[Video] PRHYME Ft. DWELE - "You Should Know"

One of my favorite joints from DJ Premier and Royce Da 5'9''s long awaited "PRhyme" album is the smooth Dwelé assisted "You Should Know". The entire album is made up of samples from the catalouge of Adrian Younge I must say that Preemo did a wonderful job cutting up one of my favorites from The Delphonics album Younge and Hart did together (which comes highly recommended). 

"PRhyme" is also just having been released in instrumental format which you at the moment can grab @ iTunes. Physical copies will also be available as well as the LP set drops on May 12 (pre-order @ UGHH).

[Album] PRhyme - "PRhyme"

With nothing but bangers under their collaborative belt, DJ Premier and Royce Da 5'9" made a wise choice in forming PRhyme. Now we are able to hear the fruits of their labor as NPR has made the nine song album available for free preview streaming. All songs are composed around samples from Adrian Younge's catalouge and the result does not dissapoint as Premier hooks up some of his freshest beats in some time while Royce brings the verbal slaughter. CD and vinyl drops December 5, pre-order @ UGHH.

01. "PRhyme"
02. "Dat Sound Good" (Ft. AB Soul & Mac Miller)
03. "U Looz"
04. "You Should Know" (Ft. Dwele)
05. "Courtesy"
06. "Wishin'" (Ft. Common)
07. "To Me, To You" (Ft. Jay Electronica)
08. "Underground Kings" (Ft. Schoolboy Q & Killer Mike)
09. "Microphone Preem" (Ft. Slaughterhouse)

PRHYME - "PRHYME" @ NPR.ORG

[Compilation] RON ESTILL - "Made in Detroit"

To those who know me it is certainly no secret that next to New York, the Motor City Detroit is my favorite place when it comes to knocking out slamming music. Of course J Dilla continues to be one of my all time favorites as his many sounds simply were out of this world, but even after his tragic passing the hp-hop scene has continued thriving with countless superb producers and spitters. Many of the city's finest was given a platform to evolve through Jay Dee and has continued growing following his passing over to the other side. I'm talking cats like T3, eLzhi and the Slum Village crew, mega talented soul singer Dwéle, rough voiced hardcore spitter Guilty Simpson, my man Phat Kat, Taa'rach, Beej, the always underrated Karieem Riggins, Frank Nitty and his partner Dankery Harv, Finale, Big Tone and many others. Then you got the producers who keeps the sound of Motown hip-hop alive and proving that the sound of the city are iller than most. Black Milk especially, but you also got NameTag, Apollo Brown and Bronze Nazareth from the Michigan area that's all definitely doing their thing. With all of these talented cats repping the "D" it's not at all a stretch to say that Jay Dee definitely were the true Godfather of Detroit hip-hop.

Of course, there were also local musicians that inspired James Yancey a great deal - most importantly his mentor and teacher, Amp Fiddler, the talented multi-instrumentalist/singer who used to play with George Clinton and Funkadelic. Another important person in Jay Dee's career that mostly figured in the shadows were Ronald "Ron E." Estill, a Detroit resident who was an early manager of Slum Village as well as for Yancey's close friend Dwele. Estill is also a producer, specializing in deep soul remixes with a hip-hop touch and listening to his music there's no question that he was heavily influencced by Jay Dee's production style - it's very possible that they both inspired each other. They at times appeared with one remix of their own each on the same 12" (such as Lucy Pearl's "Without You") and a few songs that have been credited to Dilla in the internet age are actually Estill's work (LSK's "Hate Or Love" and Jamiroquai's "Black Capricorn Day" especially). An interesting fact is that Ron "E" Estill was the first producer to have an original James Yancey verse on his beat, with his remix of Tami Heart's "If It Wasn't For You". So while Estill is far from prolific when it comes to releasing music, the few remixes and songs he has released are pretty much all interesting stuff that should be heard by every fan of that true Detroit soul/hip-hop sound. Much of the songs found here are co-productions between Estill and Dwele, while the final cut by T-Love is actually something he did together with Dilla himself. As far as I know this is about every production released under the name Ronald "Ron E." Estill (he did drop a 12" or two under the name Soulfingerz in the early '90s, but those were more in the vein of house music). If you're into the more soulful late '90s excursions of James Yancey and Dwele I think you will be pleasantly suprised by how terrific these tracks are, so press play, kick off your shoes and lay back but don't forget to TURN IT UP!!!

01. Bahamadia - "One-4-Teen"
02. New Sector Movements - "The Sun" [Dwele's Motor City Remix]
03. Luct Pearl - "Without You" [Aphrodisiac Mix] (Ft. Phat Kat)
04. T-Love - "Swing Mandidly"
05. Tami Heart - "If It Wasn't For You" [Detroit Demolition Mix] (Ft. Slum Village)
06. Dwele - "Money Don't Mean A Thing"
07. Bahamadia - "Pep Talk"
08. New Sector Movements - "The Sun" [Dwelogy Remix]
09. Jamiroquai - "Black Capricorn Day" [Slum Village Remix]
10. LSK - "Hate Or Love" [Caffe Latte remix] (Ft. Slum Village)
11. T-Love - "Long Way Back" [co-produced by Jay Dee]

RON ESTILL - "MADE IN DETROIT"

[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

Dwele / Phife Dawg - "What Profit" (Remix)

Dwéle is by far one of the best soul singers out there in this day and age, and this remix to his single "What Profit" does not dissapoint. Especially as its complete with thumping production and a much welcome guest apperance from the legendary Phife Dawg.