Bloggerhouse Hip Hop

It seems like there are almost more producers than MCs in this day of age. Hell, if I had any talent in my body, I’d much rather make beats than rhyme any day. Maybe that’s why if I have heard one producer shopping beats, I’ve heard at least 500 just this year alone. Every now and then, one catches my ear and I have to dig deeper to figure out who they are and what else they have done. That was the case earlier this year, when I heard “Watch How It Go Down”, by producer Tecknowledgy and featured Beat Garden affiliated 2ew Gun Cinz, Justus League affiliated Chaundon and Web. I’ve heard him on other projects, such as a Nico The Beast track, which will be showing up on a WYDU project in the not to far future.

Needless to say, I didn’t know much about the cat Tecknowledgy, so what better way to learn about him than to do a feature of him on a New Artist Spotlight…..

I’m Your Man Tonight
http://www.box.net/shared/81u111ekqn

The Storm
http://www.box.net/shared/rmah02y34t

WYDU: What’s good man, it’s about time we got done to business. Why don’t you drop the 411 for those that don’t know…

Tecknowledgy: Yessir, The names Tecknowledgy a.k.a Your producers favorite producer a.k.a Teckzilla. Producer/Engineer/Song writer/ Radio production manager (90.7 WXIN FM) out of Providence, Rhode Island.

W: I’m going to be honest, I don’t know a lot about you and there isn’t a lot about you out there, but you always seem to be working with dope people. From Chaundon, to WYDU favs, Clean Guns and everyone else in between. What’s your secret to laying low, yet still getting the big projects?

T: Man to be honest, I have been making music heavily since about 02, but it has mostly been on a very small local following. I used to make beats for Spiritz Records, small label a few friends and I started. After a while I left that venture, and moved on to start producing on the low, saving up the chances for approaching artists. I hit up Chaundon back in like 07, late 08 and sent a whole bunch of beats. We finally got the chance to do a track when I sent him the beat for “That’s how it goes down,” and we took it from there.

Currently I landed 2 spots on a mixtape for jacquesmorel.com and I am currently working on my solo venture featuring D Julien, Chaundon, XV, Zilla Rocca, Donny Goines, Fresh Daily and a few more acts I have yet to name! Honestly how I have managed to stay so low key for this long surprises me. I thank Twitter!!(http://www.twitter.com/tecknowledgy) Pretty much it is just about having the right beat for the right artist at the right time.

W: Your production sound (that I’ve heard) is one of power and strength, meaning it’s usually a beat someone like Nico the Beast, can get on and just come with a lot of energy. Is that something you shoot for?

T: Ha, its funny you ask that. My production style varies a great deal from what people normally hear from me. A lot of my production on the Nico project was dark and the first song I leaked off “Modern Tecknowledgy” is very dark as well. But to be honest, I have always been a soul producer. I look up to 9th Wonder and Khrysis a lot, as well as Kanye and Premier. I make a LOT of R&B as well. A lot of people are going to be surprised with the overall vision of my project.

W: Coming out of Providence, RI, it’s a city that I’ve featured numerous artists and groups from in the past, how would you describe the scene itself? Is it something that folks should be on the look out for in the future?

T: The Rhode Island music scene is kind of large actually. There are a lot would be rappers out here and a few that are actually doing something with it. Such acts such as Jon Hope, Mista Mista and Theo have paved the way for underground MC’s in Rhode Island and have mainstream MTV play. To be from Rhode Island and make it there is an accomplishment in itself. I think a lot of people underestimate Rhode Island and the music scene and should honestly look a little closer. From what I have heard, a lot of people are surprised with the music they hear coming out of this state!

W: What is your approach to making a beat? Do you sit down with a particular artist in mind? Do you start with a drum beat first, or a bassline or does it matter?

T: Usually I go digging first. I do a lot of E-Digging so I spend a majority of my time just listening to soul songs or old jazz records. After I hear the particular part of the sample I want to flip, I just chop it up, search through my thousands of drums and sounds and poof, masterpiece. Then I just shop them around to artists that I believe can destroy them!

W: Of course everyone wants to know what kind of tools of the trade that you use….

T: Hahaha its terrible to admit it. I use FL Studio 7. I know its easy to say that now since every new producer is going out and using software, but I was taught on FL and that’s how I will know. Until someone puts an MPC2500 in front of me, I’m good!!!

W: I always seem to ask this of any producer I talk to, what is your take on the hardware vs Software issue?

