[EP] DJ LOW CUT & PHETT - "Intramuros"

What might just be French's illest DJ/producer of the younger generation, DJ Low Cut, is back with another EP; following the banging one he recently put out with Queens spitter Nutso. This time the beat maestro extraordinary hooks up with a fellow countryman in emcee Phett for four tracks of strong hardcore hip-hop straight out of France. The music packs a heavy punch and comes highly recommended - free download and/or stream below y'all

[ALBUM] GUMMY SOUL - "Sportin' Waves"

This is the second release by the incredible Gummy Souls crew not being built around samples and vocals from a classic hip-hop album (remember their brilliant reinterpratations of The Pharcyde's debut and the De La Soul vs. Fela Kuti albums?). The album is called "Sportin' Waves" and is produced and performed by Gummy Soul founder Wally Clark, and is a real smooth journey into soulful hip-hop beats and feel good lyrics so press play, kick back and enjoy!

[Mixtape] DJ DOO WOP - "Halloween Candy"

Shit, there's a whole lot of goodies being dropped right now, can't remember the last time I made this many updates in a sitting; free albums, mixtapes, slamming singles, you name it. Next in line is The Bouncemasta's "Halloween Candy" tape that sees Doo Wop cut up, blend and spark up hip-hop, soul and R&B records mostly from the '90s - a little weird to throw cuts by the likes of R. Kelly and Mary on an Halloween tape but I'm not gonna question Doo Wop whether or not Doo Wop knows what he's doing so this should be worth a listen for sure. Download / stream below.

[EP] CURREN$Y x SMOKE DZA x HARRY FRAUD

I'm not gonna act like Smoke DZA and Curren$y are very highly regarded by me, but at least Curren$y is pretty entertaining and he's definitely got a good ear for beats. This is once again proven on the new EP "The Stage", a four track EP produced in its entirety by the brilliant Harry Fraud who's been on a real strike lately - a strike which continues here. Check it out and/or download for free below via Soundcloud.

A-Villa Ft. Roc Marciano - "Hustler's Soliloquy"

I can't believe not only how many sick verses and hooks Roc Marciano got in him, but also how he constantly finds superb beats to put them to flames over. The latest example is the lead single "A Hustler's Soliloquy" from Chicago beathead A-Villa's upcoming debut release "Carry On Tradition". Based on this cut it's sounding very promising, and other guests we can expect to hear on the January 14 release includes Cormega, Kool G Rap, AZ, M.O.P., Action Bronson, Freeway, Joell Ortiz, Big K.R.I.T. and more. Gotta love the Rakim tribute to on the single. Stay tuned and bang up the volume on this one below!

[Album] ACTION BRONSON / PARTY SUPPLIES - "Blue Chips 2"

Action Bronson joined up with producer Party Supplies, a producer then unknown to me, back in 2012 for their free "street" album "Blue Chips". The project was a definite success that displayed an intense chemistry between the production/MC duo that stood out as a worthy rival of Bronson's work with Alchemist the same year. Now the team is back at it again, releasing the sequel "Blue Chips 2", which is once again a free release via LiveMixtapes.com. With all the dope music Action has been releasing for free the last couple of years, any real fan of his music should be ashamed of themeselves if they do not support the man by purchasing his next retail album... But until then, enjoy this slamming release of hot, soul infected beats and tight Bronson rhymes that switches between the absolute hilarious, to the "Oh Shit" lines to some ill storytelling, etc. ENJOY!!!

[DJ Mix] HOUSE SHOES - "King James Version" (Tribute to Dilla)

I missed the original release of DJ House Shoe's much praised DJ mix "The King James Version" the first go around when it was released in '06 or '07, so this is some fantastic news right here for all you Dilla / House Shoes / Detroit hip-hop heads. For those of you not in the know on this one following James Yancey tragic passing, one of his closest friends and one of the first people to believe in the great producer/emcee's talents, DJ House Shoes wanted to a tribute mix to his fallen comrade. However, at the time of Dilla's passing, "best of-" and "rare- and unreleased" mixtapes were being released from left to right, so Shoes went to go in another, much more interesting direction if you're like me and own a large chunk of everything Dilla ever produced on either wax or CD. 

Being close to the family Shoes had access to Jay Dee's record collection, so for "The King James" version he created a 75 minutes mix of the samples the legendary producer used to create many of his classics as well as some of the more obscure joints - and from Dilla's own record collection nontheless, meaning the original source for this is the ACTUAL records that were used in creating albums like "Donus", "Champion Sound", "Welcome 2 Detroit", "Fantastic", etc, as well as records for Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip ...  When this first dropped it was a very limited CD only, now House Shoes and joined forces the always trustworthy quality label Redefinition Records (click to order), and on 2xLP nontheless - but hurry up and buy, cuz it's a limited release. If you're little light in your pockets at the moment, Redef even threw up the full thing on their Soundcloud page, not only for streaming but also as a free download, so be sure to check it out... A must hear for any Dilla connioisseur, and will definitely give you even more appreciation of how this genus worked! TURN IT UP!!!

