“Suburban Sprawl”-Donwill & Suhburb (Click To DL)

“Sittin At The Bar” (Demo)

“Alright”

Next up, we have this crazy, distorted, noisy album that arrived earlier this summer virtually outta’ nowhere as a free download, no less. Donwill, 1/3 of underground favs Tanya Morgan, along with producer suhBurb has released one of the most musically “sound” albums in 2008 with “Suburban Sprawl”, a project that was believed to have originated in early 2006. According to Donwill:

“suhBurb would send these 15 minute long mp3 beat tapes to us and they would flow like an album. I remember the one that originally sparked the idea was the “Brazil Beat tape” (sounds like a porno now that i think about it) and when i had heard it i liked so much of it that i jokingly suggested to him that i would just write verses, two track it and release that. A few emails, AIM conversations, phone calls and years later and we are both proud to present to you “Suburban Sprawl”.

Donwill also added: “Some of you may have heard the demo’s of the songs from “Suburban Sprawl via (Donwill & Illyas’) “Beat Thieves 2″. Some are featured on “Mixing In Action” and some were passed on by me to my several sets of second ears either out of boredom, frustration or i just wanted a critique on what they sounded like. The thing to understand about the demo’s of these songs is that those were the sketches that i submitted to suhBURB. The versions in the linked .zip file are the fully realized final creations. Loud, distorted, tinny, crunchy or strange; call it what you may but the one word that sums the collective body of work up best is intentional. Not enough people challenge themselves while making music, let alone the listener. After all there is no grand prize or award for making it to the end of an album, only an opinion and hopefully a glimpse into the time the artist spent between inception and release. This is our snapshot, hopefully the images are focused enough for you to see what we captured.”

Man, this collective effort between suhBURB and Dowill was bananas! I don’t know who this suhBURB cat is and I’d never even heard of him prior to the release of “Suburban Sprawl”, but who ever he is…he is hella’ talented! The production on this album is Radiohead meets Jimi Hendrix meets J Dilla, but most importantly it’s original.  Don’t be mistaken, Donwill is a proven emcee in his own right, but “Suburban Sprawl” was a very pleasant surprise as it received heavy rotation on the Ipod throughout much of 2008. If you have been sleepin’ on this release as well, be sure to peep it.. Also, I won’t hesitate to say that “Surburban Sprawl” was also one of the better listens of 2008.  Also see below where Donwill and suHburb break down the album, bit by bit:

“Night Time”

01 – The Tiki Torch

Donwill: this was one of the first beats I got for the project and I fell in LOVE with it but I never found words that matched the energy of the track, so I left it bare. But since the album is about me and suhBURB sharing total creative space his instrumentals are just as important as my vocals which is why it stands alone. I have no idea why it’s named ‘The Tiki Torch’, you’d have to ask ‘burb about that one…

SuhBURB: I think this is a Chambers Brothers sample? The drums were retarded and I couldn’t leave it alone. I had originally cooked it up for spec boogie as a remix beat for another track we did together – that still hasn’t seen the light of day, I think – but it kind of got lost in the shuffle. The name is left over from the original track, which kinda sounded like some party in the jungle shit.

02 – Sittin’ at the Bar Demo

VERSE 1: man listen isn’t women within criticism/ it’d be different if they didnt try to be so temptin/ cant still let hoes, tempt me with stilletos/ pedicured to the ones with the paint peeled toes/ like i aint get close to taken her outta her clothes/ know she wrong hittin on a man who faithful and yo/ cant keep a man so she out to lease another womans/ claim its for the sex only but distressed she runnin to him/ she dont ask or assume its really somethin she dont wanna know/ that way she dont feel like she bein a hoe/ maybe thats what turns her on tho forbidden fruit/ in the open tellin lies about her hidden truth/ sippin juice and vodka talkin bout nothin in particular/ got it all wrong she aint hardly how i figured her/ this is where i get off peace, see ya later VERSE 2: man listen isnt women within criticism/ its a given if you speakin then you tryna get with em/ not necessarily true, see what society do/ a simple conversation turns to inuendo then *POOF*/ now its like im in the wrong guys and girls cant get along/ cant just be friends, gotta see or show a thong/ gone head girl im grown, beyond being sex prone/ dont mistake idle chatter for you gettin hit on/ they got us all confused when they say that dudes/ know three kinda women, no appendix to the rules/ that every girl we know we either tryin, cant or wont cut/ thats fairly accurate until you fall in love or grow up/ but yall in luck you know what? heres a little secret/ if i say hi to a woman its because i feel like speakin/ just polite was raised right in fact i got a woman/ whats the screwface for all i said was how you doin

Donwill: Tanya Morgan songs have to come from somewhere and this is one of the original demos that I forwarded to the guys after weeks of ’should I keep this for myself’ contemplation. The song actually went thru a few mutations, the demo version then became the ‘VPND’ version that I was gonna just keep on suburban sprawl but it was one of those situations where not giving this song to the group was definitely for the greater good, and I’m sure a lot of people out there agree. I think the idea for the song actually came from the experience of being at a bar in Adam’s Morgan (DC STAND UP) and my random convo being mistaken for holleration.

SuhBURB: This is my Dilla tribute. I remember the day I figured out how he did the Jackson 5 flip that The Roots used for Can’t Stop This and losing my damn mind. The idea that you could chop a sample and speed it up without changing the pitch – and at the same time making the rhythm of it swing more and more – just fascinated me. And as much as I love that the full TM version of this is what they open their shows with, I really like Don’s demo version more, especially since I had a chance to finish the beat to my liking here.

03 – Baltimore Bitch

Donwill: The underlying theme of this project is ‘I don’t really give a fuck about your opinion, thanks’ and in applying said theme I was wondering what was one of the most jarring things I could do to people who love to box you in, that resulted in this song. The vocal samples in the song come from two other songs on the project (I’ll leave the figuring out up to you) I actually like Baltimore club/house music and all of its many variants for the most part, that shit goes hard.

SuhBURB: All this new club stuff – Baltimore house, baile funk and even reaggeton – hits a chord with me. It’s deceptively simple, with the 4-on-the-floor beats and little vocal samples, but there’s a real power to it that a lot of more “serious” music is missing, in my opinion. This is me trying to respectfully honor that style and aesthetic. I want to make this into a full song for the remix that Che and Don are going to do, complete with air-raid sirens, gunshots and a rewind or two.

04 – Diwadiwadonald

dedicate til im dead in a crate/ and hauled off yall lost a livin and breathin great/ so lets celebrate like its 1999 again/ pray i write a rhyme my pen collectin dust and gathering/ bear the weight of the world, the fate of me and my girl/ debate the pay or the toil of makin watched pots boil/ just like a shots recoil i aint wastin no energy/ him famous, the infamous don f kennedy/ upon the bullets entry he, fled the life he led/ bled every word he said gushin forth from his head/ hand and heart, scan the charts son you’ll find none like him/ crawl before you walk, stumblin to run and bite him/ mc’s is teethin on the three ring or composition ruled/ (im) opposite the rule, following the path of them fools/ im self made, self taught, demons self fought/ out to pay myself first so the album self bought/ felt caught between a rock and hard place, rockin at a hard pace/ (like) rock hard in a broads face huggin on the first date/ a wolf in sheeps clothing, vintage jeans need sewing/ flippin nike boxes open, scuffless kicks that aint been broken in/ flyest thing flowin next to delta beverage service/ why you aint go first? yeah dog i know you nervous/ if i was you i would be too, im disgruntled and dont like you/ no tellin what i might do…

Donwill: This song was actually named ‘Im’a win’ but I changed it. The name of this song comes from my love of watermarks. You will actually hear the ‘Diwadiwadonald’ watermark featured on a few songs throughout the project, simply because I like how watermarks sound. They are so fucking intrusive, especially when you are listening to some shit you really like. But when done correctly they are MAGIC… I’m not gonna tell you what watermark I’m imitating here but i will say the downloaded and burned copy of this cd etched that damn watermark into my brain for ever, to the point that when I play the purchased version of the album I miss them. this particular watermark is placed to cover a mistake that i made and didnt wanna fix.

SuhBURB: This is probably one of the oldest beats that Don picked for the album. Like a lot of my work, it had gone through a couple incarnations before he got his hands on it, and the details didn’t really come together until I was mixing the album. It’s a real ‘producers revenge’ mix: the drums are dumb low, the sample is distorted to shit, etc. etc. Doing this and a lot of the other beats on here, I was starting to get really tired of how my samples were sounding. I started making beats from a love of jungle and drum & bass, and the immense loudness of the music fascinated me. This, in a backwards way, tries to get at that.

05 – Salsoul

yo… don’t expect too much, play lifeless and just/ let em roll over, not sober cus I’m punch drunk/ staggered by blows, flaggin down woes, taggin up toes/ a dead man walkin, you can tell by the pose/ just a deer in the headlights, froze to get his head right/ but reaction time undermines his safety and his insight/ sounds grim right? nope, the outcome is miraculous/ stumbled back home after sustaining some damages/ handle this effortless, kill a beef or let it live/ so you can milk it endlessly and use it as a sedative/ peddle piss as lemonade and only fools will take it/ but for those who taste test less the sip, smile and fake it/ cus ain’t nothing sacred, achin joints and head from fightin life/ not rhymin its rock climbin tryna reach that higher height/ firefight the shit you call hot for the sake of something different/ water to a grease fire, decide if help or hindrance

Donwill: alot of these songs are supposed to have cuts on them, this is one of them. we’ll get it right next time tho….