T: Its not the tools of the trade that
make the man, it’s the man himself. A lot of people ask me, how do you get that sound out of your computer that makes it sound like its from an MP. At the same time, I want to know how people get the MP sound. So honestly, if no one can tell, who cares? ha

W: You have seem to be doing a lot of work with the Beat Garden/Clean Guns cats, how did that partnership occur?

T: Well one of my best friends Dave (shouts to Dave!!!) is Nico’s cousin. When I started making beats, Dave always wanted to hear what Nico and Zilla sounded like on my beats. So when they came here to Rhode Island, we messed around a bit (pause) and got down to business. I did the one Zilla joint and the three Nico joints right there that night and it was history every since. You can kinda sort of say I’m the unofficial member of Beat Garden’s production team.

W: I read that you working on an album, what and who can we expect on that project?

T: Man Trav, I have been working on Modern Tecknowledgy since AT LEAST 2003. I had so many visions of how I wanted it to sound, who I wanted on it. So basically when I hear a beat I make, I want it on the album BADLY haha. So far, I have Chaundon, 2ew Gunn Ciz, Web, Young Scolla, D Julien, XV, Fresh Daily, Convinced, El Prez, Donny Goines, Hi Clas, Zilla Rocca, Chachi, Marvwon, Kel Spencer, Mista Mista, Fame, and my artist Mike Fonz. I am trying to build up a good cast to create this masterpiece and get it everywhere so people can be like, “This dudes a nut!!!” There are also a few surprise guests that I can not reveal yet, but best believe it is going to be monumental. What you can expect, well, you can expect hip-hop. Hip-hop in its pure and most provocative form. BANG!!

W: What should people know about you before we finish this little talk?

T: What you should know is that I am a force to be reckoned with. There are a lot of things that are in the works for me right now, and basically if you aren’t on the train, then you are not getting on! I am working on a R&B venture also, but that’s really on the down low, and I am working on a few more mixtapes with a few blogs and such, but we will address that when the time comes.

W: Any last words for the potential haters and fans?

T: Yea, shouts to all the people who have been supporting my music over the years. Shouts to all the assholes out there, because one day you’ll get yours. Look out for my production team I.D.e.A, we have a project with Web due out very soon, its in the “lets go get features” stage right now, so be on the look out. Modern Tecknowledgy drops the week of my birthday, August 10th, so be on the lookout!!! Shouts to all the artists I mentioned above, shouts to Figga Da Deal, shouts to Urban Jones, shouts to Jacques and shouts to you Trav for holding me down on the early notice!! haha

W: Aight man, thanks!

T: Hey man appreciate the love and support. Stay UP!!!(VIAGRA!!!)

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Anyway, seems like I got a run on good music coming out of the NC this year, so I figured I’d just lump them together and let it go for all those wanting that North Carolina vibe….

Hall Of Justus member L.E.G.A.C.Y. will release his forthcoming solo-LP, Suicide Music, on 6-16-09; and the project is exclusively produced by Khrysis.

Included is the LP cover art for Leg’s project and also the first leak from Suicide Music, “The Greatest” f/Mela Machenko and Dasan Ahanu (produced by Khrysis).

DL link to L.E.G.A.C.Y.’s “The Greatest”: http://www.zshare.net/audio/60600077d973a4f1/

The pre-album mixtape…..

Not North Carolina, but it’s a bonus…

Link: http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/video/detail.asp?=Craig-G-Interview-Pt.-1-Live-At-DJ-Dutchmasters-Crib–New-York-NY–4409&ID=1202

Foundation Fridays Wednesday (Part 6): In-Depth Interview w/ Craig G

Ok, so what shoulda dropped last Friday is droppin today, so YES…you still have to come to work tomorrow, it’s definitley not Friday. So in this segment of Coalmine Records/UGHH.com “Foundation Series” we gain insight into the crossover between hip-hop and Hollywood. A decorated rap battle Champion, Craig G was inducted into the Shady / Aftermath fold to pen lyrics for emcees battling Eminem in the movie 8 Mile. Craig G talks about befriending since deceased legendary D-12 rapper Proof on the 8 Mile set along with how his ghostwriting parlayed into a job composing lyrics for 50 Cent in his semi-autobiographical film, “Get Rich Or Die Tryin.” Stay tuned for Part 7 of Foundation Fridays dropping this Friday which features a video for Heltah Skeltah’s M-Phazes Remix of “Midnight Madness”.

