DJ Skizz Ft. Your Old Droog - "Listen to Jazz"

Following up on my review of Robert Glasper's dopeness that is "Everything's Beautiful" here's some more beautiful Jazz/Hip Hop fusion for your ears. DJ Skizz is one of the illest doing it on an underground level at the moment if you ask me, and here he hooks up with Your Old Droog over a jazzy beat to remind listeners of the greatness of the one and only music that's at least equally dope as the Hip Hop we all love. I must admit I used to have a bit of a problem with Your Old Droog considering the constant Nas comparisions, something that was very easy to make, but the more I hear from him the more convinced I am that he's actually a dope emcee that's partly very influenced by early Nas and partly born with a very similiar voice and vocal inflictions. Eith way with a track like this beautiful "Listen to Jazz" I definitly have no hard feelings!

[Album Stream + EPK] MASTA ACE - "The Falling Season"

I am just as aware as you the lack of updates on The Lost Tapes the last six months or so, a place that once bragged about its daily updates and exclusive contents and again sorry about that. I hope some of you ocassionally check out what's happening here, because although I don't really have time for this blog at the moment (and to be honest the large amount of watered down music, even from the legends these days, have made me somewhat uninterested in any new hip-hop compared to just a couple of years ago). With that said I still will want to highlight some new releases that I feel are worthy of our time as well as the ocassional compilation and so on. So if you're still here, trusted reader, peace be upon you, and if not.. Well, so be it.

The first album that I want to talk to you about is Masta Ace's "The Falling Season" which dropped a week or so ago by now but as it has been a suprisingly low-key record as far as promotion goes I figure some heads might still have missed out on it. Ace used to be one of my favorite artists in this game for a long time, releasing some incredible album gems that I would argue are, if not masterpieces, then at least close to that classic status. I am of course talking about the two Masta Ace INC. albums as well as the undisposable "Disposable Arts" and the equally slamming "A Long Hot Summer". Nothing but bangers on those albums, excellent rhyming over excellent production that sounded fresh and cohessive despite featuring a multiple of producers and guest emcees sharing mic duties with Ace. If you remember, "A Long Hot Summer" was supposed to be Ace's final solo album, and as such he truly went out with a bang. Instead he was to focus the rest of his career touring and droping ocassional collaborative efforts with his groups EMC, Ace & Edo (G) and the MF DOOM produced (through recycled beats) concept album/mixtape "M.A. Doom: The Son Of Yvonne". All these albums had their joints to be sure, and Ace could still deliver hot verses, but I always felt that a large chunk of the production and overall themes left a lot to be desired on all of these albums.

Imagine then the hype when I found out that The Master was working on an official follow-up to "A Long Hot Summer", a real solo album with all original beats that told a story interweaving skits and songs into a cohessive concept album just like his last two highly acclaimed and aforementioned proper solo albums. That album is finally here - entitled "The Falling Season" which follows the young future underground star throughout his childhood years, all set to the production of newcomer KIC Beats. Of the latter, Ace has described the previously untested California beatsmith as a beatsmith that does not rely very much on samples but instead incorporates live instrumentations whenever possible. And this to me is the albums greatest weakness, although I suspect it might grow on me. But I really have a bug about these legendary emcees who on his recent projects got bangers upon bangers from some of the greatest underground producers in the industry (Domingo, MF DOOM, J-Zone, Beatnuts, Ayatollah, 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Dug Infinite, Marco Polo, DJ JS-One, and so on). While KiC Beats has some good tracks his best work hardly reach up to the levels of the great tracks supplied for Ace by the producers mentioned above, and it definitely hampers the project. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album per se, just an underwhelming one when you consider how amazing music Ace can put out when the chemistry between producer and artist is on top. Still well worth checking out, and don't take my word for it because I've heard several people highly praise this LP so judge for yourself - you can stream the entire project below via Bandcamp before grabbing a digital copy from their site. More good news is that its available on vinyl, CD and cassette so if you dig this or just want to complete your collection I say go for it (check out HHV for prices and editions). Check out the EPK up top, and stream the album above - oh and one more thing guests include Cormega, AG, Your Old Droog, Wordsworth, Pav Bundy, Stricklin, Torae and The World Famous Supreme Team. Give it a spin below right away!

APOLLO BROWN - "Not That Guy" / "Detonate"

Apollo Brown is sometimes a little hit or miss to me, but his track record has proved time and time again that he can be an INCREDIBLY dope producer when he gets everything right and with amazing albums and EP:s under his belt I will always keep checking for him. His latest project is a "solo" project in the vein of "In Control" and "Soul Survivor" where Apollo provides banging backdrops for a handful of talented emcees from all over. The guests include MOP, Oddisee, Skyzoo & Torae, Evidence, Rasheed Chappell, Chino XL, Finale, Ras Kass, Vinnie Paz, Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Freddie Gibbs,OC, Sean Price, Reks, and more. The project drops on Mello Music Group the 25:th of September but already know you can check out the two promising singles released so far. Below you'll find the streaming singles "Not That Guy" featuring Your Old Droog and even more intriguing his collaboration with MOP called "Detonate". Bang this LOUD!!