SuhBURB: For the longest time I thought this song was about drunk driving. It’s not, obviously.

06 – Fly Me feat. Von Pea

VERSE 1: i gets busy and then keep puttin work in/ you tried to apply but didnt get the position/ ditched the pot to piss in, for one to bed a bitch in/ just understand when this ends we make our own pensions/ its the chairman of the boards ((SUHBURB))/ say word, and the team is lessondary so you know its superb/ yall sprawled out zonin, im appalled yall dont know him/ off the wall nigga go in! “yall some chiropractors holdin/ back catalog” know in fact, data logs showin that/ im involved so it got kinda bogged under stacks/ but its back now/ and as long as im in town with down time im jottin down rhymes/ plottin soundwise on how to stop them frown lines/ i let yall tell lies, you the hottest yeah right/ just get in line behind, we redesign the grind/ see in due time ill be reapin whats mine CHORUS: yall sprawled out sleepin we so sub urban (repeat x 2)/ yall sprawled out sleepin but he’s suburb/ fly me! VERSE 2: i cant feel ya, and id kill to/ ya such a cool brother to know, but so other than dope/ i tried i really did, mc get busy did/ the same jam it was just as lame damn/ link with me im tryna break the chain fam/ we wont shake the industry up but we can shake hands/ make plans G.O.T.H but black dont make up a fan base/ they aint sleepin you need to wake up/ no doze wont help no flows ya pose it shows/ ya no pro, but ill get you in the show/ only to come and watch not to come and try to flow/ bring some mixtapes to throw… word/ ill be over here with the talented, maybe try the clarinet/ go and be an engineer or something more challengin than this/ this is easy but you, you make it seem to be/ the hardest thing in the world, i aint tryna be evil b/ im just sayin

Donwill: when von heard this song he pretty much told me he was on it and wasn’t taking no for an answer. I think he literally sent me his verse in the same day as he got the demo. I consider this song the title track of the album. It’s kinda like those songs that people used to do dedicated to their dj and it sports that cool ass trademark suhBURB watermark that he puts on all his beat tapes. God I love watermarks…

SuhBURB: Good God, I love this song. If this albums production ethic could be summed up in one track it’d be this one. Everything’s wrong: the drums are enormous, to the point that they’re getting compressed. The sample is split between the two channels and distorted to hell. That fucks the vocal up. Don’t Don and Von sound like they’re stuck in the middle of the beat, rapping to you from a distance? And hell, at least Don is rapping at full volume. Von’s quietly dishing out some of the meanest shit I’ve ever heard in a verse; “you such a cool brother to know, but so other than dope.”

For a genre that’s got such a diverse sonic palette as hip-hop (regardless of what’s said over them, beats are made from ANYTHING, as long as it’s dope), there’s a real monotony that has sway over the way songs are mixed. It makes sense, if you’re listening to rap music, you probably want to clearly hear rappers, not have their part subservient to the track. I guess I just have a disdain for convention.

07 – Guilty

dirty with it, hard livin, take whats not given/ god given right to exist could be a curse in this/ skin im in no position shouldnt even be given/ faded as rainbow, rainin where the sun go?/ aint about to show no weakness whats that about?/ (get) outta line and challenge mine im knockin all them teeth out/ heavy metal barely balanced, tuggin on my waistline/ cant settle caged in, cant take more im/ close edge, nose dove, free fallin, hit the ground/ spazzed out, shots fired, woke up in lock down/ never thought id kill until driven to murder/ looked fun on menace, jackin rides just to order burgers/ for them nissan trucks, right in the drive thru/ but thats an interlude on icecube this my life dude/ might do life dude, no death penalty/ sittin in the holdin cell and wait for them to sentence me/ every minute, every second pass like a century/ the shit get real b/ be cause theres no peace as well/ cause my heaven could be yo hell/ now think about that/ i might have love in the streets but none in the house/ cant come in the house momma wanted me out/ and the man of the house didnt make her his spouse/ say im just like that nigga she cant stand my mouth/ and i cant stand lookin like a charity case/ so i take mines make a way whatever it takes/ heavy metal, federal scams, or peddling base/ niggas make deadly mistakes and i take em away/ and this game aint for play but i do it to play/ big boy toys homie whip the escalade/ live savage just to be in the ranks of the civilized/ bad as it sounds im just tryna survive

Donwill: Okay so as Ilwil, me and Ilyas have a billion unreleased songs just sitting on his computer wasting their collective lives, these lyrics belonged to one of those songs, 2 of those songs actually. The first half of the verse is from a song where we portrayed opposing sides of a persons duality, I was of course the surface/exterior and he was supposed to portray the thoughts/interior of said individual but for some reason that never came into fruition. The second verse comes from an outtake of a song we did for this guy in Cincinnati (we actually recorded a whole album with this guy but that’s a WHOOOLE ‘nother story) the verses just happened to be in the same notebook and when I was looking for verses to go on this beat it just so happened that these two synced up perfectly to display the duality that me and Ilyas were gonna try and convey on the original song.

SuhBURB: This is one of, if not my absolute favorite Donwill verse. I’m still pretty geeked that it’s on one of my beats.

08 – Night Time

VERSE: i cant front i give up man i swore off rap/ an abusive love affair where she aint give back/ get crack, get stacks, get capped is the formula/ no big named cosigns they all just ignorin ya/ my worst critic biggest fan, moonlighting’s classic man/ bled, sweated, cried givin birth to every word (damn)/ my pleasures yo pain, my treasure disdained/ different ears two brains, hope niggas views change/ this game so strange finnicky and fickle/ when you hot frontin dudes beg to do songs with you/ thats cute at worst and irritating at best/ why i dont talk much? im just avoiding the stress/ swerve for you get served from bein on my nerves/ get the fuck out my face if you cant help me get heard/ im purgin all demons so, holler if you see me yo/ thats why i deal with fam and nothing in between it yo! REFRAIN: we dont need em, we dont need em, we dont need em, and you dont either (repeat x 4)

Donwill: This song is a diss track to the industry, fans, my label, myself and damn near everybody who ain’t blood or don’t remain in constant contact with me. harsh i know but sometimes as an artist you get like that, at least i do. If you have spent any amount of time with me and you have engaged me in a conversation about the music business you will know exactly what I’m talkin about cus I am not hesitant to speak at length on how I feel about it at all.

SuhBURB: One of the many Madlib-influenced beats on here, in case you haven’t noticed. Enormous drum break + a chopped sample and voila! Don had a big part in how this track sounds; he asked me to run the sample chop by itself at the end and have the “we don’t need ‘em” chant run acapella. I think it makes the track.

09 – All RIght

Donwill: This song is in direct response to Night Time. This song is about just what it says it’s about, being okay with everything around you. Its about acceptance. It had a lot more words originally and there was even a loud screaming cursing rant that went through out the song but suhBURB saw fit to remove that from the final mix for whatever reason. There is a whole ‘nother version of this song with Che Grand doing a completely different hook that I have demo’d up but Che told me to scrap his contribution so I was forced to take matters into my own hands. This may be my favorite song on the project.

SuhBURB: I won’t lie; I borrowed this synth riff from one of the demo songs in Fruity Loops. It’s a real departure from the rest of the album sonically and I was glad to have an excuse to break out some of the goofy jungle drum programming I love so much.

10 – Slipknot

mc’s yall wanna get on, chill with who you shit on/ the music is a business now the art is almost gone/ and fans yall turn the hits on, crank it up and listen/ the music it defines you, yall relate to the song/ you ever stop and think about the fatal flaw that you makin/ its a demand for that man, fans standin and waitin/ but since you cant stand his jams you determined to make him/ out to be some fallacy, callously you forsake him/ but then he, starts his mission impedes ya residence/ through ya radios and tv’s, ladies and gents/ they televise genocide worldwide, my eyes wide shut/ id spy but i keep my mind tied up/ me slip not, but thats beside what i was sayin/ yall wanna go with this then follow me with no delay and see/ in actuality, with a little elbow grease he could be, you or me

Donwill: This song almost got left off of the project by accident. I think suhBURB was tired of mixing and remixing and me being all GmailNazi about the songs and just kinda forgot to mention that I never sent him the session for the song. Luckily my memory isn’t as bad as his. A lot of my songs question/analyze the industry and its many personalities, this is another of them.

SuhBURB: I had some of the demos for this album sitting on my computer, in folders separated by the names of the songs. A friend saw the folder for this track and nearly disowned me on the spot. It took a lot of convincing and a couple minutes of her searching my hard drive, but she left reassured that I do not, in fact, have any music by the masked metal band.