….in the meantime, Thaione Davis’ “Leaving Babylon“:

Going back to WYDU’s origins, and my true love, we bring back a couple oldies but goodies from the ATL group, Success-N-Effect. For some reason, despite having rather lack luster albums, I’ve always considered myself a fan of the group. The group included DJ Pure Ruff Stuf, Livin Large, Big L, and Rich X as its core members. Their first album, the rather difficult to find In The Hood, is what hooked me as a fan. Although they hailed from Atlanta, In The Hood was more of a Miami Bass sound (Miami Bass is referring more to the sound than the actual city) and kind of reminded one of the Young & The Restless album that dropped that year as well, or maybe even another ATL resident, MC Shy D. They scored a marginal hit with “Roll It Up My N—-r” and the clean version (which was shown on Yo! back in the day) “Roll It Up My Homeboy”, that got some recognition. I had the tape at one time, but I haven’t seen the tape in my collection for quite some time, nor have I seen it on vinyl or CD in, well, I can’t ever recall seeing it. It’s a nice find if you come across it, prices on ebay and discogs have it going for over a $100 plus.

Their second album, Back-N-Effect, was released by Ichiban/Wrap records. The second album, is a little harder around the edges than their first, but still maintained a fun vibe for the most part. It also was entrenched with a lot of bass sound like their previous release, just listen to some of the bottom found on “Real Deal (Holyfield)”, which was a tribute to the Atlanta boxer. There are some interesting tracks on their sophomore release. During a time that everyone was releasing a house track on their albums, Success-N-Effect followed suite by dropping “Jump 2 It (House From The South)”, which worked about as well as the others that tried it, we’ll just leave it at that. The album is a good listen, which combines a lot of topics and vibes. The track, “Blueprint”, would give a preview of what their third and final album would be like.

The third album, Drive By Of Uh Revolutionist, is a far departure from their first two albums. This time, their sound came more in the mold of a Paris album, with it’s political views, Black pride and anger and west coast sounding beats. Gone was the Miami Bass sound, gone was the humor and party vibe. The album consists mainly of the previous mentioned topics, which makes for long listen without much variety. The album does feature a fairly unknown guest appearance from Public Enemy’s Chuck D, which unsurprisingly was the album’s second single. While I won’t say that the black rage direction of the album was contrived, they did have videos that dealt with the issue of the black race. I think Success-N-Effect came a little late in going with that direction as it came at the tale end of the Afrocentrism period that was found in hip hop in the late 80′s and early 90′s.

Success-N-Effect – Back-N-Effect (Ichiban/Wrap Records, 1991)

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Success-N-Effect – Drive By of Uh Revolutionist (Ichiban/Wrap Records, 1992)

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I have to admit I slept on Sleep. Alright, alright, that was corny as all hell, but yes, I did the Rip Van Winkle on Sleep’s critically acclaimed 2005 album, Christopher. Even though he is from my own neck of the woods of the Pacific Northwest, for some reason I never checked it out, even though I saw Old Dominion (the group he is apart of) back in ’01 (or it could have been ’00) when they were on tour with Binary Star and Boom Bap Project. I finally got around to listening to that album this week and I’m sorry I missed out and get the four year late pass. Sleep is back in ’09 and on a label that should help push him to the forefront of the underground hip hop scene in Strange Famous.

Today, we have an EXCLUSIVE, meaning you won’t see this anywhere else….yet. It’s a track from the upcoming Sleep album, Hesitation Wounds, which will be dropping next month. It features the newly insurgent Del the Funkee Homosapian that has been making noise as late himself. The track is in the same vein of the music found on Christopher, so fans of that release won’t be disappointed, and if you didn’t check out that album, this is the time to check out Sleep and not make that mistake again. Also on the album, is Strange Famous artist Reanimator, who was part of the Prolyphic and Reanimator release that got a lot of attention on this blog and others. – Trav

DEL THA FUNKEE HOMOSAPIEN & SLEEP of Oldominion team up on “Lothar” from Sleep’s new SFR LP! FREE DOWNLOAD!

Sleep’s new album “Hesitation Wounds” drops June 30 on Sage Francis‘ Strange Famous Records!

Rap legend Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (Hieroglyphics, Def Jux) trades verses with underground veteran Sleep on this exclusive leak from “Hesitation Wounds.”

You can download the 192kbps mp3 here:
http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/sfr-bin/sleep_lothar_featdel.zip

The first single will be “Talk About It,” an old school-style cut displaying a dizzying flow produced by SFR labelmate Reanimator. Lyrically, Sleep takes a battle stance against manufactured artists while refusing to dilute his style or message for the sake of mainstream acceptance.

Hesitation Wounds is a vivid and intense journey through the psyche of one of underground hip hop’s longest tenured and most promising emcees.The follow-up to Sleep’s acclaimed 2005 LP Christopher, the album features guest appearances by Del the Funky Homosapien, Grayskul, and boasts the production credits of Reanimator, Zebulon Dak and Smoke. Constructed from a mix of samples, live instrumentation, and a myriad of styles that all assist in the storytelling of a lifelong hip-hop veteran who has much more to offer the game than brag raps. This is real life in all its complexities, compressed into 13 solid tracks, and delivered in a way that only Sleep could do.

