Check 1:40 for the real moment(s) of clarity here.

Dutty Artz is a book club. You might have thought we were a record label- given that we’re releasing tracks every month and constantly feeding the internet with audio files- but it goes a lot deeper then that. If you want to be part of the club, you should read Octavia Butler’s Parable of The Sower. If you’re not in the Northern Hemisphere- you might want to wait until Summer, caus this one is dark, and if read before bed, almost guaranteed to induce the vivid nightmares that lodge in your psyche for days before revealing themselves as dreams and not memories.

We’re scrambling just like everyone else right now- trying to figure out what it means to be a record label in an era where recorded digital media has no value- and the only people making money are slicing off pounds of flesh to get branded. You’ll see us move in that direction too. It’s inevitable. Hopefully we can do it without losing too much respect. Until then you can find me steady dreaming of new distribution paradigms as we pass each other printed relics.

A few days ago, I found a CDR compilation labeled Super Hits of Nigeria in the ungoogleable/bootleg section of my CD-DVD collection. It was a gift from my cousin who bought it in the streets of Freetown sometime last year. The opening track from the comp is “Yori Yori”– a massive pan-Nigerian/pan-African (global) hit in 2009 by the duo Bracket. This tune was large from Lagos to Nairobi, Freetown to London, even nightclubs in Guangzhou were unsafe from the contagious tune (Guangzhou has the largest population of Africans in China.) I saw a video for the tune in early ’09 while watching Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in northern Virginia. Boima also mentioned it over at Ghetto Bassquake.

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Bracket – Yori Yori

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Timaya, who appears on at least 6 tracks on the compilation also had a great year in ’09. I saw a few of his videos on NTA – epic, conscious Nigerian rap grooves. Here are two more tracks -

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Timaya – Yankuluya

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J Martins feat. Timaya, P-Square, Banky W., etc. – Good Or Bad (Owey)

New video from Erykah Badu featuring Lil Wayne “Jump Up In The Air (Stay There)” from her upcoming album New Amerykah Part II: Return Of The Ankh – You already know this is a great song, but pay close attention to the lyrics and you’ll appreciate it even more; plenty memorable lines – (hip-hop) “church never felt this good before,” “my level, far from the devil/have some manners, and say hello to the angels,” “I am on the ceiling stuck like a fan full of dust, like a fist full of bucks…” etc.  As for the video, it has stunning moments; Wayne clearing a cloud of purple smoke to “elevate” with Ms. Badu is one of those.

I first heard this tune at a party in the Bronx, Summer 2005 or maybe ’06– I don’t remember exactly. Big up all Ghanaian massive in the Bronx. I can recall a friend telling me at the time that “You May Kiss Your Bride” was a smash in Accra, on the radio, in bars and clubs, at football marches, and of course at weddings.  This clip also appears on a VCD compilation titled Ghana Vs Nigeria: Super Hits Videos –purchased in a street market in Freetown in December ’09. By the way, if you dig this track don’t sleep on Akwaaba Music’s Move It Chaleh — more recent hiplife goodness among other things (like Monou Sidibe’s incredible “Mali Mousso.”)

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Birdman – Money To Blow feat. Drake and Lil Wayne (Chief Boima Remix)

Chief Boima‘s version is not as funny, but it’s a guaranteed dance floor scorcher.  The Chief is a badman producer from the left coast who recently unleashed a free EP heat up your winter – African By The Bay (62 megabyte ZIP file), feel free to to download and re-post on your site.

