FREDDIE GIBBS x BLACK THOUGHT - "Extradite"

Brand new single from Freddie Gibbs' upcoming album "Shadow Of A Doubt", available on November 20, which features the always incredible Black Thought. These guys makes for a really strong lyrical back and forth here, and as they are getting in over a Nautilus sample hooked up by Mikhail and co-produced by Sid "Speakerbomb" Miller. You can pre-order the album @ iTunes now. Enjoy!

THE ROOTS - "Rising Down" (Ft. STYLES P & MOS DEF) [Alt. Mix]

As any fan of this blog knows I'm very big on lost sessions, demos and alternative versions from dope artists (hence the name). I finished ?uestlove's biography "Mo' Meta Blues" yesterday so naturally I've been on a Roots kick lately. From the moment I heard them I've been a huge fan of albums like "Illadelph Halflife" and "Things Fall Apart" but lately I've come to feel like The Roots is one of those bands that really have gotten even better with time. Almost every single one of their albums shows a growth and a new direction and especially Black Thought has really evolved into one of the greatest emcees of all time if you ask me. His always been an incredibly talented lyricist with an unbelivable flow but what I really appreciate with the records post-"Tipping Point" is the emphasis on meaningful lyrics. One of my favorite The Roots joints has to be the album opener and title track to their 2008 opus "Rising Down". Not only is it a genius collaboration between Styles P, Mos Def and Black Thought, who all offer different perspectives on what we are doing to the world, the production is some of the hardest shit the band has ever laid down. Check out the original version of the song that features a different beat than what eventually ended up on the LP.

[download] 

[FREESTYLE Throwback] BLACK THOUGHT, SEAN PRICE, AG, M1, LIL' FAME, ILLA GHEE (2013)

Crazy Power Cypher from Tony Touch's Sirius XM show back in 2013, incredible line-up of some of the illest emcees around and now is as good time as any for a rewind. Loved the part when they start killing the "What's The Deal" beat, not to mention the "Say It" session at the end!

SPACEK Ft. BLACK THOUGHT, BAHAMADIA & SV - "Countdown"

I've been on the hunt for this rare B-side for the longest, and finally came across it a while back. Spacek is a british group lead by singer/producer Steve Spacek that has produced several underground classics that defies genre categorizing. Some call it just electronic music, but labels like neo-soul, broken beat and trip hop has all been part of journalists describing the progressive trio. The band has been around since 1999 but it was with their release of the excellent "Curvatia" LP that they truly had found their sound. The first single from that album, "Eve" was released in 2000, and is a true gem in every sense of the word - especially if you're big on the Detroit and Philadelphia hip hop scenes.

The A-side features the excellent "Jay Dee Remix" which not only features a banging Dilla beat constructed right around the time that he was leaving behind the lush, Rhodes infected grooves of his UMMAH and Slum Village productions for something more influenced by Motown's legendary techno and house scene. It also features the debut on wax by long-time friends Frank-N-Dank, whose "48 Hours" is an absolutely incredible album no matter what version of it you get your hands on. While we're at it, in 2005 Dilla gave another real banger to Spacek which was made into "Dollar" and if you haven't heard that one yet before be sure to dig it out - pure masterpiee...  But I'm getting off track here, the joint I want to talk about today is the B-side to the "Eve" single called "Countdown"; produced by Steve Spacek and Jeff Mann. It definitely has that Dilla influenced perfection-sloppiness and soulful filteres however and what makes it really interesting is that it's a posse cut between Philly's Black Thought and Bahamadia and Detroit's Baatin and T3. Check it out below... I also threw in a 320 kbps version of the "Eve" remix (could only get the other in 192 but it works) so ENJOY now!

SPACEK - "EVE" [JAY DEE REMIX] 
SPACEK / SV / BLACK THOUGHT / BAHAMADIA - "Countdown"

[Mixtape] J. PERIOD & BLACK THOUGHT - "The Live Mixtape (James Brown Edition)"

J. Period is one of my favorite mixtape DJ's right now, he's always bringing that heat and whenever he hooks up with The Roots crew you know that magic is bound to happen. For the latest installment in the Live Mixtape series, he and Black Thought pays tribute to the one and only Godfather Of Soul. What's so amazing about these mixes is that they are recorded live, in one take, with one DJ and one MC - and of course in one take, so no punsch ins or whatever. Recorded live at #16 Bars, The Boombox last year. Definitely don't sleep on this, Black Thought absolutely murders this and you know J. Period is a killer when it comes to them remixes. TURN IT UP!!


