Exile & FLüD Watches - Radio Mixtape

Hell yes, lets get back to ill clothing and accessory brands collaborating with worthwhile Hip-Hop artists!

Spurring some old feelings in me is none other than FLüD Watches and L.A. underground producer extraordinaire Exile, as they've teamed up to promote a new Exile “Radio” Boombox Watch and for good measure they've also put together an ill ass mixtape comprised of tracks from both Exile's past two albums "Radio" and "AM/FM".

-BIG D O


Exile & FLüD Watches - Radio Mixtape

Snippets: Celph Titled & Buckwild - Nineteen Ninety Now

I've no doubt that the AOTP veteran (and the best rapper to EVER emerge from Tampa) Celph Titled and longtime DITC production man Buckwild have carved out a modern classic with their new album "Nineteen Ninety Now" ....Recently Celph was good enough to post the snippets of this amazing piece of work that combines many of Buckwild's long locked away beat gems from the mid 90's with Celph's pulp, hardcore steelo...

I can't wait...Here's the album sampler...take a listen and then go cop this piece of art on October 26th...

-BIG D O


Celph Titled & Buckwild - Nineteen Ninety Now (Snippets)

News: Nas' Lost Tapes 2 In Jeopardy Of Not Dropping...Issues Scathing Email To Def Jam Execs

Seems like more and more these days labels just aren't willing to go to bat for the artists that truly deserve it...

200k? That's it? Harshly low, but whaddya gonna do? LOL...What Nasir did do was issue a letter to the big wigs over at Def Jam and well it wasn't none to nice...

Hopefully we still get that new Lost Tapes record...at this point I'm not too sure though.

-BIG D O



From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SHIT OUT!

Peace to all,

With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY’s slave. This is not the 1800′s, respect me and I will respect you.

I won’t even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist’s dream and aspirations. You don’t help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don’t even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren’t…. not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn’t work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation

This isn’t the 90′s though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about “my label.” I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason……. they believed in me. The didn’t give a fuck about what any radio station or magazine said….those dudes had me.

Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It’s smart and after 5 years it’s still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I’m feeling is disturbing. Don’t get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog shit on a MAGICAL moment.

You don’t get another Nas recording that doesn’t count against my deal….PERIOD! Keep your bullshit $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain’t many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don’t even have shit coming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let’s get money!

-N.Jones

Single: Doo Wop & Pete Rock ft. Joell Ortiz - Do Thangs

Whoa! Now this is some shit!

I guess the album that all of us mid 90's mixtape fiends have been waiting over a decade for is finally materializing and Doo Wop & Pete Rock are in fact linking up and dropping something...

The results will undeniably be ill I'm sure...I mean, just look at the first leak; a new record with Joell? LOL, this is golden kiddies...Oh and BTW, on the low, Wop got PR and Joell on this one!!

-BIG D O


Doo Wop & Pete Rock ft. Joell Ortiz - Do Thangs

Single: Virtuoso - Propaganda

Boston's own Virtuoso hits us with sme much needed real talk about the current wars the U.S. is entangled in overseas....and although there's been some recent glimmers of hope, there is much left to be done...period.

In any case the world is where it is and while a bevy of rappers seem to have no consciousness of what's going on, or simply don't care, Big Virt is giving you some food for thought...good ish...

Also, all of you Virtuoso fans will be happy to know that he's also going to push forward with his upcoming album "The Final Conflict"...expect that in the future...

-BIG D O


Virtuoso - Propaganda

Video: 1982 (Statik Selektah & Termanology) - Still Waiting

Ha! ain't this the friggin truth man...

"Twenty somethin years old and I'm still poor"....

If you had any doubts that 1982's (Termanology & Statik Selektah) debut album wasn't gon be that shit, time for you to reconsider...

"Still Waiting" is a fitting first video...I'm sufficiently amp'd. Been awhile since we had a rap album we could actually relate to...and yes, I relate highly to this jawn...I mean with the way shit is in the country now, I imagine a bunch of ppl relate to this...

"Statik Selektah & Termanology Are 1982" drops Oct. 26th...

-BIG D O

Mic Geronimo - The New Yorker

Although a whole new generation of rap fans might not have the slightest idea who Mic was 2 decades ago, they will now get a chance to maybe take a peek...

Hitting us with his new and free mixtape "The New Yorker", Mic Geronimo steps back into the arena of rap, a sport he once dominated with a debut album that had many a head proclaiming he was that next big deal...

This tape sort of serves as a marker for all of us old Mic G fans...updating us on what he's been up to lately....Can't say it's what I wanted, but I will say that even despite the fact that Mic has moved on from the sound that I became a fan of his for, it's good to hear that he's still doin somethin he loves, bringing other old celebrated names from Queens back out like Royal Flush...

-BIG D O


Mic Geronimo - The New Yorker

Interview: Tragedy Khadafi For UnKut.com

Update: Part 2 of this interview available now, right here

Robbie of UnKut.com hits us with yet another really dope interview, this time from none other than the recently released Tragedy Khadafi.