[Artwork/cover design by Lupo Avanti]

Omzo and Yero of Minen Teye

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Minen Teye feat. Sista Soda – Yero & Omzo (One Love)

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Minen Teye feat. Gaston – Wake Up

Minen Teye is a rap group out of Nouakchott, Mauritania. The group, sometimes referred to as the conscious generation, is a rather loose collective of rappers and singers from the rural parts of the country. The main members Yero and Omzo moved to the capital to pursue higher education at University of Nouakchott.  Other members of the collective moved to the city avoid civil unrest and the border squabbles with neighboring countries Senegal and Mali, which dates back to the late 1980s– but the capital Nouakchott has seen its share of trouble in the last two decades and recently with the military coup in August 2008.  According to my Mauritanian source here in Brooklyn, Yero and Omzo are in the third generation (2003-present) of the rap collective which dates back to the mid-1990s.  Their lyrics are politically charged and critical of the military government which has been brutally suppressing dissent and painting that suppression as fighting terrorism and Islamist militants, drug traffickers and illegal migrants.  Minen Teye members have been harassed by police and government officials several times in the last year.  They are in the process of recording a new album which should be out sometime next year.  In meantime, these two tracks feature outside vocalists, Senegalese songstress Sista Soda and Senegalese rapper Gaston. The tracks are from their recent release, from earlier this year Moro-Itanie.

Here’s a video a Facebook friend posted a few hours ago – Women on the Frontline: Mauritania, a documentary presented by Annie Lennox shining a light on violence against women and girls. Here, they look at the Islamic Republic’s interpretation of the Sharia law Zina. [UNIFEM]

Kreayshawn‘s demo reel Summer 2009

& here’s the future! Lil B’s new video “Like A Martian,” also directed by Kreayshawn.

This is definitely dumbest track I’ve heard from Lil B this year -mind you, I can only listen to his material in tiny doses so I’ve heard less than one tenth of his output this year. Andrew Noz/Cocaine Blunts has the time and patience/attention for this. Grab the mp3/audio dope here if you dare.

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Jay Electronica – Exhibit C

I have been waiting for a CDQ/NODJ version of this track for months! Jay Electronica (f*ck that! Call me Jay ElecHannukah, Jay ElecYalmulke…) and The Megatron Don answered the request/prayers of rap nerds and fans of great music the world over when they released Exhibit C this week. While the eyes of the world were on Copenhagen (I hope the eyes of the world were on Copenhagen! All the f*ckery, wrangling, and argument going on there matters to every single one of us on the planet. You might wake up one morning and find there is no Freetown, Monrovia, Conakry, no Dakar, no Lagos, no Accra, no Durban… they’re all cities under sea/saltwater! ahem, Solar Life Raft anyone?) one of my favorite tracks of 2009 was dropped in my mailbox! Finest holiday gift thus far, thanks Mo!

Now, let’s hope we get a full/CDQ version of “Dear Moleskine” by mid-Winter, and I’m quite certain an album in 2010 will set the globe on fire!

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Karma Atchykah  – Journée de Pluie avec Soke et Wahlee Sparks

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Karma Atchykah – Mains en l’air

The big homie Poirier recommended some nice rappity raps from Quebec.  Karma Atchykah‘s current album with Shash Revolution Culturelle is downloadable here. He is also preparing to drop a new album in the new year, so keep your eyes peeled.

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Jay Electronica – Swagger Jackson’s Revenge

Regardless who you vote for
If the mind don’t grow, and the poverty lines don’t go
But the dope keep coming, and the TV keeps flashing images of a sports car
Then you’re bound for a coke war
The meek get clowned by the coke law
The sheep get drown in the folklore
Then lured to sleep by Tom Brokaw
What a pity?
The hope on the politician’s tongue never ever trickles down to the city.

This track is from a compilation/mixtape floating around titled ElectroChemicals, containing exclusive songs and rare materials previously available only as radio-rips or web/myspace-rips from Jay Electronica – a brilliant voice in hip hop (in music and poetry in general) who is going to set drop an album in 2010. This cut has a great Michael Jackson speech in the intro— from an interview in which The King sounded defiant, and saying there’s a conspiracy in the US; it is suspicious that his album is number one all around the world, except in America where he is facing all kinds of legal and financial woes.

Rupture is off-the-grid tonight, still in Mexico, where this weekend he performed alongside Adrian Sherwood, Mungo’s Hi-Fi, and various local DJs and bands at the Mictlan Dub Festival. I’m holding things down tonight 7-8PM on Mudd Up! radio on WFMU 91.1 fm in NYC. It’s cold and rainy (just miserable weather here) in NYC, tune in, throw in comments, questions, get involved, heat up. Again, tonight @ 7PM.