11 – The Words

hard to take it serious when its a parody apparently/ and paper begat paper but between the two its tearin me/ sometimes i sit and stare at me, darin he to speak/ karats glarin so who’s carin if im panderin the weak/ and im handling the beef between my inner and my peace/ by havin dinner with a freak because then i aint gotta think/ used to be aint got a thing but now the register is ringin/ pile the presents in the jeep and fly to beaches on the weekend/ that’ll teach my inner demon to quit speakin while we eatin/ maybe keep em all from being crippling and so misleading/ cant believe the boat that we in, loved puttin words together/ now i see it like ‘whatever’ its a million things better/ i wouldnt give up this position but i know the people listening/ agreein with the critics when they say that somethings missin/ i dont feel it no more, its just another job now/ writin hits or grocery lists, its just words to jot down

Donwill: If I’m not mistaken suhBURB kinda told me I had to rap to this beat, didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The demo version of this song has all kinda ranting and raving on the intro and outro that kinda helps set up the verse. It loosely relates to slipknot by kinda delving further into the psyche of a nigga who just kinda raps for the paycheck on that formulaic be safe and in the box shit…

SuhBURB: Can you hear me listening to Graduation here? I think this is a Lucinda Williams sample, or something.

12 – Dead Ass

VERSE: dead man walkin shoulda been castrated/ got her mad at men regrettin you the nigga that she laid with/ child created, you dont pay it no attention, in yo image molded/ hold it dog you trippin on yo blood, thats some cold shit/ notice how they look at you now when you come around/ throwin scowls and turnin you down, constant run around/ that child aint choose you for his dad and vice versa/ but yo chose yo baby momma punk ass, now think it over/ so that bitch get on yo nerves, naggin, whinin/ cheatin even slashed yo tires/ them yo problems find yo way around em for the greater good/ come correct and handle yo business like a player should/ yo time and money that precious? you cant share it?/ lets just hope that kid dont inherit yo mean ass spirit/ here it is a mirror to yo face, the words to this song/ yall be killin me, get over yo’self, you know you wrong REFRAIN: and if you bitchin as you listen its cus hit dogs bark/and you aint helpin by not finishin the shit yall start/ it aint no pampers to piss in, while you new car whippin/ dog you trippin, and definitely need an ass kickin/ you a dead beat, dead ass and im dead serious/ missin out on a once in a lifetime experience/ i aint talkin bout the money dog spend some time/ spend some time (repeat x 2)

Donwill: This is another one of those revitalized Ilwil songs. The original version was recorded in some hustle and flow ass home studio setup. We literally recorded onto reels and got the rough mix on cassette and this was long after digital recording setups became the norm. Regardless I thought the subject matter was too good to just be archived and never head again. I promise a lot of that Ilwil material is too good to just kinda be sitting around the way it is. the demo to this song also has some loud cussing rant about men not being fathers to their children.

SuhBURB: I am prone to massive creative blocks with beatmaking. This comes out of breaking one of those streaks, just staying up really late and playing with drum breaks until something comes along. To the probably disgust of purists everywhere, all the sounds on this track were downloaded from the Internet as mp3s. I neither have nor have any idea what records they’re from.

13 – Maybe

VERSE: you dont know what its like dude, when friends dont like you/ and you keep smiling anyway continuing the cycle/ hoping one day some way but one means or another/ the niggas that you tightest with will understand each other/ cus yall cats like brothers, done done it all together/ but you stressed cus yo dad’s health is bringin fam togther/ and they leave you to see thru feelings you dont wanna have/ dont even holler at you like yo phone went dead/ and all you got is the pen, god and blood aside/ so you write prayers for dads health and take it all in stride/ but you just aint feelin it, close but so far/ can barely pay rent, kick it and keep gas in yo car/ wish you never came back sometimes/ wish you never was born sometimes/ driven by passion so day jobs they just seem tedious/ can barely get past the mediocre cus its eating ya/ long stretches got you layin low, yo people yo aint seein em/ they think they done with em, nothing you can do to please em/ so yo soothe ya’self and do what moves yo own spirit/ jot a verse like this and wonder if you’ll let em hear it/ should i? REFRAIN: maybe, maybe not ( repeat x

Donwill: Imagine living in a city you didn’t really wanna be in and finding out your dad has cancer. Couple that with growing apart from your friend group due to just growing up and being broke as hell. Well aside from living in a city I don’t really wanna be in (no diss at all Cincy, I love y’all. just had to GO) not much has changed but I sincerely wrote this verse and buried it, didn’t intend for anybody in the world to hear it. But some of the best moments are found in that space between honesty and sincerity so I decided to include it on the project. and if you were wondering me and the friends mentioned in this song are doing just fine

SuhBURB: The deeply personal nature of this verse pushed me to mix it the way I did. Don’s laying some heavy shit on the line here and I wanted it to sound like the song had the same kind of weight. I’m trying again to get a sense of distance between the track and the listener, like you’re hearing it even though it’s not being played for you.

14 – Audio Visual

VERSE 1: audio visual for every individual/ precedents we kill em and the president we kill him to/ burnin bush but i aint tryna get political, just say some fly shit to make all the party people move/ rockin gaudy sequined jewels fresh new exclusive shoes/ def like im old school but still on that new improved/ decoy b-boys weak ploys we destroy/ speak for the ones who live it yep we they voice/ trendy ass hipsters on down to the felons/ got a lil bit of everything and thats why we sellin/ sit and scratch what im spellin in my college ruled, college schooled/ held a job or two but raps what i gotta do/ follow who? yeah right fuck a fad/ red carpet is the target, flick it up for the mags/ man we diggin in yo stash on that debo shit/ for them funds an them fans yep we want it CHORUS thats word, you see what im sayin? on the mic there wont be no delayin ( repeat x 2) VERSE 2: i thought i told you cats im not a rapper/ but im still better than you fake actors/ if i wrote it or not thats not factor/ im flyer than alot of yall and thats what matters/ on to a new chapter yall lame/ runnin in place stuck in the same mind frame/ im tryna live my life make it on my own/ yall up in the club actin sexy and grown/ we need respect shown, im tryna make a difference/ do some good on earth for the time that i visit/ if its permitted change a life or two/ and still look good in my high heeled shoes/ pretty brown eyes and looks that can kill/ and i stay on ya mind cus my style is ill/ petite five feet and a half inch maybe/ sassy shay’s a sexy lady

Donwill: This song was originally gonna be me and Jack Davey (of the group j*davey) trading verses. I’m not even sure if she remembers or knows about this but yeah, that’s what was planned. That didn’t happen and the song ended up kinda just laying around for a while. I tend to always ask random people on to my songs, the only rule is that you can’t be a recording artist. There is something about the way a person who isn’t a trained or practicing vocalist sounds during playback that I love. One day out of boredom I asked my girl at the time to drop write a verse and id coach her on how to recite it. For some reason I remember helping her write the actual words but she says that it was all her. She is probably right, as usual.

SuhBURB: Apparently the distorted vocal on this kept the album from getting a push from Loud Minority/IM. Growing up on my parents R&B (shouts to KBLX Oakland San Francisco San Joseeeee) and the hip-hop I could find for myself, it took me until I went to college to really get into rock and roll. One of the first things that really struck me about a lot of it was the willingness to distort vocal tracks for effect. In rock, it’s usually done on similarly rough or strident songs, but the beat here is so lush that I think it makes for a nice contrast.

15 – The Champ (LP Version)

VERSE 1: and honestly a part of me barely believes in modesty/ be callin me to walk into the job and give em my two weeks/ or not to speak at all just say fuck it and turn my grind on/ but i snap out of it/ everytime i turn my lights on/ this cant be life, not mines at least/ feel like an actor in a movie or im undercover deep/ remove the covers if you sleep, my nigga time is of the essence/ im not gettin any younger in the rhyme so much invested/ man i bled it, sweated bullets, gotten better, made improvements/ not pathetic but the effort made it evident i do this/ gimme credit for the music, suffered debits all inclusive/ and i bet it broke some dudes but it just altered my enthusiasm/ hard to climb or move a mountain, harder if you doubtin/ got a fighting spirit deaths the only thing that take it out him/ we gone make it yall, man we already there/ its our time this time, man we own this year, yeah BRIDGE (repeat x 2): is the hard work workin? the memorizin verses?/ was energized at first when, i wasnt sold or purchased/ before the shows and cosigns, the videos and downloads/ i wanted props for my rhymes and now i feel like thats old/ rappin is hard work its rehearsing to be perfect/ fightin to break surface and stay above unearthed with/ the radio and soundscans, marketing and promo/ im prayin that we found fans and hopin that we find more VERSE 2: you can have it if you want it, is you really tryna get it?/ show and prove in xxl, but can i really fit it?/ know the truth is that i excel, especially when i spit/ over loops i make ya neck swell from noddin to the rythm/ don, will he flop, will he make it, will he fall off/ to book a show from the job he gotta call off/ and i even tryna ball all crazy/ just puttin in some work until this notebook pays me, come on….

Donwill: The words to this song were originally on a Tiffany Paige song named exclusive rights. I had demo’d it up and one day she called me up to tell me that my verses had got bumped and she was gonna feature Scienz of Life on the track. Me and Tiffany have a great working relationship and John Robinson aka lil sci is the homie so I wasn’t trippin at all, shit I fuck with the whole shaman work family. But that left me with three very unused verses and since I don’t tend to write an excess of verses I found a home for them here. and yes that is an actual mistake i made, not rehearsed, most of these songs were keep the first take recordings

SuhBURB: This came out on Beat Thieves, didn’t it? I’m really prone to going back to beats after people have had them and changing things. This is one of the few opportunities I’ve had to actually put out my changed version. It just worked out that Don’s verse perfectly fit the double time drum I had found, and then it was just natural for me to throw the bassline in there. I tend to grin like an idiot when I play this.