FREE DOWNLOAD @ J.PERIOD.COM

SEAN C & LV Ft. BLACK THOUGHT, STS & PEEDI CRACK - "Fire"

Before hooking up as a duo around 2002, Sean C was a member of The Vinyl Reanimators and The X-Men, producing classic underground singles for MF Grimm, Call O' Da Wild, E-Bros (remember that insane jam "Funky Piano", yup he was behind that one), Edo G, Smif-N-Wessun, and Big Pun. But it was when he hooked up with LV and The Hitmen that really made a name for themeselves, The Hitmen hadn't been exciting since Easy Mo Bee and Carlos Broady & Nashem Myrick left, and here these two were now, making modern masterpieces that often worked both on a street and a club level.  Which reminds me, Chris we need to make that Sean C / LV comp happen real soon haha!

Last year they released their first project under own name, "Loud Dreams Vol. 1" which featured a few bangers by Raekwon but was overall not all that exciting. That they ditched this Money Making Jam Boys posse cut in favor for lots of other songs is just beyond me, because this is is an ill '80s hip-hop vibe thiing and Black Thought went in with pure murder on his mind. But what else is new right?

[Comp] BLACK THOUGHT - "Deep in Thought"

From one aspect "The Tipping Point" is The Roots' coolest album because it plays out as a true solo album by Black Thought, produced and played by ?uestlove, Kamal, Knuckles, Kirk Douglas and the gang. Since that grand statement from Tariq Trotter (B.T. that is) it seems that Thought's role in The Roots been less and less prominent with each release. "Game Theory" and "Rising Down" was fine though it was the start of having guest emcees on every other song. "How I Got Over" and "Undun", then, featured lesser songs (both clocking in at barely 40 minutes) while continuing the trend of guests joining Tariq on the microphone. This was quite easy to forget though, considering that these albums were up there among the best albums of their respective release years. The Roots crew's latest "...'a-And Then You Shoot Your Cousin" finally hit stores less than a month ago and was by far one of my most anticipated projects of the year. It is a truly fine album indeed, not quite living up to my high expectations, but the amount of Black Thought apperances on here is not even acceptable if you ask me. In total the album is 33 minutes, made up of 11 tracks, three of which are short interludes or instrumentals, two are guest vocal tracks, and the remaining six rap joints ALL feature guests. And that is definitely way too little Black Thought for anybody's taste - there's no debate that Black Thought is top 5 dead or alive; something for example acknowledged by such a great lyricist like Big Punisher. Let's just hope that "&TYSYC" is a one-off and future Roots project will have Tariq back in a leading lyrical role, especially since every single verse off his on the album was absolute top notch. The ill photo art up top is borrowed from Useman-GFX's site. Great work, thx!

While I liked "&TYSYC" it has truly left something akin to a black hole that needs to be filled up with recent Black Thought verses. Luckily it's here The Lost Tapes comes in, and I tried to use a wide array of tracks featuring Tariq dating back to 2010 and stretching to as recent as the just released "They Want Hardcore". Since The Roots have released side projects not starring Black Thought I've also decided to include a few cuts from the John Legend, Elvis Costello, and J. Period/John Legend/The Roots tapes. I have a feeling some might have missed out on those and hearing them in a context of nothing but B.T. places them in a completely different setting - I especially love Karriem Riggin's remix of Cotello/Root's "Cinco Minutos Con Vos" (which amost play as a BT solo joint), as well as the J. Period's remix of "In The Ghetto"; I mean who can resist Rakim and Thought going at it on the same track? There's been a lot of Thought features around the last years and I have tried to boiled it down to the hottest and best representative of Black Thought's skills and over the finest beats. Hopefully the minimal role Trotter played in the latest Roots album means he's hard at work on a solo album himself which would be very welcome. A while back there were even rumours going around that Danger Mouse was in talks with Lex Records and BT to produce a full-length LP together... Now that would've been something right there! 

So here it is, the Black Thought heavy compliment record to The Roots dope "..and Then You Shoot Your Cousin", centered around 16 tracks handpicked by me and mostly focusing on hardcore bangers with a few joints more focused on the sweeter, soulful side of things. Every track on here was recorded between 2010 and 2013, save for the final joint "Workinonit". I wasn't gonna use it but I decided to go against the grain for a several reasons - any The Roots fan not having heard this gem NEED to do so this life; it was essential to have at least one joint with Black Thought totally spazzing out over a whole track; and last but not least, any compilation could use some rare J Dilla production ("Workinonit" was released together with Saigon for The Roots' 2006 "Game Theory" but was scrapped due to Dilla's untimtely passing). So there you have it - another Lost Tapes presentation of one of the greatest emcees to ever pick up a pad and a pen. GET BUSY TO THIS!!!

