Hip-Hop Archive

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Hip-hop collective ‘Quakers’ drop their self-titled debut

By
down.caster
– 03/27/2012Posted in: Downloads, Featured, Hip-Hop, News, Songs

Fuzzface (Portishead’s Geoff Barrow) leads this, um, 35-member hip-hop crew (Really? Thirty-five members?) called Quakers. We were impressed with lead single “Fitta Happier (f. Guilty Simpson & Med)” which masterfully companied prominent samples by Run DMC and Radiohead. Check it out…

Download “Fitta Happier”

Later, we were (even more) impressed with “Smoke (f. Jonwayne)” (free download), and not just because (the guy we once knew solely as a DJ) Jonwayne’s mic skills have been quickening, but because the beat here also kicks ass. Today, the group’s self-title debut hits stores, and from the sound of this album preview, it’s likely an end-to-end banger…

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Death Grips – The Fever (Aye Aye) – video

By
down.caster
– 03/27/2012Posted in: Downloads, Featured, Hip-Hop, Songs, Video

So,  Death Grips are turning into one of those bands where, like, everything they do we talk about it because they’re rad. And by “rad”, we think they piss off as many people as they make really happy (they make us smile). That to us is great art. Anyway, if you’re new to this Sacramento crew’s aggressive, jagged deconstruction of hip-hop, their latest bit of propaganda, a video for “The Fever (Aye Aye)” (from their — ahem — major label debut, The Money Store, due April 24), is a good place to start. Stream it below. Then go get some free shit here. And here.

While we’re on the subject, we just found “The Fever” in downloadable form for you obsessive possessive types…

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Action Bronson – Blue Chips – Album Review

By
down.caster
– 03/26/2012Posted in: 4.5, Album Reviews, Downloads, Featured, Hip-Hop, Mixtape
Early last year we were impressed by the sample-heavy swag of Action Bronson’s debut, Dr. Lecter (we were also pretty stoked with the Bon Appetite mixtape). The effort was enough to land the former chef on our list of favorite new hip-hoppers (we didn’t actually write that up… but we wish we had… Danny Brown and Death Grips would have been on that list, too). However, as 2011 rolled on, we were underwhelmed by the one-offs (“Cliff Notes”, “Muslim Wedding”) and collaborations (with Ghostface Killah, Apathy and half-a-dozen others). Not disappointed. But underwhelmed compared to the spark we heard on Dr. Lecter.

Actually, we were a little disappointed with a single, “Blue Chips” that we later learned was   the title track from Bronson’s forthcoming mixtape. Not a good sign. But Blue Chips is here. And there was absolutely no need to worry. This mixtape killer (free download).
All of the swag and vigor from Dr. Lecter is back, and then some. The R+B, funk and jazz samples (even some 50s pop) are more killer, the bass loops are funkier and Bronson’s flow has finally drifted to a comfortable distance from Ghostface’s. But the key aspect is range and pacing. Action Bronson has done an exceptional job of shifting tempo, mood and rhythm across Blue Chips, which gives the mixtape a spark that last from the simple nostalgia of “Pouches of Tuna” to the rich thump of “Tapas”.
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Jedi Mind Tricks – Violence Begets Violence – Album Review

By
down.caster
– 03/21/2012Posted in: 2.5 Stars, Album Reviews, Hip-Hop
Despite a significant lineup change (longtime producer Stoup is out, emcee Jus Allah is back), Philadelphia hip-hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks stay the course on their latest, Violence Begets Violence. Gravel-spittin’ emcee Vinnie Paz is still at the helm as the team explores conspiracy theory, religion and the edges of aggression over a bedrock of hard-stomping, blue collar beats. It’s familiar territory for Jedi Mind Tricks’ longtime fans (this is album number seven since 2003), and there’s not much here that we haven’t already heard from the guys (though “Fuck Ya Life” and “Chalice” have a fresh swagger to them). But we’re not exactly let down. Jedi Mind Tricks have a formula that they execute well, and they have a venomous energy that keeps us hungry for more.

