DJ PREMIER / AG - "Bars In the Booth #4"

As I've said before DITC is meaning business in 2014; not any crew have come close to releasing as many quality projects this year, not even close. AG recently dropped his slamming EP collabo with DeeJay Koss ("Natural High") and now he's the latest to be featured in DJ Premier's equally slamming "Bars in the Booth" series which so far has featured impressive verses by Papoose, Dres of Black Sheep, Jakk Frost, laid down live in the studio over original and exclusive Preemo breaks. When the series is completed we'll definitely need a compilation of these gems - my favorites so far are Dres and now AG, but they are all dope. Big up to Robbie and UNKUT.

PAPOOSE x ICE-T x JADAKISS x JIM JONES - "6 AM"

Over a seriously infected thumping bassline, pounding drums and the occassional cuts and sax breakdown, Papoose rounds up some of the most legendary New Yori emcees (Pap, Ice-T and Jadakiss) from different eras in the game for a tribute to Ice-T's '87 classic "6 N The Morning" from "Rhyme Pays". I only took a quick listen and unless I somehow managed to miss his verse, it seems that Ice-T is only making a cameo in the video which is of course a dissapointment. No matter what, I can get with this powerhouse cut and you know that Pap and Jada (almost) always delivers. Whatcha think?

DJ Premier x DRES - "Bars in the Booth" [Session #2]

DJ Premier got a lot of things going right now, one of them being his recently started Bars in the Booth series. The concept is that he invites various legendary emcees of all genres to HeadCQuarterz Studios, put on a Preemo beat and have them being filmed while they spazz out in the booth. First out was Papoose who went in over one of the instros from the "Beats Collected Dust" series that was also used by Bumpy Knuckles for "Fake" (click here if you missed that one). Now that was dope, but for Session 2 it's getting even sicker as Dres from Black Sheep (an emcee I always felt was criminally underrated emcee) really gets a chance to prove how extremely powerful he truly is with the wordplay. Shit what can I say, this is just... DAMN!

ONYX Ft. CORMEGA & PAPOOSE - "The Tunnel"

This is old news by now but I haven't had a chance to update for almost a week (sorry about that), and it might be a couple of days until I'll be able to start updating on the regular again, but we'll get there. This slamming anthem for legendary NYC club The Tunnel is the second single from Onyx & Snowgoons' collaborative project "WakeDaFuckUp" which drops tomorrow (pre-order @ UGHH). Real sick line-up on this one so pump up the volume!

[Mixtape] PAPOOSE - "Hoodie Season 2"

Having just released his official debut album "The Nacirema Dream", the Brooklyn bred lyricist is now planning to go back to his roots, the mixtape game, for 2014. First out is "Hoodie Season Part II", hosted by DJ Kay Slay, which dropped this past Friday and is supposed to be one of twelve mixtapes to drop from Papoose in 2014. Whether or not this means he'll go for quantity over quality or manages to combine the two remains to be seen, but I have a feeling we'll see a lot of "Best of Pap 2014" at the end of the year. No matter what there's definitely some gems to be found here and Papoose is still a strong lyricist so give this one a listen as it's currently up for free via DatPiff!

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com

PAPOOSE - "We Live in Brooklyn Baby"

Check out Papoose's latest joint, "We Live in Brooklyn Baby", an ill Brooklyn anthem built on that classic Roy Ayers sample of the same name that also laid the foundation for BK classics by Smif-N-Wessun and Mos Def. This might very well be another single from Pap's upcoming "Hoodie Season #2" mixtape, following last months "Overpass".

PAPOOSE - "Overpass"

Listeners of Papoose are divided in to two camps - those who feel that he's sill a very dope emcee and that he's still an interesting emcee, and the other camp who feel that he once was a great hope for New York's hip-hop scene but missed his chance by not releasing a proper album when he was real hot, and that the music he's been dropping lately isn't really all that. I am somewhere in between, his long awaited solo album that dropped earlier this year definitely had it's moments, and I think he's a skilled emcee but he does release his fair share of boring material. His new single "Overpass" got some nice things going for it though, from Pap's street scholar delivery, to the haunting GUN laced production. This is the first single from Pap's upcoming mixtape "Hood Season II" (the follow-up to Part 1 which premiered for free @ LiveMixtapes.com).

