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I haven’t heard that many tracks from Aidonia; he’s one of those mid to late ’00s dancehall artists you hear about all the time, see his name on countless mixtapes, and probably already heard a bunch of his tunes at parties, but you never actually went out of your way and check for his tunes. That’s until I heard the title cut from Stephen “Di Genius” Mcgregor’s incredible Bad People riddim which completely shifted my view on a couple of vocalists — but more on that shortly. “Heart Is Hers” features Aisha Davis and is produced by Equiknoxx producer/artist collective (who are also responsible producing another impressive Aidonia track titled “Negative.”) This is what dancehall sounds like in post-808s & Heartbreak/weird-emotional-electro-pop-hop era? Dancehall is going in so many different, exciting directions at the moment, and as for this particular type of sound which has been bubbling for the last few years I think it’s safe to point to T-Wayne & Yeezy as references. As Aidonia sings – “Song is too dead/it needs more life – Needs a faster melody/more melody/groove your body…”
I imagine I like Afrikan Boy, he seems like a fairly relaxed and pleasant person. This new video, shot in the imaginary offices of ‘Afrikan Airlines’ is quite enjoyable. Ever since he did a grime influenced tune a few years back about getting caught shoplifting in Lidl (a very very cheap European supermarket chain where I used to buy groceries in Berlin) I’ve been rooting for him. Also I think it’s cool that he raps in a Nigerian accent, which up til now has been (and still is?) considered uncool, giving rise to a bunch of Africans in grime who try to sound yardie and end up completely unintelligible. via Ghetto Bassquake.
So. By now we should all know that MLK is beautiful and Auto-Tune is culturally complicated. A lot can be said about this video, from the elemental power of oratory to the ways in which technology can amplify or disperse political potential to the notion that rewiring history is an act aimed at future change.
But what keeps running through my head is a paraphrase from Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. here: I’m trying to tell America about a dream that I had.
For the last few months, Jahdan has been constantly, sonically bombing the internet with quality heat. If you think the tracks on Bazooka Shot were crazy, just wait until you hear the album. Better yet, head over to iTunes, where you can preview and buy the first single from the album Buzzrock Warrior. The single is called “She Said”and it features 77klash. Jahdan’s voice is beautiful and pure on this one, but the beat and the bass are shifty, and Klash spits some cryptic, classic lines on this. The album comes out September 15th (9/14 for those in the UK!), which is just around the corner. Get hustlin, get ready!
Audio and video are not completely in sync, but who cares, really? Especially, when the sound, visual, and message are so soulful and sexy (and she’s trying not to spell it out, but she can’t help herself…) “Milk and Honey” is deliberately sweet, seductive, and celebratory. I find the experimentation and lightheartedness here much more interesting. Props to Bedrock for the beat. I haven’t heard or seen much from Goapele since her 2000/1 song “Closer” - positive, dreamy, a bit wistful now.
On a general note - neo soul and alt contemporary R&B has been anemic, stale since 2001 (after D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Erykah Badu’s Mama Gun, what else is there?) I’ve stayed away for the most part, but very now and then, there are impressive, surprisingly great albums and songs like Erykah Badu’s “The Healer” from her 2008 offering New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). For 2009, Sa-Ra’s album Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love is amazing and has been very enjoyable.
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from BAZOOKA SHOT mixtape, which is coming next week. Jahdan sounds incredible, and very smooth. Matt & Jace are on some old skool grime ting w/ this riddim. Some of the elements in it reminded me of Eskiboy around 2003-05. The tune also has a great slow down dancehall grind, lighters in the air vibes too.
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Jahdan’s album Buzzrock Warrior drops in September. In the meantime, we’re setting the Summer on fire with Jahdan’s Bazooka Shot mixtape, which is coming sooner than you think. The night this freestyle was done, I think the guys (Jahdan, Klash, and Matt) recorded five other tracks, and this was the last one. It was pure fun. I gave the instrumental to Matt, he edited/re-shaped it in less than two minutes, Jahdan & Klash went in. Jahdan was alredy familiar with the hit song by Toronto’s own Drake, and was singing it the minute he heard the beat. I had never heard this song by choice. Klash wasn’t familiar with it, so he start singing Radiohead’s “Climbing the Walls,” and I was like yeah! Anyway, the vibe at Casa de la Jones (Geko Jones’ home-studio, where it all goes down) was great, and everyone was having a good time. We’re doing it again next week, putting the finishing touches on the Bazooka Shot tape. Jahdan and Klash are going in again, and they might be remixing, freestyling, covering whatever tune they feel like again.
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I was over at Andy‘s house for much of the weekend (he’s about seven minutes away from where I live, and he makes the illest fried plantains! overly ripe plantains fried with little oil, smashed, then re-fried again with very little oil, then lightly salted… it is of course a traditional recipe in many parts of the world, but Andy is untouchable right now.) Anyway, this is one of the tracks he pointed me to, and after it was found, we put it on repeat for a while. Ill Blu offers more heat for the Summer, in the form of R&B remixes.
