He's spread through the Detroit scene like a basement full of roaches and is starting to have a who's who of producers from hip-hop's underground throwing beats his way. Whether blowed out his mind rockin' shows with a set akin to stand-up comedy or partying with white kids at Detroit after hours parties, Danny Brown is the talk of the town right now. And ask Danny Brown who the first site to acknowledge him. RENSOUL.COM WAS! So he's back with the first leak from his upcoming project The Hybrid, a song titled "My Father's Gun" produced by DJ Dez.
DOWNLOAD: Danny Brown - "My Father's Gun"
And for more Danny Brown sweetness, visit my original All-Inclusive Danny Brown Appreciation Post
LINK: DANNY BROWN MYSPACE
For this week's StoopidFresh Tuesdays at TV Bar, we celebrate the birthday of resident DJ Dez. His birthday is actually on Wednesday January 7th, so when midnight hits, its time to crank the party up a notch. Anyone thats been to a DJ Dez birthday bash in the past knows he goes superhuman on the decks in celebration so come out, support, and help us turn the party out.
StoopidFresh Tuesdays w/ DJ Dez & K-Fresh
TV Bar
2554 Grand River
Detroit, MI
10pm-2am | 21+ | $5
Drink Specials: $3 domestics, $4 well drinks.
On Sunday night, January 11th, I'll be spinning live on Minced Meat Radio on Windsor/Detroit's CJAM 91.5 FM. The show goes from 12mid-2am and highlights dope underground hip-hop and electronic music with the lovely host Emily Copeland. The show can be heard live online at www.cjam.ca, and if you miss it live, they archive the show for 30 days. Along with my set, we'll be discussing the Detroit music scene, Rensoul.com, and StoopidFresh Tuesdays.
For more information on Emily Copeland and Minced Meat Radio, visit the links below. I'll post the archive audio links and tracklisting afterwards.
LINKS: MINCED MEAT RADIO MYSPACE | VEGETARIAN SELECTRONICS BLOG | CJAM 91.5FM
The former cool kid of our Detroit hip hop scene and now Detroit's ambassador via Los Angeles DJ House Shoes is set to release The King James Version, his tribute to the greatest to ever do it, the late geat legend J. Dilla. House Shoes takes us on a journey through the records that James Yancey used to craft the classics we all fell in love with. If you thought Dilla's beat were nothing special and easy to create, you'll second guess that idea and realize the genius of his musical process while listening to The King James Version. House Shoes has offered the first chapter of the mix for free download to give you a taste.
DOWNLOAD: House Shoes - "The King James Version: Chapter One: Verse One"
And here's thoughts from artists hat were close to Dilla regarding The King James Version:
T3 (Slum Village) - "This king james shit is nutz. no homo."
Amir -"Mad people always talk about how much they love music but my man houseshoes is THE only one I know that consistently holds it down! His knowledge and skill cannot be questioned...basically he is the MAN! I am just the man siitin' next to the MAN!"
Rhettmatic - "The King James Version is a must for all you hardcore Dilla fans or for Sample Heads. Shoes is the only person besides J.Rocc who can put something together like this.....listening to this will make your head crack! Don't sleep!"
J-Rocc - "Houseshoes seems to have it all....life isn't fair sometime. After listening to this you'll ask yourself how did Dilla do it. All Hail King James (both of em)"
Black Milk - "House Shoes just showed us how much of a genius dilla was even more with this cd and how crazy dillas record collection was im just now finding some of these samples...dilla was light years ahead of us..."
As being the flagship of the Dilla movement online for almost 8 years now, Rensoul.com is offering online ordering for The King James Version. Pay via Paypal at the links below or pay via money order at the address below. Orders will be shipped regular mail domestically and regular air mail internationally.
Make and send money orders ($15 for USA w/ shipping, $20 international w/ shipping to:
Michael Buchanan
700 Irolo St.
Suite 12a
Los Angeles, CA 90005
As a little Detroit bonus, here's a couple of my favorite House Shoes productions.
