Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later will be in stores soon. No current release date is set, but the rumor is fourth quarter. This video is directed by Kanye West, which I am not sure is obvious or not. My favorite part is that Drake said the message is that win or lose, you can still be someone’s best! Everybody’s been talking about this video today… what do you all think? Props to OnSMASH for the upload.
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Monsters Ink consists of Dynas, Lex One, Mike Beatz and Streets Buchanan. The track “Epic” is produced by Mike Beatz and features the entire group lyrically. This song is featured on the upcoming mixtape “Ink Made Me A Monster” which is mixed by Mick Boogie and Terry Urban. “Ink Made Me A Monster” is presented by Akademiks, The Press Play Show, illRoots and Xclusiveszone and boasts an incredible lineup of accompanying MC’s and producers. With features from Little Brother, Freeway, U-N-I and production from Streetrunner, 9th Wonder and illmind, Monsters Ink showcases what’s great about hip hop and sheds new light on these emerging artists.
“Ink Made Me A Monster” will be released for free digitally on Tuesday, July 21st.
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We got a new leak from Thad Reid’s Paid Time Off series. The Paid Time Off series, is Thad’s summer work which will feature the release of 5 singles between June and Aug. 2009 leading up to his EP. The EP will have the 5 songs as well as 3 new unreleased songs so keep up with it, definitely don’t miss out.
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Once again, we are back with yet another one. With this heat rock, we dig in with one of KevinNottingham.com’s most popular posts, Phonte’s Top 15 Rap Performances [read here]. We get to dig in on my Phonte overdose for a bit and get to talk to P and Nic about what their favourite Phonte verses are and their opinions on the list. Moreover, we flip the switch and talk to Phonte about what his favourite Nicolay beats are and what Nic’s personal favourites are. The best part of the interview comes when it gets noted that Phonte actually had his chance to take on various Nic beats that either ended up on another Nic album or other albums i.e. EMC’s “What It Stands For.” Phonte on that beat? Damn. Lastly, we talk briefly about Nicolay’s creation of “Nautilus,” [check out his recreation here] comparing it to the original, the creation of it, and their favourite use of that sample. Enjoy.
Check out the previous episodes, if you missed them!
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Illmind drops the third volume of his “Blaps, Rhymes & Life” series. Featuring some legendary emcees including K-Rino, Scarface, Masta Ace, Edo G, Common and more, this is a MUST download as always. Tracklist and link after the jump.
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Toronto emcee P.A. comes through with new track “The Cook Up” produced by DJ Mitsu and featuring Aime Cain. Download link after the jump.
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Tunji sent over a very dope EP from Seattle group The Physics called “High Society.” Here’s what he had to say about the project:
“Two years after the release of their critically lauded full length debut, Future Talk, Seattle-based hip hop group The Physics are back with June 2009’s release of High Society, an eight track EP of new material representing a natural progression both musically and personally. Steeped heavily in references to jazz and soul, Just D’Amato’s production (alongside Phee Dill & Dyalect) provides the smoothed-out backdrop against which lyricists Thig Natural and Monk Wordsmith (absent from Future Talk but a notable presence here) do their thing and do it with skill. Featuring guest appearances by beastly Seattle MCs Language Arts (”Back Track”) and Macklemore (”Good”) as well as one of the year’s most buzzed about local duos, the fresh-as-all-hell females of Thee Satisfaction (”Radio Head”), High Society dims the lights on the laidback aesthetic established in Future Talk and invites the listener to get real grown-and enjoy it. While this EP may feel like a main course, don’t get it twisted: it’s merely just a taste of what’s to come, a prelude to an additional as-yet-untitled release slated for later in the summer.”
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As most of you know, I was recently out in L.A. for the release party for Nobody Famous’ Order Up! Vol 3: Chicken & Waffles, the first album released on my new label HiPNOTT Records. I’m still in the process of editing the loads of video footage that I got while there, but the good people at MyCypher.com already put together a video recap of the event.