Subscribe to the Mudd Up! podcast if you want downloadable versions: , Mudd Up! RSS.

For those outside our FM broadcast range, WFMU offers live streaming and even has its own free iPhone app!

Here’s something I’ll be dropping at some point tonight -

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Clipse – Showing Out feat. Yo Gotti

[Freshjive Hope Is Fading Fast t shirt | The World's Got Problems]

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G-Side – So Wonderful feat. Chrystal Carr, G-Mane, and SupaKing

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G-Side – Who’s Hood feat. Yelawolf

G-Side‘s latest effort the Huntsville International project was liberated last week, leaked in its entirety and contained some extremely solid moments for those of us who are still into rap music! Slowmotion Soundz, ST 2 Lettaz and Clova, Block Beattaz, and the various producers and guest artists offer strong, and even exceptional performances.  ST 2 Lettaz and Clova delivered moving verses on “So Wonderful,” “In The Rain,” and “This Is Life.” On “So Wonderful,” ST raps about difficult times, not just the current recession– more specifically, the lack of assistance, the extra huddle, and debt young folks incurred while making their way through college, the double-digit unemployment figures and lack of opportunity in black and brown communities, which predates the current financial crisis. ST also echoes the words of Young Jeezy and P. Dukes (my president is black, but we’re still in the same mess– Obama administration maintaining continuity.  By the way, P. Dukes made my favorite recession rap jam with “Make Me A Way,” and I regret not including it on the podcast.)  Clova is on-point also, with an interesting mix of low-key, sharp darts grounded in realism, at times interrupted with “next-level”-swag-so-advance raps (and oftentimes, he’s incredible with those lines.)

Yelawolf offered a crucial performance on “Who’s Hood,” delivering a dense, rapid-fire verse about Cadillacs, pit-fights, and nightlife in the Bible Belt (he sounds like a young Big Boi or something! last week we heard him channeling Bob Dylan for Juelz Santana.) Other highlights here include the solo track by ST “This Is Life,” which I heard in August when Traps N Trunks unleashed the Huntsville Alabama: Rochet City mixtape/compilation and the defiant and unforgettable “In The Rain” featuring Bentley. “This Is Life” and “In The Rain” are those outstanding rap songs you hear every now and again, and they stay with you– emotionally raw and honest lyrics delivered by a smart, ambitious/hungry rappers.  In the era of free music –sounds now move faster than the speed of contex– we are bombarded with ephemeral songs and disposable mixtapes. G-Side is offering music with lasting quality. The majority of tracks on their previous two album, Starshipz and Rocketz and Sumthin 2 Hate have held up well, withstanding countless listens and every now and then certain sounds warranting repeated listening.  The Huntsville International project has that– freshness, durability, rap music for 2010 and beyond.

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Juelz Santana f/ Yelawolf – Mixing Up The Medicine

Juelz Santana and Yelawolf echoing/channeling Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. If the rest of Born To Lose, Built To Win (his much-delayed third album– push-backs and title-changes) sound anything like “Mixing Up The Medicine” then it’ll be a decent album, but I doubt that after hearing that awful radio single/standard club number featuring Chris Brown.

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Pill f/ Freddie Gibbs – Run Up To Me

Pill continues leaking out great materials from 4175:The Refill which drops sometime this week — check The Educated Villains. He once again link up with Freddie Gibbs, and each time these two get together, the result is great.

What did the doctor say?  Too much too soon!

I want a girl who is allergic to cheese!

via BLUNT RAPPS

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Roll Deep – When I’m Ere

Legendary East London grime collective Roll Deep compile some of their best songs from the last seven, or eight, years.  The first half of the set is just stunning– amazing, consistent, commercial-free bangers. There is a disconnect somewhere in the middle of the set, the pop tunes (proto-commercial grime?) kick in, and it’s distracting but you’ll forgive them once hear “Terrible”- one of the groups earliest, if not their first track as Roll Deep crew. It’s essential.