DOWNLOAD: Proof of D12 featuring Journalist 103 & Mu - "Broken"
DOWNLOAD: Marvwon - "Remember When"
LINKS: HOUSE SHOES MYSPACE | SHOES HOUSE PODCAST
After Fall of '07's Guilty Simpson featured track "Psycho", the french collective known as D3CCPT are back with their new single "We Keep It On" featuring Black Milk. The song comes from their first digital album titled The Movement scheduled to drop January 25th. For more information: myspace.com/detroitconcept
LINK: D3CCPT MYSPACE
Detroit's reigning Queen Of Hip Hop MonicaBlaire is currently working on material for a new album along with an album titled Back To The Future consisting of remakes of old school soul jams. Recently posted on her MySpace page is her rendition of Zapp's "Computer Love" featuring Maestro on the voice-box and fellow Detroit vocalist MJ Robinson. Her remake is described as "computer-less" version of "Computer Love".
LISTEN: MonicaBlaire - "Computer Love" (MySpace)
And for an extra added bonus I bring you a VERY under-appreciated track. Its the Waajeed & The Jazz Kats rendition of "Knives Out" featuring MonicaBlaire from the Radiohead tribute album Exit Music: Songs With Radio Heads released back in 2006 on Rapster Records.
DOWNLOAD: Waajeed & The Jazz Kats - "Knives Out" (featuring MonicaBlaire)
LINK: MONICA BLAIRE MYSPACE
You might remember her as Vanessa in the lunch truck scene in 8 Mile trading rhymes with Eminem and Xzibit. Miz Korona has been a staple of the Detroit hip hop scene for some time now. I sill remember the first time I met her she was doing one of her first performances on the the hip hop stage at the first Detroit Electronic Music Festival on Hart Plaza. Locals know Detroit classics from her like "Last Woman Standing" and "Give It Up". Right now, she is working on a couple projects including a solo album titled The Injection, which we have a sample from for you today. The joint "Cookin'" is produced by Marvwon and available for free download for everybody. More joints to follow.
DOWNLOAD: Miz Korona - "Cookin'"
LINK: MIZ KORONA MYSPACE
UPDATE! The collaborative album Overdue Process from producer/keyboardist Zo! and emcee Asylum 7 now slated for a January 1st release through Tasteful Licks Distribution. Below is background info regarding the project written by Zo!.
PRE-ORDER: Zo! & Asylum 7 - "Overdue Process" (Ships 12/29)
DOWNLOAD: Zo! and Asylum 7 - “Gotta Live” (ft. Asheru)
- Produced by Zo!, All Instruments by Zo!, Written by Asylum 7 & Asheru
DOWNLOAD: Zo! and Asylum 7 - "Overdue Process"
- Produced by Zo!, All Instruments by Zo!, Written by Asylum 7
Introduction to Overdue Process
Back in the summer of 2004, as I did almost every Tuesday night around that time I ventured down to the Carbon Lounge in Hamtramck, MI. Carbon was a spot that would showcase different local hip-hop artists every week and would follow their performances with a cipher of freestyling emcees that would show off their best or simply sharpen up their skills. Being that I have never been an emcee, just laying low and watching the overflow of talented kats pick up the mic in that place was satisfying enough for me. One night in particular, I was in the spot checking out this duo who called themselves The Runaways. Now normally, being that I'm always so immersed in the music and trying to take a song apart and put it back together in my head I have never been one to really pay attention to lyrics like that (it takes me forever to learn the words to songs) – but one of the kats by the name of Asylum 7 stood out as he rhymed with the hunger of a young LL (circa 1985). His wordplay, stage presence and command of mic was undeniable. So after the set, I walked up and introduced myself and suggested that we should work. The next day we were on the phone scheduling a time to meet up…a couple days later 7 was at my house picking out music we should work on (I ended up constructing the beat right then and there for him to take home and write to)...and a few days after that, we were in a studio in Ann Arbor, MI recording our first joint together, "Listen Up." We ended up working together on another joint that ended up closing A7's debut EP Brown Study entitled "Observe (Remix)." With the feedback we received from these couple of songs and the ease at which the results came, it was almost a no-brainer – we need to start on an album, or at LEAST continue working. We talked about that even before I moved east in early 2006…
We recorded the first song for the album back in July 2007. At that point, we were both working on other projects and we decided to let the music dictate the flow of the album without forcing creativity. Soon after all of the production work was finished for the Zo! & Tigallo Love the 80's album and 7 finished working on his Lights Out project with producer Eddie Logix, the production for our album was then put into overdrive. I basically went from Phonte's great work ethic to Asylum 7's…and what an easy transition that was. Everything I was sending A7's way was being turned around in 24-48 hours with a, "Send the next one through when you get a chance" message attached to it. Those who we asked to be a part of the album recorded without even a second thought – This lead to contributions from emcees such as: Asheru, Buff1, Finalé, Miz Korona, Metasyons and talented vocalist AB. DJ's Roddy Rod, Dirty Ice and Crate Digga came through for us on the cuts…Hundreds of back and forth emails, thousands of tweaks and 13 songs later, we now have a complete product on our hands….
