The Audacity of Dope

As I’ve mentioned before, Amen has been one of my favorite MC’s for a minute now, but he doesn’t get anywhere near the exposure he deserves.  He’s gearing up to release more music than ever these days and after dropping Head On recently, he’s back with his “Entourage” inspired project, Queens Boulevard.   Check it out…

Download here.

Your boy got a promotion at the day job, which is a dope thing, but also means that time is at a premium…so I’ll let Sabzi explain this one:

People ask me why I care about making a mix of Hawaiian tunes.  I tell them that it’s because Iʼm from Seattle.

I donʼt think I can apply the word ‘foreign’ to any cultural elements that have influenced me in becoming the person I am today.

Through years of, um, ‘nourishment’ from grinds, to listening to Jawaiian tunes as a teenager, to starting a group with a military kid from Honolulu, to learning the meaning of ‘false crack’ the hard way (ha!)… the spirit of Hawaii has long maintained a notable presence in my life.

And while Iʼm not Hawaiian, nor do I claim to be a local boy, I acknowledge and am thankful for the role that the Islands have played in the development of my cultural identity.

For me, a big part of the OOF! EP project was to experiment with a new way of identifying who we are and where we come from.  It was an exercise in global cultural expression.  Perhaps this is the age we can start believing that ‘where we are from’ is anywhere that has influenced us in becoming who we are.  And perhaps our brothers and sisters are simply those who want to share this belief with us.

Watch out tho.  When you embrace this idea, you start to think that home can be everywhere and your people could be everyone.

New People comin thru, son!

Respect to In4mation for the nifty ‘OOF!’ logo they designed and lent us, respect to Ohana for engineering the delicious shrimp tempura + diced spicy scallop + krab + masago sushi that they’ve dubbed the ‘69 Roll,’ and respect to you for reading this and listening to these tunes.

Mahalo.

saba / sabzi

Download here.

(Fun fact: I’m eating a Now N Later right now.  That’s right bitches.)

If you aren’t up on 14KT, you’re missing out on one of the illest producers in the game.  He’s been putting it down for years with the Lab Technicians and Athletic Mic League, and recently as part of THE most underrated collective of artists around, A-Side Worldwide (Buff1, Now On, Mayer Hawthorne, etc.).  Thankfully, he’s giving you another chance to get familiar with his new project, Nowalataz.

Coming off the heels of the magnificent The Golden Hour, KT is releasing a Donuts inspired collection of beats as an homage to Dilla (RIP).  Download and bump this immediately.  If the first track doesn’t get you hooked, there’s something wrong with you.

Download here.

I’ve been meaning to post this tape up for a minute, but better late than never.  For those of you who have been following me since my Beats, Rhymes, and Life mixtape series from back in the day, you might remember a track called “Watchin’ My Moves” from a crew called Chapter 13.  Though they’ve since moved on to solo projects, I’ve been a fan of Rashid Hadee and Young Valentine ever since I first heard their ish.  Shout to all the Neblina folks from those days…

These days, Hadee is easily one of the illest (and most slept on) MC’s/producers in the game.  Inspired by Kanye’s 808’s & Heartbreaks, he chopped up Kanye’s tracks and spit flames over each joint.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone ‘remix’ a project by chopping up every song and rapping over the whole thing…at least not this well.  Download this immediately, especially if you liked Kanye’s original work.

Honest Management presents the latest mixtape opus by the incomparable Rashid Hadee entitled Chopped Not Screwed Vol.1: 808’s & Hadee. Known as the go to producer of Chicago when you want that good ole soulful boom bap, Rashid Hadee has decided to pay homage to the home team on the first installment of his Chopped Not Screwed mixtape series. With lyricism that has garnered as much love and respect as his production Rashid Hadee shares with you his interpretation of an album he simply feels is honest (no pun intended). If you wonder why he chose 808’s to “chop not screw” instead of one of the more openly loved releases from Kanye’s college themed trilogy, Hadee will simply tell you “because 808’s & Heartbreak is pure genius!” Most would believe he’s on an obvious hometown bias trip but the commonalities of both artists are evident as well as the struggle so as a producer/rapper Hadee feels he relates to as well as understands the mind of Mr. West. Chopped Not Screwed keeps the features to a minimum, sharing mic time with a couple of members from his Chapter 13 crew (Augustine & Melatone), Decay of The Molemen and Chicago veterans Pugs Atomz and The Primeridian. Rashid Hadee has produced entire projects for internationally respected pioneering Chicago acts Abstract Mindstate, Thaione Davis and the aforementioned  Pugs Atomz as well as his own debut Neblina Records release entitled Dedication but Chopped Not Screwed Vol.1: 808’s & Hadee is about the artistic expression of the producer and the rapper. For more on Rashid Hadee, visit: www.myspace.com/rashidhadee.

Download here.

The long awaited mixtape from Pac Div, Church League Champions, is finally here and it’s heatery, as expected.  As you can tell by the brilliant title, Like, Mibbs, and BeYoung are huge hoops fans and I actually have a great interview with them talking about their music and their favorite sports memories.  Any dudes who love the 2001 Arizona team as much as I do are alright in my book.  It helps that they’re dope ass artists too of course…

Interview coming soon, but in the meantime, bump that new new:

Download here.

The homey Grynch came through Sound Session this week to talk about his new Chemistry EP, which just dropped today.  Head on over to GetGrynch.com to download yet another dope release from one of the best artists we have in the Northwest right now.  If you slept on the last EP, you can also grab it on his site.  Combine the two and Grynch just gave you an excellent album for free!

