Thursday, June 27, 2013

Miles Meraki - Imperfect ft Matt McGhee & Maya Mitchell



Over the last few months the collective known as Grammy Family has been establishing a name for themselves by consistently releasing great projects. Miles Meraki is often over looked when it comes to the GramFam but has recently been standing out, making his presence known on tracks such as "Autumn" and "At The Top". 

With his latest track "Imperfect", Miles once again proves why he is not to be over looked. Starting with an great guest verse from Matt (who still has his streak intact) Miles builds that into an excellent verse of his own and props to Maya Mitchell who does well on the hook. Kudos to Miles on the production as well, which he handled himself, from the Toro Y Moi sample to the little nuances of the synth patterns in he and Matt verses. All together a great track and start from Miles, with rMell's NEOGEO and Matt McGhee's AWARD setting an high bar in terms of quality, he seems posed to follow in his fellow group members steps with Perfect

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

LSD (Louseph Bruise Em' x Steve Dreez) - Pulp



LSD the duo of Louseph Bruise Em' and Steve Dreez come together for "Pulp", the two flawlessly trade verses over the menacing production from Lou to create something Vincent and Jules themselves would've been proud of. Also be sure to check out Dreez' recent project ▣ bumps2012 ▣.

[Video] Bridget Kelly - Street Dreamin' ft Kendrick Lamar



Watch as Roc Nation songstress Bridget Kelly and Kendrick Lamar cruise through the streets for this smooth cut "Street Dreamin'" off the former's debut album which is due out later this year.

[Video] Mac Miller & The Roots - S.D.S.



Mac Miller stopped through Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for this dope performance of "S.D.S." backed by The Roots who really took this song to the next level. While the original Fly Lo produced version is more of an high energy electronic vibe, Mac and The Roots flip it into a jazz/ska hybrid. Simply amazing.

Sidenote: Mac isn't a bad singer either...

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire - Tomorrow's Gone ft Danny Brown, Nacho Picasso & Flatbush Zombies




Too fucking raw. Only way to describe this. Download Mr. MFN's Kismet here.

[Video] Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap Live


Fresh from off the (much deserved) hype of his album Acid Rap, Chance recently played two shows in his hometown of Chicago in late May. Starting off with "Smoke Again" followed by "Chain Smoker" and then into an amazing performance of "Paranoia" which is chill inducing. Much credit to Chance, Greg Landfair, Macy Stewart and Cam Osteen on the live performance/instrumentation.

[Video] Prodigy - YNT (Young N Thuggin') ft Domo Genesis



Yesterday Hempstead's own Prodigy dropped some visuals for "YNT"  from his upcoming Albert Einstein EP with The Alchemist which is due out June 15th. It's good to hear Prodigy and Al together again.

[Mixtape] SOPHISTICATED - VXXIXCIII


Recently D.C. artist SOPHISTICATED sent me his VXXIXCII (5/21/93) project it was my first time hearing him and I have to say I'm impressed. One thing that I learned from my listen is that SOPHISTICATED can rap and damn well at that. I would describe VXXIXCII as an lyrical exhibition, the tape both benefits and hurts from that. While it is impressive to hear such lyrical skill in this day and age of commercial rap, an hour plus is extreme. The main issue I had with VXXIXCII was the length of it, one hour and four minutes is waaaay too long. At the half way mark I thought I was coming towards the end of the tape only to realize I had 35 more minutes of listening time. I would've came away with the same feelings I had about the tape if it ended right there, I heard nothing more in the latter half that swayed my already formed opinion. 

If you can get past the long duration there is definitely something special to be heard here, from the production featured on the tape to SOPHISTICATED's lyrical ability and fluid flow, VXXIXCII is honestly one of the best submissions I have ever received and a recommended listen.


[EP] CRASHprez & Kiazma - masters&martyrs


The Prote$tWave general himself CRASHprez linked up with Madison producer Kiazma for masters&martyrs, an EP which will have you questioning which side you're on. This is definitely one of the more odd projects I've heard this year. If you follow CRASH's music you'll know he isn't afraid to step outside the boundaries of rap and that fearlessness is what makes m&m such a unique project. While the combination of Kiazma and CRASH doesn't always work over the five track EP, when it does it is gold.