Zo! & Asylum 7 Overdue Process tracklisting:
one. Intro
two. Timeline (cuts by Roddy Rod)
three. Overdue Process
four. Mentality Maker
five. Crossover (ft. Miz Korona)
six. Resistance is Futile
seven. Crushing (ft. AB)
eight. In Yourself
nine. Simplicity
ten. One Bad Thing (cuts by O. Hunter a/k/a DJ Dirty Ice)
eleven. The Lineup (ft. Metasyons, Finalé & Buff1) (cuts by Crate Digga)
twelve. Rigorous
thirteen. Gotta Live (ft. Asheru)
Produced by Zo! for Chapter 3hree, Verse 5ive Music / BMI
Written by Asylum 7 (except where noted)
LINKS: OFFICIAL ZO! SITE | ASYLUM 7 MYSPACE
Recently, Fresh Selects dropped this nice treat from Karma Stewart, who is an Austin, TX-born now LA-based vocalist featured on the upcoming PPP album Abundance, including the first single "On A Cloud". The EP is for free for download and produced by Waajeed and Saadiq of PPP. Hit the link below to download it and to read a Q&A session with Karma about the project.
DOWNLOAD: PPP Presents... Karma Stewart - The Karma EP
Remember, PPP's latest album Abundance drops January 20th via Ubiquity Records. For more info and audio samples, click HERE.
PURCHASE: PPP - "On A Cloud" 12" INFO | ITUNES | AMAZON | EMUSIC
My boys at RandomReason will be bringing out the duo known as Dark Party on January 9th at the Park Bar in Detroit. Dark Party is a collaborative project from Chicago's Leo123 and New York's Eliot Lipp that was inspired by their favorite classic electro, techno & hip-hop producers. The two met a few years back in San Francisco and are currently finishing their album to be released on Mush Records. Eliot Lipp was in Detroit along with Daedalus a few months back to a packed crowd at The Old Miami so you do not want to miss it. Below is a little sampler the RamdomReason boys been passing out around Detroit in promotion for the show. Also playing the party is the great Kevin Reynolds and RandomReason residents K. Attic, Mr. Joshoooa, and Jeremy Kypta. The Park Bar is located at 2040 Park Ave in Detroit. The party starts at 10pm and runs until 4am. Admission is $5 before 11pm and $10 after.
DOWNLOAD: Dark Party @ Park Bar in Detroit Sampler
LINK: DARK PARTY MYSPACE
Put your 5 fingaz up for 5 Ela. The legendary Detroit group of Mudd and Thyme that once included the late great Big Proof and were produced the late J. Dilla are back with a new mixtape album ...Will Be Televised with their newest member DJ Sicari. The project includes beats from Black Milk, J. Dilla, Reno Wesly, Bee Lee, Big Tone, 9th Wonder, Denmark Vessey, and Nick Speed along with guest appearances from Finale, Baatin, and Marcellus. The album is available now on CD and digitally via their MySpace page listed below and we were able to include a little treat here for your from the project.
DOWNLOAD: 5 Ela featuring Finale - "5 Fingaz Up"
PURCHASE: 5 Ela ...Will Be Televised
Full instrumental albums from A-Side Worldwide releases of Now On's Tomorrow Already and Buff1's There Is Only One are now available digitally via iTunes.
PURCHASE: Buff1 There Is Only One Instrumentals | Now On Tomorrow Already Instrumentals
LINKS: A-SIDE OFFICIAL SITE | BUFF1 MYSPACE | NOW ON MYSPACE
FWMJ's Rappers I Know dropped a new track called "Swagger Jackson's Revenge" featuring Jay Electronica, produced by 14KT. Link to download the track along with lyrics from the song are below.
DOWNLOAD: FWMJ & Jay Electronica present Scratches & Demo Tape Volume I - “Swagger Jackson’s Revenge”
Classic Drug References just posted an interview with one of Detroit's top shit-talkers, international badass, and manager of the likes of Black Milk, Elzhi, and Guilty Simpson - none other than my big brother Hex Murda. If you know Hex, you already know this has to be pure comedy and it is.
