more excited. Here's the cover art, and of course we'll have the tape when it drops next Monday. If the cover is any indication of the quality of music, the tape is going to be amazing.

Artist/Song/CD of the Week

Hey guys, it's time for my artist/song/cd of the week. Last week was the song Diamonds by J Dilla. This week I've got something new for you. This week I have chosen an artist and the artist I have chosen is Kya Bamba. They are two guys Mika and Killa B and they are from Switzerland. They have put out six mix CD's for free online and they are mostly cover songs by other reggae artists. They have a different type of sound than most reggae does. You can download their Sixth Mix CD on their Myspace.

Clipse- "Freedom (Video)"

The video for the intro track off Clipse's amazing Til the Casket Drops. Good stuff as usual from Pusha and Malice.

New Juelz Ft. Weezy F Baby

Here's a new song from Juelz Santana featuring everyone's favorite Weezy. It's called Home Run. Beat is somewhat different than what you would expect from Juelz but he does slay lyrically. I don't think Weezy's verse is all that great but hey that's just my opinion. Thanks to 2Dopeboyz, which is where I saw this first.

Home Run - Juelz Santana Ft. Lil Wayne

Top Artist/Album/Song of the Week

Hey guys, I had an idea to do a top album or artist or song of the week. Now this can be an old or new that has just come out. For this week I have chosen a song from one of the greatest rappers/producers that ever lived. This is the song Diamonds by J Dilla. I have recently become very interested in Dilla and the music that he created. This is one of my personal favorites. The beat goes hard and it's different than most of the music that is made today. Certainly, he is one of the best rappers/producers ever.

Diamonds-J Dilla

You Probably Haven't Heard This Yet - I

[In an attempt to draw attention to new/unknown/overlooked music, I'm starting a "You Probably Haven't Heard This Yet" post and here's the first!]

As modern technology has made DIY recordings extremely easy for almost anyone, a lot is lost in the sense that there is just so much music out there now, you can't get around to it all. I recently stumbled across an EP called 'Winter Rise' by ezequiel/ezequiel, which was both written and produced by the solo artist. The EP exhibits an interesting blend of instrumentation that I thought of as experimental folk. The opening song to me actually reminded me of Pink Floyd's "Us And Them." The whole thing is a free download so hey, why not check it out. Here's my favorite from it:

Ryan Leslie- "Gibberish (Video)"

For those who don't know Mr. Leslie, you better get up to speed. Guy is a producer/songwriter/musician/singer, and is unbelievable at all four. He got a 1600 on his SAT's at age 15, then graduated from Harvard at age 19. He is literally a genius. This vid is of him recording the song "Gibberish" from his album Ryan Leslie. I'm just going to let the video speak for itself.

Dirty Money feat. Rick Ross- "Angels (Remix) (Video)"

And another video for ya'll has Officer Ricky laying down some lines over DM's auto-tuned tribute to Notorious. Say what you want about Officer Ricky, the man lays down some nice lines on this track.

XV-"The Kid with the Green Backpack (Video)"

XV- "The Kid With The Green Backpack" [EPK] (Press) from XV on Vimeo.

Here's a follow-up to Min-Soo's post from a few days ago. As he stated, XV has some serious skills, and his Everybody's Nobody mixtape from 09 was one of the year's best. So here is the EPK (Electronic Press Kit) video in order to help him garner some intention. Looking forward to big things from the Wichita, Kansas native in 2010.

jj feat. Lil Wayne- "My Way"

A new jam from everyone's favorite balearic pop artists, jj. This apparently off their upcoming album jj no.3. They "covered" Wayne on "Ecstasy," so it only makes sense they recruit the real thing for their next album. Really looking forward to this album.

jj feat. Lil Wayne- "My Way"

An Older Mixtape and New Ideas

Hey guys, So this year has started off pretty dry with new music. From my knowledge, the first quarter of the year is always lacking with the new music and the 3rd and 4th quarters are always filled with a lot more music. So, this has given me time to go back and download some new music that I may have missed. Recently, Andrew and I obtained a mixtape from last year by XV. The name of the mixtape is Everybody's Nobody. It features Seven, Wiz Khalifa, and Harlem. Now when this mixtape came out last year I didn't think much of it. But since I got it, it's been one of the best I've heard. The beats are some that I've never really heard and they sound more like techno beats. But they also do some classic piano beats. They are quite catchy and the lyrics are also very well written. Here is a track that I think everyone should have from this mixtape called Start a War Featuring Colin Munroe.

