Benz and a Backpack

Ricky Shabazz & the Boom Bap Boys and Juan Deuce present No Sweat. After the major success of his collaborative tape with Falside for The Mechanics EP, Juan recruited a team of slick producers to craft the music on No Sweat: Falside, J57 and Audible Doctor (of The Brown Bag All-Stars), The Doppelgangaz, Fonzi Wells, pJAYd, Fakts One (The Perceptionists), and ACB. Juan flexes over the diverse production, showcasing his growing lyrical muscles with a little help from fellow New Englanders Jon Hope, Romen Rok, and Dj Emoh Betta. Stream, download, share and enjoy! Note: Physical copies of No Sweat and Sweat Band Bundles will be available for purchase via Strange Famous Records later this month.

Tracklist after the skip!
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Lester Bangs do their best to combat obeatsity. Download for free from their BandCamp!

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Brooklyn’s Flatbush Ave. has been brewing with talent since the beginning of hip-hop, but the neighborhood has only been put back on the map in the last year with young talents like the Flatbush Zombies and Joey BadA$$. Now, Zombie and Bada$$ affiliates The Underachievers are adding fuel to the unsigned fire with their latest music video, Gold Soul Theory, directed by Yasha Gruben and Indigo Child Productions.

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“You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far,” and I imagine nobody in the first thirty years of hip-hop did. Radio play? Yup. Magazines? Okay. Grammys? Probably. But fellowships at Harvard?

If anyone deserves a fellowship at an elite institution it’s 9th Wonder, who is one of the premier educators and practitioners of hip-hop. 9th has been teaching a soul sampling course at Duke University, and over the course of his career he has approached his music with an unparalleled level of intelligence and devotion. That devotion will be on display in The Harvard Fellowship, a film directed by Kenneth Price (who collaborated with 9th on The Wonder Years) that will document 9th’s year at Harvard, and hopefully dispel with the idea that “hip-hop” and “entertainment” are synonymous.

“The Harvard Fellow follows one of hip-hop’s most dynamic artists, 9th Wonder through a year of lecturing and research at Harvard University. While at Harvard, 9th will have an office on campus, teach a class on the history of hip-hop, complete a research project and further explore hip-hop’s history and culture in an academic setting.”

The research component to the project is especially interesting. 9th will spend the year unearthing and cataloguing the samples that make up his 10 favorite albums. For more information on The Harvard Fellow, visit the project’s website, and be sure to make even a nominal donation to The Harvard Fellow’s Kickstarter, because after all, money only grows on trees after you get a degree from Harvard.

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The 330′s finest dropped his highly anticipated mixtape Savage Journey to the American Dream. As I’ve said before,  I was a little skeptical when I found out Stalley signed to Maybach Music Group. His feature on the Rich Forever mixtape helped clear things up, but he still has a lot to prove.Rick Ross is a major league player and I’m anxious to see if Stalley can make the jump to the big-leagues without losing his ism. I don’t think he would compromise his principles unless he felt like it was for the best, so I’m coming into it with an open mind. It’s produced almost exclusively by Block Beataz, and if you heard that track they did with G-side I posted a few weeks back, you’ll realize that these dudes mean business. I’ll give the full scoop when I get a chance!

Hit the skip for the Download link and the tracklist! Read the rest of this entry →

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Smoking weed, snorting coke, and dropping acid is what Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and producerErick Arc Elliot, collectively known as Flatbush Zombies, are all about. The Brooklyn-based trio regularly uses these vices to escape the world they live in, or rather, DON’T live in. After amassing over 30,000 YouTube views in two days for their viral gem “Thug Waffle” and storming through Austin the other week for SXSW, Flatbush Zombies released their latest video, “S.C.O.S.A.,” last week, and just yesterday, the internet unexpectedly gave leak to the group’s latest single, “Laker Paper.”

The soundtrack to their psychedelic underworld is propelled by the urgent and bass-heavy production of Erick Arc Elliot, which comes off like a DMT-fueled concoction of Gravediggaz, Tech N9ne and Three 6 Mafia. Together, their addictive, haunting soundscapes make even the prissiest of prudes pledge allegiance to the walking dead, as became evident with “Thug Waffle” and “S.C.O.S.A.,” the latter combining warbled and head-pounding bass into a video of blurred and frenzied shots, the trio’s perverse addictions on full display.