FWMJ's Rappers I Know just dropped the newest mixtape from Montreal-based produced Dela featuring tracks from Detroiters Elzhi and Finale. The Elzhi track "My Nigga" is from Dela's ebut album, Changes Of Atmosphere, coming out worldwide January 2009. The Finale track "Motown 2K9" is update of a track found on Atmosphere Airlines Vol. 1. The complete mixtape is available for download for free at the link below.
DOWNLOAD: Dela - Atmosphere Airlines Vol. 2
LISTEN: Elzhi - My Nigga
LINK: DELA MYSPACE
The first single fro Royce Da 5'9"'s upcoming album Street Hop, executive produced by DJ Premier, dropped for the song "Shake This", produced by DJ Premier along with the single's b-side, the Carlos Brody produced "Part Of Me". Also, the video for "Shake This", directed by Rik Cordero, has been unveiled so enjoy.
DOWNLOAD: Royce Da 5'9" - "Part Of Me"
DOWNLOAD: Royce Da 5'9" - "Shake This"
LINK: ROYCE DA 5'9" MYSPACE
I'm a little late on posted these but whatever. The two videos for "We Here" and "R U Listenin'" from Illa J's Yancey Boys album out now via Delicious Vinyl. Below is the description of these videos.
In the video for "We Here," we're hanging out with Illa J's gang in a swanky nightclub, sippin' bubbly and watching Illa floss his tux (both as the hired help, and as the evening's entertainment). If "We Here" is the party, then "R U Listenin" is most definitely the after-party. Featuring the same personal vibe (and foxy lady in the whip) as the fist video, "R U Listenin" takes us all back to the Yancey family home, back to Detroit. With a signature mellowed-out Dilla beat, we're all sliding through the door of a house party just like the good ole' days, except this time we have Illa J, rhyming tight, and Guilty Simpson lending his distinct voice to the track. In this video, you're just part of the crew, wandering around this house party, takin' in the sights, sounds and substances. There are pretty ladies, comfort food, 40's, smoke in the backyard, a visit from dear old mom, and in the background of it all is that classic Dilla beat making you feel right at home.
Also check out the song "Showtime" from the album. The song is described as followed:
"Showtime" evokes images of a smoke-filled lounge, like a scene from a swanky black-and-white movie. But rest assured, this is no dusty joint of yore. Illa J and J Dilla take a different approach and update this scene for the present day with big talk and stylistic swagger. Dilla's jazzy beat sets the mood for this track with Illa crooning and rapping along. Despite the complicated rhythm of Dilla's production, Illa J doesn't miss a beat with his rhyme scheme and takes the track to hypnotic heights in the hazy, chromatic chorus.
LISTEN: Illa J - "Showtime"
LINKS: PURCHASE ON ITUNES | ILLA J MUSIC
Detroit's own DJ Dez (Slum Village) and DJ Butter are currently working on their collaborative CD A Piece Of The Action. The cover artwork is posted above and the two also take time to talk about the art of DJing and mixtapes.
LINKS: DJ DEZ MYSPACE | DJ BUTTER MYSPACE
The trailer to the upcoming documentary 7 Mile, presented by DJ Butter, with footage from the funeral of M.C. Breed held in Flint, MI featuring D.O.C., Bootleg, DJ Butter, and Don Diva Magazine among others. For more information: www.7milemovie.com.
The Tokyo based label Circulations teamed up with Jay Scarlett from Spacek Soundsystem/Beat Dimensions to celebrate the 10th anniversary of HMV Shibuya, the best major record store in Japan representing real music. The compilation titled New Worlds features 14 cuts from the latest in up and coming cutting edge producers, including the track "Knockout Kings" from the Japanese beat trio Super Smoky Soul featuring Detroit's own Guilty Simpson. Other featured on New Worlds include Dorian Concept, Quadron, The Clonious, Sa-ra Creative Partners, Take, Jay Scarlett, The Big Payback, Paul White, Busy, Taz Buckfaster, Hudson Mohawke, Ras_G & The Afrikan Space Program, and Mono/Poly.
DOWNLOAD: Super Smoky Soul feat. Guilty Simpson - "Knockout Kings"
LINKS: OFFICIAL CIRCULATIONS SITE | CIRCULATIONS MYSPACE | JAY SCARLETT MYSPACE