*Features rap legend Del the Funky Homosapien (Hieroglyphics, Def Jux)
*Contributions by Grayskul (Rhymesayers) and Reanimator (SFR)
*Newly signed artist on Sage Francis’s label, Strange Famous Records

The complete track listing for Sleep of Oldominion’s Hesitation Wounds:

1) Intro (produced by Pale Soul.)

2) Day Dreamer (produced by Zavala, scratches by DJ Z-One, horns by Ross Liquid, additional vocals Toni Hill.)

3) Talk About It (produced by Reanimator.)

4) Who to Point the Finger At (produced by Reanimator.)

5) Ginelli (produced by Samix, scratches DJ Z-One. Horns by Ross Liquid, Lambs Bread and Jamzels. Additional vocals by Toni Hill and Scott Preston.)

6) Spent (produced by Zavala, scratches by DJ Z-One.)

7) Orchestra of Strangers (produced by Leon West, featuring Toni Hill.)

Hesitation Wounds (produced by Zavala, featuring Grayskul.)

9) Commercial (produced by Pale Soul.)

10) Lothar (produced by Zavala, scratches by DJ Z-One, featuring Del Tha Funkee Homosapien.)

11) Get It (produced by Smoke, scratches by DJ Z-One.)

12) So Far Away (produced by Samix, scratches by DJ Z-One, additional vocals by Toni Hill.)

13) Roll Call (produced by Zavala.)

Sleep can be found online at:

www.myspace.com/sleepofoldominion

www.strangefamousrecords.com

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Jake One’s new video from “White Van Music’s” most stellar track IMO, “Home”. Damn, could you imagine a solo LP from Ish produced by Jake One???? This video is just pure dopeness!!

Marco Polo, a name that people got familiar with after the release of Masta Ace’s A Long Hot Summer. Since then he has fought his way up to the top of the Producers in New York, and placed a beat on most of the hot underground releases. His album Port Authority was loved by many and counts as one of the best Producer albums of all time. Torae has been around the Dipset Crew before dropping a single called Click which was produced by the One and Only DJ Premier, which gained a lot of buzz in the Underground. In early 2008 he released his debut Album/Mixtape called “Daily Conversations” which featured some of undergrounds hottest producers.
Shortly after that he teamed up with Marco to work on Double Barrel. They went on Tour to Europe with eMC and tested out how the crowd responded to their sound, and since I’ve been at 2 of these shows I can say, they went crazy!

Now, that June 2nd is coming up, it’s time to give you a little review, to make sure you make the right decision, in PURCHASING that album.
The album starts with a little Intro, where Premo talks over a really jazzy loop, telling the people what’s about to come. It’s a cool intro, but something you might skip after listening through the album twice, it will be a cool Intro for the shows tho, a calm little intro before Torae comes out and goes wild. Track 2 is the title Track and Torae tells you what Double Barrel stands for. Marco flipped the sample that was playing through the intro in a really dope way. Bangin first track to start off the album! Party Crashers is the first single and coming afterwards. It keeps up the pace of the first track, again really hard. This is something you notice throughout the whole album, Hard Drums, a heavy bassline and some strings or horns, those are the basics that the album is built on.
Torae sounds hungry and sometimes angry, but that’s a good thing. I think he really evolved, his voice sounds better, the lyrics are on point, he is definitely one of the best out there right now.

It’s hard to pick a favorite out of the 14 Tracks, I might go with “Crashing Down”, the track that closes the album, maybe because it’s just different than all the other tracks, it’s the only calm track. On the other Hand I’m really feeling the Beat of “Danger” and Torae is absolutely destroying it. “Word Play” is special when it comes to the lyrics. Torae is just playing with the words he uses, like the title says, and he is doing it in a really dope sounding way. So there are a lot of crazy tracks on here, it might be an album where everybody has a different favorite and that’s something special!

Another thing that needs to be said is, that the choice of features has been excellent. Masta Ace, Sean P, Lil Fame, Guily Simpson, all names that make the Hip Hop head jump around in a circle due to happiness.

The only thing you could criticize is, that the album might sound too monotonous. All the tracks are hard, there is not really a chill out moment on it, and that fact doesn’t give Tor a lot of room for a diversity of his lyrics. But then again, that wasn’t the intention for the album. It’s called Double Barrel, it’s hard, it’s raw, it’s street, it is straight New York sound. With that being said, I wanna give the advice to go out and buy the album when it drops, and support two artists who love what they do and created an album without a filler.

