Benz and a Backpack

This is really that shit. Hard at work over the past several months, Doss The Artist unleashes “Shapeshift The Whip,” a street anthem and the first single off his upcoming mixtape 9Lives. “Shapeshift The Whip” knocks harder than Guns N Roses and boasts a verse and grungy choruses from Doss’ fellow Detroit emcee Greenlee as well as production from the immensely talented producer Hir-O. Here’s the scoop, straight from the good homie glassran:

“Acknowledging the great response on Computer B!ue, Doss The Artist is proud to announce his forthcoming installation entitled 9Lives. A weekly release series starting this Friday, October 14^th, 9Livespromises to highlight all the glittering facets of the Doss The Artist sound. The first track in the series, “Shapeshift The Whip,” features Detroit-based emcee Greenlee, along with particularly robust production from Hir-O (The Voyage Home). It is a seriously entertaining and fun street anthem with potent but infectious rhymes. The series is nine tracks deep with one song to be released per week. It is a warm up to the upcoming LP from Doss The Artist, entitled 86 Miles Tall.”

Download: Doss The Artist – Shapeshift The Whip [prod. Hir-O] | Alternate Link

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Last week, Detroit emcee Haz Bey released his impressive debut effort The Haz EP, featuring top-notch production from the big homies Hir-O and ONRA. The Haz EP shows Haz’s lyrical dexterity, and he’s accompanied by talented wordsmiths Doss The Artist, L05, and Dom Sirius. Make sure you keep tabs on the Blat! Pack, because their potential is practically unlimited.

Download: Haz Bey – The Haz EP

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As I went back through my iTunes, these are the albums I found myself listening to the most, and generally from top to bottom. You’ll notice KanYe’s album is missing from my list. While I absolutely love (and have dissected) a lot of the music from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I find myself too often having to tune out the lyrics in order to focus on the music. As such, the album has very little replay value for me. By contrast, Doss & Hir-O (who recently got a nod from K-Nott) crafted, to me, one of the most sonically innovative and timely albums in recent memory. If you don’t already have Computer B!ue, make sure you grab it (for free) right here.

Honorable Mention: Freeway & Jake One – Stimulus Package (Rhymesayers)

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We’ve had these last couple best-of lists waiting in the wings for a while, but major events have gotten in the way of us finishing them up. Here they go, starting with Clutch’s Top 10 Albums, and if you haven’t heard some of these make sure you listen pronto.

10. Aloe Blacc – Good Things (Stones Throw)

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In case you haven’t been keeping up, here is the full compilation, with a track list and D/L after the jump. The artwork has all been from celebrated hip-hop photographer Mike Schreiber, who recently dropped a collection of his favorite hip-hop pictures called True Hip-Hop (available via Amazon.com). Each of his pictures captures some fundamental element of hip-hop: Biz’s playfulness, Nas’ cerebral disposition, Mos’ introverted artistry, Meth’s larger-than-life persona. The release of Mike’s anthology in 2010 is just one of the reasons it was such a wonderful year for hip-hop. Here’s to an even better 2011!

Previously: Dizzy’s Best Singles Of 2010 [Part 5]
Previously: Dizzy’s Best Singles Of 2010 [Part 4]
Previously: Dizzy’s Best Singles Of 2010 [Part 3]
Previously: Dizzy’s Best Singles Of 2010 [Part 2]
Previously: Dizzy’s Best Singles Of 2010 [Part 1]
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I get sentimental on New Years.

Dizzy and I started this thing in April 2009, not really realizing how much this site would become an extension, a narrative of our dealings with music.  It’s a running portfolio of every downloaded mixtape, bookmarked article, interviewed artist, attended concert, and DJ’ed show.  Most importantly, the content is inspired by our incredible group of friends who support us in moving this site forward.

2009 was erratic.  Inconsistent updates, theme changes every couple months, study abroad programs, and a general feeling of “how the fuck do we get this site off the ground” were the dominant themes.  2010 was our first full year, and we finally found our stride.  Believe it or not, there are now people who read this site, 20,000 unique a month strong, from all over the world. We’ve also amassed a team of contributors who help us fill in the holes, both in terms content and musical taste.  Praises are due for seanermc, Sheek Shah, miss a.k.w., Mr. Alexander, jonno, hankerins, chunkee, and ACB.  This squad brought elements to this site that Diz and I would have never been able to conjure up ourselves.  And yes, the main reason you don’t get a 404 error screen when coming here is shoms, our resident Dutchmaster.

As comfortable as we are now, 2011 is inevitably going to be a year of drastic change. You might only catch a couple posts a day on the homepage, but behind the scenes we are formulating something that is truly going to stand up to the heavy weights of the music publishing world, Mickey Ward style. The same way the blogging format is a reflection of our temporal college lives, the next reincarnation of Benz and a Backpack is going to represent the quality and professionalism that will be demanded of us in our coming careers. Every little thing we learn in the “real” world will be re-invested back into this site, and that makes me so excited for the future I have to remind myself I still have a diploma to earn.

We take the most pride in the content we have produced that is original, creative, and exclusive.  With that in mind, hit the skip for the top 10 posts of 2010 in chronological order.

P.S. – I think I was 4 for 5 on my top 5 things to look forward to in 2010.  The Wu album prediction was a little disappointing.

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Curren$y through Earl Sweatshirt, including newcomers Das Racist and Doss The Artist as well as seasoned vocalists Dwele and Marc Anthony.

Previously: Dizzy’s Best Singles Of 2010 [Part 1]
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After teasing us with this trailer a couple weeks back, Detroit-based super(b)-producer Hir-O released his debut instrumental album The Voyage Home this morning. If you were on Hir-O and Doss The Artist’s top-notch album Computer Blue, you’ll recognize a couple of the cuts (“Headlock”, “I and I”, “Outer Blue”). After just one listen, what really stuck out about The Voyage Home was how musically progressive it is. You can hear Hir-O’s influences: he fuses Dilla’s rhythmic complexity with Pete Rock’s musicality, Madlib’s adventurousness with Ski’s knack for the groove. But there is not a shadow of a doubt about who is at the helm of this space-bound ship; Hir-O is deliberate, tasteful, and engaging throughout. Straight from his BandCamp, where you can get the album for free:

This album is both a literal and metaphorical allusion to my Voyage Home to Detroit after graduating from College. Creatively highlighted by my reconnection with the powerful cultural legacy that defines Detroit. This album is an anthology of audio that forms a gradient ranging from electronic inspired sounds-capes to that Real Live Detroit Sh*t.

The Voyage Home is a globe-trot through muddy electronic waters into the pit of Voltron’s chest cavity, transcending into a soul legacy of movement music for gator walkers and fitted-tippers.

The Voyage Home is an Audio Headlock, an Urban Phantasm, a Negro Shrine.

Following the success of The Tomorrow People, Doss The Artist’s Computer B!ue, and various efforts as a producer for the Michigan hip-hop collective BLAT Pack, Hir-O releases his debut instrumental album.

And after many pursuits of the truest measures, Hir-O makes The Voyage Home.

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MoneyCashShoms alerted me to a situation that took place at the end of last summer when Das Racist’s Victor Vazquez challenged Farley Katz, an in-house cartoonist at The New Yorker, to a cartoon-off! The reason? Vazquez was unhappy with Katz’s commentary on American Fast Food culture, which referenced the Das Racist joint “Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell.” Katz accepted the challenge, and the rest is history. And even though Katz and TNY did not hold true to their promise– that if they lost they’d become a magazine dedicated to rap and jewels (haha)– the fact that the cartoon-off happened is worthy of recognition in and of itself. What’s that age-old adage– it’s not where you end up that matters, but how you get there? Yeah. Something like that.

It’s been a minute, but this go-round of Mixtape Monday has a little bit of everything: Das Racist for the deconstructivists, must-listen Nas for the purists, Smokers Club representatives for the weed heads, Aloe Blacc for the musical connoisseurs, TrapDub (or ‘ThugStep’) for the party-goers, Gucci for the anti-lyricists, and the 2010 BET Cyphers for those who haven’t heard em yet. Bewler!

Benz And A Backpack Presents…Mixtape Monday – Vol. 22 by BenzAndABackpack4

Download: Benz And A Backpack Presents…Mixtape Monday Vol. 22

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Ridin’ solo has become passé.  Everyone nowadays is linking up, whether it be it hip-pop stars or backpackers.  Young Money, Slaughterhouse, Diddy Dirty Money; the list goes on and on.

Last week, out of nowhere, Dizzy and I were blessed with the opportunity to interview Chuck D of Public Enemy as we sipped sweet tea at his kitchen table.  Much of the conversation was about the decline of live hip-hop shows and the disappearance of crews, two things Chuck believes have a serious correlation.  He dropped knowledge about the predeccesors of hip-hop shows, all out funk fests from the likes of Earth Wind and Fire.  “You think an emcee would come walking onto the stage like nothing after an entire funk orchestra rocked out?  Nah, they would come out dancing their asses off.”

Inspired by miss a.k.w.’s Throwback Thursday: Posse Cuts Edition (Parts One and Two), here are ten of 2010′s hottest team efforts.  At first, I wasn’t gonna rank these cuts so you guys could be insulated from my opinion.  But, fuck it, leave some comments.

1. Curren$y Feat. Mos Def and Jay Electronica – The Day

The lead single and anthem off of Pilot Talk.

“I’m so sorry/ if I don’t look happy to be here/in your label office/cause they said I cant smoke weed here”

The first question we asked Chuck D in our upcoming interview was what he though of Jay Electronica’s verse on this song.

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2. Rick Ross Feat. T.I., Jadakiss, and Erykah Badu – Maybach Music III

Rick Ross’s 2010 release Teflon Don shows serious growth and maturity.  Ross is one of the few artists this year that has successfully put together a solid, 12 track album that is replayable from front to back, over and over.  Top 3 so far for me.

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3. Young Money – Bed Rock

No one can ever say Birdman is bad for business.  After nurturing a young Lil’ Wayne into a mega-star, he has now constructed a super-group of young and up and coming (if you can still call them that anymore) rappers and singers around him.  Now that Drake and Nicki are household names, I’m thinking Tyga is next to burst, starting with “Dueces“.

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4. The Roots Feat. Blu, Phonte, and Patty Crash – The Day

If you put on How I Got Over, the latest release from The Root’s, as background music, you will barely be able to tell when one song ends and the next one starts.  The whole album blends seamlessly, with The Day sitting right at the middle.  The best part might be the rare appearance by Blu.

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Our good friend Hir-O, the executive producer behind Doss The Artist’s debut mixtape Computer Blue, adds his deft and decidedly Detroit touch to Drizzy’s hit single “Over.” Hir-O’s musicality is matched only by his intelligence; “The DrakeOver” is a testament to the fact that he could produce a hit for any type of rapper, and in some (if not most) cases he could do it better than the original producer on the cut.

Hir-O – The DrakeOver by BenzAndABackpack

Get at Hir-O on Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.

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Every now and then, trying circumstances arise that would put a strain on any relationship. When that strain becomes sustained, or when it shows some semblance of permanence, it’s time to put the foundation of that relationship under the microscope and evaluate whether or not it is fundamentally sound. If it is, then you break out your tool belt and work with the other person to rebuild the interior of that relationship, and move forward. If it isn’t fundamentally sound then you tear that house down and look for a different plot of land to build on.

There’s no time to waste on people who don’t reciprocate equal love and respect. Surround yourself with the people who do, because they’ll always hold you down. Keep the others at arm’s length. Dame and Jay parted ways in 2004, most likely because Dame was not a supporter of the direction HOV was headed. Now Dame is doing much cooler shit than Jay, and he’s doing it with a group of people dedicated to a singular artistic cause. Ski Beatz, Curren$y, Big K.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA are DD172 teammates featured in this week’s Mixtape Monday. Other tracks include: brand new Raekwon, Andre 3000, Styles P, Cee-Lo, KanYe, Lupe & Pharrell, as well as cuts from Detroit’s Doss The Artist & Hir-O, and Providence’s own CR The Beast and Chachi. DL link under the cut!

Benz And A Backpack Presents…Mixtape Monday – Vol. 21 by BenzAndABackpack

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