Also, since the New Year has brought a few new ideas that I thought that I would start. Once a week I am going to post a favorite artist of mine. It's going to be a 50 favorite artists countdown and the last week of the year, my favorite artist will be named. I will also have a track from each artist available that I love. This will not be strictly rap. Be ready for this!

B.o.B.- "The Biz"

Here's a new leak from B.o.B., going over a Mobb Deep classic. The Adventures of Bobby Ray out March 25th.

B.o.B.- "The Biz"

Cam'ron- Boss of All Bosses 2

The second best musical composition to drop today. Killah.

DJ Drama and Cam'ron- Boss of All Bosses 2(Mixtape)

Gucci Mane- Free Gucci (Mixtape)

This project has been in the works for a while now, and early this morning (very early) it saw the light of day. Basically, it's songs from Gucci's "Cold War" mixtape series, all re-worked with an electronic twist. And the results are nothing less than awesome. With remixes from artists such as Memory Tapes, Diplo, Teenwolf, and Flying Lotus, this project presents Gucci in a totally different light. And it's free. Get it here: Free Gucci

Vampire Weekend- MTV Unplugged

Vampire Weekend - New Music - More Music Videos

I know there has been a lot of Bon Iver, and Vampire Weekend lately. But, 1. They are both phenomenal artists, 2. VW has a new album coming out this Tuesday, and 3. There has been little/no other music of note to come out lately. In any regards, my apologies to those of you for whom Mr. Vernon, and Mr. Koenig are not really their cup of tea. Anyways, this is a video of VW performing "M79" at MTV's acclaimed Unplugged concert series, which was just released today. "M79" has always been, and still remains my favorite VW song, as it is which got me into the band in the first place. Something about those strings and the build up during the chorus... You can see all the songs they performed HERE.

Kevin Rudolf feat. Birdman, Jay Sean, and Lil Wayne- "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)"

So here's a new song off Rudolf's (supposedly) upcoming album. Not really a big fan of Rudolf, but I'm pretty sure this song will be popular on the airwaves. Other than Jay Sean's part, it's eh.

Kevin Rudolf feat. Birdman, Jay Sean, and Lil Wayne- "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)"

Bon Iver "Skinny Love (Live at Glastonbury)"

Justin Vernon before Bon Iver

So I came across an awesome find on the Pretty Much Amazing blog the other day. A Justin Vernon song before Bon Iver existed. Follow the link for the full story and where you can stream "Hazelton."

THE LINK

Vampire Weekend- Contra

While Contra officially drops a week from today (1/12), VW decided to post the entire album to stream on their myspace Sunday night. Someone should give these guys a marketing degree, because they are geniuses. Anyways, as you can imagine, I've been listening basically non-stop since Sunday evening, but I will hold off my "review" until next Tuesday when it officially drops. Let's just say it's worth the listen: Myspace

Somewhat New AZ

Hey guys, I know I'm sorry. I haven't posted on here in quite a bit. But everything that seems to come out lately seems to just be pretty bland. Yes, the new Kya Bamba mix CD is insane but other than that nothing has been really great to me at least lately. However, a week or so ago a new AZ song popped up. It's called The Essence and it features Nas. This track gets slayed by both rappers and the beat is just super hot. I've always thought that they both had similar flow types and I'm glad that they finally made a song together.

Here's a link for everyone as well!

http://usershare.net/ncoqe85kium9

Kya Bamba- Sixth Mix CD

For those of you who don't know Kya Bamba, they are a group of two guys from Switzerland, Mika and Killa B, who remix reggae influenced tracks. This is their sixth remix album, and from what I've heard, their best one yet. If you like reggae, definetely check this out, and even if reggae isn't your thing, Kya Bamba does an amazing job with production and such, so it's still worth checking out. And it's free.

Download Here

More New Music

Greetings from ski country, NH. I haven't had much to post about lately but I recently got some of RJD2's old stuff out of nostalgia. I was cruising around his wikipedia page and website and realized he has a new album coming out called "The Colossus" and it's coming out on the 19th of this month. There are some snippets of songs on the website, and it sounds pretty different. Hmmmm....
http://rjselectricalconnections.com/

Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane- Shine Blockas (Video)

Happy New Years. And to start the year off right, we've got the video for the best hip-hop track of 2009. Hopefully 2010 can bring us some Sir Luscious Left Foot.