4.5/5

E-Clipz and his producer Johnny Drama put together a real real solid project called “Fuck You Play Me”. They are associated with WYDU favorite, MIDIMarc, so you know they have to be good…..

Here Is The Link For The Project
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mmluzyay4on

They also put together a promo video for the project

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Hungarian Producer Mr. Joeker who produced the entire Cymarshall Law Album Hip Hop in the Soul has just released for free digital download his first solo album The Inside Man full of new instrumentals and bonus remixes for tracks by Royce Da 5’9 , Elzhi , Supastition , Kev Brown & More. Mr. Joeker & Cymarshall Law are currently working on a sequel to their first album together.

You can download the project here : Mr. Joeker – The Inside Man Vol 1 http://hosok.hu/egyeb/mr_joeker_the_inside_man.rar

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www.jaywhoshow.com

Just making sure that everyone who supported and posted my last album “Where Da Sidewalk Ends” or my songs “Doin My Numbers” “Impeach The Governor (Blago)” and “Mr. Anonymous” is serviced with a copy of my new album “The Light In Da’ Addict” first, which is available now for free downloading. This time around I went the route of a concept album centered around the world of porn addiction and addiction as a whole. Much like the last project its filled with creative rhymes, humor, concepts, stories and my signature sampled based production. It should definitely have the net buzzing this summer. Its already receiving very strong early reviews from "nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://beatspermillennium.com/articles/jay-who-the-light-in-da-addict">www.beatspermil.com (calling it “one of the best albums of the year so far” along with a 9/10 rating) and Miles Raymer of The Chicago Reader.

Feel free to liberally post it on your site along with the cover and banner. You can also re-post “Where Da’ Sidewalk Ends” along side “The Light In Da Addict” being that its all apart of a 3 album series/collection (in sequence with the Shel Silverstein books). with the next album being “The Getting Tree” which will be released in December ’09.

“The Light In Da Addict” is available free for download at www.jaywhoshow.com which is also the link you can post on your site.

If for some reason you have a problem here is an alternative link to “The Light In Da’ Addict”-http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=9cbff64879dfdfa999b04656fbe0526 although I prefer use of the first link for tracking purposes.

Also attached is a copy of the album cover, press release, bio, and promo photo

And if you slept on my last project from last summer/fall “Where Da Sidewalk Ends” feel free to post it you can click on the cover below:

http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=a518524f82e9c6f16ee3aff14bc0b05fhttp://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=a518524f82e9c6f16ee3aff14bc0b05f

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California Grown Mixtape Feat: U-N-I, Pac Div, Dom Kennedy, Doey Rock, Murs, The Grouch, Matt Cali, and more…

Matt Cali presents “California Grown” The Mixtape a collective of Northern and Southern California’s freshest MC’s !!!

This mixtape is dope beginning to end, featuring material both exclusive and non-exclusive mixed by Nor Cals Mc/Dj himself MAtt Cali!!

Download,enjoy, and repost! thanx -MC

Downlaod Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mn4zn0gyzwd

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Keep It Classic Underground Hip Hop Vol 16

If you haven’t gotten a copy of KEEPITCLASSIC.COM UNDERGROUND HIP HOP COMPILATION VOL. 16 SPRING 2009: HOSTED BY CHIP FU (OF THE FU-SCHNICKENS). You can download the MP3 Version of the CD for FREE by clicking here: http://www.zshare.net/download/60469505601b9f28/

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Videos

M-PHAZES: ‘One Stop Shop Producer’s Conference’ Vlog (Part 2)

M-M-M-M-Phazes Good Gracious. Australia’s golden boy producer is back with part 2 of his vlog series documenting his recent trip to the states, which is centered around his trip to Sha Money’s One Stop Producer’s Conference. Hosted by phazes alter ego, ‘M-Figgidy Phazes’, this vlog documents the second part of his trip, where he first touches down in Phoenix and makes a few detours before the One Stop festivities get underway. Check it out as Phazes stops by Power 98.3 ‘The Pulse’ (shouts to Yaya, Cory Gunz & Termanology).

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New Jack Hustle (Shawn Jackson & Newman of Giant Panda)

“Lionel” Video

After a long period between shooting and today, the video for “Lionel” from the New Jack Hustle (Shawn Jackson and Newman of Giant Panda) album “Sound Check” is r
eady for the world.

Filmed on location at the old 360 Vinyl (shout to Kez and the crew) in Portland, OR. and featuring Ohmega Watts (in the video and on the song).
It can be viewed here or on tres records blog.

