Benz and a Backpack

If you’ve seen HBO’s new series How To Make It In America, then you’ve heard Aloe Blacc (“I Need A Dollar”). Smooth like butter, Aloe croons like a singer of yesteryear, but he also spits with more depth and clarity than most emcees out now and has a top-notch producer backing him in Exile. We had a chance to sit down with the Panamanian musician and chop it up about his first musical endeavor Emanon, the production squad behind “I Need A Dollar” Truth & Soul, and more. Hit the skip for the transcript!

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No topics are truly safe from the scheming pens of industry emcees. Now, if you’ve had your radio on in the past two weeks, you’ve heard Drake’s Swizz Beats produced ode to appearance-obsessed women, “Fancy,” featuring T.I. And though the song breaks with that smooth Drake-brand sound, its subject matter fits right in with the kind of shit many of the industry’s new talent (and even some old mainstays) have been putting out this year – songs dedicated to the women that bring drama.

Now, speakin on the subject of the saditty lady is by no means a new trend in hip-hop (especially industry type ish)- women have been at the center of Hip Hop culture from its inception. Yet this year has seen an inordinate number of artists put out songs centered around the topic of bougie females, not just on an ultra-sexual Whisper Song tip or some strange Lil Wayne love song, but on some pretty-well thought-out, lyrical shit. Check it:

Drake – Fancy

“Hit the gym, step on the scale, stare at the numba/ You say you droppin ten pounds, preparing for summa/ And you don’t do it for the man/ Man never notice/ You just do it for your self/ you the fucking coldest”

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Shouts to the homie mrAlexander for the heads-up on this one. Fashawn and Blu team up over an Exile beat on “Samsonite Man,” and the product is incredible. The song is stellar all the way around: great production, conceptual genius, mad lyricism, and the video is equally dope in the same respects. For anyone who isn’t already sold on Fashawn, Blu, or that whole West Coast team, smarten up!

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“Right back to the valley/just to show em how we do in central Cali my home/on the map now, they tell me sit in the throne/I tell em im not concerned with a crown or a robe/just wanted to meet the world become a man on my own/and I did now the names household Santiago/C-A get hot as Iran, I hit Chicago/it’s the heart that guides me, my mind just follows/I go where the wind takes me/samsonite bag full of clothes like jack hit the road/to the next city fuck it let’s travel the globe/luggage already packed who knows when ill be back.” -Fashawn, Samsonite Man

A couple weeks ago, Clutch and I caught Brother Ali, Fashawn and BK-One in Providence on the East Coast swing of their Breakin’ Dawn Tour. Clutch is a big Brother Ali fan, and although I was hyped to see him too I was most interested in catching Fashawn (real name Santiago Leyva), who made major waves in ’09 with his debut solo album Boy Meets World. More than Fashawn’s individual talent and character, the young Fresno-bred emcee has an incredible knack for surrounding himself with great people. At just 21 years old, “The Phenom” (as he is aptly called) already has a resume that rivals many veterans’ credentials.

Clutch and I got a late start on our way down to the Jerky’s for the show, so by the time we got there we could already hear Brother Ali’s warmly deep voice booming through the PA upstairs. Angry at myself for having missed Fashawn, we hung back for a second and puffed down to the labels until we (I) were (was) ready to go upstairs, resigned to the fact that I’d missed my shot at seeing one of the best young emcees around. As we were about to climb the steps, a compact but lively dude bounded down them, fitted slanting up from his sweaty brow, and immediately pulled out a sizable spliff, turning to me for a lighter. Without thinking, I reached in my pocket and handed over my nahbud-light, then asked Clutch if he was ready to head in. Like a ton of bricks it hit me:

“What’s good, Fash.”
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One of the things I like most about hip hop right now is that the young guns and veterans alike are chillen on the grind like a rusty gear*. There’s a whole crop of young emcees bringing fresh perspectives to the game, while the mainstays continue to drop hot shit that bucks the traditional career trend of older rhymers (see: to fall off). And the best part about it? There’s room for everyone- young & old, fat & skinny, male & female, East & West, black, white, & everything in between!

This week’s Mixtape Monday features brand new tracks from Slick Rick, Meth, Rae, & Ghostface, XXL Freshmen Jay Rock, J. Cole & Fashawn, the homie XV, and more! Hit the skip for the DL link and a Wu Tang video that’ll bring you straight back to ’93.

*Shouts to the homie Element, who dropped a dope new joint last week.