16 – Funeral March

Donwill: This was the first song I recorded when I decided to do this project. It was to serve as a eulogy to myself as read by my mc alter ego, deep huh? Right lol. thats why on diwadiwadonald im talkin about my death. I decided pitched it down for the hell of it. This song actually… wait a minute this is the bonus. What the hell am I explaining the bonus track for…

SuhBURB: I still want to do a video treatment for this and have Don rapping out of his casket.

1  1

After writing down some comments and the such a few months ago and hearing some rumors that WYDU was featured in the latest issue of Hip Hop Connection as part of their “Blogger World Cup”, I’ve finally been able to verify it. Finding a copy of Hip Hop Connection around here has been proven to be like finding the proverbial “needle in the haystack”, although I used to see it quite often. The good folks at Fat Lace have blessed us with the write ups found in the magazine.

http://fatlacemagazine.uproxx.com/?p=3406

Surprisingly enough, WYDU didn’t win. Yeah shocker, I know. Honestly, I’m just honored to be included with the big names, although I thought there were a few blogs that were better that were overlooked. I’ll let you name those yourselves. Fun read though…..

Didn’t finish up 100-76 tracks today, met up with some friends and had some beers and went to the local college football bowl game here. Froze my balls off, but what did I expect? Did get some used CD shopping as well along with a couple pieces of vinyl. Maybe I’ll post that shit up sometime over the weekend I’ll try to get it wrapped up tomorrow before I go out for the night. Holidays are so unpredictable.

Time to kick off the year end celebration on WYDU. We have two weeks of highlighting the best (and in some cases the worst) of 2008. You’ll see so much of 2008 that you’ll be glad its gone and done by the time we are done with it. As I mentioned over the weekend, I’m a big fan of the year end lists. Of course the internet has killed the anticipation and usefulness of the “year end list”. It used to be a good tool to use to maybe catch something you might have missed or just slept on. Now, at least for a good chunk of people (myself included), if you keep your eye to the…..ummmm…computer screen, you are likely to catch anything catching any kind of buzz. I’m guessing that I’ve listened to more albums/eps/bootlegs/unofficial releases/mixtapes this year than I have any other year in the past. Yet, despite all this, it’s still fun to hear other peoples opinions and in the case of this week, catch onto a song that you might have missed the first time around.

Myself, I’m a fuckin’ freak when it comes to this year end list shit anyway. Even more so that I have some kind of voice to trumpet my opinion in the form of this blog. What I did this year, as in years past was make a seperate folder for songs that I like of that specific year. I try to keep it related to the 2008 year, but I know a few 2007 tracks have slipped in and that’s okay. Throughout the year, if I hear a song on a project or something that I hear on a blog, I put it in this folder. Around December 1st, I start weeding through the tracks. This year I had 900+ tracks in the said folder. Needless to say, it’s been quite a chore to get down to the 100 tracks I wanted to list on our year end list. In fact, there were quite a few that I still wanted to be highlighted, that weren’t going to make it in the top 100. I had at least a good 75 tracks that I just wanted people to know that were among my favorites as well, but just couldn’t fit in the final list. If you made it anywhere on this list be featured, it means the music had some kind of effect on me through the year, I listened to it more than once (I kid I kid).

This the first part of our Honorable Mentions, which covers tracks 101-125. These tracks are still among my favorites, they still deserved to be heard by the masses. I’m not going to get deep in to the honorable mention tracks with writing and the such. I have enough writing to do with the top 100, another 75 would cause me take my keyboard and beat someone upon the head by the end of the week. So enjoy.

Special Note: Again, these are MY opinions. I’m not going to kid myself or anyone else into thinking that I’m some kind of professional critic, cause I have yet to be paid for my opinion, so until then, just realize that these are my favorite tracks. They are songs that I enjoyed. If your favorite joint isn’t on here, or it is on here and you think it should be higher, just realize opinions are like….you know the rest.

101. Q-Tip – Gettin’ Up (from: “The Renaissance” LP)

102. Buff 1 - Goodness Music (from: “There’s Only One” LP)

http://www.myspace.com/buff1der

103.Busta Rhymes – Don’t Touch Me (from: Unreleased LP and street single)

104. The Gents – It’s The Gents (from: the free EP “Pugs Atomz Presents: The Gents”)

EP Download: http://www.zshare.net/download/50279466444bde7e/

105. Amad Jamal – Boy Meets Girl (from: Amad’s Myspace Page)

http://amad-jamal.com/blog/

106. Buff 1 feat Black Milk – Never Fall (from: “There’s Only One” LP)

http://www.myspace.com/buff1der

107. Camp Lo – Lumdi (from: street single, as far as I know)

http://www.myspace.com/therealcamplo

108. Has Lo & Small Professor – Moltov Cocktails (Small Pro Remix) (From:The free EP from Has Lo & Small Professor “Fuck Has Day: Remixed But Still Fucked”)

http://www.myspace.com/loreso
http://www.myspace.com/smallprofessor

109. The Camp – Gentleman Needs (from: “The Campaign”)

www.myspace.com/itsthecamp
110. Atmosphere – Shoulda Known (From: “When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold”)

www.myspace.com/atmosphere

111. Doomtree - Drumsticks (From: “Doomtree” the LP)

www.myspace.com/doomtree

112. Torae – Switch (Small Professor Remix) (From: The Torae “Switch” remix contest)

and he deserved to win too…..

http://www.myspace.com/smallprofessor
www.myspace.com/dayoungvet

113. Big Quarters feat Alicia Steele – August (from: monthly song series on their Official Site)

Big Quarters: (Official) (MySpace)

114. eMC – Winds of Change (From: “The Show”)

www.myspace.com/emcthegroup

115. Fade ft Has-Lo – Negadelphia (From: “Benign Neglect” LP)

http://www.myspace.com/fademoneyphilly

116. Blu & Mainframe - Mama Told Me (from: “Johnson & Jonson”)

117. N’Telligence feat Preach – Let Me Run It (from: “Black Boy Lost”)

Free Album Download Here: http://kevinnottingham.com/myblog/2008/08/02/exclusive-ntelligence-black-boy-lost/

118. Hot Box feat Sampson & Mischif – Squeal Snaps (from: the free EP “Boxploitation”)

Free EP Download: http://sharebee.com/bdd06eb4

http://www.wydublog.com/2008/11/new-artist-spotlight-hotbox.html

119. Praverb – Freedom To Prevail (From: his LP “Center Of Attention”)

http://www.praverb.net/
http://www.myspace.com/pvizzle

120. Ox The Midwest Bully - You & Me (from: “Life Support”)

http://www.myspace.com/midwestbully

121. Pillowtalk Politiks – Not Preaching (from: “Pillowtalk Politiks” EP)

http://www.myspace.com/pillowtalkpolitiks

122. Blu & Mainframe - Bout it Bout it (From: “Johnson & Jonson” LP)

123.Kooley High & HaLo feat Rapsody of Kooley High – Eye Of the Storm (from: the free online EP/mixtape “Burn After Listening”)

Free Download for EP:http://rapidshare.com/files/178059703/Kooley_High_-_Burn_After_Listening.rar

124. Weapon X – Asshole Syndrome (from: “Portrait of a Starving Artist”)

www.myspace.com/wxmc

125. Quad Almighty – Quad Almighty (From: “The Royal Parchment”)

http://www.myspace.com/quadalmighty

My peoples Kooley High are the feature of a new documentary about the day in a life of a hip hop group trying to be heard. It’s filmed in Raleigh-Durham and features WYDU favorites HaLo and J SOL along with NC favorite 9th Wonder and Skyzoo. Be on the look out for the debut Kooley High album dropping the first quarter of 2009.

“One Day” Movie Preview from Kooley High on Vimeo.

Premiering at the Galaxy Theatre in Raleigh N.C., Becauseus Films in association with M.E.C.C.A. Records presents “One Day”. This biopic chronicles a day in the life of the emerging N.C. rap group. The film includes exclusive live performance footage and studio sessions with some of the industries most notable figures like Skyzoo and 9th Wonder. This film will give fans to get an inside look on this groups grind to the top and the blood sweat and tears that went into their debut album “The High Life” set to drop in the 1st quarter of ’09.

Website

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Supastition news: upcoming releases, free downloads & more!

As the year comes to a close, Supastition wanted to personally thank all of those who have supported Supastition, Kam Moye and Reform School Music is some way, shape, or form in 2008. Supastition had the pleasure of releasing 2 projects, filming 2 videos, and doing more than he has ever done in such a short period of time. He is now preparing to release more music than ever in 2009 including two Kam Moye releases, a RSM mixtape, and also the album release of Reform School / Domination Recordings newest addition, Kil Ripkin.

Upcoming Releases from Supastition:

Kam Moye – Splitting Image (RSM)

Kam Moye & D.R. – Electric Ave (RSM)

Kil Ripkin – Balancing Act (RSM/Domination)

Reform School Music presents “Breaking All The Rules” mixtape

Free Download from Supastition:

Now available for free MP3 download is the Supastition song “Sound of Xmas” dedicated to the less fortunate during this holiday season. Recorded in late 2007, this song was produced by NC’s own D.R.

Reform School Radio – ’08 Freshness (Episode #2):

Now available is a new podcast that was posted this weekend featuring some of Supastition’s favorite indie hip hop songs from 2008 as well some joints that were overlooked. Please subscribe to the podcast if you are a member of podcast.com. The homepage is: My.Podcast.com/ReformSchool

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RENO CHINATI PRESENTS “THROWBACKS 80′S EDITION THE REAGAN ERA”

This Is The New Mixtape Dedicated To All You Old School Fans Out There…Reno Chinati Is Showing His Lyrical Prowess On Nothing But 80′s Inspired Instrumentals For Your Pleasure….Download Right Here For Free!

CLICK ON LINK BELOW:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5EL2LSIG

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NEW VIDEOS: Evidence feat. The Alchemist – Let Yourself Go & Fashawn – Samsonite, Live in Fresno.

Evidence feat. The Alchemist – Let Yourself Go (Live)

Url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeoSVczULww



Embed:

Fashawn – Samsonite (Live) (Produced by Exile)

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdlLE0re-Eo

Embed:

Fashawn feat. Evidence – Our Way (Produced By Exile) Live in Fresno, CA. 12/23/08

Embed:



Fashawn feat. Evidence – Our Way (Produced By Exile) Live In Fresno CA from AlwaysHustle.com on Vimeo.

Richie Cunning – Richie’s Day Off (Live in Fresno, CA 12/23/08)

Embed:



Richie Cunning – Richie’s Day Off (Live in Fresno, CA 12/23/08) from AlwaysHustle.com on Vimeo.

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Free Mixtape!: Excess Bangers 6: Untitled

As we get ready to start off a new year I thought it’d be best to keep it simple. No title. No color. No flare. Just bangers. Some standout tracks you should make sure you check out are the Mims track “Bread N Butter” where Mims aims to prove he really can flow. Also take a listen to those tracks featuring Ron Browz who is on his way to being 2009′s “love it or hate it” artist.

As always, if you are an up and coming producer or recording artist, send me some stuff. If it’s hot, I’ll be more than happy to get it on one of our mixtapes. evorgleb at highbrid dot com. Also any bloggers who post one of our mixtapes on your site, let us know and we’ll be sure to hook you up with some link love.

1. Busta Rhymes Feat. Ron Browz, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones & Jadakiss – Arab Money (Part 3)

2. Fat Joe Feat. Ron Browz & Lil Wayne – Winding On Me

3. 50 Cent Feat. Ciara – Slow Down (Remix)

4. Mims Feat. The Notorious B.I.G. – Bread N Butter

5. Freeway – Diesel

6. Stat Quo – In California

7. Keri Hilson Feat. Busta Rhymes – Turnin Me On (Remix)

8. Ron Browz Feat. N.O.R.E. – Jumping Out The Window (Remix)

9. Swizz Beats Feat. Fat Man Scoop – Get Loose

10. Joell Ortiz Feat. Joe Budden – Move On

11. Jim Jones – Scarz

12. Termanology Feat. Big Pooh, Chaundon & Joe Scudda – Pay Jay

13. Termanology – Circulate

14. Young Chris – Status Of The Game

15. Curren$y Feat. Mistah FAB – Life’s A Bitch

16. Mims Feat. Letoya Tuckett – Love Rollercoaster

17. Freeway – Long Money

18. Freeway feat. Hesikiya – As I Ever Been

19. Freeway Feat. Neesh – For The Better

20. Royce Da 5′ 9″ – Part Of Me

21. Jay Electronica – Swagger Jackson’s Revenge

DOWNLOAD: Excess Bangers 6: Untitled (Sharebee)

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J The S, My Thing Ft. Donny Goines and Emilio Rojas

J The S’ new mixtape My Will will be dropping shortly…the tape hosted by Mr. Peter Parker and DJ Warrior with features from B.o.B., Kool G Rap, Emilio Rojas, Donny Goines, and a few major surprises will be out everywhere for free shortly. Jake recently dropping his new single, My Thing which you can find everywhere.

To download the song: http://www.zshare.net/audio/531448464f210a90/

Don Cerino, Missing Element

Don Cerino’s new single, Missing Element Ft. Royce Da 5’9 was recently features as the lead single off of Legend’s new monster mixtape, OnSMASH x DJ Green Lantern Back 2 The Basics. Thanks to all the sites for supporting both Don Cerino and the tape.

To download the song: http://sharebee.com/578ac148

Minute After Midnight Out Everywhere!!!

Don’t forget, Donny Goines heavily anticipated debut album Minute After Midnight is finally here!

http://www.rhapsody.com/donny-goines/minute-after-midnight

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Keeping with tradition, Crown City Records & Tato Ent. finish the year off strong with the return of Trujillo aka the “Old Skool Young Nigga”. Not satisfied with the success & acclaim of his previous efforts, Trujillo is back “Hungrier Then Ever” & he’s ready to “Eat Ya Food“. We bring to you “The Appetite”.

This time around he recruited some real heavy hitters to chef shit up in the kitchen. “International Club King” DJ Camilo and “Mixtapes Worst Nightmare” Dub Floyd join forces to help raise the temperature on these microwave “Ready in 5 minutes” popcorn rappers.

That’s right, you won’t find any of that saturated fat here. Nothing but the finest chef’d up gourmet cuisine in the world.

Featuring sensational new creations from some of the greatest masters of the culinary arts. Production from: SPK, Frank Diggs (Labor Dept.), Riel for Ghetto Grime Muzik, Moonshine, Vic Official, Rod Da Blizz (Labor Dept.), Doe’p Mann & many more.

(Video) Trujillo ft. Big Mato – “Real” (Pd. By SPK)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UzeGxM84n4

(Audio) DJ Camilo, Gab Gacha, Joell Ortiz, & Trujillo – The Blackout Show

(Pd. By JUJU of The Beatnuts)

https://www.box.net/shared/tyklqufloy

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Now available for free download is the prequel to “Honest Music”, STMiC’s second full length LP due out spring of 2009. STMiC just wanted to give something back to all the fans, friends and fam that have supported him in one way or another over the past year (and beyond).

Tracklisting:

1. Silent Hills (Produced By The Unknown)

2. Fly Remix (Produced By Mr Simmonds)

3. Make Te Call (Produced By MUDD)

4. The Making Of Haste feat. BlissOne (Produced By The Unknown)

Free Download: STMiC “Brace For The Honesty” EP

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These are fan favorites, exclusives, ruff mixes and things we are working on. Download and enjoy. Check us here as well and subscribe www.highwaterISmusic.com

Tracklist:

1. Homeboy Sandman – Airwave Air Raid (Track available on the street album “Actual

Factual Pterodactyl”, official debut album on HWM Summer ’09)

2. Willie Evans Jr. – Rock Widdit (Track available now on the album “Communication”)

3. Sputnik Brown – Super Ego (Track off the debut album Three Shades of Black,

coming out 2009)

4. Daniel Joseph – Pack Lite (Exclusive for this comp)

5. P.CASSO – Stress (available now on the album “For Your Consideration”)

6. Ben Grymm & Shawn Jackson – Blood Sweat & Tears “Demo” (available now on the

“Back To My World” single on ITunes. Vinyl 7″ available in January)

7. Fresh Daily – Breezy Afternoon feat Outasight (off of “Tomorrow is Today” available

in January)

8. Señor Kaos – For the Cream RMX feat JAX (off of “Swagger Is Nothing…”available now

on highwaterISmusic.com)

9. S.O.U.L. Purpose – Preposition (Exclusive for this Comp)

10. Spec Boogie – Ghetto Mind (Exclusive for this Comp)

11. John Robinson | MF Doom – Black Gold (Track off the album “Who’s This Man?”

available Jan 27th)

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 3 FREE Cymarshall Law CDS! FREE FREE FREE



TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING SO FREEDOM ENTERTAINMENT IS GIVING YOU FOR FREE 3 FREE CYMARSHALL LAW CDS FOR YOU TO DOWNLOAD , TO ALL MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR , PEACE AND GOOD DAYS! UNTIL NEXT YEAR

-CYMARSHALL LAW

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CYMARSHALLLAW

P.S. ON JANUARY 5TH FREEDOM ENT. WILL BE RELEASING A FREE DIGITAL MIX CD THRU COAST2COAST MIXTAPES AND VIMBY!!!

IT WILL FEATURE NEW , RARE AND EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FROM CYMARSHALL LAW , SKIT SLAM , PACE WON & MR. GREEN , EL DA SENSAI , SUPASTITION , STICKY FINGAZ , SWEDISH SINGER MARY LOU AND PRODUCTION BY THE BEATNIKZ!!!

BUT FOR NOW DOWNLOAD THE MIX CDS THAT ARE OUT NOW BELOW!

CYMARSHALL LAW – CYOLOGY 3 : THE FREEDOM WRITER MIXED BY DJ GI JOE ( IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE DJ )

( MY FAVORITE IN THE CYOLOGY SERIES )

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xsmcgh

CYMARSHALL LAW – CYOLOGY 2 : THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM MIXED BY DJ GI JOE

http://www.sendspace.com/file/z9kcg9

EVERLIVEN SOUND – STRAIGHT RAW MIX CD

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kxjafl

CYMARSHALL LAW & MR. JOEKER – HIP HOP IN THE SOUL ALBUM OUT NOW FEAT. KRS-ONE AND MORE!!

SKIT SLAM & THE BEATNIKZ – A BLESSING IN DISGUISE COMING FEBURARY 2009!

It’s my favorite time of the year. No, not because of the holidays. Those are great and all, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a happy and safe New Years. But the reason this is my favorite time of the year is all the year end lists that pop up all over the net and the blogs. Anywhere from the first part of December (or if you’re Eric over at When They Reminisce, you start in October…haha)to the last part of January. I just like reading other people’s opinions, and maybe pick up on something I may have missed or breezed over the first time through. We here at WYDU are busily working on our year end lists. We should have the year end extravaganza up the week of January 5th. I’m hoping to have a wide variety of people on the WYDU panel this year. If you missed last years, you can peep it. This way, with a bunch of different people weighing in you won’t be dominated with just my opinions, which as we all know, can be kind of on the strange end and a bit narrow minded even if I have to say so myself.

However, I will start posting my own personal Top 100 songs of 2008 starting on Monday. It will be a four day event and there might even be some bonus songs thrown in there, mainly because there are a bunch that I loved, but didn’t make the top 1oo and I don’t want them to be left out. I’ve actually been making tapes/cds of my favorite songs since 1990. I don’t have all of them anymore, and I didn’t do any from 98-00 for a few different reasons. I recall ’93 being a particular great year for singles (duh) but I of course can’t find that one anymore.

To get you all warmed up, I’ve dug through my homemade disks and pulled out some of my past “Favorite Tracks of 200_” that I have sitting on CDs. These are the same as I picked them the day I made my list for that particular year. It’s always interesting to go back and see how my tastes have changed . Some the songs I wouldn’t have on the list anymore and others I think should have been higher, but that’s the way things go. I’m sure you’ll see an updated lists next year about this time for the Decade Lists (yeah, I’m already as giddy as a school girl for those), but for now, these tracks are unchanged and as is….

Trav’s Favorites of 2001

In 2001, the internet was already in full effect and a starting to be an influence on my listening habits. I already was living a life of crime and downloading off of Napster and Audio Galaxy (I can’t remember which was first) and my fascination with some of the underground and indie stuff was starting to become a major part of my listening habits. I have this broken up into 1-19 and 20-39. Unfortunately though, my girlfriend snagged my 1-19 and I haven’t seen it since (She claims its in her 4-Runner, but I have yet to see it). I seem to remember Erick Sermon’s “Music” being my favorite song of that year. There was Bubba Sparxxx “Ugly” that was a favorite during our all night Madden tournaments that we played a lot that year in that top five as well. The second half is also made up of some mainstream acts such as DMX, which I usually proclaim an extreme dislike for as well as some underground/indie stuff such as Ace Lover and Binary Star.
A couple songs from the from 1-19

Erick Sermon feat Marvin Gaye – Music

Bubba Sparxxx – Ugly

This was my theme song when I was whoopin’ fools on the Madden that year. This was also during my Timbaland kick that I had right around this time, with the Missy Elliot shit, Petey Pablo and of course Bubba. Don’t play, you know you’ve danced to this song sometime in your life. Ahhh, redneck rap….This video is hilarious.

Is there any lineup on any posse cut that screams “indie” as much as the Jigmasta’s “Lyrical Fluctuation”? Back in 2001, all these cats were on some super “underground/Rawkus/indie” steez as much as anyone out there. Dudes like Talib, Mos and Pharahoe were the champions of the underground. That might not be so now, but Spinna killed this beat and everyone brought heat on their verse. It was something I think I found on Napster or Audio Galaxy, and I still dig this song to this day.

Tha Liks “Best U Can” shit was catchy as hell, although I was utterly />disappointed with it when it originally dropped. Still nothing like getting a lap dance with this song playing…..

I love weird shit and Outkast’s “B.O.B” was weird as it gets. It was one of those songs that gets the ole adrenaline pumping and the blood flowing. The track should definitely be higher, or at least higher than “Ms. Jackson”. Outkast and “Ms. Jackson?” Really? I actually am still sick of that song to this day.

I’ve never been a big fan of DMX’s music, but I’ll have to admit he makes some catchy ass music from time to time. While I’ve never heard the Great Depression, I always though “We Right Here” was a catchy track that for some reason got a lot of play from me in 2001.

As I said, I was just getting into the underground stuff around this time. This is evident with a few of the songs that came out before the 2001 year, but since I didn’t know, they were lumped into this year. The Constant Deviants came out in 1998, but since there were no blogs, no discogs and very little info on groups such as Constant Deviants on the net at that time, I had no clue. You can also lump Louis Logic’s “Logistics 101″ into that category. I was really getting into artists such as J-Zone and Louis Logic around this time. Zone dropped probably his most universally liked album in Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes, and one of my favorite joints from it was “Zone for President” along with “Pimp Palace East” with the rest of the Old Maid Billionares. Zone at his best, dropping some great lines. Both tracks should be higher. Ace Lover was also in that bunch of me being late on, but hey, that dude during this time was one of my favorites, see Here.

It’s interesting to see Jay-Z’s “The Takeover” on the bottom half of this list. To this day, I consider it one of the greatest dis tracks.

If you haven’t heard Jean Grae’s “How To Break Up With Your Girlfriend”, check that track out. Produced by M-Boogie, it was the track that REALLY grabbed my attention and made me check out Jean on the regular. M-Boogie had some decent tracks that appeared on his Ill Boogie label and also had a couple decent producer type albums around this same time. Speaking of ill producer type albums, The Creators have two songs in the list. Phil Da Agony dropped “The Kronkite”, which had some haunting strings to go along with Phil’s rough ass voice. I was amped to hear more from Phil, which has since passed. Consequence also popped up on the scene again, with “In and Out”, which is a hyped track that got cats looking for the Con again.

20. Jigmastas feat Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharohoe Monch, Mr. Complex, Shabaam Shadeeq - Lyrical Fluctuation (DJ Spinna Remix)

21. Ace Lover feat C Rayz Walz – Area Codes

22. Outkast – Mrs. Jackson

23. Tha Liks feat Pharrell – Best U Can

24. J-Zone – Zone For President

25. Outkast – B.O.B

26. DMX - We Right Here

27. Binary Star – Glen Close

28. Ace Lover feat Uncle Paulie - Weed Spots

29. J-Zone feat Al Shid & Huggy Bear – Live From Pimp Palace East

30. Jay-Z - The Takeover

31. Louis Logic – Logistics 101

32. Beatnuts – No Escapin’

33. Jean Grae - How To Break Up With Your Girlfriend

34. DJ Clue & Redman – RED

35. The Creators feat Consequence – In and Out

36. Constant Deviants – Can’t Stop

37. The Creators feat Phil Da Agony – Kronkite

38. Obie Trice - Mr. Trice

39. Masta Ace feat Jean Grae – Hold U

The year 2002 was somewhat sorry, I remember thinking “is this it?” Looking back it now, and it’s not all that bad. In some ways, I think at that time I was still upset with the direction that hip hop was taking. You had stuff like Nelly and whatever other crappy radio music that was going on during that time. I was very upset with the state of hip hop. It finally hit me that things weren’t going to return to the glory days of the so called “Golden Age”, which left me somewhat bitter. Looking at things now, I realize that those days are gone and to just accept it for what it is. There is still good music (I’ll still argue with one til I’m blue in the face that says the present is better than the past, but that’s another story), and 2002 had it’s share of good (not great) music.

For the top 10, it was pretty much my typical tastes, with the ever catchy “Worst Comes To Worst” by Dilated that won me over for that year. It still warrants as my favorite Dilated Peoples track to this day. De La had “Baby Phat”, which somewhat annoys me to this day, although it’s not a bad track, I probably just played it too much back then. If I was to redo this list with my tastes in mind now, The Clipse’s “Grindin” would probably be number one. I’m not huge on the whole trap rap crap, but “Grindin’” will forever be my shit. “Make You Feel That Way” by Blackalicious was another one of those joints on MTV2 back in the day with my free TV shit that I got. I’m not a big Blackalicious fan, but this song is some feel good music if I ever heard any.

The rest of the top 10 falls out with some good tracks that I still dig today, especially the Binary Star track, “Honest Expression”. I’d almost be likely to include this in a top 100 tracks off all-time for myself. The message portrayed on the cut is something I still feel strongly about, maybe more so today than ever. Classic track. Ras Kass’ jab at Alchemist on “Kiss U” has long been one of my favorite Rassy tracks. I’ve long considered Ras Kass one of my favorite west coast MC’s (and all around MCs) and some of the lines dropped in “Kiss U” are a prime example of why I hold him in such high regard.

The spots of 11-20 are a peferct example of how my tastes back then were much more varied than they probably are now. You start off with some fairly obscrure (at least to the average rap fan of the day) underground type stuff. Some people might call me crazy for putting the Knoc Turn’al track in there, but “The Knoc” was my shit that year. And hey, Missy isn’t too bad when you regulate her to hooks and the such. Another Aftermath potential that wasn’t to be. Meth and Red’s “How High 2″ is kind of annoying to me now, but I guess it’s an example of musical tastes changing. Of course you have more J-Zone who dropped one of my all-time favorite songs out of his catalog in “County Check Pimpin”. The Jay-Z dis song, “It’s Ova” by former friend turned foe, Jaz-O. The rest of the batch are from fairly well know artists and fairly popular cuts from NORE (and that blasted eastern music samples that went a little too far in 2002), Nas and his “Ether” track that came out on his Stillmatic. That highly annoying “Oh Boy” from Cam’Ron gets the “WTF was I thinking award”. Of course we have the Grammy winning “Lose Yourself” from Eminem, which I almost consider a classic track these days. Yeah, I said, it, sue me.