After pulling a 3 year stint in the bing, Trag is back and ready to shed some light on questions that I know many of his longtime fans (myself included) wanted to know....listen up as Robbie conducts yet another great Q&A...only part 1 too!

-BIG D O

Robbie: Tell us about the Super Kids record, ‘The Tragedy’.

Tragedy: When I first came out, I was probably around 12, 13, and my name was MC Jade. When I was trying to come out and get my name up and be heard, I had an individual from my block in Queensbridge, on the 41st side, named Panic. Panic is like an older brother to me, man. Panic was always that guidance for me, especially when I was younger. He had two turntables and a mixer in his room, so when I would stop by his window I would hear him playing records and cutting-up records, and it always intrigued me. So I stepped to him one day and told him, ‘Yo, I wanna go through your records. Let me listen to your records’, so he let me come in the crib, he would let me listen to all his records and I would write my rhymes while I listened to a lotta old school joints, and we started to form a bond. He was actually my first DJ. He went on to produce some things for Marley later on too, but the turntables he had wasn’t actually his – they were Hot Day’s turntables. So that’s how me and Hot Day met, because Hot Day came by Panic’s crib – took his turntables back – and obviously I went to Panic’s to try to make some more music and Panic was like, ‘Yo, I had to give this dude his turntables back’. That’s how I got introduced to Hot Day, and from that point on me and Hot Day started making tapes together.

Read the full interview here

Single: The Rza ft. James Black, Justin Nozuka & Kobra Khan - Gone (prod. by Ali Cat and Kamran)

 

The world best be ready, Wu Wednesdays are now in full effect....

Hittin us off with this new joint that definitely explores feeling and truth, it seems that Raekwon ain't the only Clansmen still makin waves in music. The music is besides the point here...the verse that Rza dedicates to his cousin ODB [who he addresses here as A Son Unique]...it's another fitting goodbye to one of Hip-Hop's most original men...Alongside some great guitar playing by James Black of Finger Eleven Rza takes us to his thoughts regarding his fallen bretheren.

Included with this single, Rza hands us a gem in the form of a quote:

"Of course you don’t die. Nobody dies. Death doesn’t exist. You only reach a new level of vision, a new realm of consciousness, a new unknown world." - Henry Miller 


Rest In Peace ODB...Big Baby Jesus....


-BIG D O


The Rza - Gone

Video: Skyzoo & !llmind - Speakers On Blast

Take a ride through Brooklyn, NYC with one of it's best and brightest new reppers, Skyzoo...

Zoo zooms around the the county of kings with a proper shorty and puts his "Speakers On Blast" for the duration of the ride...

This joint is off Zoo's new records with !llmind, "Live From The Tape Deck" , it's available now, you better go run and swoop that...

-BIG D O

Video Interview: Immortal Technique For HardKnockTV

While most rappers take (are forced into) hiatuses to be broke, fall into a year long drinking binge with their old friends or just plain to get a day job, Immortal Technique has taken his time away from the sport that is underground rap to help make the world a better place...

In case you didn't know, Tech is bout one of the realest, smartest and most involved emcees around and he routinely puts his money where his mouth is....Nick Huff Barili of HardKnock.TV got up with him to discuss his absence and some of the endeavors he's undertaken while the world of Hip-Hop has started spinning out of control...

True humanitarian shit man....Tech is that dude...we still waiting for "The Middle Passage" homie...

-BIG D O

Video: Remo The Rapstar's Shoe Collection

I done seen some shoe collections in my day and more often than not it's always either super paid dudes or straight up nerds that got the illest collections, but this time out we get a dose of  a collection that I can identify with more in terms of how it's utilized. What I mean is that for awhile cats that just had a naturally strong shoe game filled with just joints they like sort have become extinct and over looked by these super collectors that just go out and cop every new release and lock em' away in boxes, never wearing em'.

Enter in Remo The Rapstar, a dude I actually remember from a mixtape or two back in the day...here, it's not so much Remo's rhymes as it is his kicks that we're interested in....

Man has a strong shoe game, blessed with a deep bench of Jordan 6's and Nike Foamposites that will make you drool...had a lot of dope AF1's too...most admirable part of it all is that it appears this man actually wears his kicks...good shit...

-BIG D O

Single: Blue Scholars - Lumiere (XX Intro Remix)

Missed this initially, glad it was brought to my attention recently though.

The Seattle duo of Sabzi and Geologic (Blue Scholars) combine here again to bring us a stirring  remix of their "Lumiere" joint, that in it's solemn valley's and rousing peaks will surely get you up and going...

Great stuff here man....Geologic is again one of the more slept on underground MC's out there.

link via PIMB

-BIG D O


Blue Scholars - Lumiere

Snippets: Von Pea - Pea's Gotta Have It Sampler

Man, I been waiting on this for a lil' while now...

Von Pea, one third of the illest new Hip-Hop group around,Tanya Morgan, is fixin to release his solo debut record, one that promises to reflect on his swashbuckling high school days titled "Pea's Gotta Have It"....

Today Pea was good enough to bless the internets with a 4 song sampler of the new record and well, all the joints are pretty much what I expected; straight up nasty...

