STATIK SELEKTAH / POSDNOUS / BUN B / JARED EVANS - "God Knows"

Statik Selektah releases his new single "God Knows" in dedication to comedian and actor Robin Williams who tragically passed away yesterday (rest in peace). The track features an impressive cast of guest emcees which include De La's Posdnous, UGK's Bun B and Jared Evans who gets busy over a steady Statik banger. "WhatGoesAround" drops August 19.

[Comp] POSDNOUS - "PLUG WONDERS"

Of course, De La Soul is one of the most important groups not only in hip-hop but all of music. The Lost Tapes have previously focused on this powerful trio's many non-album singles between 1989-1993 ("Three The Hard Way") and 1995-1999 ("Stakes is High" era), meaning that there's still a volume 3 left to be compiled ad uploaded here as soon as possible. But that time is not now, though the De La theme for this new compilation is still at the forefront... While The Soul as a group has always been held in the higest regard, you rarely see mentionns of Pos or Dave as incredble artists in their own right. Unfortunately both of these guys are clearly album guys and their respective guest apperances have been relattively few, in fact so little that in Dave's case a full-length compilation of cameos and soundtrack joints is a complete impossible (I might do an EP further down the line though).

Posdnous, or Plug Won, on the hand has especially during the last decade started popping out on a  whole lot of dope records which made him a given in the next Lost Tapes compilation series. As Pos says in one of the "WTF segmentt" in De La's "Impossible Mission" "mixtape" talking about an unreleased track from "De La Soul is Dead"; "my flow was still baking at that time, matter of fact I'm not sure if  would even call it a flow at a time". This is of course a little hard drawn, but what really put Pos right up there with the best was his verse on  "I Am I Be" from 1993's "Buhloone Mind State". Filled with double entendres, introspective and extremely witty lyrics set over one of Prince Paul's finest producion this was the track that had me fiending for the next Pos verse on any De La record spinning. Just like his PNC Dave or Trugoy, there's not that much cameos to choose from in making of a compilation of this sort, but the good news is that every singe one of the 14 tracks presented here are bonafied bangers. The 57 minut" es presented over these fourteen tracks is not only the first Posdnous compilation that I am aware of, but also works extremely well both in material and sequencing. There are a couple of songs I decided not to include on "Plug Wonders", meaning it's not an entirely complete catalouge of all Pos' non-album material. The two songs I choose not to include here is R&B group Mint Royale's "Show Me" (2002), "Chuck Road" from Wrekonize 2013 album "The War Within", as well as the clubby "Thou Shalt Always Kill (De La Remix)" by Dan Le Sac. Not bad songs per se, but they sure didn't fit in too well with what I was trying to do here - which was combine the finest Posdnous verses with some of the hottest modern producers around alongside with some of the illest emcees around.

The result is sufficient proof that  Pos is one of the most interesting and most clever emcees around and has been so for many years and hopefully many more years to come, On the aptly titled "Plug Wonders" you'll hear Plug Won going hard over both soulful and rugged beats by legendary producers such as as J Dilla, Madlib, Oh No, Jake One, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Spinna, Oddisse, Marco Polo, DJ Shadow, Statik Selektah, Jake One, and others. Joining on vocals are the likes of Talib Kweli, Masta Ace, Edo G, AG, Dilla, Slum Village, Frank Nitty, Fashawn, Termanology and more. A true joy for the ear as the mood switches from sunny soul infused beats to murky hardcore underground West Coast vibes. I strongly recommend listening to "Plug Wonders" in full as a lot of thought went in to this and it's tracklistig so DON'T SLEEP!

01. "Let Me Hear U Clap" (w. DJ Jazzy Jeff)

02. "The Upgrade" (w. J-Live & Oddisee)

03. "That's Enough" (w. Talib Kwei, Fashawn, John Forte & Rubix)

05. "Scheming" (w. Slum Village, J Dilla, Phife Dawg)

06. "Beautiful" (w. Yancey Boys)

07. "Universal" (w. LA Symphony)

08. "Oh Really" (w. Jake One & Slug)

11. "People" (w. Young RJ, Baatin & ViceVersa)

12. "Stay The Course" (w. DJ Shadow & Talib Kweli)

13. "Game Break" (w, Statik Selektah, Termanology & Lecrae)

14. "Glory (Finish Hard)" (w.  Marco Polo,  Masa Ace, AG & Dion) / "Outro"

POSDNOUS - "PLUG WONDERS"

[Album Stream] MARCO POLO - "PA2: Director's Cut"

Ooooooh shit, the time is finally hear! If you've been following this blog for at least two months you know that I've been superhyped about the release of Marco Polo's official follow up to his 2007 album "Port Authority"; even going as far as stating that this will without a doubt be among the very best albums of 2013. "PA2: Director's Cut" officially hits stores and retailers via Soulspazm Records this Tuesday but the label and artist have decided to let loose of a full stream of the LP a little early, and luckily I happened to sit at the computer just as they did so so I'm breaking my neck and shaking my head in disbelief to this boom bap monster full of ludicrous hard beats, a guest lists that probably haven't been matched since Pete's first "Soul Survivor" and a whole lot of cuts from turntable wizards such as Shylow, DJ Revolution, and DJ Romes. I'm only a few tracks in but I'm just as blowed away as I predicted I would be... Marco Polo is a name you can count on and has been for years, if he's in the credits you can Count on his placement being one of the best tracks on the LP (one of the most telling examples is the track he laced Torae with for the latter's "For The Record"; an album that also featured contributions by DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Diamond D, 9th Wonder, Large Professor, and Nottz).