I am surrounded by incredible deejays who are crazy music fanatics as well, constantly discovering, and always on the move. I am developing my own thing, but I get wonderful music thrown at me from several directions. Geko Jones (aka Mr Miyagi, Wobble Monster, California get ready) blessed me w/ some extremely dope and super exclusives last week, Rupture also gave me an insane dubstep banger last week… please listen to Mudd Up! If it sounds like we’re not focus, it is because we have so much to share.
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Ms. Dynamite dropped this banger back in December, (props to The Heatwave) and there was a lot of excitement and hype around the explosive cut. Dynamite is repping her yard roots hard on this one. We still can’t seem to find a proper version, not even a CDQ version? All the versions floating around contain some kind of BBC Radio1 tag from DJ Semtex, Trevor Nelson, etc. I think I first heard about the track from Gex, then Andy… Anyway, if anyone out there is holding a quality version, pls share!
The family over at Dutty Artz stay busy building and stockpiling heatseeking missiles like Jahdan Blakkamoore’s Go Round Payola. We’re about 17 hours from finishing up the artwork for his debut album (everything else is DONE), more news real soon.
In the meantime, Frankfurt’s Mr Leub, flipped Matt Shadetek’s Payola riddim, swapping out JD and splicing in Busy Signal’s ‘Da Style Deh’.
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Eddie Stats new Ghetto Palms blend which ends with a POWER TRIO of Busy Signal slackness in the form of cellphone-centric acoustic drumloop minimalism tunes, Da Style Deh included.
and Mr Leub’s Rudebwoy Electroncia mix, which kinda reminds me of the first Toddla-T mix I heard, which is to say: stomping reggaeoid 4-4y thumpers. Very good music for weekend apartment cleaning, I can attest to this.
A few weeks ago, I saw a financial analyst on MSNBC who said that instead of worrying and despairing because the US economy is spiraling downward, Americans should be excited and imaginative, because it is easier to be the winner in an environment where so many people are loosing. In most of the rap world, it’s forever boom-time and the global economic crisis is nonexistent. Openly masking human suffering and frailty with good old fashion American hypermasculinity and boasts about one’s net worth has been the approach for radio-friendly rap artists for years, regardless of the current economic malaise. Even when the world around is crumbling, these artists look beyond, ignoring immediate circumstances and continue to paint pictures of excess. There is no such thing as absurd, excessive balling.
To roughly quote something Hugh Masekela said – if you don’t talk about your people, their plight, injustice, struggle and you’re using their music to get rich and famous, you need your head examine, you will end up in a bad, bad place… well, a lot of people are living in that place already.
After posting that Young Capone track, and listening to the Rick Ross album (which has some surprisingly good and memorable moments) I was compelled to look at the other side of the trap/the majority/what is considered the norm to most rap listeners, or what has larger representation, Hot97 radio-playability (not to say Young Jeezy’s “Circulate” and Cam’rom’s “I Hate My Job” didn’t get played, because they did, but you are more likely to hear flamboyant and splurgy raps and attitude towards the recession.) But this batch of tracks also features some relatively unknown/regional/up and coming rappers.
So here it is — Recession Proof Wallets for your listening pleasure. It is pretty nauseating. It slows down in the second half, but really there’s no relief, except for the last track by UGK, adding a degree of levelheadedness and unquestionable swag, everything else here is bloated and unreal, insane and American– so there, consider yourself warned.
Zshatwa – Fresh (Intro)
Rich Boy – It’s Over
Rick Ross – Magnificent feat. John Legend
Droop-E & B-Slimm – Think Fast
Young Capone – Dopeboyz (Show Out)
Gucci Mane – I’m The Shit
(((Talking That Money Shit Interlude)))
Fat Joe – Cupecakes feat. Benisour
Ju of D4L – Do It, Do It feat. Shawty Lo
KD – I Know U C Me
The Kid Datona – Lately feat. Amanda diva
Busta Rhymes – Hustlers Anthem ’09 feat. T-Pain
Wale – Penthouse Anthem
Pluck – Sick feat. ST 2 Lettaz (of G-Side) & Jackie Chain
UGK – Purse Come First feat. Big Gipp
(((McLuhan takes us out with An Inventory Of Effects)))
We’re pleased to announce the 12″ release of “The General” the first single from Jahdan’s Buzzrock Warrior album, coming this fall. The release is a collaboration with the Liondub International label which is only fitting since Liondub and I built the riddim for “The General” together. Liondub has also enlisted two of his friends Marcus Visionary and Noah D. on remix duties and they turned out two dutty dubstep mixes. Both of them have been coming with a lot of fire lately all over the place. This is a UK pressing so it will be easier to find over there but some copies will be arriving stateside soon. Downloads will be available before too long but currently the release is vinyl only.
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In spite of the difficult economic situation, the majority of rappers are still rapping/bragging about getting money and about spending it. You can check his myspace for more, but this is the dopest tune there.
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