The Grammy Family returns for the first single off of Consequence's Cons TV. Shouts to NahRight on the artwork and the links — I have to run to a couple meetings right now so I had no time to upload things myself.
Spotted this at City Pages blog Gimme Noise. Here's what they had to say:Jimmy2Times: Michael Jackson Tribute MixFans of Michael Jackson all have their own way of mourning the King Of Pop. Perhaps you became a dancin' machine at the club last weekend when they played some of his tunes in remembrance. Maybe (like a certain sister of mine) you've played his music nonstop since his death, as if a second of silence means we'd forget.It has got to be a special thing, though, when you're the one behind the turntables giving grieving fans a piece of what you treasured about this man, while simultaneously paying your own homage with his music. Jimmy 2 Times had such an outlet last Saturday on RSE Radio."This mix features my own personal favorites by the best to ever do it, Michael Jackson," Jimmy said.
2DopeBoyz just dropped this first leak from Royce's The Revival EP, which comes out July 7. The EP is coming out because Royce's much-hyped Street Hop LP got pushed back due to his Slaughterhouse project coming out in late July.
Ill Poetic hit me with this track at the start of last weekend, but I decided to hold on to it until today. It's his installment in the DJBooth.net freestyle series. He produced the track as well.
I'm incredibly late on posting this, it's way tougher to stay up to date with blogging in the summertime, when there's so much else to do. Either way, the homie Add-2, who had a track on Flyover Land, Vol. 1, just sent this new freestyle my way.
Honestly, not a big Drake fan. I find him pretty one-dimensional. But this track has got some new Elzhi on it, so I'm pretty much obligated to post. An unfinished, sans-Elzhi version was featured on Drake's Comeback Season mixtape, which I never heard. Apparently now that Drake finally paid 9th Wonder for the beat, as he produced this track, so it can be released properly. Shout to Rappers I Know.
Kansas City's D/Will, who contributed a track to Flyover Land, Vol. 1, just linked up with 2DopeBoyz to release Battery Effect, a free album, to the masses. Tracklist below and download link at the end of the post.
DOWNLOAD - D/Will: Batter Effect (Free Album)
Trey Lane (pictured above) sent me this track by Brutal of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It will be featured on Brutal's upcoming album.
Quest jumps on this Nametag track. Produced by DefMan, this track is the official single for Nametag's forthcoming free mixtape download presented by Dub MD titled Classic Cadence Vol. 2 scheduled for release date on August 10th.
Graham O'Brien (drummer and beat-maker from Abzorbr and No Bird Sing) just put me up on this new project he is a part of, Junkyard Empire. Junkyard is a full 5 piece band heavy on hard-hitting political lyrics and a hip hop-jazz feel. The group just finished recording their debut EP, Rebellion Politik, which will have guests Desdamona and RDM (Abstract Pack). The the album is in mastering now, so stay on the lookout for that. Meanwhile, here is the EP's firey title track for you to check out.
This was actually one of the first tracks to be posted on other blogs today, but it's Toki Wright, so I'm putting it up front and center for the rest of the night. Toki jumped on the Pete Rock-produced single off of Redman & Method Man's recent Blackout 2 album to do his thing.
Keeping things Michigan for a moment, the homie Shake at 2DopeBoyz threw up this new track from Guilty Simpson.
Royce and Slaughterhouse had a pretty amazing freestyle session on DJ Green Lantern's radio show just the other day, but people were criticizing Royce for spitting some previously written material (even though it was fire). Just to make up for that, he spits some new material over the "D.O.A." beat, complete with some shots fired in Charles Hamilton's direction. Props to Shake.
Cudi drops a quick verse over the "Kind Of Like A Big Deal" beat. Nothing too amazing, but I can dig it.
I'm not familiar with Grynch, but I definitely know who One Be Lo is. Well, Grynch has an EP coming out on July 7, and this is track off the project. Shouts to 2DopeBoyz.
From RubyHornet:Naledge drops another gem from The Chicago Picasso sessions. "Pharcyde Freestyle" didn't make the final cut, but it appears below for your download and listening pleasure. The Chicago Picasso is out June 30th via Duck Down Records.Naledge: "Pharcyde Freestyle"
This track appeared on FakeShoreDrive's latest mixtape, but Sketches of My Soul dropped the no-DJ version. Andrew seemed pretty surprised about that.
