MATERIAL Ft. KILLAH PRIEST, KOOL KEITH & FLAVA FLAV - "Intonarumori"

Being that I'm a jazz fanatic and all around avant garde head I think I got something for you here that you might appreciate. Bill Laswell was originally a jazz bassist with some wicked ideas who in 1979 formed his group Material together with fellow free spirited musicians Michael Beinhorn (synthesizers), Fred Maher (drums) and Martin Bisi (co-prduction and engineering). Not too many years afterwards they hooked up with musical legend and genius Herbie Hancock who had found himself in a bit of a slump with is last few records such as the ill-fated "Feets Don't Fail Me Now". He needed something radical, something that could reach the youth, and Laswell and his band thought he knew the right ingredients. So they started to work on "Furure Schock" which also featured excellent turntablist Grandmixer D.XT and the equally impressive guest musican Pete Cosey; the psychadelic guitarist in Miles' last 70's outfit who could've easily gave Hendrix a run for his money. With it's single, filled with modern syntheiszers, Herbie Hancock's virtuosity and ear for sound and Laswell's production capabilies, not to mention Grandmixer DXT's excellent turntable wizardry - heard for the very first time on a commercial single, and on an MTV single nontheless; "Rockit" is a monumental achievement in Hip Hop music and it was also the fhe first Hip Hop music video ever played on MTV. Material and Herbie Hancock would continue collaborating for a couple of more years, delivering "Sound System" and "Perfect Machine" before calling it quits. But thanks to Laswell's help he had pretty much saved Hancock's at one point failing career.

The band Material kept churning out material however, both as asolo artists and as producers of other peoples records Bill Laswell also did controversial remixes of original master tapes of Miles Davis, Bob Marley and Carlos Santana album which are actually a lot better than some might have you believe. But while Material's final album as a group was released in 1999, Laswell has continued with different groups and solo acts, but it's this final Material album that I want to discuss here today considering the immense Hip Hop homage this album is filled with. Check this....

Grandmixer DST (at one point he changed from his original D.XT so no it's not a typo) is all over this eccentric LP, and so is guest emcee Rammellzee who released several singles back in the early '80s and in 1988 dropped the album "Missionaires Moving" as part of the band Ghetto Vets. Kool Keith and Kut Masta Kurt pop up on the headnodder. Flavor Flav and DST collaborates on "Burnin'". Something very strange however is that Juggaknots appears here with their song "This Morning", here with its production credited to Laswell and Material, yet it's the exact same version as the one that appeared on Mr. Len's album the very same year. Very strange, but it's an outstanding joint nontheless - but someone need to ask either Len, Laswell, Breeze or Lady Heroine to clear this up. Prince Paul right hand man Scotty Hard appear on a joint and Bernie Worrell has some killer keyboard lines on "All That Future" At least for me, the real treat, on an album full of treats is the ambient, almost psychadelic "Temple Of The Mental" featuring Killah Priest in full "Heavy Mental" mood. Matter of fact, Priest is rhyming over a sitar and some tabla drums in a fow very similiar to the hypnotic title track on the aforementioned debut. Don't sleep on this record, even hardcore Kilah Priest and Kool Keith fans doesn't even know of it's existence! You can buy the album from iTunes or Amazon but I uploaded a three track sampler for y'all which I'm sure will make you want to cop this rare gem.

01. Killah Priest - "Temple Of The Mental"
02. Flava Flav & Grandmixer DST - "Burnin'"
03. Kool Keith & Kut Masta Kurt - "Conspiracies"

 MATERIAL - "INTONARUMORI SAMPLER"

RAY WEST Presents "LUV NY" (The ReIssue)

Ray West has undoubtedly been one of the most prominent producers in the Hip Hop underground for the last few years, supplying heat for full projects by John Robinson, Kool Keith, AG and OC as well as his LUVNY compilations. Back in 2014 he released a cassette called "The Snake Tape" exclusively on cassette, featuring emcees such as AG, Lord Tariq, L-Fudge, Kool Keith, Kurious and Dave Dar. The cassette featured selections from a compilation that a lot of heads unfortunately slept through on its initial release - "LUVNY" was originally marketed as the release of a super group of the same name, mentioning each featured artist (who appeared on a two song average) as a member of the crew. I personally see it more as a Ray West production album with the help of some dope emcees and close friends (Roc Marciano, AG, OC, Kool Keith, Kurious, Lord Tariq, etc.).

Both the original "Snake Chamer" and the "Snake Charmer Part 3" posted up top  (just posted to Dave Dar's YouTube channel) both appear on a new reissue of "LUV NY" pressed up on a new 2 180 grams vinyl set. Looking at the tracklist it looks as all the fat has been trimmed (as those remixes), and some strong new cuts. If you're a fan of rugged New York hip-hop, DITC, great lyrics and beats, be sure to order the 2xLP @ FatBeats ASAP. You can also stream the full alubm below. A big shout out to the homie Ray West!

RAY WEST & KOOL KEITH - "Runnin' The Field" (Ft. Cormega)

Ray West is probably one of the most prolific and hard working producer active in the underground field today. Having already laced countless EP:s and albums for New York royalty like AG, OC, John Robinson as well as the "Luv NY" compilation which featured Kool Keith, AG, Dave Dar, OC and Roc Marciano. Now West's beautiful combination of eclectic boom bap and smokey '70s jazz-fusion soul forms the platform for a collaboration with none other than the legendary Kool Keith, who is also keeping very busy as he almost simultaneously has released a full-length LP with producer L'Orange (you can stream and purchase the digital copy of that album @ Bandcamp now). The project is called "A Couple of Slices" and features 12 brand new tracks including guest cameos from AG, Cormega and Jesse West. The album drops via Red Apples label on October 30 and can be pre-ordered via iTunes now and will also be available in a limited edition box set featuring a T-Shirt, the album on vinyl, an exclusive 7" singles with additional tracks and a secret cassette of music (check it out @ FatBeats). Check out the two singles below - "Runnin' The Field" features Cormega, while "Destiny's Child" is the 3rd Eye collaboration. Dopeness!

L'ORANGE / KOOL KEITH - "Time Traveler" (Ft. J-Live)

Rising producer L'Orange knows a thing or two about flipping soul samples to great effect and the one and only Kool Keith knows a thing or two about an abstract thing or two. Since his days in Ultramagnetic MC's Keith has produced and released countless albums, some classics, some decent ones and straight up duds and its usually up to the producer he picks. His work with Dan The  Automator on "Dr. Octagonecologyst" is one of the finest alternative hip-hop albums of the mid-'90s, his "Sexx Style" LP with Kut Masta Kurt was way ahead of its time, the largely self-produced "Black Elvis Lost in Space" was definitely a great hip-hop parody. But then there's also weak shit such as "Dr. Octagon 2", the sickening "Party in the Morgue" and the forgettable "Love & Danger". But no matter what Kool Keith, Dr. Octagon, Spankmaster, Dr. Doom, or whatever he chose to call himself weill always be a legend and I'm sure still have at least a couple of classics left in him. And as for L'Orange, who is pretty new to the scene, he really impressed me with his vintage soul samples and boom bap drums on projects like "The Orchid Days" and his recent "The Night Took us in Like Family" with emcee Jeremiah Jae.

Still these guys seem like a kind of strange collaboration to say the least, but that doesn't stop Mello Music Group for bringing them together for an album called "Time? Astonishing!". It all started on a track from the MMG compilation "Persona" called "Sometimes I Feel", and the chemistry was evident. I guess it was not long after this that the duo started recording more music which evently turned into a full body of work. The first single is called "Time Traveler" and features another favorite of mine in J-Live. Can't wait for this project for sure. Check out the video for "Time Traveler" up top and peep "Sometimes I Feel" fom "Persona" below.

[Mixtape] RAY WEST PRESENTS LUV NY Collective

In the summer of 2012 Red Apples 45 creator and super talented producer Ray West gathered a group of friends that also happens to be some of the dopest rappers New York City has to offer. The goal was for to produce a compilation of all new material with these emcees which included OC, AG, Kool Keith, Roc Marciano, Kurious, Dave Dar and Sean G. The result was "Luv NY", a project aimed at bringing back the essential vibe of early hip-hop from its birthplace of NYC. While the record definitely was dope it unfortunately didn't make that much noise, but now Ray West is back at it again, crafting fat instrumentals for AG, OC, Kool Keith, L The Fudge and the rest of the crew. "The LUV NY Collective" is somewhere between a mixtape and an album, there's nothing but original beats and rhymes, no DJ shouts or blends and nothing but full songs. There is however some previously released joints, remixes and skits but all in all it makes for a fascinating listen. Ray West keeps improving on his production and the spitters is just talent personified so don't sleep on this gem right here!

[Album] Compilation - "MMG - Persona"

Let's continue on the Mello Music Group theme right now. A while back we got some slamming single from an upcoming MMG compilation called "Persona" featuring exclusive songs from a host of the fat roster of the respected indie label, often collaborating with other respected underground artists. Emcees and collaborations on here include a lot of interesting things; how about Oddisee & Phonte, yU & Nottz, Apollo Brown & Ras Kass (produced by Apollo Brown, so almost a "Blasphemy" bonus track), Apollo Brown & Masta Ace, L'Orange & Kool Keith, Red Pill & Oh No, and many more. Very dope compilation that YOU NEED TO HEAR! You can stream the album for free via MMG's Bandcamp where you can also purchase a HQ download of the allbum.

KOOL KEITH - "My Sons" [prod. Statik Selektah]

Kool Keith is a true legend, from Ultramagnetic MC's, to Dr. Octagonelyst, to Dr. Doom, to Tasha Dorshan, and so on Mr. Keith is a living legend, no question about it. In later years he's been pretty hit or miss if you ask me, but this new joint produced by Statik Selektah really brings out an ill joint from the MC/DJ pair. Interesting to see where this end up!

L'ORANGE / KOOL KEITH - "Sometmes I Feel"

This is an intersting collaboration here! Always been a huge fan of Kool Keith and MMG producer L'Orange has done some slamming albums and EP:s the last couple of years, and the results of "Sometimes I Feel" sure doe snot dissapoint. This is another joint from the upcoming Mello Music Group compilation called "Perona" which will feature exclusives from Nottz, Oddisee, yU, Oh No, Rapper Big Pooh, Apollo Brown & Masta Ace (!), Quele Chris, Blockhead and more. The album is slated for a March 01 release, you can check out the tracklist (with streams of all singles so far) and pre-order @ Bandcamp.

[Album] KID TSUNAMI- "The Chase"

Back in June 2013 Australian producer Kid Tsunami released his debut album "The Chase" as a digital download distributed by The Orchard and Fat Beats. CD and vinyl were supposed to follow shortly after but that never came to fruition... until now, as Slice-Of-Spice has gained the rights to release a nice 180 gram 2xLP set. Nostalgic fans of true school boom bap will no doubt love Tsu's sample heavy production and the guest cast which includes some of New York's finest emcees to ever do it. We're talking names like OC, Percee P, Jeru The Damaja, AG, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Bahamadia, KRS-One, Pharoahe Monch, and many more. The music is the same as on the original 2013 release (there might be some minor tweaks here and there), but the artwork by Fred Whyte is brand new and is looking a whole lot better, as well as the sequencing which has been switched around to make the LP flow better. The gatefold vinyl of "The Chase" is limited to 500 copies and is available @ Slice Of Spice now.

As nice as the guys at Slice Of Spice are they are also offering up the newly remastered version of the album not only for full streaming but you can also download all of the individual tracks in HQ Mp3 for free. Also check out the "No Guarantees" single which features banging remixes by Diamond D and DJ Bless. TURN IT UP!!

