My good friend Dj Khalil is kindly offering his newest mixtape out for free.
For those of you that copped his exclusive Hip Hop Connection Mixtape for THTC will know this one is worth a download, however don’t expect straight Hip Hop… this mixtape blends “something a little different”, expect beats, electronic, house, garage, touch of dubstep… nice.
Here’s the newest single off Reflection Eternal’s upcoming album ’Revolutions Per Minute’ which is said to release on April 6th. The track is a lot slower than what we’re used to from Hi-Tek, but it’s a good track and could mark a return to form for Kweli & Hi-tek.
Download: Reflection Eternal – In this World
24 year-old Londoner BUG is a keyboard player, songwriter and producer. His debut single Cosmic Lab b/w 20 Winks, is out now on the newly formed Jus Like Music Records & has already received accolades from artists such as Ty (see our preview of his upcoming album), Ohmegga Watts & Eric Lau (see our previous post on his ‘Kilowatt V2′). Listen to both tracks on the widget below.
Download: BUG - Cosmic Lab / 20 Winks
Here is the new 5 track EP from Freddie Joachim. This EP shows him moving towards a more funky style of beat whilst using amazing motown-esque samples. Listen to the whole EP on the widget below.
Download: Freddie Joachim – Dust
Droppin’ Science & Upper Playground Clothing presents…
Fresh Cuts Radio Feburary 2010 edition, featuring DMC champ DJ Matman.
Part mixtape, part knowledge, all fresh! Nothing but the very latest in underground hip-hop music.
Download/stream here or click the link below to subscribe:
Tracklist:
01. Matman & Daredevil (The Brothas Grimm) – Fresh Cuts Radio Intro
02. DJ Daredevil – Shake That
03. Ty – Emotions Ft. Sarina Leah & Sean Escofrey
04. Statik Sekektah Ft. Souls Of Mischief – Laughin
05. Silhouette Brown ft. Sadat X – Get With It
06. Slum Village – Climax (Instrumental)
07. DTMD – Fantastic
08. Planet Asia & Goldchain Military – Organic Food
09. Freeway & Jake One ft. Raekwon – One Thing
10. Eliphino – Media
11. JoJo Pellegrino ft. Raekwon – Dead Serious
12. P.S.O. Ft. Homeboy Soundman, 8thW1 & Fresh Daily – Incredible (Soundmen Rmx)
13. Strong Arm Steady ft. Montage One, Evidence, Oh No & Roc C – True Champs
14. Haircut – 1000 Paper Cranes
15. Smiley The Ghetto Child & DJ Premier – I’m Legend
16. Sadat X ft. Pete Rock – Turn It Up
17. Oddisee – Kansas Bay ft. Stik Figa
19. Oddisee – Long Beach
20. X.O. – Black Broadway
21. Tranquil – Payroll (Paul White’s Dirty Dub)
22. Tranquil – Payroll (Paul White’s Dirty Verion)
UK emcee Tranqill’s new EP was 2 Years in the making but is finally here courtesy of One-Handed Music. Whilst it doesn’t officially drop until March 15th, you can download it now from his Bandcamp page. The EP is only 4 tracks (including a Paul White remix) & their instrumentals, but it’s quality music & for just £2, it’s a serious bargain.
He’s offering ‘Deadly Wintaz’ for free download too. A seriously good track produced by Dj IQ (former Droppin’ Science guest & extended family).
Listen to the whole EP on the widget below.
If you like what you hear, check out this other track of his produced by Oddissee: Tranqill - The Supplier Prod. by Oddisee
Freddie Joachim started out as a dj/turntablist in 1996 spinning all sorts, but always had a strong focus on hip hop and jazz. In 2001, he turned his focus to recording and software based production. Freddie’s produced a whole load of jazzy instrumental hip hop albums & a crazy amount of remixes of hip hop classics, all of which can be downloaded for free on his website. His music has a very unique sound, his beats are very jazzy, often laced with beautiful piano & guitar samples and warm, perfectly crafted basslines. Whilst he has a sound that is very much his own which I highly recommend to all, I think fans of Kev Brown, Pete Rock and Japanese producers like Uyama Hiroto, Nujabes & Nomak will particularly enjoy his music.