L'Orange & Stik Figa - "Before Midnight" [Billie Holiday Remix]

Oh shit, this is a real fucking dope jam for all my Lost Tapes fam right here! Talented duo L'Orange & Stik Finga dropped their album "City Under the Sun" (click to check a few tracks and/or order the CD) this past October 15, via the quality power house Mello Music Group. L'Orange brings that real grimey production with immaculate drum production most of us love while Stik Finga is a thoughtful, sometimes provocative, but for the majority of the time very skilled emcee. With the dust not even settled from the recent album, the duo brings out a brand new remix of the somber Rapsody assisted LP cut "Before Midnight", calling it the Billy Holiday Remix due to the large amounts of samples from the gospel goddess over L'Orange's pounding rhythm track. This all highlights the verses of Rapsody and Stik Figa even more, and as an added bonus emcee Castle joins in the cast exclusively for this remix. Definitely one to check out!

[Out Now] BLAQ POET - "Blaq Death"

Blaq Poet is one of the hardest emcees out, and one who's Screwball records, "Deja Vu" and "Tha Blaqprint" I have played religiously throughout the years. But I gotta be honest, his albums post-Year Round Records has been quite dissapointing if you ask me. There were some certified bangers on his first collaboration with Stu Bangas & Vanderslice on "Blaq Poet Society", bibut the replay value was lacking, and the "E.B.K." CD - I'm not even gonna touch that one. It's not that Blaq Po still don't know how to bring the heat like he used to, but after an album fully produced by DJ Premier/Works of Mart (with Easy Mo Bee supplying a guest production), it's pretty damn hard to come back to that type of quality - just ask Jeru The Damaja.
Now he's back with another full-length however on Man Bites Dogs, which marks his second full collaboration with Brutal Music production team of Vanguard and Stu Bangas. From what I've heard so far this is the stronger album of the two based on the tracks we've heard so far - I don't want to jump the gun if it stays in this realm this could very well be Po's best release since 2007. We got a sequel to the impressive "Voices", and guest features from artists including Sadat X, Roc Marciano, Tragedy Khadafi, Chino XL, Vinnie Paz and more. You can order the album and peep the samples @ Amazon (seems to be digital only). Peep the tracklist and artwork: 

01. "Intro"
02. "Looking for Trouble" (Ft. Vinnie Paz, Spit Gemz, Chino XL)
03. "Drunk and High"
04. "Interlude"
05. "Mean and Dirty" (Ft. Tragedy Khadafi, Celph Titled)
06. "Real Nigga Coming Through"
07. "Four Time Felons" (Ft. Spit Gemz, Lateb)
08. "Interlude"
09. "Don Omar" (Ft. Spit Gemz, Snak the Ripper)
10. "Jack Move" (Ft. Blacastan)
11. "All Blaq Everything" (Ft. Roc Marciano)
12. "Blaq Kruger"
13. "Who Can You Trust"
14. "Voices, Pt. 2"
15. "Outro"

[Mixtape] SERIAL KILLERS Vol.1 (B-Real x Xzibit x Demrick)

I recently posted the full tracklist for "Serial Killers Vol. 1", one of the first real West Coast "super groups" in the last few years. Serial Killer's first endeavour as a group was their singles "The First 48", "Legends Never Die", and the newly released "Six Billion Ways" as well as the tracklist with its producers is definitely looking like they will be some serious heat on here (Statik Selektah, Sir Jinx, The Futuristics, Mo$$, Ill Bill, Bink! and G Rocka of Soul Assassins to name a few - I haven't had the chance to stream the project yet but I'm definitely excited about it. It's probably the first B-Real and Xzibit project that I've really been looking forward to hearing in severeal years. The whole album is now availbale for free via LiveMixtapes.com.

01. "First 48" [prod. Futuristiks & Sir Jinx]
02. "Wanted" [prod. G. Rocka & Medi]
03. "Dickies & Bandanas" (Ft. Kurupt) [prod. JRB]
04. "In The Sky" [prod. Ill Bill]
05. "Doctors In" (Ft. Hopsin) [prod. DJ Lethal & C-Lance]
06. "Whatever Cuz" (Ft. Goldie Locc) [prod. Green Lantern]
07. "Legends Never Die ft. Easy MoneyST (produced by: Statik Selektah)
08. "Worst Nightmare" [prod. Futuristiks]
09. "Get 2 It" [prod. Dublin Beats]
10. "Six Billion Ways" [prod. Ill Bill]
11. "No Coming Back" [prod. Ill Bill]
12. "Laugh Now" (Ft. Jon Connor) [prod. Nottz]
13. "Eaten Alive" [prod. BINK]
14. "Angels Come Calling" [prod. DJ Khalil]

B-REAL, XZIBIT & DEMRICK - "SERIAL KILLERS V.1"