01. "Thought Process: Intro"
02. "Rage is Back"
03. "Cinco Minutos Con Vos" [Karriem Riggins Mix] (w. Elvis Costello)
04. "In The Ghetto" (w. The John Legend, Rakim & CL Smooth)
05. "Little Ghetto Boy" (w. The Roots & John Legend)
06. "Codes & Cab Fare" (w. Black Milk)
07. "Bird's Eye View" (Ft. Xzibit, Raekwon & Joey Bada$$)
08. "Riot" (Ft. Thurz)
09. "Art Imitates Life" (Ft. Talib Kweli & Rah Digga)
10. "Dillanor Rigby" (Ft. John Legend, Blu, Gerg Porn & Dice Raw)
11. "God Knows Wy" (Ft. Nneka)
12. "B.D.K." (Ft. The Game & Talib Kweli)
13. "In Tha Park" (Ft. Ghostface Killah)
14. "Masers Of Our Fate" (Ft. Raekwon)
15. "Too Long" (Ft. Saigon)
16. "Workinonit" [Demo] [BONUS}

BLACK THOUGHT - "Deep In Thought" 

[Video] THE ROOTS - "Understand"

"Understand" is one of the stand-out tracks from The Roots' upcoming album "& Then You Shoot Your Cousin" featuring strong performances from Black Thought, Dice Raw, and Greg PORN over the sonics of what gospel soul sounds like in the context of hardcore hip-hop. It is also the second choice for single from the album and just like with "And The People Cheer" it's an animated video. I wrote some early impressions during my first listen of the album the day before yesterday and I have been given it lots of spins since then - however, I noticed that there is yet ANOTHER full-length song that Black Thought doesn't at all appear on, which is the final track, making the project featuring a total of SIX Black Thought verses. Now what the hell's that all about? Dissapoinitng to say the least... But oh well, the album is getting a lot of spins so I can't complain too much.

In related news, The Roots (?uestlve and Tariq) was up at Sway's Hip Hop Nation show at Sirius yesterday and dropped some marvelous shit to get your mouth watering. Check out that clip below.

PHAROAHE MONCH x BLACK THOUGHT - "Rapid Eye Movement"

Two of the illest lyricists alive team up for the first time since the 2002 Kweli classic "Guerilla Monsoon Rap" and the results is as crazy as expected. The Marco Polo produced "Rapid Eye Movement" is the latest single from Monch's upcoming "PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)" which finally hit stores April 15. Who you think killed this one? Tough choice!!

FONG-SAI-U - "Bad Guy"

Check out this banger that the homie James Dunn hooked me up with a couple of days ago; "Bad Guy" by Washington DC's Fong Sai U.  The emcee/producer released his official debut "A Soldier's Story" on Soulspazm Records back in 2011, which featured RES and Raheem DeVaughn. He has also toured with The Roots and recorded the highly impressive Black Thought collaboration "I Own This Microphone" (seriously check that joint out). As a producer he previously by Divine and recorded with GURU as the producer of "O.G. Talk" from the "Bald Head Slick" album. In other words, this cat definitely got the goods so keep your eyes and ears open!

STEPHEN MARLEY Ft. Black Thought - "Torn Or Rose"

Few emcees in the hip-hop game is as diverse and incredibly lyrically fantastic as Black Thought, which is once again proved by his brand new collaboration with the superb Jamaican reagge artist Stephem Marley and the chemistry is evident throughout. It's quite a laid back track but there's some really superbly well written lyrics on boths behalf, and I have a feeling that this might turn out to be one of those tracks that gets better with each listen. "Torn Or Rose" is an early single from Marley's upcoming full-length "Revelation Part 2: The Fruit Of Life", that will be out sometime during this year. Sounds very interesting, and I hope that it will feature more emcees like more from Black Thought; Nasir Jones and maybe a few others. We'll just habe to wait and see but this is a truly relaxing, and very ill joint. Stay tuned for more info on the project and check out the track below via Rolling Sones who premiered the song.

