ENTER: BLAKROC

What a crew. What a project. What an incredible collaboration of some of the most talented, artistic and visionary hip hop artists of our time. Eye-up this line up:

MOS DEF
RAEKWON
Q-TIP
RZA
JIM JONES
NOE
PHAROAHE MONCH
BILLY DANZE
NICOLE WRAY
And samples of ODB




And the short vid



For more about this project, gaze the Black Keys  BLAKROC Artists site
Check the BLAKROC Webisodes here
Or tune into BLAKROC Radio 

Hip Hop legends Das EFX are playing at Harper's Ferry tonight in Allston. Opening sets by Akrobatiki, A.S.N. anothers - if you're around, come down!

(Image courtesy of Spin.com)

With the leak of Eminem's new track, Crack the Bottle featuring Dr. Dre & 50 Cent, my anticipation for Em's new album has dwindled from excitement to discouragement. The new track is not impressive and lacks evolution of Em's and Dre's sound. If you want to hear it, you can check it out below:

I am patiently waiting for the album to drop so I can check out the other tracks, but judging by this one, its a dud.

However, hearing Slim Shady at it again made me reminisce a bit and I was able to dig up Mr. Marshall Mathers' very first "hit" from his unreleased album in 1995. The album is called Infinite and was produced with the help of the D12 boys, along with others. And this track is surely noteworthy.  Have a listen:

Wassup, wassup, wassup.  How's it going boys and girls!  Hope everyone had as good a Christmas and New Years as i did. But that's all behind now.  Time to take on 2009 like it owes you something.  Welcome to The Jumpoff!
 
A-Side
I would like to thank Harrisburg radio for this track.  I have my reservations about Harrisburg radio in general, but it at least got something right when i heard this song the other night.  Originally recorded by the UK group, Hot Chocolate, in 1973.  The lyrics are about an interracial love affair, ooooh.  This is the state-side version, recorded a few months after the UK release, and it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  The Stories - Brother Louie



B-Side
This group is a chicano hiphop group from LA. I heard this track in the Morgan Freeman-Paz Vega movie "10 items or less".  Which is a really good movie by the way.  Anyway, i'm a sucker for the trumpet. And when i heard them horns go off on this song, just dripping with the latin feel, i was taken.  Done and done.  My mom always says, "ill blow my own horn, because if no one else does it's going to rust".  So on that note... Delinquent Habits - Let the horn blow


Aight then, i'm done for today. Go out there and toot your own horn.  Until next time, be easy.
Afolabi

Produced by Calvin Harris, this Dizzee Rascal video also features Chrome. There's something about hip hop with an accent, isn't there? Love it.




Speaking of hip hop from across the pond, who could forget about The Streets. Here's one of my favorites by The Streets - Blinded By The Lights. His story telling and beats are hypnotic.



Got any other recommendations of music from across the pond? Please do share!

I may be biased, but i really think i work with some of the coolest people on the planet.  We've got a daily track thingy that we do, and this is content courtesy of one of our 'trackers', Sean MC.  He's on the HighLife, so feel free to find him and commend him for his taste. Any further content from this point is his...
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With VH1 doing Hip Hop Honors and a list of the 100 greatest hip hop songs (questionable but interesting) I’ve been in full hip-hop mode since last week. So this is for the hip-hop heads. Some of my lesser known favorites from back in the day, with the exception of the BDK song which everyone should know.

Here’s the full list in playlist form if you just wanna let it fly. The last track is on the Youtube list but I’ve included a separate link below that’ll take you to a page that plays the song with lyrics.

Each song individually:
Straight up MCing-

Big Daddy Kane – Set it Off

(Black Thought and Common’s tribute at Hip Hop Honor’s a few years back was tight but shows how amazing Kane’s flow is and how a master MC can move the crowd. BDK is almost 40 there and still smokes.

Legendary Debuts:

MC Serch – Back to the Grill

(The major label debut of Nasty Nas. Everyone laughed at me for having this tape but then Nas blew up. Suckers.)

Original Dirty South:

Geto Boys – My Mind’s Playing Tricks on Me

Scarface, definitely one of the best ever.

Intelligent Hip-hop:

Poor Righteous Teachers – Holy Intellect

(Wise Intelligent was an awesome MC. Big influence on the Fugees.)

Just straight raw:

Lords of the Underground – Chief Rocka

East Coast Gangsta:

Brand Nubian – Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down

Sadat X and Lord Jamar appear on Tribe’s Show Business track on Low End Theory.

West Coast Gangsta:

Eazy-E – Real muthaf**kin’ G’s

(Eazy’s response to Dre Day. They just sh*t all over Snoop on this one.)

Chill gangsta:

Nine – Whatchu Want

Bay Area Flow:

Del The Funkee Homo Sapien – Catch a Bad One

(One of my favorite MCs ever. Part of the Hieroglyphics with  Souls of Mischief)

Most Slept on MC of All Time:

Kool G Rap and DJ Polo – Men at Work

Any list of greatest MCs that doesn’t have Kool G in the top 5 to 10 should immediately be disregarded. Kool G Rap is the Godfather of hardcore hip-hop that guys like Nas and Biggie talked about. He’s also the first to bring an attack the mic style that influenced MCs like Busta Rhymes, ODB, and so on. Any MC that uses multi-syllabic rhymes in the same line is coming from Kool G Rap. If you want something a little more slow check Streets of New York.

If any of these don’t work let me know and I got plenty of more where these come from so if anything strikes ya let me know and I can make some other suggestions.

I was inspired to post these on my way home last night from a new years party and the home of Bryan, bassist of Boys Like Girls. I've known these cats for a while, and its really great to see the dynamic between the band members, who happen to be best friends. Call it bromance, call it what you will. Brotherly love is hard to come by and impossible to forget. Although my CD was scratched to hell and half the tracks skipped, the ones I really wanted to hear miraculously played without a glitch.

Speaking of love, take it from Cupid Valentio:




Be real, shake it easy. Best wishes in 2009
George