The Zombies’ allure is once again evident on “Laker Paper.” The single, with artwork designed by Erick Arc Elliot, opens with glassy-eyed synths and dirty bass guitar that, together, give the track a washed out, alluring feel. The hypnotizing darkness is a perfect compliment for Meechy and Juice’s weed anthem, driven by a drugged out chant on the hook. “Purple in the blunt / Swisher be the paper,” raps the screwed-up vocal. “Mouth full of gold / I’m feeling like a Laker.”

Stream below, download after the jump!

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Wiz dropped his highly anticipated mix tape Taylor Allderdice. Obviously haven’t had a chance to give it a listen just yet, but I caught a few tweets from the Listening Session that went down a couple weeks ago. One blogger (@LowKeyUhtn), called it a mix between Cabin Fever and Kush & OJ; tough to to say what that means, but I’m going to take it as a positive. It’s no secret that the rapper has been struggling lately. I was convinced the dude fell off completely. Rolling Papers was less then stellar, he’s dating a whore, and now he’s writing bubble gum rap for the radio. Alas, a few of his recent singles and features have offered listeners a beacon of hope. He’s also had some trouble pushing his albums in the past, so he’s really counting on this one to build some steam for the upcoming O.N.I.F.C. 

So give it a listen, share your thoughts below, I’m interested to hear y’all take on this as well.

For now just hit the skip for the link and check back later for my full take and I’ll upload it so you can stream it as soon as possible. Chuuuccch. Read the rest of this entry →

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Here is the second leak from Juan Deuce‘s upcoming Ricky Shabazz and the Boom Bap Boys presented mixtape “No Sweat“. This time around Juan enlists Providence wordsmith and Brooklyn representative Romen Rok. Release date TBA. Please share, post, spread, and enjoy this certified head-nodder produced by Falside.

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I don’t pop pills anymore (12 days sober thank you very much), but when I did, this song was my anthem. Now, as some of you are probably aware, XXL just dropped their 2012 Freshman cover and Schoolboy Q and Ab Soul were not on it. I’m not gonna speak on it personally, but if you haven’t heard Habits & Contradictions already, I suggest you give it a listen. Compare that to anything Iggy Azalea has done and then tell me who you think deserved the spot more.

Fake, extremely political covers aside….Hit the skip for the visuals for “Nightmare on Figg St.” (bad ass chicks salute!) Read the rest of this entry →

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I got to thinking about Odd Future the other day. I decided that they were about to take a bow out of the limelight. Shock value only lasts so long; to the masses atleast.

On the surface, that’s all the group is; Shocking. Dig a little deeper into OFWGKTA though and you actually find something substantial. You find a self-sustaining group of misfits who refuse to be boxed in. Imagine my suprise when I when I found out Hodgy let some other producers lace his stuff. It’s completely out of character, but because he let the best in the game do it (Juicy J, Thelonius Martin, Alchemist, Flying Lotus), it was well worth it.

For once, I hope you all can put aside the OFWGKTA reputation and enjoy this for what it is. Good music.

Hit the skip for the download link and the track list. Click the album artwork above to stream.  Read the rest of this entry →

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Ski Beatz offers up another session at his 24 Hour Karate School and this time around the dojo is at 30,000 feet up. 24 Hour Karate School: Twilight drops Valentine’s Day and all the usual suspects (Curren$y, Smoke DZA, Stalley, etc.) are sitting co-pilot. Bow to your sensei, because Ski treating that bass like you should treat your girl this Tuesday. You ain’t “Living it Up” like Mikey Rocks and Trademark unless you got the type that wants them sticky-green flowers though.  If you ain’t got a girl at all, just put this on rotation in the whip and cruise with Mary Jane.

Hit the skip for the the tracklist and a little sumn extra. Remember, J.ust E.njoy T.his S.hit.  Read the rest of this entry →

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Say what you want about G-Side. Personally, I ain’t too impressed, but their new-school trap music does seem to mesh well with Stalley. The duo works very closely with Block Beataz, a production team from just outside of Huntsville, Alabama made up of Mali Boi and CP. They bring that clean, yet hard hitting sound that’s hard to ignore. Somebody send Curren$y this track! (seriously). Block Beataz aside, Stalley’s verse is off the damn hook. Pumped to see what he has on deck.

Hit the skip for some more gab and goodies.

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