STEPHEN MARLEY Ft. Black Thought - "Thorn Or A Rose"

[Album] TRUCK NORTH - "Murder By Mourning"

Money Making Jam Boy and Philladelphia native Truck North has made strong contributions to nearly every The Roots album released since he debuted next to Talib Kweli and Tariq on 2004:s "The Mic" (which appeared as a hidden track on the highly underrated "The Tipping Point"). With "Murder By Mourning", the time has come for Truck to show and prove that he can deliver and hold things down on the solo tip. The nine track project features Truck doing just that over impressive production work that many times channels classic hip-hop records of the past. The beats and production was supplied by Dante Lewis and Khrysis (who've both done a real good job on here) with The Wurxs and Rashad while fellow Jam Boys Black Thought and STS joins Truck on the microphone for the bumping "Band Of AU". Make sure you check it out @ DJBooth for yourself as it's both free and ill - a combination that is usually worth the time. In addition to the free EP/mini-LP, up top you find the video for the moody, Erykah Badu sampling single "Cry For You".

[Album] BLACK MILK - "No Poison, No Paradise"

2013 marks the release of the first official Black Milk solo project since 2010's "Album of the Year". This one's called "No Poison, No Paradise" and blends the soulful Detroit mastermind's production and vocal talents with guest spots from emcees ranging from Black Thought (!) to Quelle Chris and maybe most excitingly a collaboration with genre bending pianist/producer Robert Glasper and Dwele. Interestingly enough, the production is also backed up by Will Sessions who most of us remember for their excellent instrumental work on eLzhi's "eLmatic" a couple of years ago. The album officially drops October 15, but the good folks at Pitchfork has uploaded the entire LP for free streaming... So sit back, press play, enjoy and BLAST IT LOUD!

01. "Interpret Sabotage" (Ft. Mel)

02. "Deion's House"

03. "Codes & Cab Fare" (Ft. Black Thought & Marquise Porter)

04. "Ghetto Demf" (Ft. Quelle Chris)

05. "Sonny Jr." (Ft. Robert Glasper & Dwele)

06. "Sunday's Best"

07. "Monday's Worst"

08. "Perfect On Puritan Ave."

09. "Dismal"

10. "Parallels" (Ft. Ab)

11. "X Chords"

12. "Black Sabbath" (Ft. Tone Trezure)

13. Money Bags (Paradise)"

STREAM "NO POISON, NO PARADISE" @ PITCHFORK

dead prez - "Time Travel" (Ft. Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Bun B, & Trix)

dead prez' "Let's Get Free" is one of my favorite albums; "RGB" was slightly dissapointing, but their recent third effort "Information Age" was a huge let down in my opinion. That the duo has put out a remix of the single "Time Travel" featuring Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Bun B, & Trixx, however, is definitely something you wan't to hear. The four track digital EP also includes the non-album track "Dead Man Shoes", an additional "Time Travel" remix with Bun B and Reek Da Villain, and the album cut "A New Beginning". So press play below and while all of these tracks are hardly masterpieces to hear Black Thought, stic.man, M1, Busta, and Bun B on a posse cut is definitely Worth hearing!

 

01. "Time Travel" (Remix #1)

02. "Time Travel" (Remix "2)

03. "A New Beginning"

04. "Dead Man's Shoes"

 

DEAD PREZ - "TIME TRAVEL EP"

L.A.D. / Black Thought - "Rap Politicians"

La The Darkman and Black Thought together on a song? Yes please!!

"Rap Politicians" is the title of this new single from L.A.D. and it's really a winner with its powerful verses and energetic layered beat of dark piano keys, vocal chants, and occassional guitar stabs. As much as I like LA, there's no denying that Black Thought is victorious here. This is lifted from Darkman's "Paid in Full" mixtape.

Tony Touch, AG, Lil' Fame, Black Thought, Sean Price, Illa Ghee, & M-1 - "Power Cypha"

For the release of Tony Touch's severely ill new installments in both his "The Piecemaker" and "50 MC's" series. Last Toca Tuesday on AlLindstrom, Touch rounded up a gang of some of the illest spitters around for a 20 minute power session that you NEED to hear. Featured here are Black Thought, M1, Illa Ghee, AG, Lil' Fame, and Sean Price... Whew!! Every emcee here came correct to say the least, but Black Thought is just on another level. Order "The Piecemaker III: Return Of 50 MC's" in your choice of CD, wax, and digital. They also appeared on the new 12:s

Statik Selektah Ft. Raekwon, Black Thought & Joey Bada$$ - "Bird's Eye View"

Statik Selektah is gearing up for another one of his solo projects, and in usual order has assembled some dream teams to rock over his powerhouse beats. On the first single from "Extended Play" he got no lesser emcees than Raekwon, and Black Thought with young Joey Bada$$ spitting HEAT over a beautiful backdrop of chopped female vocals and graceful keys. Tariq absolutely MURDERS this... "Extended Play" is out June 18 on Duck Down Records.

