January 2008 Archives

For a while now, I've been trying to get my first podcast done for this site and I have finally done so. The problem lied in my attempt to put together a proper intro track and record drops from some of my favorite artists. Have I still got any of those accomplished? HELL NO!! But I did the podcast anyways straight up music style. Good majority is recent and upcoming Detroit hip-hop releases. Hope everyone enjoys. 2008 is going to be an exciting year for Detroit hip hop.

DOWNLOAD: Rensoul.com Podcast Episode #1 (mp3)

TRACKLISTING:
01. Kelly3000 Intro
02. Danny Brown - Mean Mean
03. Marvwon - Right Back
04. MonicaBlaire f/ Guilty Simpson - Hey Hoe
05. Cool Kids - 88
06. Fat Ray & Black Milk - Bad Man
07. 87 - Libido Sound
08. Guilty Simpson - She Won't Stay Home
09. Superstition f/ Finale - Its All Over
10. V-Stylez f/ O.C. & Royce Da 5'9" - 1st To Rise (Moss Remix)
11. Black Milk & Bishop Lamont f/ Phat Kat & Elzhi - Go At It
12. One.Be.Lo - Gray
13. Finale & Spier1200 - Troublemakers
14. Stretch Money - It Takes Money To Make Money
15. Almost September - Beautiful
16. Bullion - Here Today
17. Kelly3000 Blunt Break
18. Quest M.C.O.D.Y. - Main Girl
19. Stacy Epps - Floatin'
20. Bizarre f/ MonicaBlaire - So Hard
21. DJ3000 f/ Ursula Rucker - My Sunday Afternoon (DL Jones Mix)
22. The FDR Project - Love Is Here
23. Fatt Father f/ Marvwon - One More Chance

A March 4th release date has been issued for the collaborative album from Fat Ray & Black Milk titled The Set Up, The album, to be released on CD, vinyl LP, and digital formats features guest appearances from Guilty Simpson, Elzhi, NameTag, & Phat Kat. Both Fat Ray and Black Milk have a track titled "Bad Man" (featuring Guilty Simpson) posted on their MySpace pages.

LINKS: OFFICIAL FAT RAY MYSPACE | OFFICIAL BLACK MILK MYSPACE

It's a sad day for the Detroit music community as master record cutter, mastering engineer and record producer at Sound Enterprises (formerly National Sound Corporation) Ron Murphy passed away from a heart attack.

Via Discogs.com:

"Ron Murphy is probably one of the most instrumental figures in the history Detroit electronic music. All you have to do is take a good look in your record collection and look for the little NSC logo on the runout groove on the inside of the record. Ron has shaped the sound of Detroit Techno more than just about anybody. There were allot of records back in the beginning that were brought in by people that knew next to nothing about production or mixing down properly and Ron has saved the sound of those records and many of them have went down in history as some of the finest examples of techno ever made. Ron has been one of the biggest opponents of overcompression in the industry as people have rushed to bring techno music into the rediculous loudness war that the rest of the record industry is engaged in currently. His mastering is both dynamic and warm and has been praised for it's definition in the low end. A kick drum on an NSC mastered record is a beautiful thing to behold. He's a real living legend in this industry yet he remains humble and is still one of the most interesting figures in this industry that i have ever talked to. A true classic character."

Stones Throw has announced a March 25th release date from the debut album from Guilty Simpson titled Ode To The Ghetto. The tracklisting is as followed:

1. THE AMERICAN DREAM - Produced by Madlib
2. ROBBERY - Produced by Mr. Porter
3. SHE WON’T STAY AT HOME - Produced by Madlib
4. FOOTWORK - Produced by Oh No
5. ODE TO THE GHETTO - Produced by Oh No
6. GET BITCHES - Produced by Mr. Porter (DOWNLOAD: DIRTY | RADIO)
7. I MUST LOVE YOU - Produced by J Dilla
8. THE FUTURE feat. MED - Produced by Madlib
9. PIGS - Produced by Madlib
10. MY MOMENT - Produced by Black Milk
11. RUN feat Sean P & Black Milk - Produced by Black Milk
12. KINDA LIVE - Produced by Mr. Porter
13. YIKES - Produced by Madlib
14. THE REAL ME - Produced by Black Milk
15. KILL ‘EM - Produced by DJ Babu
16. ALMIGHTY DREADNAUGHTZ feat Super MC, Krizsteel, Konnie Ross - Produced by Konnie Ross

All cuts by Madlib, except #1-2 Cuts by J.Rocc
Mastered by Kelly Hibbert for Elysian Masters, Los Angeles, CA
Executive Produced by Peanut Butter Wolf
Produced for Stones Throw Records by Egon and Guilty Simpson
Project Coordination and A&R by Egon and Havana Joe
Photography by Eric Coleman
Art Direction by Jeff Jank
Guilty Simpson managed by Hex Murda

LINK: OFFICIAL STONES THROW SITE | GUILTY SIMPSON STONES THROW PAGE

Stones Throw announced the dates for the upcoming European tour with Guilty Simpson, Percee P, and DJ House Shoes. They are as followed:

FEB 14 DUBLIN @ The Village
FEB 15 MANCHESTER @ Mint Lounge
FEB 16 LONDON @ Cargo
FEB 19 SHEFFIELD @ Fusion & Foundry
FEB 20 LEIPZIG @ Conne Island
FEB 21 VIENNA @ B72
FEB 22 ZURICH @ Stall 6
FEB 23 HAMBURG @ Hafenklang
FEB 27 ROTTERDAM @ Waterfront
FEB 28 OSLO @ BLA
FEB 29 STOCKHOLM @ Mosebacke
MAR 01 PARIS @ La Batofar

LINK: OFFICIAL STONES THROW SITE

Stones Throw has announced a February 12th release of their second DVD titled In Living The True Gods - a line borrowed from Madvillain’s "Accordion,” seen for the first time on this collection. As described on their site, "From the surrealist Quasimoto "Bullyshit" animated video to the late J Dilla's last appearance on film in MED's "Push" to the neo-noir animated nightmare of Madvillain's "Monkey Suite," this anthology demonstrates Stones Throw's widening, and never retiring, creative base. A series of bonus features range from an exclusive J Dilla interview from 2003 to a mini-documentary Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf, shot in session on VHS in 1992."