Freddie has produced for many indie hip hop and soul artists, with releases in North America, Europe, and Asia. In Spring of 2008, he released his first full-length album entitled ‘In With Time’ for Japan, which featured artists such as Aloe Blacc, Blu, Lauren Santiago, and others. He also mentioned he is now working on a new instrumental album entitled ‘Midway’ that will be dropping sometime around June via San Francisco label, Mellow Orange. ‘Midway’ is going to be a third original compositions, and the rest sampled based beats. Apart from ‘Midway’, Freddie and Question are releasing a 10″ vinyl with a couple of tracks from the ‘Study Guide’ album around late Feb via the label Homegrown Blends & he’s also working with Lauren Santiago on her upcoming album.
Here’s a track generously donated by the musical genius off his upcoming album, enjoy!
Download: Freddie Joachim - All Right (Right click, save as)
Lennon is a 17 year-old native of Connecticut who whilst has only been producing for 4 years now, has a mature sound that’s far ahead of his years. Lennon grew up on Dilla and mentioned some of his influences being Kanye, 9th Wonder, RJD2 & Alex Goose, which is evident in his music. Apart from influences spanding through all music genres, Lennon also draws great inspiration from the legendary Spike Lee’s movies.
Currently, Lennon is working on a new project with the Cosmic Souls Collective (one of the members, EPonym, rhymes over Lennon’s ‘Like That’ track on ‘Beat Tape’) which he recently joined, a couple of blog mixtapes & is always looking for opportunities to produce for other artists. Looking to the future, Lennon’s dream would be to work with people like Eminem, Dre, Flylo, Drake, Jill Scott, Lupe & The Roots. Given his talent at such a young age, the sky’s the limit really.
‘Beat Tape’ is Lennon’s most recent project and displays a variety of his production styles. On the mixtape you will hear a remix of a Madlib track, a Masta Ace classic & also a load of great jazzy, soulful & even eerie instrumentals. Lennon also has a couple of other tracks & another beat tape for download on his website, check it out here. Big up to Lennon for help with the post.
Download: Lennon – Beat Tape
Wasiu M. Brion from Poland released this instrumental tribute to his favourite producers a little while ago. Apart from his beats having a very distinct, crisp sound to them, I was also amazed at how many different styles of production he has. For more, go to his Myspace here, there is a nice remix of Guilty Simpson’s ‘Before the Verdict’.
Download: Wasiu M. Brion – Shy Tribute
I headed down to the Jazz Cafe last Wednesday to witness hip-hop’s fastest rising star of the moment, Jay Electronica.
I rocked up just in time to catch the end of Eglo record’s Fatima’s set, her voice sounding just as powerful live as it is on wax. If ya don’t know, check out her track ‘kleer‘ produced by Funkineven, & preview her incredible-sounding forthcoming ep here featuring Dam Funk. Next up K-lashnekoff performed a short set including classics such as ‘Murder‘ & his take on ‘Welcome to Jamrock‘ – a few embarrassing slips aside (forgetting the lyrics to his new single probably wasn’t a career highlight) -he was a welcome surprise, & reminded me just how powerful his voice & flow are, I’ll definitely be checking for his new LP out soon.
After K-Lash there was a good hour & a half wait ’til the main act.. I heard many impatient comments from the audience, but I was personally happy as a pig in shit wildin’ out to a killer set by Benji B – a fine choice of underground hip hop classics (big props to anyone dropping ‘The Enemy‘ by Big L & Fat Joe), some funk/disco rarities & a good half hour of well-chosen Dilla productions.
And so on to the man of the moment, Jay Electronica eventually stepped to the stage fully suited up, & proceeded to give one of the finest performances I’ve heard for a long time to be delivered by a simple MC & DJ combo (not that the dj did much!). His delivery was clear, his energy was as up as you’d expect from a man riding the wave of newly found stardom, the crowd was super hyped, & dude straight killed it. I was much-relieved to discover him to be as great a performer as he is an MC, & would probably make a half-decent comedian, offering shots of jack to nearby punters, & getting away with asking all the ladies in the house to make noise if they enjoy a little mild choking during sex! Jay performed a dope selection of his material, but of course Exhibit’s A & C were the joints that really shut it down, with most of the crowd rapping along to the whole tracks (big up London for knowing our shit!). If he makes a return to these shores anytime soon, don’t miss out.
Peep the video above, taken from the second night’s performance (& pinched with love from DJ Semtex’s blog) for a taste – & download his recent ‘Victory’ mixtape free of charge here.