Again, on the second half of the collection of top songs shows more underground stuff, especially in the form of Louis Logic and three songs from two of his side projects that year. Both “Happy Hour” and “Ready for War” were from Lou and Charlie Bawles and the Porn Theatre Usher’s Mr. Jason on the boards. They were known as the Brews Brothers. Based on this single (Both sides A and B show up on the list), it’s too bad we didn’t hear more from the duo. J-Zone’s former partners also show up with their own shit. Both Huggy and Al-Shid have tracks in the second half of the list, with Zone producing both tracks. 13, who was in the 90′s west coast group Mannish, dropped the incredibly dope “Slow Burnin”, which was produced by either Evidence or Joey Chavez aka Sid Roams. Still a favorite of mine. One of my all-time favorite posse cuts is represented at number 35, with Copywrite, Mr. Eon, Cage, J-Zone, Tame One and others dropping the “Eastern Conference All-Stars”, with J-Zone dropping the best verse of his illustrious career:

Finally, my introduction to Tonedeff and the QN5 label was in 2002, with Tone appearing on the enjoyable KRS track “Clear Em Out”. It was a jab thrown at Nelly in the utterly ridiculous Nelly/KRS beef of that year.

04 Blackalicious – Make You Feel That Way

05 Binary Star – Honest Expression

06 J-Live - Satisfied

07 Slum Village – Tainted

08 Outkast feat Killer Mike – Whole World

09 Ras Kass – Kiss U (Original Version)

10 Scarface – My Block

11 Knoc Turn’al feat Missy Elliot – The Knoc

12 Methodman & Redman - How High Pt 2

13 Jaz-O - It’s Ova

14 J-Zone - County Check Pimpin

15 Eminem - Lose Yourself

16 AZ – Once Again

17 Camron – Oh Boy

18 Eminem - Without Me

19 Noreaga - Grimey

20 Nas - Ether

21 Royce Da 5’9 - Rock City

22 The Roots – Rock You

23 Al-Shid & HUG – Fight Club

24 Brews Brothers (Louis Logic & Charlie Bawles) - Ready For War

25 The Odd Couple – Pimp Shit

26 Obie Trice – Rap Name

27 Erick Sermon feat Redman – React

28 Gep Dep - Special Delivery (remix)

29 Nas - Got Yourself A Gun

30 Mobb Deep feat Big Noyd – The Learning (Burn)

31 N.O.R.E. - Nothin’

32 InI - Center of Attention

33 DJ Jazzy Jeff & Slum Village - Are You Ready

34 13 – Slow Burnin’

35 Brews Brothers (Louis Logic & Charlie Bawles) - Happy Hour

36 Eastern Conference All-Stars - EC All-Stars (Original Version)

37 HUG & Al Shid – Radio

38 Krs-One feat Tonedeff - Clear ‘Em Out

39 G-Dep - Special Delivery

Merry Christmas to each and everyone that visits WYDU! Happy Holidays to you and yours and may you all have a blessed year!

Trav & Gang…

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My Man E has been talking about this for quite awhile. I’ve had the privilege of seeing it grow and mature throughout the project, so I have to say it’s a great little mixtape. Both Eric and DJ Ragz of Jazz Addixx did a nice job on it. Give it a listen….

When They Reminisce/Sneaker Politics present: “Preservation” mixed by DJ Ragz (Jazz Addixx) (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)

Ahhh, the sweet smell of victory!! A long an arduous project (nearly three months in the making!), “Preservation” (mixed by DJ Ragz) is finally here!! A big thanks goes out to DJ Ragz for all his countless hours of dedication and attention to detail, St.
Mic for tightening up the sound quality, Shiro for the cover art and Derek at Sneaker Politics for his input as well! Most importantly, thank you to all the contributing artists featured on “Preservation” who gave me the “OK” to pursue this project!

“Preservation” is something that Ragz and I are extremely proud of, I hope that you, the listener, will appreciate it as well! “Preservation”, simply put, is a compilation of sorts that I put together in order to highlight some of my favorite artists over the last two or so years. The amount of time and effort that Ragz and I dedicated to this project truly shines through on “Preservation”, as I stated last week: “This ain’t just your regular mixtape”! St. Mic sums it up perfectly with his opening bars from the “Intro”: “This is a dedication, to preservation/For authors in this art form/Seekin’ elevation…”. The sound quality is perfect, the tracks are ridiculous and Ragz’ cuts are as sharp as a razor’s edge. “Preservation” plays more like a cohesive “album” than a mixtape…ENJOY!!!
–Eric

DJ Ragz: “Im really amped to be a part of the “Preservation”. There really is some dope hip hop out there and I really feel that this mix helps you learn about artists that are still making great music. All of these artists gave us approval to use their songs, so if you like what you hear, go support that person’s project. Big ups to Eric for directing this project and being flexible at the same time. This mix was treated like an album so we spent time to bring you a quality project. Please help us get the word out and tell a friend about it.
It will be your part to preserve this art!!”

When They Reminisce/Sneaker Politics present: “Preservation” mixed by DJ Ragz (Jazz Addixx) (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)

Ahhh, the sweet smell of victory!! A long an arduous project (nearly three months in the making!), “Preservation” (mixed by DJ Ragz) is finally here!! A big thanks goes out to DJ Ragz for all his countless hours of dedication and attention to detail, St. Mic for tightening up the sound quality, Shiro for the cover art and Derek at Sneaker Politics for his input as well! Most importantly, thank you to all the contributing artists featured on “Preservation” who gave me the “OK” to pursue this project!

“Preservation” is something that Ragz and I are extremely proud of, I hope that you, the listener, will appreciate it as well! “Preservation”, simply put, is a compilation of sorts that I put together in order to highlight some of my favorite artists over the last two or so years. The amount of time and effort that Ragz and I dedicated to this project truly shines through on “Preservation”, as I stated last week: “This ain’t just your regular mixtape”! St. Mic sums it up perfectly with his opening bars from the “Intro”: “This is a dedication, to preservation/For authors in this art form/Seekin’ elevation…”. The sound quality is perfect, the tracks are ridiculous and Ragz’ cuts are as sharp as a razor’s edge. “Preservation” plays more like a cohesive “album” than a mixtape…ENJOY!!!

DJ Ragz: “Im really amped to be a part of the “Preservation”. There really is some dope hip hop out there and I really feel that this mix helps you learn about artists that are still making great music. All of these artists gave us approval to use their songs, so if you like what you hear, go support that person’s project. Big ups to Eric for directing this project and being flexible at the same time. This mix was treated like an album so we spent time to bring you a quality project. Please help us get the word out and tell a friend about it. It will be your part to preserve this art!!”

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Australia’s super-producer & winner of Sha Money’s One-Stop Producer’s Conference makes a trip to NYC. Check it out as M-Phazes remixes a beat around a hook that was originally intended for Pharoahe Monch!!!

************

Youtube:

Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy_kglhmCKk

Embed:

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Inverse – So True Mp3

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Excess Bangers 5: Wintercamp Style

Excess Bangers 5: Wintercamp Style
1. Gnarls Barkley – Whos Gonna Save My Soul(Rmx) (Ft.Jota Flowers)
2. Billy Danze ft.Busta Rhymes – Undescribable
3. Freeway – Doing Anything
4. Mickey Factz, Naledge & Fresh Daily – Stop What You Doing
5. Fashawn – Freedom
6. Freeway – Get It Started
7. Jamie Foxx Ft.Lil Kim – Cover Girl.mp3
8. Joell Ortiz – Morning
9. Styles P ft.Snyp Lyfe & Bully – Ride Or Die
10.Freeway – Street Music
11.Joell Ortiz – Day N Nite(Williamsburgh/Greenpoint Brooklyn Remix)
12.Blvd Benny Ft.Jadakiss, Fabolous – Rock It Out(Rmx)
13.Busta Rhymes ft.Ne-Yo & Missy Elliott – Freakin You
14.Jamie Foxx Ft.Rick Ross – Swag
15.Fabolous, Red Cafe & Paul Cain – There He Go
16.Justin Timberlake ft. T.I. – If I
17.Freeway – Start Wildin
18.Kardinal Offishall -Set It Off(Rmx)(Ft. Dr Dre & The Clipse)

DOWNLOAD NOW: http://sharebee.com/204c17e5 (Sharebee)
Courtesy of http://highbridnation.com/
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Watch out for Wordsmith flooding the streets and online in 2008 with his HipHopdx sponsered Mixtapes “The Revolution Begins with a Takeover Vol. 1 & 2,” “The Mid-Year Review,” and “The 2008 Resolution & Re-Cap” Also, be on the look out for Chubb Rock and Wordsmith’s “Bridging the Gap” Album and Wordsmith & I.N.C The Poets “A Baltimore Martini” UK Album coming in 2009!!