 

Check out “Fuck Ya Life (f. Blacastan)”

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Death Grips – Lost Boys – free mp3

By
down.caster
– 03/21/2012Posted in: Downloads, Hip-Hop, Songs

Sacramento avant hip-hop destructoids Death Grips surprised us earlier this year when they announced they’re signing to a major label, Epic. The only thing major about their sound is how obnoxiously abrasive it is, which we think is totally rad, but we’re not sure where the mass market / business opportunity is for a big ol’ bank like Epic.

Anyway, the latest leak from the first of Death Grip’s two planned 2012 albums, The Money Store, is available below. It’s more of the same raw, warped, bitching hip-hop we came to anxiously expect on the group’s jarring debut, Exmiliatry (which, by the way, you can still get for free).

Download “Lost Boys” [Stereogum]

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Blu drops ‘No York E Mo Work (Rmx Z 1.3)

By
down.caster
– 03/19/2012Posted in: Downloads, Featured, Hip-Hop, Mixtape

Rad. LA emcee Blu dropped a set of remixes today from NoYork!, our favorite album of 2011. The mixtape, called No York E Mo Work (Rmx Z 1.3), has a more familiar tone than the Low End Theory-warped original, but we’re not complaining. Mo Work features a gritty collection of sample-rich remixes bearing little, if any, resemblance to the previously available works. Stream it below and grab it of free over at DatPiff,

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Stream Deadmau5 + Cypress Hill’s “Failbait”

By
down.caster
– 03/19/2012Posted in: Hip-Hop, News

There were more than a couple of eye rolls at the office here when we noticed Cypress Hill and Deadmau5 teamed up on a new cut, “Failbait”. But we we’re pretty surprised at how solid this cut ended up. “Failbait” is a (mostly) old-school hip-hop beat with a subtle infusion of Deadmau5′ signature glitch and plenty of Cypress Hill’s NORML-certified rhymes.

No, this isn’t the single from a a full-length collaboration between the stoned hip-hop icons and one of electronica’s most polarizing programmers. In fact, this could be one of the last collaborations we hear from Deadmau5 in a while. He took to his Tumblr recently to rail against many of the collaboration opportunities that drift his way. “Do you want to do a track with big name X? No. I fucking don’t. I really REALLY don’t.”

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Quakers – Smoke (f. Jonwayne) – free mp3

By
down.caster
– 03/15/2012Posted in: Downloads, Hip-Hop, Songs

Portishead’s Geoff Barrow is the ringleader of a new hip-hop collective boasting 35 members, “Quakers”. We’re not sure if there are any actual Quakers on the roster, but we know LA producer-turned-rapper Jonwayne is involved, so are some super-funky beats. Hear both on this cut, “Smoke”…

Download “Smoke” [Stones Throw]

Look out for Quakers self-titled debut on Stones Throw, March 27.

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Haphduzn and Dimitry Killstorm – Lost in Tranlastion – video

By
down.caster
– 03/15/2012Posted in: Hip-Hop, Video

“This is an invitation to get acquainted, with those of us who go against the grain… innovatin,” spits Minneapolis MC Haphduzn in the video for “Lost in Translation”, from his upcoming LP, Whittier Alliance (due in the Summer). No, this isn’t the most cutting edge beat, but “Lost in Translation” is a pretty killer strut that serves as a worthy call to arms for those of us bored with mass-market, polished hip-hop targeting the I-wish-I-had-a-Bently-but-I-work-at-Subway-and-watch-Dancing-with-the-Stars-every-week crowd.

(2DopeBoyz)

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El-P – Full Retard – free mp3

By
down.caster
– 03/13/2012Posted in: Downloads, Hip-Hop, Songs

El-P is set to release, Cancer for Cure (due May 22), his first LP since signing to Fat Possum records last fall. It’s also the Company Flow legend’s first outing since the the dense, menacing I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (2007). This time around, it sounds like El-P is re-visiting the spacey, old-school thump that dominated his Def Jux golden era. This is a good thing. And we’re pretty stoked to hear more…

Download “The Full Retard” [Stereogum]

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