[Stream] GANGRENE - "You Disgust Me"

 Alchemist and Oh No is back together again for another serving of that nasty ass Gangrene shit. These two legendary producers and ocassional spitters really bring the heat on their third full length which they have given the fitting title "You Disgust Me". While Oh No is pretty cool on the mic, ALC is not very interesting but it really doesn't matter since the guys have a sick rapport with each other and it's all about the production and overall atmosphere on these Gangrene discs. Heavy on bass, distorted jazz samples, turntable attacks and vocal clips about floating feces, fans of "Gutter Water" and "Vodka & Ayahuasca" will definitely not be let down... Guest spitters include usual suspects like Fashawn, Your Old Droog, Action Bronson, Evidence, Havoc and Sean Price. "You Disgust Me" hit stores this coming Friday (order it @ UGHH), but already know you can stream the entire project below. TURN IT UP!

The Purist - "Patina" (Ft. Roc Marciano) / "El Captain" (Ft. Your Old Droog)

In 2012, UK producer The Purist hooked up with Strong Island's grimiest, Roc Marciano, for the incredible 7" single "Change". Now the duo hooks right back up for a cut lifted from The Purist's upcoming debut album "Pyrex Scholar" and the sound of the song called "Patina" features a smooth sound that Roc sounds absolutely marvelous over. Also from the album comes "El Captain", another soul heavy joint featuring Your Old Droog. Stream both joints below and watch out for the LP whcih drops March 15. Check out the tracklist and pre-order a copy in the format of your choice here.

DJ EFN Ft. OC, Royce Da 5'9", Your Old Droog & Reks - "Revolutionary Rebel Music"

DJ EFN is dropping his full-length album "Another Time" on March 3, filled with sick US emcees like Inspectah Deck, MC Eiht, King Tee, Smif-N-Wessun, Killer Mike, Talib Kweli, McGruff, Ras Kass, Joell Ortiz, and many many more. Should definitely be one to look out for! The new single "Revolutionary Rebel Music" gives a good taste of what to expect, with EFN rounding up OC, Your Old Droog, Reks and Royce Da 5'9" to let loose over a hard hitting Buckwild banger. ILL!

[Album] YOUR OLD DROOG - "The LP"

The whole Your Old Droog controversy was mad fun while it lasted, as in a lot of heads being sure it was Nasty Nas pulling a stunt. Of course that was not the case, but the similarities between Droog's flow, voice, choice of words and cadence and early Nas is nothing short of uncanny. Personally I think the similarities are a little too many but the "Your Old Droog" EP that dropped some time ago is undeniable a dope listen. Now the Russian born emcee is expanding that into an 18 tracks deep full-length project, which is available for pre-order @ iTunes (November 25 is the release date). Stream the album for free via NPR.

01. "Quiet Storm Interlude"
02. "Bad to the Bone"

03. "Nutty Bars"

04. "Loosey in the Store With Pennies (Extended Version)"

05. "Good Times"

06. "Droog's Anthem"

07. "Gunsmoke Cologne"

08. "U 47"

09. "You Know What Time it Is (Extended Version)"

10. "Bye Outro"

11. "Free Turkey"

12. "Loosey in the Store With Pennies (Remix)"

13. "On The News"

14. "Boofanickoregs"

15. "The '70s"

16. "48th Street"

17. "Senseless Killin'"

18. "Bad to the Bone (Remix)"

"YOUR OLD DROOG" @ NPR

[EP] YOUR OLD DROOG - "Y.O.D. EP"

  I saw this EP posted some time ago but didn't play it or give it much thought, the name sounded kinda cheesy and there's so much music dropping these days so there's not a chance you gonna be checking it all unless you somehow get it recommended or find it through collaborations with artists you dig. However I noticed that there's a big ass thing on the internet whether Your Old Droog and his self-titled EP is actually a publicy stunt from Nas, recording an EP under a different name and with his voice slightly pitched throughout. I'm a big fan of Nasir Jones so I thought it shouldn't be too hard laying that rumor to rest if that wasn't the case so I gave the 30 minutes EP a front-to-back listen in headphones this morning and GOD DAMN this cat sounds a whole lot like Nas - and not just the voice either, but the flow, the delivery, the lyrical topics, and so on. "Your Old Droog" is produced, cut, recored and mixed by El RTNC, Droog and DJ Skizz; neither who has worked with Nas before though that of course need to mean anything. 

Since then a few major sites have come forward saying that they have met the dude, and that he's a cat of irish descent repping Brooklyn. Conspiracy theorists of course will say that this is total BS, but in my mind this publicity stunt doens't seem to be in Nas' character at this point in his career. On top of that, about 7-8 months ago DJ Skizz released the single "Rhyme Strange" which starred Imaginary Droog - a white cat from Coney Island, Brooklyn that appears on the single artwork and is definitely the same (check the embeded YouTube clib above). I don't think that it's Nas, but the similarities are indeed uncanny, but most of all "Your Old Droog" is a damn fine EP that you should definitely check out at least once. Stream it below and feel free to drop a comment on your thoughts. If it is indeed a unique person I think he needs to find his own voice and he can really become somehing, especially backed up by stellar production like this. Press play!