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.
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 amount of dope MC’s that have come from North (and South) Carolina since 2000 has been incredible. I remember those Napster days where after discovering Little Brother, I kept branching out and finding related artists, all of which were killing it. From LB to the Justus League to TheThyrDay to Supastition, etc., and the latest group to really carry the NC torch is Kooley High.
They’ve been favorites of mine for a few years and they just dropped the visuals for the title track off their recent mixtape. If you haven’t peeped the tape yet, grab it here and stop sleepin…
When we caught up with DJ A-Trak this past weekend, we talked about how this track came together, since it’s kind of an interesting story. It’s not every day that a joint originates as a fun mixtape track, only to turn into an official single (and a follow up to a smash record) just a few months later. I bet Lady GaGa is enjoying any $$ she makes off this…
Cudi will be at our Summer Jam this weekend, so if you have any questions you’d like us to ask him, email me – DJHyphen@gmail.com
The long awaited mixtape from Pac Div, Church League Champions, is finally here and it’s heatery, as expected. As you can tell by the brilliant title, Like, Mibbs, and BeYoung are huge hoops fans and I actually have a great interview with them talking about their music and their favorite sports memories. Any dudes who love the 2001 Arizona team as much as I do are alright in my book. It helps that they’re dope ass artists too of course…
Interview coming soon, but in the meantime, bump that new new:
Download here.
I’m always down to check out some new talent, especially when it’s co-signed by some folks I respect. Peep this new tape from J. Lately, featuring appearances by our fellow 5-C’er, Tunji, along with Co$$ 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.
Dan has been one of my favorite MC’s for a minute but I think faaaaar too many folks are still unaware of the talent this dude has. If you’re a fan of cats who spit hard like Royce, Elzhi, Reks, Fashawn, etc., you’re gonna love Dan’s music. Peep his newest project, Hype Machine, ASAP.
Download here.
Yes y’all, the time has finally come for the release of the newest Cornerstone Mixtape, presented by J. Moore, DJ B-Mello, and yours truly. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Cornerstone is one of the preeminent marketing companies in the music industry and they’ve been releasing a monthly mixtape for years. The hosts of each edition are hand selected by the Cornerstone staff and to be picked is considered a pretty high honor within hip-hop, one we’re thankful and proud to receive. Some of the past participants include legends like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, DJ Jazzy Jeff, the Fantastic Four (from Friday Night Flavas), DJ Revolution, and countless others. J and I are excited to be able to join those ranks and represent Seattle alongside our longtime friend and fellow DJ, the original West Coast Tapemaster, DJ B-Mello.
To be honest, it’s a bit surreal to see myself plastered on one of these covers since I’ve been collecting the tapes for years. To go from a kid bumming copies from my industry friends each month, to being added to the Cornerstone ship list (what up TNT!), to now helping host a tape myself…I can’t front, it’s a really cool feeling. Big shout to the entire 1200 Squad, particularly Blaze Wong, J, Dru Ha, and Rob Stone, for working with me throughout my college radio years and now at KUBE with Sunday Night Sound Session. They truly respect and live this culture, and they recognize folks who are helping keep it alive like J, Mello, and myself. Much appreciated fellas.
Alright, enough sentimentality. If you’re interested, peep the tracklisting for our mix and download it through one of the links below. We finished this up back in April, so a few of the songs are a little old right now. That said, I think we did a pretty damn good job keeping it current and we even managed to hang on to a couple exclusives…no small feat in this day and age. As always, our goal was to provide you with some great music and perhaps expose you to an artist you might not be familiar with.
Please feel free to repost and share around the net to all your people. Most importantly, just like on my old Beats, Rhymes, and Life mixtapes, remember to support the artists if you’re feeling their music!
Download Cornerstone Mixtape #115 – http://sharebee.com/9c9bde51
(back up link #1 – http://www.mediafire.com/?ejzak2y2itz)
(back up link #2 – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7IHDF1P6)
Enjoy!
The new homey M-Dot recently dropped his new mixtape, Money Doesn’t Own Thought, featuring guest appearances from Termanology, Agallah, Singapore Kane, Trademarc, Grime Tha MC, and EMS and production by Domingo, DC The Midi Alien, D-Sharp, and more. Peep the tracklist and download link below:
Download here.