Felt: "Chewed Up"

Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez will be in stores on Tuesday, November 17. Here's another leak from that project, Aesop Rock on the production. Preorder at Fifth Element.

Felt: "Chewed Up"

Chantz Erolin & Cory Grindberg: 'The Good Company EP'

Tru Ruts just remastered 18 year-old Chantz Erolin's The Good Company EP and rereleased it via Chantz's Bandcamp website. You can stream the whole thing online, or purchase the project for only $5. Get familiar:

What Chantz Erolin lacks in age, he more than makes up for in experience. At just 18 years old, he’s been a part of the Twin Cities hip hop scene for a very long time, performing at Yo! The Movement events, winning battles, rocking the stage at Soundset 2009 with new label-mate Guante and playing alongside artists like MC Lyte, Naughty by Nature, I Self Devine, Brother Ali and many more. Over the past few years, you may have seen him sneaking into a 21+ Big Quarters show, ciphering outside South High or winning a youth poetry slam.

Featuring production by one of the best young beat-makers in the country (Cory Grindberg of Audio Perm), the EP is a brief collection of guitar-driven hip hop tracks “about friends, fashion’s guts, hunger, home, race and family,” as Chantz says. Featuring laugh-out-loud punchlines, touching meditations on identity and relationships, and lots of poetic details, “Good Company” is the perfect introduction to one of the Twin Cities freshest voices. Rising indie label Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records recognized this, and will be re-releasing the EP in preparation for a future full-length.

Chantz Erolin & Cory Grindberg: 'The Good Company EP'

Vedarone: "Word Life ft. DJ C-Dab"

Here's some material from Madison, WI artist Vedarone. The above picture is him rocking at the UW-Madison student union. What up, Badgers?

Vedarone: "Word Life ft. DJ C-Dab"

Felt: Styleetron

What's a Styleetron? Here's some behind the scenes footage of Aesop Rock crafting beats for Felt 3 with DJ Big Wiz, who did all the scratching on the album. Pre-order Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez at Fifth Element.

M.anifest: "Golly Gosh" + 'The Birds and the Beats' Tracklist

Another leak off M.anifest's The Birds and the Beats, available for free download on M.anifest's born day, November 20. This track, "Golly Gosh," was produced by 17 year-old beatmaking phenom G Mo. Also, M.anifest sent the tracklist for the project my way, and you can view it at the bottom of this post.

M.anifest: "Golly Gosh"

Madlib & Guilty Simpson: "The Paper"

Via Stones Throw:

Madlib is launching the Madlib Medicine Show, a once-a-month, twelve-CD, six-LP series. The Madlib Medicine Show will be a combination of Madlib's new hip-hop productions, remixes, beat tapes, and jazz, as well as mixtapes of funk, soul, Brazilian, psych, jazz and other undefined forms of music from the Beat Konducta's 4-ton* stack of vinyl.

Madlib Medicine Show No. 1 is Before The Verdict featuring Guilty Simpson, a 17-track album mixing remixes and new material, something of a prelude to Madlib & Guilty Simpson's forthcoming OJ Simpson album.

(*4-tons of vinyl, this is true.)

Madlib & Guilty Simpson: "The Paper" (Right click + 'Save As')

F. Stokes Performing in Madison, WI 11/3/09 (Video)

Here's a compilation of various moments strung together from F. Stokes' recent performance at the Barrymore in Madison. He was opening up for Ghostface Killah.

Tracks performed: 1) "Jeremiah (Remix)" 2) "Sparse Parts (Remix)" 3) "Blessings (Remix)" 4) "Sky High" 5) "So Into You" 6) "GO" 7) "Soul Clap (Remix)"

M.anifest: City Pages Interview (Video)

This interview starts out with M.anifest talking about Snoop Dogg and weed, but transitions into reflections on his own music, and his upcoming project The Birds and the Beats.

P.O.S.: MTV's Discover and Download Interview

Via MTV's Buzzworthy Blog:

In the clip, P.O.S. talks about the various meanings his stage name has had over the years, from "Pissed Off Stef" in his adolescence to "Promise Of Skill" in his emcee days. He also goes into detail about his varying levels of skill on various instruments, including drums, keys, bass, and even tuba (!!!).

Fresh Air Tour: Behind the Scenes with Toki Wright (Video)

P.O.S.: "Purexed" (Live at First Ave 10/24/09)

Brother Ali, Toki Wright, & Evidence: "The Freshest Kids" (Video)

Shakira: "Did It Again (Remix) ft. Kid Cudi"

You guys would probably like this more if I put a picture of Shakira up. Sorry. Download link via 2DopeBoyz.

Shakira: "Did It Again (Remix) ft. Kid Cudi"

M.anifest: "Get Away (Shafiq Husayn Re-Fix)"

This is a remix (or re-fix) that M.anifest did of a Shafiq Husayn track called "The U.N." It is one of two remixes on his upcoming project The Birds and The Beats (artwork above). The project features those two remixes and 14 additional original pieces from the Ghana-meets-Minneapolis emcee. It will be available for free.99 on M.anifest's birthday, November 20.

Also, M.anifest had some words regarding a nonprofit project dear to his heart:

In return [for the free music] all we ask is for folks to support a cause! To consider making a gift to Young Entrepreneurs Africa (YEA), a nonprofit empowering underprivileged youth in the motherland to turn proverbial lemons into lemonade.

M.anifest will be sharing more information about the organization via his Twitter.

M.anifest: "Get Away (Shafiq Husayn Re-Fix)"

Ray Shemersy Tonight: Felt Interview, Part 3 (Video)