Enjoy this and remember that the full album will be droppin on Oct. 12th...

-BIG D O

Interview: Kool G Rap For Good*Fella Radio

New Interview with the cat that originated that hardcore shit you know and love...

Kool G Rap gets up with Good*Fella Radio and delves into what's been going on with him lately, how he's managed to maintain his image over the year and his feelings on how he respects Rick Ross and Vinnie Paz both, despite the fact they're on very different ends of the Hip-Hop spectrum...or are they?

The highlight of this interview for me was when G Rap touched on the Juice Crew movie and when he spoke about his new and upcoming album, which BTW ya'll need to keep an eye out for this coming year...

-BIG D O

Review: Boog Brown & Apollo Brown - Brown Study

Hip-Hop has long been waiting for a suitable queen to return and declare the vacant crown hers. Concurrently we’ve also been waiting for her to cast out all of the unfit females who erroneously claim that same crown for themselves, yet display none of the qualifications to hold it. Out of Atlanta by way of Detroit we have discovered a woman named Boog Brown, who if by any indication of her new project with celebrated newcomer Apollo Brown, has made the single best bid for why she is the rightful heir to the matriarchal side of the culture we all love. With her debut album Brown Study, no woman in rap can deny her skill, will or talent…at the present moment she is the proud owner of the preeminent album created by any woman in Hip-Hop this year.

Read the rest here

ReCon (90's Classics Remixed by Confidence) Mixed by DJ Grazzhoppa

Oh yes, this is how you fucking flip a remix tape people...

I'm really thrilled to start seeing more and more love for the Hip-Hop that was going on in the 90's...This new generation seriously needs to do some backtracking and figure out what this culture is all about.

There is a bunch of cats currently out claiming to be great "90's sound", boom bap producers...ReCon is one that happens to actually really be an authentic holder of that title. Strap in as this gifted boardsman from Massachusetts re-works some of rap's truly unforgettable tunes from the 1990's like O.C.'s "Time's Up", Gangstarr/Nice & Smooth's "DWYCK", Raekwon's "Criminology" and many others....

This is too well done and dope to overlook...DO NOT overlook the fact that the man mixing things up is DJ Grazzhoppa AKA the 1991 Euro DMC champ and just overall a great DJ and producer in his own right.

-BIG D O


ReCon (90's Classics Remixed by Confidence) Mixed by DJ Grazzhoppa

Single: Sha Stimuli - Motherf*cker

Ahhh man, don't do it Sha, lol....

What man hasn't dealt with this type of situation? Unfortunate to say it, but yooo....a lot of chicks really are comin with a lil' more than just extra baggage these days...

This joint is creative and funny, word to the break down beat switch that will take all my 80's babies right back to their 8th grade dances...lol...great work again from Brooklyn's most slept on, Sha Stimuli. It's ya single of the weekend brethren...while you out at the clubs heed it's message...well...maybe not..LOL

link via DotGotIt

-BIG D O


Sha Stimuli - Motherf*cker

Video: Meyhem Lauren - The Fever

We need more of this man...really we do...

Queens hard rock Meyhem Lauren gives us another high quality joint that we should recognize in the form of "The Fever" a great song/vid that pays homage to all of NYC's Graff writers....respect! Vid is directed by Tom Gould, that's why it's so strikingly beautiful...great product here...this is Hip-Hop people!!!

It's off Mey's upcoming album "Self Induced Illness", coming soon...

-BIG D O

Interview: Buckwild and Celph Titled For HipHopDx

Case you've been sleepin', Tampa MC and long time Demigod/AOTP member affiliate Celph Titled is preparing to do something truly dope....He's finna release an entire LP produced by/with Buckwild (of D.I.T.C.) beats that were never released and recorded between 1994 and 1995...ha! That is absolutely ill...

Before they drop "Nineteen Ninety Now" on Oct. 26th, the two men that will undoubtedly give us the illest 4th qtr. release of 2010 sat down with HipHopDx to talk details...dig in!

-BIG D O



HipHopDX: With so much music readily available nowadays, projects don’t necessarily get worked to their full potential, would you agree?

Celph Titled: Yeah, back in the day you would wait and then sit around and listen to an album for months until the next one. But now every day, you go to the blogs and you just keep scrolling and scrolling. It’s like fast food nowadays, and it’s hard to make something stick but it’s easier for anyone to flood the Internet with whatever they want, if they pay for it or however they do it.

Buckwild: I think when you have so much accessibility for people to put music out, [that] the lower you put the bar creatively, the more people you are going to invite into the Hip Hop party. When we first started it was all about credibility and being the best. Once you take away the unwritten laws of Hip Hop, you are left with nothing. If you look at a guy like 50 [Cent], 50 is a dope artist, a dope songwriter, but some cats looks at him like, "He got shot nine times and I got shot one more time than he did, so if he can do it, I can do it." You have to have talent and now we have a lot of people who hustle and have no talent and a lot of people who have talent but don’t hustle. The people who do have the talent are not willing to get up and do the groundwork, so it comes back to wackness.

Read the full interview here