1. Right Now
2. Chemistry (Feat. One Be Lo)
3. Doin’ Too Much
4. You Know Me (Feat. RA Scion)
5. My Volvo
6. Time
7. A Dream Undeferred
8. Smoke And Mirrors (Feat. Tunji & Geologic)

Download here.

Seattle folks: you need to come out to the release party on Sunday at Nectar too.  Peep the ill lineup:

He’s baaaaaaaack!

One of my favorite MC’s and the longtime homey, Amen, took the last few years off from the game to handle his grown man biz but he just dropped his new Head On project for y’all.  We did a really dope mixtape together in 2006 called Legend Killer (download here) that’s still smashing most of these rappers so it’s great to see A back on his grizzly.  He hasn’t missed a beat either, peep this album ASAP.

Here’s the press release with a little more info about his upcoming projects:

With several years of life experience under his belt following the release of 2006’s critically acclaimed mixtape Legend Killer with Seattle resident and Kube 93 personality DJ Hyphen, Amen has returned with his latest full length endeavor – Head On.

Head On is meant as a primer for forthcoming releases from Amen – as it encapsulates a mix of 11 new and/or unreleased material into a single, cohesive project. Featuring production from longtime collaborators DJ Forge, Khrysis, and Johnny Drama; as well as relative newcomers MG the Future and Midi Marc – this album serves as the first offering in a five album series.

All five albums will be released digitally for free and will follow a theme inspired by the HBO television series – Entourage. Each album will be titled and share a loose thematic influence from each of the fictional films featured on the show. All five releases will contain a minimum of 10 tracks, resulting in the distribution of over fifty songs worth of free material. Video and audio will be posted consistently at www.goldstandardlp.blogspot.com, including behind the scenes footage and exclusive songs in addition to the album material.

As with the film in Entourage, Head On is designed to be the first “starring” role for this 27 year old MC, and ideally will deliver the optimistic promise to listeners of greater and more entertaining projects for the future.

Download here.

I’ve been waiting for Daytona’s official album to drop for a minute and the day is finally here.  Don’t get it twisted either…despite my blog tag calling Come Fly With Me a mixtape, this is indeed a full length project full of original material…and it’s dope as hell.  Peep the press release if you need to get up to speed on Daytooooooooona and then download the project below.

New York, NY – The Kid Daytona, born in Atlanta, GA to a set of Caribbean parents, grew up with a unique blend of cultural identities, which was only further expanded by his teenage years in The Bronx, NY. It was these formative years in New York’s northern borough that led The Kid Daytona to his current path as a musician — and the June 30th release of his full length studio album, Come Fly With Me.

The flight path leading  to the release of Come Fly With Me has been a long one. The Kid Daytona attained early success when his group The Aces was signed to Atlantic Records in 2002. Though the group dismantled shortly thereafter, Daytona managed to establish himself in the eyes of legendary MC Busta Rhymes, who quickly enlisted the young artist for a role in Flipmode Squad. In addition to Busta Rhymes, Daytona has also been blessed with the guidance of Cipha Sounds (Hot 97 WQHT), who has helped create the dynamic artist that appears on Come Fly With Me.  Daytona and Cipha started out by releasing A Tribe Called Fresh in 2008,  which garnered the attention of major media outlets like The Fader. Daytona explains that, “the success of the Tribe tape helped me realize it was time to put an official album together. I want people to be able to hear my music, and this is best way for me to make that happen – by making it available, and doing it well.”

On Come Fly With Me, The Kid Daytona shares airspace with musical superstars such as Bun B (UGK), Kardinal Offishall, and seasoned newcomers such as Mickey Factz, Amanda Diva, Harlem’s Cash, Outasight, and more. Production credits for the album include 6th Sense, Double 0 (Kidz In The Hall), Cook Classics, Jet Audio, Ill Bomb, The Government, and Deputy.

Both Come Fly With Me and its single, “Contact” featuring Kardinal Offishall, will be distributed digitally by Community JUICE beginning Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

1.  Just Fly {prod. 6th Sense}
2.  Air Jordan feat. Harlem’s Cash {prod. The Government}
3.  The Groove feat. Mickey Factz  {prod. Deputy}
4.  Honestly feat. Avriel Epps {prod. Cook Classics}
5.  Twilight  {prod. Jet Audio}
6.  Contact! feat. Kardinal Offishall {prod. 6th Sense}
7.  Flava Season {prod. Double 0}
8.  The Minimum feat. Tiara Wiles {prod. 6th Sense}
9.  In The Wind {prod. 6th Sense}
10.  Lately feat. Amanda Diva  {prod. Ill Bomb}
11.  Eye Know feat. Mike Maven {prod. 6th Sense}
12.  Perfect feat. Outasight {prod. 6th Sense}
13.  Right Now Till Then {prod. 6th Sense & Frequency}
14.  Air Born feat. Bun B {prod. 6th Sense}

Download here. (right click, save as)

I’m always down to check out some new talent, especially when it’s co-signed by some folks I respect.  Peep this new tape from J. Lately, featuring appearances by our fellow 5-C’er, Tunji, along with Co$$ and Bambu.  I’m about half way through and I’m impressed with J’s flow and wordplay so far.  The beats are ill too…

Download here courtesy of 2DopeBoyz.