The launch party was a huge success. Many thanks to Drew, Curtis, Jay and the rest of the crew at MyCypher.com for throwing the party. The House of Armor mansion was an amazing spot. Big ups to Reem at Man Up Management, Nobody Famous, and Dasha for their generous hospitality. Shout out to the other performers (Jarell Perry, El Prez, and Wax) who definitely held down the spot. And thanks to the 300+ party goers (including Meka from 2DopeBoyz.com and our own Freddie C) who made this event worth wild.
I got tons of performance footage and interviews of everyone at the show which I’ll get online starting this weekend and flood the site with next week. Of course you won’t see my mug in any of them, but MyCypher.com DID manage to get a shot of me in the above vid (see if you can spot me). Also the track playing in the video is the second single to be released from the album, “Electric” featuring Dasha and Jarell Perry.
Order Up! Vol 3: Chicken & Waffles available on iTunes and Amazon July 28th!
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J. Blitz is one of the best kept secrets in the the New Orleans underground scene. While most outside the state associate the city with former powerhouse labels like Cash Money and No Limit, the city has a new hip hop scene with artists breaking the stigma of the typical New Orleans sound. J. Blitz is one of the leaders in that scene and looking to make a major breakthrough with a big year planned for 2009. We had the chance to talk to J and here’s your chance to get to know the talented emcee.
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So on June 22nd, I hit up the Real Frequency show. They have been number one in the 11PM to 1AM time slot for a long while now and is most definitely Toronto’s premier hip hop radio show (along with OTA Live, of course). With a combination of me asking to be on the show and plenty of gratitude from Arcee, Muziklee Inzane, P Plus, and of course, Keezy, I was able to get in on the second hour.
Flow 93.5 is quite possibly the largest “urban” radio station in Canada, so this was a great look as I got to spread the word of KevinNottingham.com, what the site does, our always interesting sampling controversy, and the other things going on with my other projects (OKP, Manifesto, etc).
Regardless, it was a great experience and I got to witness a massive freestyle by the homie Empire (what up Quackass!), and got to discuss, very intellectually and seriously may I add, hip hop on levels I really never get to do. So thank you Arcee and Inzane for driving the conversation and really banging out something great. Hopefully the K Nots fam loves this as much as I did. Sorry I didn’t shout out all the fans of the site, but that’s an automatic!
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Straight out of left field, Freeway stunned us all with the announcement of a third album to be released in early 2009. He simultaneously captured our attention with The Month of Madness, a vigorous release of 32 consecutive songs. Free’s ambitious December 2008 project [of course we followed it, check it out here: Month of Madness] was pure heat and only perpetuated an excitement in the air for Philadelphia Freeway 2. Acting as a continuation of Freeway’s 2003 album Philadelphia Freeway, PF2, the post- Roc-A-Fella album released on Real Talk Ent, had fans reeking with anticipation.
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Props goes to Onez for this set. “Hip Hop Hooray” was the huge single from 19 Naughty III helping the album reach platinum status along with critical acclaim.
Early 90’s hip hop album…so you know what your getting sample wise. Info and link after the cut.
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We have the first single from D.Black, signed to Myx Music Label (Keeley & Zaire). His album “Ali Yah” will be out in September via Myx Music Label/Sportn’ Life Records. Entirely produced by Jake One and Vitamin D, this is the first joint off the album to come out.
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Episode #4 features Eternia receiving an Encore @ the legendary Lyricist Lounge show in NYC, while performing unreleased tracks from the new album “AT LAST” for the first time. Jeru the Damaja hosts the event and speaks on Eternia’s skills, and Eternia leaves a fan from NJ at a loss for words. Over the next 6 months, Eternia will release steady video & audio leaks leading up to the highly anticipated release of Eternia & MoSS’s debut album, “AT LAST”. Follow them as they shop for a record deal, promote the album, and countdown to the release date. And you just never know what special guests may pop up… stay tuned! Hit the jump for links to the first 3 episodes!
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