Jay Rock ft. Ab-Soul – Can I Roll

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Young Chris ft. J. Cole – Still The Hottest

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Freestyle, Wordsmith, & M-Dot – Struggle

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Meth, Ghost & Rae – Miranda

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As a whole, this mixtape is only as good as its collective parts. And though Nipsey Hussle, Big Sean, Freddie Gibbs, Wiz Khalifa and J. Cole throw down on tracks 3-8, DJ Whoo Kid makes sure to remind all of us why the artists are always better than the DJ when he’s on the joint. Yes, whooooo kiiiiiid, we know its you, we know you like cutting in with little kids in the playground and horror noises, but da Juiceman has said “bread in the kitchen” enough… there is no need to “throw that shit back.”

Highlights are a dope beat on track 6, Fashawn going in on track 4, and J Cole showing his NY state of mind on “Who’s World.” All in all, its a good product from 10 esteemed young artists.

Since datpiff doesn’t want to tell you the artist order, and since its an incomplete version of the tape, we’ll post it below the jump for you. Download the full tape at XXLmag.com

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We’ve seen a couple collaborations between Snoop and CuDi of late, the most recent of which (“I Do My Thing”) was produced by none other than Dr. Dre. All old school Snoop (and tree) lovers take notice: there’s a new toker in town.

CuDi’s making waves not only in the music world but also in the realm of television. He plays the bottle-popping, easy-going Domingo on HBO’s newest hit series How To Make It In America. CuDi’s character is peripheral (so far), but the show itself taps into hip hop culture in a big way: the two main characters were raised on hip hop in New York City, and now in their late 20′s and with little direction in life they team up to start a denim line called Crisp.

Hit the skip for new CuDi X Snoop, plus a full Mixtape Monday stuffed with goodies from all over the industry (including the very first single off Drake’s upcoming official album AND the first four episodes of How To Make It In America!).

Kid CuDi ft. Snoop Dogg – I Do My Thing [prod. Dr. Dre] [prod. Watts & Ringo]

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Little Brother – Curtain Call

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Drake – Over [prod. Boi-1da]

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On Monday XXL released the cover for its 10 Freshmen for ’10 issue following a month-long promo campaign that featured videos of each rapper on the list flowing. After doing some digging I found out a few fun facts:

1. Drake and Nicki Minaj turned down the opportunity to be on the list because they felt they were too good for it at this point.
2. Apparently Drake also felt like it was a huge snub that he didn’t make the list in ’09, but it may have been better for his career seeing as half of the people on that list (see: Ace Hood, Cory Gunz, Mickey Factz, Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton) have plateaued like a motherfucker.
3. Either way, XXL missed out on the boy from T Dot and may have made another gaffe this year: XV. Dude made major noise with Everybody’s Nobody and has been steadily releasing material since. XXL better hope he stays below the radar so they don’t go 2-for-2!
4. Check back for more details about the XXL Top 10 Freshmen Party going down in NYC later this month. Seeing all these dudes at one time would be pretty ill.

Hit the skip for the 10 videos. Watch them all the way through (the longest is only about a minute), vote for whose verse you thought was the best, and if you have a sec leave a comment explaining why.
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The N(Y)C native is at the helm of this new school of rappers with the tiller firmly in his hand, rudder at his command. Easily the coldest spitter of the group, Cole has an advantage on every other rapper in XXL’s Top 10 Freshmen. Hit the skip for a breakdown of the list, plus music from Cole you may have missed over the past couple months.

J. Cole – College Boy

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J. Cole – Shook Ones Freestyle

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This is tough.

Ohio native Mick Boogie a.k.a. the best mixtape DJ out right now (apologies to Drama, Green Lantern) teams with up-and-coming Brooklyn-based production trio nVMe and hip-hop’s most underrated imprint Duck Down Entaprizez to create a tribute project based on KRS-One and Buckshot’s Survival Skills collaboration, which united two legends who rose from some of NY’s most notorious pavement. One from uptown (Soundview) one from downtown (Brownsville), both from places you enter with your head on a swivel and your eyes and ears open (for the dope beats of course).

Up-and-comers from the BX, BK and beyond spit over nVMe’s thumpin’ interpolations of classic KRS and Buckshot tracks. Particularly nasty is the mash-up intro provided by TDot native DJ Sherazta. Check for that track below, plus a tracklist, download link, and some recent Mick Boogie gems you might have missed.

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