“Lionel” – New Jack Hustle (Shawn Jackson & Newman) from Isaac Lane on Vimeo.

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Koncept feat Donny Goines & 6th Sense

On Day 4 of Brown Bag Season, we present to you a video of KONCEPT, Donny Goines & 6th Sense in the studio recording “Put Your Hands Together”

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Tracks

Lee Fields

RELEASE DATE: June 2nd 2009

DOWNLOAD:
+ Ladies
+ Money I$ King

PRE-ORDER: TRUTH & SOUL

PRESS RELEASE: Lee Fields is a bona-fide, 100%, unadulterated, pure, gut-bucket soul singer. While the crate-digging funk and soul community bestowed “legendary” status upon him due to his undeniably solid series of rare 7″ singles (and one LP) recorded and released on his own independent labels in the 70s, he’s never been one to sit in a dusty corner. New York label/production team Truth & Soul, are ready to bring him to light with a brand new album of beat-heavy, deep soul ballads that will show soul-revivalists the world over what real soul is.

After his rediscovery in the mid 90s, his faithful have featured him on a slew on singles, a full-length on Desco Records entitled “Let’s Get It On’, a full-length on Soul Fire entitled “Problems”, and on Sharon Jones’s critically acclaimed album, “Naturally”. Most recently, he has featured on a number of tracks by French house producer, Martin Solveig. Suprisingly, many of of those songs have become top ten hits for Solveig and have turned Lee Fields into a bonafide celebrity in France and other parts of Europe. Yet, outside of a rabid cult following, his story remained untold in America.

When Truth & Soul rose from Soul Fire’s ashes in 2004, the first mission of label owners/producers Jeff Silverman and Leon Michels, was to record a sweet soul record that would be modeled after the near perfect formula that bands like The Moments, The Delfonics, and The Stylistics had created. But with a decidedly modern bent. The two producer/songwriters were perfect for the job, having dedicated their talents to the likes of Adele, Iggy Pop, Amy Winehouse alongside Just Blaze, Ghostface Killah and Jay Z

Turning their attention to Lee Fields, the duo wanted an album full of music that was both tough as nails and sweet as honey. They wanted ballads laced with lush strings and smooth vocal harmonies layered over a hard-hitting rhythm section. Michels and Silverman enlisted the service of a the group of New York studio musicians that have provided the back drop for records by The Dap Kings, Amy Winehouse, Bronx River Parkway, El Michels Affair and TV on The Radio. Those musicians include Leon Michels, Homer Steinweiss, Quincy Bright, Nick Movshon, Thomas Brenneck, Toby Pazner, Aaron Johnson, Dave Guy, Michael Leonhart, and members of legendary doo-wop group, The Del-Larks.

Four years later and Lee Fields & The Expressions have successfully created a unique and personal sound that can hold court with the bands they set out to emulate. However, what they’ve created in the process goes beyond just a carbon copy of a sweet soul music from the 60′s and early 70′s. The formula has remained the same but the style has been adapted for the ears of youngsters whose experiences with soul began with Amy, not Al, Otis and Marvin. Thirty years of retrospection has colored this cross-generational melding of the minds. It sounds odd on paper, but the results are classic: hip hop-reared record collectors come full circle to produce an album of beautiful soul music with one of the progenitors who made it all possible.

Brown Bag Season!!!

Download It Here

On behalf of my group; Brown Bag AllStars, I would like to introduce you to “Brown Bag Season” which kicks off today, May 18th! Brown Bag Season is a marketing campaign we developed and have steadily been working on since back in November; During Brown Bag Season we will be leaking 2 – 4 brand new Brown Bag songs and/or video clips (Brown Bag in studio with artists, fat beats ciphers with us and other artists, etc) each week starting today and continuing all
the way into September. We began recording these new tracks back in November so that we wouldn’t compromise any quality in the slightest…and now we’re ready to officially unleash Brown Bag Season!

Hope you enjoy the madness!

On day 3 of Brown Bag Season we would like to hit you with a new track:

KONCEPT feat Donny Goines & 6th Sense “Put Your Hands Together”
(produced by DJ Goo)

The Brown Bag AllStars Are:
The Audible Doctor (Emcee/Producer)
J57 (Emcee/Producer)
KONCEPT (Emcee)
Soul Khan (Emcee)
DJ E Holla (DJ)
Deejay Element (DJ)
DJ Goo (DJ)

J-Love – DJ Threat’s Still Missed
http://www.zshare.net/audio/60561008e2009b66/

J-Love feat Action Bronson – Another Victory
http://www.zshare.net/audio/605612309685c4d6/

Pugs Atomz f 6th Sense (prod. by Ill Poetic) – Winners
http://usershare.net/7v8fc7146mvx

First leak off the upcoming mixtape from Pugs Atomz, Road to the Top, presented by 2DopeBoyz x FakeShoreDrive. Be sure to check out both sites for leaks leading up to the release in a few weeks. Then after the tape, Pugs will be dropping his official album; with the lead single (Wait & See featuring Sadat X) hitting iTunes on June 1st.