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Bashy – I See People (Video)

At least check the video, it’s better than expected….(trav)

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Free Download: Seven “Soulja Muzic Vol. 3″ Mix

Now available for free download is the new mixtape from Winston-Salem, North Carolina based emcee Seven titled “Soulja Muzic Vol. 3 (Da Revolution)” mixed by DJ J.Lone. The 21-track mix features brand new material from Seven featuring guest vocals from Supastition, Equinox and more.

Tracklisting:
1. J.Lone intro
2. Ya’ll Scared freestyle
3. Rock Wit Me
4. Move!!! feat. Equinox
5. Luv 4 U feat. Warchild
6. Call 2 Armz
7. Shake, Rattle, Roll feat. Lil’ Seven
8. Play Ya Posishun (Exclusive)
9. Back Against da Wall
10. Fuck-a-Cop Hip Hop
11. Pressure Pt. 1 feat. Jon Blaq, Equinox, Rowdee Methodz, Mz. Nokz
12. Make it Hot feat. Rowdee Methodz
13. Pressure Pt. 2 feat. Equinox, Jon Blaq, A.P., Dee Lin
14. Hip Hop (Exclusive)
15. Revolution feat. Logix and Jon Blaq
16. Prisoner
17. 24 Hr. Lockdown
18. U Gotta Luv Me
19. Seven Says freestyle
20. Stick 2 Ya Gunz feat. Supastition and Nat Ill
21. 8 Ballz & Dimez feat. G.S., P. Batters, Swerve and Warchild

Free Download: Seven “Soulja Music Vol. 3″ Mix

For more info, tracks and upcoming shows, check out Seven at get="_blank" href="http://www.myspace.com/nobodies7">Myspace.com

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HERE IS K. SPARKS MANIC MONDAYS MIXTAPE VOLUME 1

COMPLETE WITH ALL 17 SONGS RELEASED FROM THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS!

“Man…time flies like crazy and it’s been four months already…every 17 songs we will release a Manic Mondays Mixtape…here is Volume 1 complete with all of the songs from the past 17 weeks (including this weeks song G.A.M.E) mixed by Mixtape Assassin…my goal for the up coming 8 months is to continue raising the bar even further…this isn’t a mixtape because this is really an album…thank you to every Web Site, Blog, DJ, Street Team Member, Fan, Magazine, Radio Show, and Hater (cuz my name stay in your mouth which gives me free promotion) and everyone that continues to support Manic Mondays…Nuff respect”

Week 1 Dictionary Produced By Glish productions

Week 2 Needs vs Wants Produced By D Roof

Week 3 Definition Produced By Pajozo

Week 4 Never Feat Tina Quallo Produced By Fero Navi

Week 5 Hip Hop President Produced By Kurser

Week 6 Rewind Feat Angelous Produced By Kurser

Week 7 Nostalgic Produced By Moe Productions

Week 8 Hip Hop Produced By Moe Productions

Week 9 Spittaz Produced By Moe Productions

Week 10 Movin On Feat Tina Quallo Produced By Kurser

Week 11 Young Malcolm Produced By T-Mos

Week 12 Visual Sound Produced By T-Mos

Week 13 Back Down Feat Dave Barz Produced By Kurser

Week 14 Hard Lemonade Produced By Mark Henry

Week 15 Rain Produced By Kurser

Week 16 Spittaz II Feat Marzburg, Angelous, and Nova Produced By T-Mos

Week 17 G.A.M.E Produced By Kurser

DOWNLOAD LINK
Manic Mondays Vol. 1
http://sharebee.com/f2c14a26

G.A.M.E Produced By Kurser
http://www.zshare.net/audio/5284806252f7608e/
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Majik Most featured at SixShot.com + Free MP3′s

Sixshot.com caught up with Majik Most to discuss working with Celph Titled, what music he grew up on, and of course the grandmother from “Who’s The Boss”. Check out the Majik Most feature at: SixShot.com

Free MP3′s from Majik Most

Free downloads taken from Majik Most’s latest release “You Got Jokes?!”:
- Majik Most feat. Celph Titled & Dutchmassive “Back on the Map”
- Majik Most “What I’m About”

Majik Most “You Got Jokes?!” now available!

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Keelay & Zaire’s – “Saturday” featuring Torae and Tiffany Paige + Bonus Track

The Song:

To get us amped up for their full-length album Ridin High, the production duo Keelay & Zaire are dropping tracks from their free EP titled Prelude to Drive, which will come out in January. The first track released, “Saturday” featuring Torae and Tiffany Paige, is a modern-day serenade that envelops us in the feeling of being in love. Set behind relaxed chords that gently wash over the beat, Torae and Tiffany Paige tell us the story of their carefree days together. Torae offers up his honest rhymes while Tiffany Paige coos gentle melodies on this lighthearted gem.

Bonus Track: Leak from DJ J-Ronin & DJ S
nips’ upcoming mixtape, All Elements v.10 (Hosted by Skyzoo)
Mickey Factz, Naledge of Kidz in the Hall and Fresh Daily - “Stop What You Doing” (produced by Keelay & Zaire)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/527835247efb628e/

The Background:

Keelay & Zaire are a bi-coastal team that operates with only one concrete rule; creating music with unlimited range. Complementing each other’s styles with precision, Kee & Zee work as a sole production machine that spawns gritty classic hip-hop, soulful R&B, and any other medium that requires an exclusive sound from the team. With Keelay out west in San Francisco, and Zaire in the east, holding it down in Virginia, the two have almost unlimited resources from which to draw talent and inspiration. In their debut LP Ridin High, the pair’s versatility takes center stage, backed up by a talented cast of emcees and singers including Phonte of Little Brother, Supastition, Blu, Cali Agents, Darien Brockington, Tash of Tha Liks, Saafir, Fortilive, The Park, Emilio Rojas, Surreal ,Slo-Mo, Mario Dones, The A.V.E., J.Fish, Jony Fraze, Whooligan, and Tiffany Paige. Keelay & Zaire’s Ridin High will be released in early 2009 by MYX Music Label.

Please contact Michelle or Nora if interested in talking with Keelay & Zaire
Streams:

Keelay & Zaire - “Saturday” featuring Torae and Tiffany Paige
http://media.audibletreats.com/Keelay_and_Zaire-Saturday_feat_Torae_and_Tiffany_Paige.mp3

Keelay & Zaire - “The Times” featuring Blu, Fortlive and Nino Moschella
http://media.audibletreats.com/Keelay_and_Zaire-The_Times_fet_Blu_Fortilive_Nino_Moschella.mp3

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New Pugs Atomz Single

Pugs Atomz “Roof Top” produced by Dj Vadim from Pugs forth coming Album Roof Top
http://www.zshare.net/audio/53158659346fba50/

This is a nice track, really diggin’ the beat and Pugs holds it down lyrically. I won’t be sleeping on this upcoming album like I did the last one. Looking forward to it.

Pugs Atomz
www.myspace.com/pugsleeatomz

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Royce Da 5′ 9 – Shake It

Royce 5’9 and his M.I.C. imprint are teaming up with One Records for the release of Royce’s highly-anticipated forthcoming solo-LP Street Hop, due out on 4-21-09.

The DJ Premier produced “Shake This” is the lead-single for Street Hop (the LP is also executive produced by DJ Premier as well) and the video for “Shake This” is directed by Rik Cordero; and its the first of two collaborations between Royce and Cordero.

Link to access Royce 5’9′s “Shake This” video: http://www.sendspace.com/file/da7zs0

DL link to MP3 for “Shake This”: http://www.zshare.net/audio/5317249386149f00/
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Pacewon & Mr Green Video

This is the 4′th video from the critically acclaimed album
“The Only Color That Matters is Green” (in stores now)

“The Only Color That Matters is Green”

“4.5/5″ -hiphopdx.com

“…keeping hip hop classic” -thatshiphop.com

“a thoroughly enjoyable adventure” -rapreviews.com

“in the epicenter of Hip Hop’s best releases in 2008″ -hiphopdx.com

ITUNES and more (DON’T BOOTLEG)…
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MR. MET (of Brooklyn Academy) – Prod. by Armyfatique

Armyfatique is pleased to present the 2nd single from their forthcoming album, “The Initiation” which drops on January 6th through Coalmine Records. This single features Mr. Met (of Brooklyn Academy). Click here to download and make sure you mark your calenders for 1.06.09 when Armyfatique unveil’s their debut compilation which features guest appearances from C-Razy Walz, Trife Da God, Q-Unique, Vordul Mega, Bekay, Maylay Sparks and more!!

“Loud N Clear” feat. Mr. Met (of Brooklyn Academy)

click here to download

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The Songs:

As 2008 comes to a close, Black Milk, the incredibly raw and innovative producer/emcee from Detroit, is making the rounds on Best Of Year Lists with his unstoppable album TRONIC. On the latest single “Bounce,” Black Milk takes us deep into the center of his futuristic production factory with a Knight Rider-like bass line layered with waves of swelling keys.

Bonus: Colin Munroe, the YouTube darling and Dallas Austin protégé, has joined forces with Black Milk on his latest mixtape The Unsung Hero. Check out both Black’s production and lyrical fire on these two tracks from the mixtape.

Break Off http://media.audibletreats.com/Colin_Munroe-Break_Off_feat_Saukrates_and_Black_Milk.mp3

Piano Lessons http://media.audibletreats.com/Colin_Munroe-Piano_Lessons_feat_Joell_Ortiz.mp3