Here's a song from F. Stokes & Lazerbeak's EP, Death of a Handsome Bride (Review). Also, if you want a non-album joint, check out his track, "Letter To Kanye," which I posted a few days ago.
Blueprint just posted some updates about his new album on his blog. I'm reposting them here, in case you're interested:Truthfully, my record not dropping yet is more a decision of mine than theirs. I had a release date that i decided i was a little too rushed to do everything I wanted to do, so i let it go. After that, I took a step back and we decided to just make the album as good as possible and not stress release dates.
but there have been some issues along the way:
1. the dude who did my artwork (and tons of artwork for me over the years) retired. this may not seem to have much impact since the art was done, but it could pose a real problem when you want to get adjustments made or when you want to adapt that design to fit other mediums like web, print, advertisements. so i had to get my artwork totally redone.
2. hard drive crash - everybody around me knows i had a major hd crash around march that had the lab closed for a couple months. i just got everything back up and running, and actually i think my setup is better now because everything is mobile, so i can do beats anywhere now, which is what i’ve always wanted to do but never quite could.
3. sample clearance issues - there’s a couple things on my album that rse is concerned about, and would like to pull off the album because of samples. obviously i want to keep the songs, but to do so i need to find a creative way to get rid of the samples in question w/o ruining the essence of the song. this is something i havent really had to deal with before because i was “under the radar” so to speak. on 1988 i was able to do whatever i wanted to do and i didn’t think twice about samples. however, there is a feeling that this record will get more exposure and because of that it will also become more of a target for lawsuits for uncleared samples. i kind of knew this going in so i kept the blatant samples to a minimum, but there are still some things that i need to be cautious about and fix. so between having certain things replayed and reevaluating the tracklisting i’m trying to resolve these issues.
4. the edit - i’m trying to cut the album down time wise and song wise. it is a very dense listen and i dont want to make it any more challenging of a listen than it needs to be. plus i’m a fan of short albums with little filler.
at any rate, its really in my court at this point, and my goal is to have all this stuff wrapped up soon…like within 2 weeks, especially since my lab is back up. i came back from soundset very motivated. i was honestly very shocked that so many people were asking me about new music and still responded to 1988 and Things Go Better, and it encouraged me to get back n the lab and fix all this shit asap. sometimes its good to me reminded that people enjoy what you do and want you to continue doing it.
Slug jumps on this single from Grouch & Eligh's latest album, Say G&E, which was released a little while ago. I recommend it as a worthwhile purchase, not only because this track rocks, but because the entire album absolutely bumps, and you can catch guest spots from Blu, Sage Francis, Gift of Gab, and more.
On the chorus to “Good Look,” brothers Medium Zach and Brandon Allday of Big Quarters rap: “Independents made ground/ Industry breaks down/ What else are you coming with?/ It’s not grinding if it don’t feel like punishment.” Minneapolis’ Mexican-American hip-hop duo is a quintessential example of the new wave of creativity in indie hip-hop marketing. The group has gained notice by continually grinding, self-promoting themselves through an innovative ‘BQ Direct’ system — giving their fans five new tracks monthly. Now, they return with their sophomore full-length album, From the Home of Brown Babies and White Mothers.
The good folks at Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records just hit me with See More Perspective's lead single off his upcoming First Impression EP. The emcee/producer recently took a brief hiatus in Chicago, but the forthcoming EP will be his formal reintroduction to the Twin Cities scene. While this particular track has a dominant party vibe, the rest of the EP features See More's contemplative and philosophical side, as well as an impressive instrumental track. The EP will be officially released on June 30, and you can hit up Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records for a more thorough press release. 
The Sound of Young America puts on a regular interview series, and their most recent subject was none other than Minneapolis' own Brother Ali. He sat down for a 34-minute interview to speak on his childhood and the difficulties with growing up albino, regionalism in hip-hop, religion, and more.
NahRight world premier. The one-time Chicago emcee SoulStice gets down with a few present Chi-Town heavyweights for this remix to the original track off GLC's Similar To The Letters mixtape.