[Mixtape] J. Period Presents: "#Rage is Back"

As I announced recently, J. Period has teamed up with acclaimed author Adam Mansbach in putting together a mixtape companion to his latest book "Rage is Back". We've previously heard two impressive leaks from the project, the Common joint "The Next Chapter (Still Love H.E.R.)" and Black Thought's title track freestyle. Now the complete mixtape has been made available for free via J. Period's official site, which is filled to the limit with slamming exclusives from the likes of Kweli, Homeboy Sandman, Blu, unreleased remixes of classic tracks from Nas, Q-Tip, Biggie, and more; plus audiobook narration by GZA and Danny Hooch. 

01. This Is the Story of… (Intro)
02. Rage Is Back (J.PERIOD Exclusive) f. Black Thought
03. New York State of Mind (Interlude) f. Alicia Keys & Nas
04.  Run New York (J.PERIOD ReFix) f. Nas & Angel Haze
05. Hard (J.Period Monumental ReFix) f. Styles P, Sean Price & General Steele
06. Borough Check f. Biz Markie
07. Style Was DNA (Audiobook) f. Danny Hoch
08. Wrong Side (J.PERIOD Exclusive) f. The Kid Daytona
09. Invocate Freestyle (J.PERIOD Exclusive) f. Blu
10. Herb Man Trafficking f. Welton Irie
11. Police In Helicopter Dub
12. Billy Rage Is Back (Audiobook) f. Danny Hoch
13. Sound Boy Killing (Remix) f. Mega Banton
14. Killing a Soundboy  (J.PERIOD ReFix) f. The Notorious B.I.G.
15. Toolz of the Trade f. Smif’N’Wessun
16. Teach the Youth (Interlude) f. GURU
17. Hip Hop (Interlude) f. Common
18. The Next Chapter (Still Love H.E.R.) f. Common [Produced by J.PERIOD]
19, The Traveller f. Talib Kweli [Produced by J.PERIOD]
20. What Makes An MC (Interlude) f. Q-Tip
21. 1Nce Again (J.PERIOD ReFix) f. A Tribe Called Quest
22. Street Dreams (J.PERIOD ReFix) f. Nas
23. One Love (J.PERIOD ReFix) f. Nas
24. The Lord Giveth (Audiobook) f. GZA
25. Wu-Banger (Mathematics Mix) f. Wu-Tang Clan
26. It’s Working (Interlude)
27. Raw Freestyle (J.PERIOD Exclusive) f. Shad
28. Coral Reefs (Exclusive) f. Homeboy Sandman
29. Trust the DJ (Audiobook) f. Danny Hoch
30. The Pizza Box Bandit (Interlude) f. KEO
31. Survival of the Fittest (J.PERIOD ReFix) f. Mobb Deep
32. Empire State (Interlude) f. Jay-Z
33. Epilogue: Hard Knock f. Joey Bada$$
34. Epilogue: Jay Reed f. A$AP Mob
45. Bonus: Sound Boy Burial (J.PERIOD Monumental ReFix) f. Smif’N’Wessun

J. PERIOD PRESENTS #RAGEisBACK" 

Black Thought - "Rage is Back (N.Y. State Of Mind)"

DJ J. Period has masterminded several classic mixtapes over the years, always securing real intense exclusives. His latest undertaking is a mix celebrating the release of Adam Mansbach's book on the American graffiti scene called "Rage is Back" which I certainly wouldn't mind having in my bookshelf.

The first single from the mixtape is also the title track, a venomous 3 minutes verse by the lyricist of lyricists; Black Thought. Here he goes in over a slightly tweaked version of DJ Premier/Nas' epic "New York State of Mind" and does it absolute justice. Link borrowed from AllHipHop, so thanks to them!

Talib Kweli / Black Thought / Rah Digga - "Art Imitates Life"

Talib Kweli, Black Thought and Rah Digga all give inspired performances on this head nod inducing single from Kweli entitled "Art Imitates Life". Produced by Oh No, this is the stuff I wanna hear on "Prisoners of Consciousness". Download @ iTunes, listen below.