[Album] TONY TOUCH - "PIECE MAKER 3"

"Piece Maker 3: Return Of The 50 MC's" works as an installment in two of Tony Touch's best and most memorable mixtape and/or album series. Released today via Soul Temple Records, Touch has choosen to premier the entire project through free streaming on always trustworthy DJBooth. Kicking things off with the DJ Premier produced collaboration with D-Stroy, you know you are in for a treat with this one.. Other highlights (at least on paper; just started listening myself) include tracks with Liknuts (Alkaholiks x Beatnuts), M.O.P., B-Real, Wu-Tang Clan, AG & Masta Ace, Rah Digga, KRS-One, Fat Joe & Sadat X, D-Block and many more; a good amount of the beats are produced by Beatnuts too, which is real exciting in its own right. Check out the tracklist for yourself if you're still not convinced to press that link, or head over to UGHH and order the CD.

1. Tony Touch / D Stroy – “Touch And D Stroy”
2. Rah Digga – “Freestyle”
3. A.G. & Masta Ace – “Double A”
4. Busta Rhymes, J. Doe, Reek da Villian & Roc Marciano – “Hold That”
5. M.O.P – “You Know You Love This”
6. Too Short, Kurupt & Xzibit – “V.I.P.”
7. B-Real – “Hit This (Freestyle)”
8. Papoose & Uncle Murda – “Brooklyn’s The Borough”
9. Sean Price & Guilty Simpson – “Random”
10. Black Thought – “Thought Process”
11. Styles P, Sheek Louch & Jadakiss – “B.A.R.S.”
12. Liknuts – “World Premier”
13. Raekwon, JD Era, Ghostface Killah & RZA – “Unorthodox”
14. Twista & Bun B – “Bounce”
15. Thirstin Howl III – ‘One Person Thirstin’
16. Willie The Kid – “Power Cypha”
17. Action Bronson & Kool G. Rap – “A Queen’s Thing”
18. KRS-One, Fat Joe & Sadat X – “Take It To The Bronx”
19. Termanology – “Aw Shux”
20. Joel Ortiz, Royce Da 5’9” & Crooked I – “Slaughter Session”
21. Eminem – “Untitled”
22. Redman, Method Man & Erick Sermon – “Let’s Go”
23. Prodigy – “Untitled”
24. N.O.R.E., Al Joseph & Reek da Villian – “Questions”
25. Gob Goblin, Starvin B & Spit Gemz – “Untitled”

"PIECE MAKER 3: RETURN OF 50 MC'S" 

[Video] PAPOOSE - "Turn It Up"

An early 2013 favorite for me is DJ Premier's contribution to Papoose's "The Nacirema Dream" that finally saw a release this year. A good choice putting out some nice visuals featuring both makers of the song too, directed by Gabriella Loutifi. TURN IT UP!!

Papoose - "Cure" / "Turn It Up"

Remember when a debut album from Saigon and Papoose used to be a standing joke? I'm glad to see that both artists, whose music I always enjoyed, are now past that as Pap has finally dropped his "The Nacirema Dream" which landed in stores yesterday. I haven't listened to the complete album yet but looking at the production credits the two most interesting joints are the collaborations with Buckwild and DJ Premier. You can check out both below; "Cure" (streamed above) features soul queen Erykah Badu, a real smooth Buckwild beat and Pap's usual dose of well written lyrics. On "Turn It Up" (courtesy of DJPB) Preemo laces Papoose with the usual heavy hitting boom bap. Pick up the album now @ UGHH.

Papoose still killing it... this time with M-Reck on new single

I see people calling Papoose irrelevant and whatever and yes it is frustrating that he still ain't got a proper album out after all the hot guest apperances and busting on the scene no less than twice as the most promising fresh artist in a good while. No matter what when something like this comes around you must be retarded to hate, it got all the right elements of how we want the hardcore hip-hop to sound in 2011. Great, heartfelt verses from both Pap and M-Reck and a super superior beat with sped-up soul sample (and not in the corny way), strings and a heavy rhythm section sample; track is produced by Venum. Sounds like a street anthem!

I still haven't given up hope on a Papoose album, imagine tracks like this, "Comprehend" (prod. by Pete Rock), "Lifetime Membership"/"Watch How It Go Down RMX" (prod. by DJ Premier), "Where It's At" (prod. by Hi-Tek), "Sharades", "Alphabetical Slaughter", ""The Life" (with Kool G Rap and Jinx from DJ Hurricane's album. If he does it right with respectable producers it could be a classic), etc. Once again props to CEITEDMOFO for putting me on to this via a YouTube video yesterday but after some searching I found the 320 kbps (no tags) track straight from Forbez DVD in conjunction with DJ Kay Slay so all props to them. Head over there if you want to download the clean versions as well and TURN IT UP!!

M-RECK & PAPOOSE - "CAUGHT UP"