I agree with Khal of Rock The Dub: Murdering beats like this make me question why cats like Asher Roth get beats like "Lark."Quest MCODY goes in on Mr. Roth's beat, and throws some jabs at Charles Hamilton, for his recent shameless move of giving the late J Dilla executive producer credit for his upcoming debut album. Those in the Detroit/Michigan scene close to J Dilla are not happy. Moe inevitable shots to come soon, I'm sure.
The homie F. Stokes just hit me with this new track, on which, over the "Homecoming" instrumental, he explains his feelings towards Kanye and Mr. West's legacy in Chicago. On the version he sent me, the first verse from "Blessings," off his Death of a Handsome Bride EP (Review), was tacked on to the end. I took that file and split off just the "Letter to Kanye" track into a separate mp3 file, but both are included below for your listening pleasure.
Add-2 sent this through the inbox a bit ago. His new joint, "Nicole Brown Simpson," really showcases his lyrical ability. It's apparent that Add-2 puts time and effort into crafting his lyrics — something all too ignored in today's rap scene.
Chicago via St. Paul rapper Jordan Looney (I formerly wrote about him under the name J.Loonz) is putting out Nerd-Hop, Vol. 2 very soon. In the meantime, here's the first single from that project, "Sleepy Head."
I'm posting again because I spotted the CD-quality version of Jigga's new track at Andrew's spot — the man's got a connect somewhere. He also claims that No I.D. is actually the only producer on the track, not him and Kanye. I also read that this is just a street single — the song will be reworked for the Blueprint 3 version.
The song of the day finally makes its way to the internet. Jay's newest track, presumably from his upcoming Blueprint 3, was just played on Hot97 just moments ago, and EVERYONE came through with a radio rip. Even though it's a Hov song, I figure if Kanye and No I.D. produce a song together, then it merits a post on Midwest Broadcast. 
This is the first single/leak off of Big Sean's debut LP, Finally Famous. Props to Rap Radar.
Chicago's Dave Coresh just released a new single from his upcoming Call Me Dave EP, which is due out in August 2009. "K.I.M." stands for keep it moving — I can dig it.
In promotion of his upcoming Rhymesayers debut album, A Different Mirror (Click to pre-order), Toki Wright was generous enough to share some of his "Best Week Ever" series for free. In case you don't recall, the "Best Weel Ever" series featured Toki doing weekly freestyles. This particular collection spans from May 2, 2008 to September 24, 2008, and features guest appearances from Mike Mictlan, P.O.S., and Freez of Illuminous 3. Remeber to get A Different Mirror on June 9!
News of this Random Axe project has been circulating for months now. Well, the first leak from this yet-untitled project is here, thanks to 2DopeBoyz.
Two of XXL's "Freshman 10" of 2008 hook up for this upbeat, synth-heavy collaboration. Shouts to GFC New York. 
From Ruby Hornet: Celebrating the release of J Dilla's new album, Naledge lays down two serious freestyles over DILLA production. Check for Naledge's "Chicago Picasso" Mix CD dropping June 30th featuring tracks with Bun B, Mickey Factz, Rhymefest, Chip Tha Ripper, Jay Electronica, and more...Naledge: "Eye Of The Beholder"
IT HURTS ME TO SEE THE OLD AND VERY WRONG VERSION OF THE PARANOID VIDEO GET LEAKED ALL OVER THE NET WHILE I WAS ON AN 11 HR FLIGHT AND COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IT'S JUST FRUSTRATING WHEN THIS STUFF HAPPENS BECAUSE I REALLY CARE ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND SINCE VIDEOS NEVER GET PLAYED ANY WAY YOU MIGHT AS WELL TWEAK THEM AND MAKE THEM AS SPECIAL AS POSSIBLE. THE VERSION THAT GOT LEAKED FROM THE CAMERA PHONE LAST WEEK IS AT LEAST A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE FINAL PRODUCT. THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR SUPPORT BUT THAT VIDEO WAS NOT UP TO MY STANDARDS. HERE'S SOME SCREEN SHOTS FROM THE REAL VIDEO