Things kick off with "3 O'Clock" and from there it just keeps booming and banging in that hardcore hip-hop direction that only true heads can enjoy - your girlfriend might very well ask you to turn off that damn RACKET!! Litteraly, there's standout after standout, both beatwise and lyrical wise - which isn't really suprising considering it features a majority of my favorite spitters of all time. There's a lot of posse cuts here which are so welcome - hearing Tragedy Khadafi, OC, Inspectah Deck, and Large Professor is sort of a dream come true. The preceding joint featuring Nature, F.T., and Big Twinz is a real Winner too, matching the aggressive Queens style of the emcees with a somewhat more soulful beat... Don't get fooled though, nothing on hhere isn't straight balls to the walls hard as far as drum programming and overall style go. I also like how there's a lot of little crazy beat interludes coming in here and there, sometimes with talk over, sometimes not. On first listen I feel that this is by far Marco's strongest album yet; "Port Authority" was a terrific record with instant classics like OC's "Marquee", Large Pro's "The Radar", Roc Marcy's "Lay It Down", G Rap's "Hood Tales" and so forth. While pretty much all the individual tracks were brilliant, I thought as an album it didn't come all the way through as it sometimes felt more like a compilation than an album, due to a lack in coherrence betweeen the songs. That problem is nowehere to be found here; the skits, the typpe of beats, the sequencing, the guests (which include everybody from Last Emperor, La Coka Nostra, MC Eiht, Breezly Brewin, Malcolm Martin, the original Year Round family with Blaq Po, H. Stax & NYGz Panchi,, etc.), and the emphasis on the DJ makes this a truly exceptional journey into beats and rhymes as they should be done. Hip-hop at it's finest in other Word. And this is just on my first listen.... Can't fucking wait to get this on vinyl and make my neighbors hate me a little more! Stream the full album via OnSmash below, and order the CD from UGHH or iTunes if you're truly diitized. I'ma wait til' December 10 when the 3xLP vinyl drops (this set is like 80 minutes and I'm sure as hell ain't complaining).

 

01. "3 O'Clock" (Ft. Organized Konfusion + DJ Lynx)

02. "Savages" (Ft. ILLBILL, Slaine & Celph Titled + DJ Revolution)

03. "Earrings Off" (Ft. Rah Digga + Shylow)

04. "Can't Get Enough" (Ft. Big Twinz, Nature & F.T.)

05. "Astonishing" (Ft. OC, Inspectah Decck, Tragedy & Large Professor)

06. "6 Trill" (Ft. The Last Emperor + Shylow)

07. "West Coast Love" (Ft. MC Eiht & King Tee + DJ Revolution)

08. "Wrong Girl" (Ft. Reggie B & Reach)

09. "Drunken Sleuth" (Ft. Invincible)

10. "Intermission" (w. Michael Rappaport)

11. "Emergency Man" (Ft. Malcolm & Martin + DJ Revolution)

12. "Strange Brew" (Ft. Gangrene + DJ Romes)

13. "What They Say" (Ft. Lil' Fame, Kardinal Offishal, Styles P + Shylow)

14. "Parental Discretion" (Ft. Breeze Brewin)

15. "Underdogs" (Ft. Supastitition + Shylow)

16. "R U Gonna Eat?" (Ft. The Doppelgangaz)

17. "Sucka Free" (Ft. Blaq Poet, Hannibal Stax & Panchi of NYGz)

18. "G.U.R.U." (Ft. Talib Kweli & DJ Premier)

19. "Glory (Finish Hard)" (Ft. Masta Ace, AG, Posdnous & Dion Jenkins)

MARCO POLO - "PA2: Director's Cut" ... Stream @ OnSmash

[SINGLES] Statik Selektah - "Extended Play"

DJ Statik Selektah is releasing his fifth "solo" album "Extended Play" via Duck Down/ShowOff, and quite fittingly five singles have been released so far. Some of these cuts is among the most interesting things I've heard from the star producer in quite some time (especially when discussing the albums released under his name), such as the absolute minblowing collaboration between Raekwon, Black Thought and Joey Bada$$ on "Bird's Eye's View", and the sinister, stomping "Camoflauge Dons" which pairs up Tek N Steele with The Flatbush Zombies which you can check out up top. Other previously released tracks are the unlikely pairing of Sean Price and true school's most hated Mac Miller in "21 & Over", the beautiful piano driven "Game Break" which includes a stupid welcome performance by Posdnous, who's joined by Termanology and Lecrea. Just as mellow, dope and even haunting is "Funeral Season" which features outstanding performances by Styles P, Bun B, and Statik on the crossfader... Oh yeah, Hit Boy makes an apperannce too.
After hearing these five cuts I can say that I have a strong feeling that "Extened Play" is gonna be the illest Statik Selektah release since his very debut. To be honest I have been dissapointed in the majority of releases made under his own name since they have felt rushed and like a collection of pretty bland posse cuts. These joints instead sound passionate, are very well produced and are filled with a superb mix of artists. If the remaining cuts follows these footsteps, this could very well end up being one of the top albums of the year... June 18 is the date!