KOOL KEITH Ft. RAH DIGGA - "Non Stop"

Kool Keith keeps dropping solid singles from his recently released DJ Junkas Louz 2xCD album, such as the incredible AG collaboration "Eldorado" we heard a while back (click here to listen). For the latest single "Non Stop" the veteran emcee hooks up with Rah Digga for an old school flavored jam that's sure to get some heads nodding. Below you can check out the non album Ray West remix of "Eldorado" that I forgot to post once it dropped. Pick up the 2xCD digipack @ UGHH or if you're a digital head, head over to iTunes to cop.

KOOL KEITH & AG - "El Dorado"

Another stupid dope collaboration between these two true Hip-Hop legends, Kool Keith and AG. "El Dorado", produced by DJ Junkaz Lou, is the final single before Kool Keith's double album "Demolition Crash" is officially released tomorrow. Order the CD from UGHH or iTunes while you enjoy this tune.

Tim Dog Ft. Kool Keith - "Falsified"

Guess who's back? None other than Tim Dog is back in the hot seat, and this time it's not on a Dateline Special but on the brand new single "Falsified" featuring Kool Keith and The Loudmouf Choir. This was recorded in Oslo, Norway for producer Tommy Tee's forthcoming album "Bonds, Beats, & Beliefs 2", due out this fall.

 

Kool Keith x Roc Marciano - "Pressure Up"

Here's the first single from the "Luv NY" compilation that Red Apple 45's Ray West is putting together and producing. "Pressure Up" is a real smooth summer banger, centering on a addictive "accoustic sounding" electric piano loop and a nice rhythm track, and true New York legends Kool Keith and Roc Marciano doing their thing as expected. Based on this, I must say that Ray West stepped his game up and if the album features more joints of this quality then put me up for a purchase. Other guest artists include lots of AG, OC, Kurious, Dave Dar and more Kool Keith and Roc Marciano. Snippets, info and tracklist here. Shouts to 2DBz ont the linkage!

KOOL KEITH x ROC MARCIANO - "PRESSURE UP"

Ray West Presents "Luv NY"

Featuring all new tracks by Kool Keith, AG, OC, Kurious, Roc Marciano and Dave Dar, "Luv NY" is a compilation of expert rhymers representing The Bronx, Long Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan. The album will be released via Red Apples 45 / Ascetic Music Records sometime this July, and judging from the performers and provided snippets, it's sounding pretty serious. The entire project is produced by Ray West, who AG fans will remember for his work on the various "Berries" releases from the last couple of years. Check out the project @ RedApples45.

01 Intro
02 Legacy feat. O.C.
03 Egyptology feat. A.G. & Roc Marciano
04 Snake Charmer feat. A.G., Kurious & Dave Dar
05 Extreme Status feat. A.G. & Kool Keith
06 The Ritual feat. Sean G
07 Shorties Watching feat. Kurious
08 These Rappers under the hex feat. A.G.
09 Last Night Finesse feat. Dave Dar
10 I Been Luvin U feat. Kool Keith
11 Pressure Up feat. Kool Keith & Roc Marciano
12 The Blues Got Ya feat. A.G.
13 Acid feat. O.C.
14 Random feat. A.G.

J Dilla / Kool Keith - "Ultra Vibez"

This joint called "Ultra Vibez" recently hit the net via Mystery Channel & Ma Dukes official Dilla podcast called "The Dilla Ship". Featuring brand new vocals from the one and only Kool Keith over a lesser known Jay Dee beat tape cut, it seems this could be the first full song we gets to hear from the upcoming Ma Dukes helmed Dilla project "The Rebirth Of Detroit"? In his interview with HipHopDX, Keith spoke about the track which also features vocalist Lindsay Johnston and how it come together. The New York lyricist also reveals that he's currently preparing his next album to be titled"Super Future" as well as a mixtape featuring Cormega and Jesse West amongst others. Either go straight for some sick Kool Keith bars or if an hour of classic and obscure Yancey joints doesn't scare you away, hit play on the Podcast below. Whatever's your choice - TURN IT UP!!

J DILLA / KOOL KEITH - "ULTRA VIBEZ"