Big Jess Presents: Honorable Mention, Volume 1

If you've been following Big Jess on Twitter over the past several months, you should be aware by now that he's been actively working on a compilation project featuring tons of local artists. The concept seemed simple enough. Jess produces a bunch of original beats, and gets his friends to hop on and do their thing. I'm not sure if there's much more to it than that, but looking at the roster on the album, I'm excited to give it a few spins. For those of you who are still curious, I included the tracklist after the jump. You can download and stream Honorable Mention, Volume 1 over at DJBooth.net.

Big Jess Presents: Honorable Mention, Volume 1

Listen to Audio Perm Perform on Radio K

Audio Perm recently crammed in to the studio at Radio K and performed a few songs live on air. Stream the session at Radio K's website, or download it below. You can also hit the jump for video of Fresh Squeeze performing "Yo."

DOWNLOAD - Audio Perm, live on Radio K

Tracklist:
1. Attention Deficit Disorder (Ft. Art School Girls)
2. Pepper Shaker (Ft. Chantz Erolin & 80H20)
3. Skin & Bones (Ft. Bobby Raps, Yakub, & Big Dylan)
4. YO! (Ft. Fresh Squeeze)

Brother Ali: "Mourning in America" (Music Video)

The sort of self-titled single to Brother Ali's upcoming album now has a video, which powerfully accompanies the song's appraisal of America as a country whose entire existence is based around violence and the way that's reflected in our current culture. Read Brother Ali's eloquent description below:

This is the title track to my new album, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color. The first half of the album highlights and critiques the dire situation in which we live. The second half outlines the tremendous opportunity we have to re-imagine and reform our society. This song is an observation and a critique of our culture of death and murder. From actual war zones around the world to our own inner cities where this summer's death rates rival war zones. I also address our national hypocrisy regarding violence. We have a zero tolerance policy of violence committed against us, but we're a lot more lenient and patient when it comes to the violence we commit. "A life is a life and a killer is a killer".

Below, you can also listen to Ali's recent performance and interview at the Minnesota State Fair. The session with The Current goes far beyond the lighthearted typical fair performances we're used to, and covers many of the topics you can expect to be featured on his upcoming album: racism, violence, economic inequality, and more.

Toki Wright: "Hell On Earth"

"Hell on Earth" is a free verse Toki recorded over the instrumental to the Mobb Deep single of the same name. Toki is currently working on Channels, the follow-up to 2009's A Different Mirror.

Knox: "LOVE"

Knox is making a Re-Classic series right now, taking some of his favorite instrumentals and recreating the songs in his vision. His latest version is "LOVE," which deserves at least two listens: once for the technique, and then again for the content.

Watch/Listen to P.O.S Perform at the Minnesota State Fair

Just yesterday P.O.S performed at the Current's booth at the MN State Fair in support of his upcoming album We Don't Even Live Here. P.O.S was briefly interviewed by Mary Lucia and spoke about the meaning of the album, his song writing process, the differences between writing solo and for Doomtree, and more. He also performed four songs, including his latest trunk rattler/party starter/face melter "Bumper." I was there to witness it all. It was fun. Watch video of the "Bumper" performance above, and stream the entire session below.

"Shameless," ft. Slug, MaLLy, Mike the Martyr and Haphduzn (Prod. Dimitry Killstorm)

Check the Blog just premiered "Shameless," the first track from Flood Watch, an upcoming compilation album put together by That Dude Reeg and Tek. The track features Slug, MaLLy, Mike the Martyr and Haphduzn trading verses over some Dimitry Killstorm production. I don't know if the four Minneapolis rappers were together when composing their verses, but you can feel the spirit of competition in this track. Everyone knew they had to bring their best work, and they all definitely showed up for this track. Listen to it below.

Greg Grease: "Basement Soul" (Music Video)

Bobby Raps and Alejandro P produced this new song from Greg Grease, off his Cornbread's Coming. Greg's album Cornbread, Pearl & G, will be out this fall.

Greg Grease: "Basement Soul"

PREVIOUSLY - Greg Grease: "Rip Well"

Brother Ali: "4th King"

Brother Ali's musical relationship with Jake One has proved to be an exciting one ever since they dropped "The Truth." But with their full-length Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color coming soon, that partnership is proving to be beneficial in unexpected ways. Jake One recently got the most high-profile beat placement of his career in "Three Kings," the Rick Ross song featuring Dr. Dre and Jay-Z. Jake had announced that he wouldn't leak the instrumental, as to avoid avoid the inevitable deluge of shitty freestyles that always happens when a trendy industry beat comes out. However, Ali heard the song and realized he already had Jake One's beat from their previous sessions together. Naturally, Ali had to make the song his own, and eclipsed the generic and lifeless verses delivered by Rozay and Dre. Listen to "4th King" below.

Brother Ali: "4th King"

P.O.S: "Bumper"

This morning delivered one of the best possible surprises with the official lead single to P.O.S's upcoming album, We Don't Even Live Here, due on October 23. I'm pretty sure I've seen "Bumper" played live once or twice — I've definitely heard the brilliant "They on some nonsense, we on some nonstop" hook before — but getting to dissect the studio version is exciting as it hints at what we can expect from the album, which you can read about further on in this post.