Serious Freestyle from Torae

“Lay It Down”:
http://bit.ly/14vHKA

Custom Made’s “New Life”:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/60536839c6ec82f7/

Sandpeople – Money Is On The Mind

The Song: Money Is On The Mind

Being part of a hip-hop crew comes with benefits – never get lonely on the road, never run out of song ideas, the more the merrier, right? Sure, right up until show money and royalty checks need to get split. So Sandpeople, a 10-member hip-hop collective repping Portland, Oregon, have a lot of mouths to feed, and just like Wu needed C.R.E.A.M. back in ’93, in 2009, Sandpeople are in pursuit of that almighty greenback with “Money On Their Minds,” from Long Story, Short… the Pacific Northwest collective’s new studio EP.

Over a slick vocal sample, hard drums, guitar loops, and synth stabs courtesy of producer/rapper, Sapient, crew members Al-One, Ethic, Mo-B, Sapient, Gold, and Onlyone trade tales about the struggle, hustle, and hopes of an independent artist. Highlighting his own grind and aspirations, Ethic raps, “We gotta hustle strong ’till the customer’s gone/ ‘Till the rented van turns into a bus that we’re on/ And independent plans turns all of us into dons/ ‘Cause the business plan holds up just as much as the song does Yeah, it’s all love/ But it’s all from our own pockets, and we can’t eat off a small buzz.” While the jury is still out on the success of that business plan, the verdict on the song is in – Sandpeople have a great one on their hands with “Money Is On Their Minds.”

Finale – Issues

The Song: Issues

The latest track from Finale’s debut album A Pipe Dream & A Promise, “Issues,” traces the difficulties of growing up in a less than ideal situation and doing what you have to do to make the best of it. Supported by the electronic beat of Swiss producer Dimlite, Finale spits verses of true stories about those who have had to face adversity in their life. Finale offered this explanation of the track: “When I got the beat, Dimlite just sent me the drums and I wrote it within an hour. I thought of the craziest and most real stories. I think rappers forget to show the moral of the story. I think they are so used to telling the outlandish, most gangsteriffic crap, they forget to tell the stories that people can relate to, like teen pregnancy, like my mom was 15 when she had me.”

The song wraps up with a monologue by Prince Whip-A-Whip, a Bronx native rapper and former member of the Cold Crush Brothers, who reminds us of the underlying passion, substance, and self-expression that marked the experience of the early days of hip-hop in the Bronx.

A Pipe Dream And A Promise is now available everywhere.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=310552492&s=143441

My man Hotbox, who has been featured numerous times on WYDU, has started up his own blog and has been releasing sets of samples. If there was ever anything that I lacked in as far as “hip hop knowledge” (yeah, I know that sounds dorky as fuck), it’s my sample sources and what is what. Over the past couple years, I’ve gotten my game up enough to know the major ones, but I’m still all about learning about more. Hotbox is a producer, so of course he knows what he is talking about.

Here is the first couple he posted. Be sure to hit his spot up for the others, as well as him speaking his own mind….

http://hotboxbeats.blogspot.com/

#3 http://hotboxbeats.blogspot.com/2009/05/hotbox-sample-series-3-hip-hug-her_10.html
#4 http://hotboxbeats.blogspot.com/2009/05/hotbox-sample-series-4-nautilus-bob.html
#5 http://hotboxbeats.blogspot.com/2009/05/hotbox-sample-series-5-blind-alley.html

Hotbox Sample Series #1:”More Peas” (The J.B.’s)

For those that don’t know, the J.B.’s were James Brown’s legendary supporting cast of musicians during his commercial peak in the late 60′s to mid 70′s. One of my favorite bassline samples! The bass/drum loop break at the 7:20 mark of “More Peas” has been sampled many times in hip-hop. Perhaps the most famous examples are Cypress Hill’s “The Phunky Feel One” and Organized Konfusion’s “Fudge Pudge”. Here is a 30-minute mix:

1. Soul Clap – Showbiz & AG 3.47
2. Behind Closed Doors – WC & The Maad Circle 4.50
3. Fudge Funk – Organized Konfusion 1.03
4. The Phunky Feel One – Cypress Hill 1.37
5. The Way Of Rhyme – Kris Kross 1.20
6. Fudge Pudge – Organized Rhyme 3.48
7. Search 4 The Lyte – MC Lyte 2.42
8. Gimme Dat Girl – Redhead Kingpin & The FBI (feat. Kwame) 2.25
9. Physical Form – Freestyle Fellowship 3.00
10. A Fight – Apache 2.57
11. I Shouldn’t Have Done It – Slick Rick 4.01

http://www.zshare.net/audio/596766015689788f/

Hotbox Sample Series #2: “Handclapping Song” (The Meters)

There elements of the original track – the intro guitar break, the “clap ya hands now” vocal, and the drum/handclap break – have been sampled many times. All of the songs in this mix contain one or more of these pieces. I’m especially diggin’ the Chi-Ali joint, which is pretty much a Native Tounges posse cut with a Chi-Ali 12 bar at the end. And no, I’m not from the Fax. . .it’s a possible track for one or more rappers, presumably out of Halifax.

The Meters’ 1970 album “Struttin” is littered with familiar breaks. I may feature another cut from the album for a future sample mix. The group’s trademark scratchy guitar funk sound is firmly in place here, and the rhythm section is nice, tight, and choppy. Enjoy!

1. Handclapping Song – The Meters 0.43
2. Clap Your Hands – A Tribe Called Quest 3.12
3. The Symphony Pt. 2 – Marley Marl feat. Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane & Kool G. Rap 3.50
4. Klap Ya Hands – Das Efx 1.40
5. Put Your Hands Together – Eric B. & Rakim 4.02
6. I’m From The Fax – Hotbox 1.44
7. Let The Horns Blow – Chi-Ali feat. Black Sheep, The Beatnuts, & Phife Dawg 5.14
8. Crumbsnatcher – Illegal feat. Diamond D. 2.43
9. Escape From Reality – Positively Black 0.57
10. Beauty And The Beat – Salt ‘N’ Pepa 0.25
11. DJ Premier In Deep Concentration – Gang Starr 1.02
12. Same Ol’ Thang – Del Tha Funkee Homosapien 2.46

http://www.zshare.net/audio/59799625494131d3/

Happy Memorial Day for those of us Americans that have the day off. As you can tell, I’ve been rather lazy the last couple days. I can’t remember the last time I went three days without posting anything. Part of that is due to some computer issues I’m having, like it won’t turn on. Kind of hard to use a computer if it doesn’t turn on. I’ve confiscated another computer for an hour or two today in order to hopefully get a couple posts together for next couple days while my computer is worked on. Other than that, it was kind of a good thing that it wasn’t working this weekend, that way I could do other shit without feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing anything on the blog, cause quiet honestly, I doubt I would have posted much even if it was working.

Anyway, a quickie update while I work on a couple other things. The people over at A-Side Worldwide are some of my favorite to deal with. Stephanie and DJ Graffiti are always a pleasure and it helps that I love the music on the label anyway. Here is a quick rundown at what they got going on.

I’m about to bust out, finish a couple posts, then site on the patio with a beer and a book. Here’s to summer…..

Legendary Athletes

We’re excited to announce the digital re-issue of the entire Athletic Mic League catalog. First up is AML’s first full-length album, Sweats & Kicks, which is available now on iTunes via A-Side Worldwide.

In celebration of the of the re-release, a series of mini-documentaries have been produced which feature an in-depth track-by track look into the classic AML album. Originally released in 2004, the crew discusses the making of S&K and the ideas behind the tracks. Click the video below to peep Episode 1 for the joint “Vibin“:

Download Sweats & Kicks on iTunes now:

In other AML news, a rare performance by the entire crew goes down this Friday:

URB Next100

This month, URB Magazine released it’s 15th annual Next100 issue which includes TWO A-Side artists: Buff1 and Mayer Hawthorne. Congrats y’all!

Click here to peep the full digital issue, which includes the full-page Mayer H spread.

Maybe So, Maybe No 12″

Fresh out on Stones Throw Records is the brand new 12″ from Mayer Hawthorne - “Maybe So, Maybe No” b/w “I Wish It Would Rain“. Includes vocal and instrumental versions of both joints. Buy now.

Free Download

Long time A-Side friend and fam member, Tony Ozier is back. Download the joint “Futuristc Soul (Do You Agree?)” produced by 14KT from Tony’s forth coming album “Aural Penetration”:

Tony Ozier “Futuristc Soul (Do You Agree?)” – prod. by 14KT

Get Loose

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