Tal Rosenberg
RCRD LBL BLOGGER
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Over the past few months, Dublin label All City released their LA 10" x 10 series, with 10-inch releases by the likes of DaM-FunK, Samiyam and Exile. Just when you thought it was over, All City has released a bonus edition, this time featuring Sa-Ra Creative Partners member Shafiq. Though credited to Shafiq, the track also features Sa-Ra member Om'Mas Keith — it is edition #0 and will be released August 9th. As with Sa-Ra's Nuclear Evolution: The Age Of Love and Shafiq's Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka, two of the best, most innovative R&B releases of 2009, "DNA (Splice Mix 3)" is a warped, funky chunk of avant-R&B. An instrumental track, "DNA (Splice Mix 3)" sounds like a Madlib outtake or a leftover New Amerykah beat, with its inflamed drums, killer bass line, sporadic vocal samples and gently bumping guitar chords.
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One listen to "Stupid" and you may find yourself asking: Where does this come from? With its echoed, slamming handclaps, smeared vocal sample, and needly synth peels — all seemingly attacking each other — the track could be Bay Area hyphy, Miami bass, or Mars party music. Then there are the MCs: Both Husalah and Lil B are known for their eccentricities, from the bizarre rumored death of the former to the superabundant output of raps about Wonton soup with regards to the latter. But on "Stupid," the duo adhere to the frenetic, diced rapping of the main attraction, Roach Gigz, for a posse cut that stands up with any other released this year. This track appears on Roach's Bitch, I'm A Player mixtape, which is out now, and available at a Google search near you.
Roach Gigz - Stupid (feat. Husalah & Lil B)
(Photo: Mike Hawkins)
While rap heads eagerly await Watch The Throne, there's another duo out there that has already released one of the best rap albums of the year. When Pigs Fly, the debut from A.Dd+, aka Dallas rappers Paris Pershun and Slim Gravy, bursts at the seams with tongue-twisting tough talk and musically rich, rhythmically invigorating beats, the latter courtesy of producer Picnic Tyme. On new track "Jumper Cables," those very same qualities are on full display, with Tunk joining Paris and Slim and Picnic for a galvanizing romp through a skittering drum break ribboned by an intoxicating flute loop.
A.Dd+ - Jumper Cables (feat. Tunk)
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A paragraph is an insufficient amount of space to explain the Wu-Tang Clan. Instruction manuals have been written in order to understand this group. But if you've never heard the Wu before, this isn't a bad place for an introduction. "Legendary Weapons" is the title track of the Wu's most recent project, out Tuesday on E1. For this Noah Rubin-produced track, the only Wu member featured is the one and only Ghostface Killah, though he is accompanied by AZ, another phenomenal MC, and M.O.P., the rappers whose voices are loud enough to set off fire alarms. With scratched kung-fu samples, frenetic rapping, and musty instrumentation, "Legendary Weapons" is yet another inspiring chamber in the Wu-Tang legacy.
Wu-Tang Clan - Legendary Weapons (feat. Ghostface Killah, AZ & M.O.P.)
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Freddie Gibbs again? Aw yeah, again and again! Until Baby-Faced Killa drops and inevitably sets a new bar for rap albums, Gibbs is still releasing new material at a ridiculous clip. "Keep It Warm For Ya" is off of Lord Giveth, Lord Taketh Away, a collaborative EP with Statik Selektah, out now on Showoff. The superlative track is a Statik classic, a slice of plush, orchestral street-soul with winding horns, cascading pianos, and soaring vocals. Smoke DZA and Chace Infinite drop two great verses — one of DZA's, in particular, best yet — but Gibbs steals the show, chopping through the beat with steady, motor-fueled precision.
Freddie Gibbs - Keep It Warm For Ya (feat. Smoke DZA & Chace Infinite)
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Oakland producer Headnodic has worked with numerous projects, most notably Crown City Rockers, The Mighty Underdogs and Megaphone. On his new album, Red Line Radio, out July 26 via Brick, the Berklee graduate works with talent such as Latyrx, Sadat X, One.Be.Lo, Mr. Lif and more. On "Surgeon General," Headnodic collabs with the excellent L.A. duo People Under The Stairs. What's noticeable in this track is how much the producer is able to match the sound of the group. As with People Under The Stairs' best work, the track is based around a dusty, Rhodes-soaked sample and tensile, earthy drum loop. And even though they're not producing, Thes One and Double K barrel into the room with playful rhymes and dizzying energy.
Headnodic - Surgeon General (feat. People Under The Stairs)
Sometimes in the summertime, you want to hear bright, bubbly jams, and sometimes you want to hear three roughnecks talk about crime over '80s films scores. For the latter times, check out "Bushmaster Music Part 2," by Queens, NY fixture and former Screwball member Blaq Poet. On this Stu Bangas-produced slab of Goodfellas-evoking imagery — off of the upcoming Blaq Poet Society Remix EP on Brick — Blaq is joined by the increasingly dope Roc Marciano and relative newcomer Wais P. All three MCs smoke a rebounding, two-note synth pattern that drapes stethoscope-miked drums, a fittingly claustrophobic setting for tales of robbery, shady business and other similarly wayward activities.
(Photo: Stefan Braunbarth)
Raw Cuts, Vol. 1, a collection of singles from German DJ/producer Danilo Plessow, aka Motor City Drum Ensemble, is a necessary addition to any dance music fan's collection, as much a refinement and enhancement of house and techno music as Metro Area's eponymous album or Moodymann's Silent Introduction. That's why it's a smart move on the part of !K7 to hand over the most recent installment of its DJ-Kicks series to MCDE, whose edition is one of the best in recent memory. For a taste of the menu, check out his reworking of French composer Phillipe Sarde's "Le Cortége Et Course," where an anxious, noir-tinged bass line and descending string plucks are given extra heft with a steady kick drum.
Philippe Sarde - Le Cortège Et Course (MCDE Extended Edit)
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