Music videos:
Madvillain “Monkey Suite”
Madvillain “Accordion” (previously unreleased)
Oh No ft. J.Dilla and Roc C “Move”
Quasimoto “Rappcats Pt. 3”
J Dilla “Nothing Like This”
MED “Push”
James Pants “Do a Couple of Things”
Madlib “Take It Back”
Gary Wilson “Gary's in the Park”
Quasimoto “Bullyshit”
Aloe Blacc “Busking”
Roc C ft. Aloe Blacc “My Life”
Lootpack “Crate Diggin’” (prev. unreleased on DVD)
Baron Zen “At The Mall”
Stones Throw Singers “Rain Of Earth”

Bonus features:
• J Dilla, 2003 interview in The Netherlands - previously unseen in its full length form.
• “Move” Behind The Scenes
• Quasimoto (?) Live at Justice League Fimed in San Francisco, CA, Summer 2000
• Jaylib Live at Conga Room Filmed in Los Angeles, October 2004
• Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf “Studio Time 92” - a newly assembled mini-doc of the group, with VHS footage circa 1992.
• The Funky 16 Corners Rehearsal, 2001

The DVD is executive produced by Peanut Butter Wolf. Produced for Xylophone Films by A.J. Calomay, for Stones Throw Records by Egon. DVD Authoring by David Chan for Siho Media. Project Coordination by Jason Nable. Poster by Kuraden. Design & Art Direction by Jeff Jank. Special Thanks to Ross Harris, A.J. Calomay, Jason DeMarco, Maureen Yancey, Noah Jolles, and Rive.

LINK: OFFICIAL STONES THROW SITE

Now posted online at Baa10.com is the sampler for the forthcoming Baatin solo album Titus, due out on Operation Unknown Records. Easily this is one of the records I'm most anticipating this year since its definitely a true throwback to the real classic Slum Village sound.

LINK: OFFICIAL BAATIN SITE

In the mean time, Baatin released a 12" single "Marvelous" b/w "Magic" on the Polish imprint Asfalt Records. Both tracks are produced by Black Milk and the tracklisting is as follows:

A:
1. Marvelous
2. Magic Returners Remix
3. Magic OSTR A Remix
4. Marvelous instr
B:
1. Magic
2. Magic OSTR B Remix
3. Magic Metro Remix
4. Magic instr
5. Magic acap

LINK: "Marvelous / Magic" Asfalt Product Page

Ann Arbor's Buff1 just posted a few new exclusive tracks on his MySpace page for the new year.

LINK: OFFICIAL BUFF1 MYSPACE

Taken from Dabrye's Two/Three album, Ghostly International will be releasing the Get Dirty EP on February 12th on both vinyl and digital formats. The single includes the track "Get Dirty" featuring A.G., the Kode 9 remix of "Air" featuring Doom, and the Flying Lotus remix of "Game Over" featuring J. Dilla and Phat Kat. The tracklisting is as follows:

A1. Get Dirty Feat. AG
A2. Air Feat. Doom (Kode 9 Remix)
A3. Game Over Feat. Jay Dee & Phat Kat (Flying Lotus Remix)
B1. Get Dirty Feat. AG Instrumental
B2. Air Feat. Doom (Kode 9 Remix) Instrumental
B3. Game Over Feat. Jay Dee & Phat Kat (Flying Lotus Remix) Instrumental

LINK: Dabrye Get Dirty EP Information and Audio Samples

In other news, Tadd Mullinix will also be releasing a full length project under his James T. Cotton moniker in February titled Like No One on Ghostly's sister label Spectral Sound.

LINK: James T. Cotton Like No One Information and Audio Samples

Real Detroit Weekly named Black Milk 2007's Artist Of The Year in their current issue. Read the cover story online.

LINK: Black Milk - Real Detroit Weekly Artist Of The Year

A sample of a new Slum Village track titled "Feels So Good" produced by Black Milk has made its way online. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: Slum Village "Feels So Good" (zShare)

In honor of MLK day, Mos Def brings together a Big Band in Tribute to J Dilla @ UM Hill Auditorium, 7:30 pm, 1-21-07.

"UMS and the U-M office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives will co-present this Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day concert featuring Mos Def in a tribute to Detroit's most influential and respected producer, J Dilla, who died in February, 2006 at age 32 from complications from lupus. Through poetry and hip-hop, his infectious rhymes — infused with an acute social consciousness — reclaimed hip-hop's revolutionary soul, critiquing the violence and deceit found in "gangsta" rap and examining head-on the issues of the Black experience in the U.S. This concert tribute will be presented only in Ann Arbor."

Proceeds to be donated to Maureen Yancey and the J. Dilla Foundation.

LINK: PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE