ADRIAN YOUNGE & ALI SHAHEED Ft. METHOD MAN - "Bulletproof Love"

Some people were giving me shit on here because I crowned Souls' Of Mischief's album "There Is Only Now", an album entirely produced by Adrian Younge with a few co-production credits given to another one of my favorites in Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Few other producers makes as interesting and original hip hop music as Younge in 2014-2016, a long with Robert Glasper, Kanye West and some others. I feel that Hip Hop is in the risk of becoming too stagnant and we really need guys like this that aren't afraid of pushing the artform further. A while back there were some talk about a collaboration LP between Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge but what they (together with excellent arranger/producer Miguel Awood-Fergusson) have done here is score the entire soundtrack to Marvel's new comic turned Netflix-series "Luke Cage". If you happen to be in the LA area, you have a chance to hear the trio perform the entire score live to scenes projected of the movie together with a 40 piece orchesra. Tickets and more info here. Sounds like an event alright!

But at least we got a new single by Method Man and what it really comes down to is wehether or not the song is ill, and in my opinion this is a banger that really works in that all three artists put their egos aside and let each member of the trio bring his unique flavor to the joint. "Bulletproof Love" is the first single from the NetFlix / Marvel series "Luke Cage". I love how Marvel is really embracing that "W". Borrowed from the excellent WTforLife bog. Check it out!

MILANO CONSTANTINE - "Loyalty"

More D.I.T.C. heat for us heads never sits wrong; Milano might have missed out on the recent D.I.T.C. Studios album but he has kept busy dropping heat rocks like the DJ Skizz produced digital single "Closer" / "Gotta Do It" that proved that the BX underground vet hasn't lost a step. Here he again hooks up with DJ Skizz a long with guest ecee J Bux for "Loyalty", utilizing samples and themes from the classic "Donnie Brasco" flick with Al Pacino and Johnny Deep. Milano we need a new album ASAP! Oh and in case you, like me missed it, check out Milano and Skizz take on one of the bangers from Adrian Younge's "Something About April II" called "38 Snub Nose Freesttyle". Word on the street is that Milano is about to put out an EP enitrely produced by DJ Skizz and Marco Polo so let's keep our fingers crossed!

MILANO CONSTANTINE - "Closer" b/w "Gotta Do It"

Milano Constantine, who first made his name known to underground fantatics the world over through his affiliation with the D.I.T.C. camp and his massively succesful 12" single "Rep For The Slums". Since then he has dropped some heat here and there, a few solid mixtapes, a few not so solid ones, and so on, but with the D.I.T.C. renaissance of today The Bronx Bomber is back with some heat for us - and dope it is. A digitial single dedicated to his late father titled "P.O.P.S. (Paragraphs Of A Poet's Soul)" featuring two bangers called "Closer" b/w "Gotta Do It" that sounds like that ol' Milano boom bap type of shit we first fell in love with. Both joints are produced by Milano himself and serves as preparation for on an upcoming EP/mini album called "The Road" that will exclusively be produced by DJ Skizz and Marco Polo so be sure to count on that heat. Also in case you missed it last month, check out this powerful Milan' freestyle over some Adrian Younge heat posted by Skizz as "38 Snub Nose".

[EP] KENDRICK LAMAR - "Untitled / Unmastered"

I often say that Kendrick Lamar and Kanye are the only two "mainstream" artists in Hip Hop (as in guys who is actually selling records) that are really doing something new and exciting, creating something that might very well be remembered and held in high esteem 20 years from now. Kendrick's "Good Kidd, M.A.A.D. City" was absolutely brilliant, but it was "To Pimp a Butterfly" that really made me realize that he is one of the leadig voices of our generation. Every single verse was so well written and delivered with a lot of heart, the beats was masterfully crafted and added on exceptionally by the great LA jazz artists of the day like Robert Glasper, Thundercat, Terrance Martin and Kamasi Washington. And it all had a strong message, but Kendrick was clever enough to hide his politics well enough to fool the media machine, securing air time and big label promotion. But enough of "To Pimp A Butterfly" (let me add that it was also the best album released in 2015 before we move on).

Since then Lamar has promoted the album at shows large arenas, and in small TV studio settings like those on The Colbert Report and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Beisdes the intense material from the album a lot of these concerts containted one or two unreleased bangers that fans quickly took to the internet to beg for proper studio versions of these powerful jams. Even NBA star Lebron James tweeted to Top Dawg Entertainment CEO pleading for the tracks to be released just a week or two ago. Sometimes prayers, hundreds of Twitter fans and an NBA star can make shit happen because just yetserday Kendrick, out of nowehere, dropped a free EP containing the tracks from those performances as well as some other goodies for us all to enjoy. It's not "Butterfly" but I'll gladly take it. Featuring 8 songs all of them are untitled and are only labeled by the date they were either conceived or completed and the title of the project is "Untitled / Unmastered" which speaks for itself. 

However the meaning might be a bit deeper as TDE's CEO Punch says that Kendrick was inspired by Prince and his "Black Abum" when putting the record together - "as far as untitled me and Kendrick always talked about doing a sort of "Black Album", like how Prince did back in the day. There was no album cover, no song titles, no anything - just tracks he threw out [...] To me it just means freedom" (Source: Billboard). You can stream the full mini alubm at Spotify below (which I'm not a big fan of) or you can head over to iTunes and purchase a high quality copy for your listening plesaure.over at iTunes whhere it's availabe now.

01. untitled 01.08.19.2014 [prod. by Hit-Boy & DJ Spinz]
02. untitled 02.06.23.2014 [prod. by Yung Exclusive & Cardiak]
03. untitled 03.05.28.2014 (Ft. Thundercat, Bilal, Terrace Martin & Anna Wise [prod. by Da Internz]
04. untitled 04.08.14.2014 (Ft. Jay Rock & SZA) [prod. by Bizzness Boi & Nard&B)
05. untitled 05.09.21.2014 (Ft. Anna Wise, Punch & Jay Rock) [prod. by Nard&B)
06. untitled.06.06.30.2014 (Ft. Cee-Lo) [prod. by Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge] (!!!)
07. untitled 07 2014-2016 [prod. by Frank Dukes, Caro, Yung Exclusive, Swizz Beats & Egypt Dean)
08. untitled 08 09.06.2014 [prod. by DJ Khalil]

[Live] ROYCE & PREEM as PRhyme (2014)

I don't know how the fuck I managed to sleep on this video for so long considering I really liked these two hip-hop giant's first official full-length collaboration as "PRhyme" last year. Especially being a huge fan of Adrian Younge's work it was amazing to hear how creative Preem was flipping some of those while managing to create beats that suited Royce like the perfect suit. In this video from late '14, the trio let loose of a highly impressive set at the intimate NYC club, Boiler Room. If anyone have missed this like I had do yourself a favor and press play above. The chemistry.... Man!

[Stream] GHOSTFACE KILLAH - "12 Reasons to Die II"

 With the help of super ill composer/producer/instrumentalist Adrian Younge, Wu-Tang Clan's most shining star Ghostface Killah delivered his best album in several years with 2012's "12 Reasons to Die". Now the duo team back together for more of the same formula - following the concept of their first meeting so closely they have choosen to call it a proper sequel. While the album isn't released to stores in another week, the New York Times have been given exclusive rights to stream the project to listeners for free so be sure to head over to the link below and press play.'

01. "Powerful One (Intro)"

02. "Return Of The Savage" (Ft. Reakwon & RZA)

03. "King Of New York" (Ft. Raekwon)

04. "Rise Up" (Ft. Scarub)

05. "Daily News"

06. "Get The Money" (Ft. Vince Staples)

07. "Death's Invitation (Interlude)" (Ft. RZA)

08. "Death's Invitation" (Ft. Scarub, Chino XL & Lyrics Born)

09. "Let The Record Spin: Interlude" (Ft. RZA)

10. "Let The Record Spin" (Ft. Raekwon)

11. "Blackout" (Ft. Raekwon)

12. "Resurrection Morning" (Ft. Raekwon & Bilal)

13. "Life's A Rebirth" (Ft. RZA)

STREAM @ NYTIMES.COM

GHOSTFACE & ADRIAN YOUNGE Ft. Vince Staples - "Get The Money"

Adrian Younge is by far one of the illest producers out there, I'm just amazed at how he and his band Venice Dawn uses all live instrumentation but he uses a sampler to program every instrument into it just like if he was sampling records. People have complained that Ghostface isn't bringing his A game on his last few albums but "Twelve Reasons to Die" was easily my favorite LP of that year. Even if Ghost isn't rapping like on "Ironman" or "Supreme Clientele", he's hardly spitting Young Thug flows and he's still got one of the illest voices in the game and keeps his flow in pocket. Today the third single from "Twelve Reasons to Die Pt. II" dropped and it's another sure shot winner, and I'm stoked they included a feature from Vince Staples, easily one of the more interesting emcees to come out as of late. The second Younge/Ghost album drops on July 10 and features 13 songs + instrumentals, pre-order @ iTunes.

GHOSTFACE & ADRIAN YOUNGE - "Let The Record Spin"

On various, especially Wu forums, a lot of people have been dissing Ghostface and his recent albums a lot which to me is just fucking crazy. Okay "36 Seasons" was kind of mediocre, but "12 Reasons to Die" and "Sour Soul" was excellent to me. Not every album need to have super intricate rhyme scemes, and the production is so cinematic so you don't really need that much more than Ghost's amazing voice and flow though his lyrics is a bit dumbed down. As you know I put "12 Reasons..." as my #1 record of 2012, which I still stand by and the word that a sequel to this immaculate project is soon to arrive (July 6th if i'm not mistaken) is really something to look forward to. Especially as both singles so far has been absolutely excellent - the latest one is called "Let The Record Spin" and features GFK's long time P.N.C. Raekwon The Chef. So blast this one LOUD on some good speakers or your favorite headphones. In case you missed the first single, I'm posting that one too. Salute!

[Comp] ADRIAN YOUNGE / LINEAR LABS - "Los Angeles"

This baby has been out for some time by now, at least a few weeks, but being that Adrian Younge quickly has become one of my favorite producers doing it at the moment I'm taking this opportunity to post this up for anyone who might have missed it since I've been slacking heavily on updates lately. "Los Angeles" is a 10 tracks deep official compilation by Younge's Linear Labs Studios/label, featuring previously released material and exclusive tracks produced by Younge for artists like Ghostface, Laettitia Sadler, Bilal, Venice Dawn, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Toni Scruggs, Souls Of Mischief, and more. Highlights include the first single from "Twelve Reasons to Die Pt. 2" (you might remember its predecessor being my favorite LP of 2012) which features Raekwon and RZA and goes HARD, and the first joint from the Ali Shaheed/Younge joint production LP. And more than that it plays very well as a front-to-back listen, going through alot of Younge's brilliant funk/soul renaissance sound. "Twelve Reasons.. Pt. 2" drops July 10... TURN IT UP!!

PRHYME - "Courtesy" [Marco Polo Remix]

PRhyme (DJ Premier x Royce Da 5'9") made one of the strongest albums of last year if you ask me with their self-titled debut. Word is that we are going to be treated to a Deluxe Edition on a limited 45 box set that will include exclusive bonus tracks including collabos with MF DOOM and many more. Here one of the heir to Preemo's boom bap throne, Marco Polo, gives the excellent first single "Courtesy" a facelift and it's as slamming as expected. Marco, Preemo, Royce and Adrian Younge.... God damn, you know you want to TURN IT UP!!

GHOSTFACE & ADRIAN YOUNGE Ft. Raekwon & RZA - "Return Of The Savage"

While I've heard some people put down Adrian Younge's collaboration with Ghostface on 2013's "Twelve Reasons to Die", this has always been absolutely crazy to me. You might remember that I put that album as my number one pick of the best hip-hop albums released of its year, and I absolutely loved how it all came together and the chemistry displayed between GFK, Adrian Younge and the many incredible guest emcees, and while the story was quite generic it was still a very fascinating listen no matter what and GFK did a great job conveying the emotions. So when I found that the MC/producer duo (who also includes Younge's live band Venice Dawn) has been working on a sequel to that excellent album sporting an ill tracklist (on paper) and a great cover I was hyped to say the least (i wasn't at all crazy about "36 Seasons" which was a dissapointment to me, though the BadBadNotGood joint is solid, especially beatwise).

The first single is now here and is titled "Return Of The Savage" and features RZA and Raekwon. Real Wu heads will love the fact that Raekwon, who did not appear on the first installment, is all over this baby. Check out the single below along with the official tracklist and turn that motherfucker up! Cop the album in various packages directly from Linear Labs Music store and receive it for its 10th of July release. TURN THIS ONE UP (I absolutely love this one)!!

01. Powerful One 
02. Return Of The Savage (feat Raekwon & RZA) 
03. King Of New York (feat Raekwon) 
04. Rise Up (feat Scarub) 
05. Daily News 
06. Get The Money (feat Vince Staples) 
07. Death's Invitation (RZA Interlude) 
08. Death's Invitation (feat Lyrics Born, Scarub & Chino XL) 
09. Let The Record Spin (RZA Interlude) 
10. Let The Record Spin (feat Raekwon) 
11. Blackout (feat Raekwon) 
12. Resurrection Morning (feat Raekwon & Bilal) 
13. Life's A Rebirth (feat RZA) 

PRHYME - "Courtesy" / "Intro"

Not too long ago hip-hop fans all over the world were treated to an amazing little promo spot for an upcoming project featuring DJ Premier, Royce Da 5'9" and in some capacity Adrian Younge, that literally popped out of nowhere. While many announced proejcts from Preemo's camp never materializes, some do rather quickly ("Tha Blaqprint", "Welcome 2 G-Dom", the YRR comp, and "Kolexxxion" comes to mind) and there's now no doubt that the duo known as PRHYME's collaboration album is definitely happening. The self-titled album features 9 songs, will be released independently, are entirely performed by Rocye Da 5'9" (with guests like Common, Jay Electronica, Killer Mike, Schoolboy Q, Slaughterhouse, and more) and produced by DJ Premier using nothing but samples from Adrian Younge's small but powerful catalouge - making it a concept album of sort. The tracklist, artwork and the first official single "Cortessy" plus the "PRhyme" intro which is provided through radio rips from the Sway in the Morning Show yesterday via the always excellent DJPremierBlog. The album is set to be released on December 9, the only downside being that as for now it seems to be a digital only release. Oh well, can't win them all because this will no doubt be SERIOUS! Pre-order @ iTunes now!

01. "PRhyme"

02. "Dat Sounds Good" (Ft. AB-Soul & Mac Miller)

03. "U Looz"

04. "You Should Know" (Ft. Dwele)

05. "Courtesy"

06. "Wishin'" (Ft. Common)

07. "To Me, To You" (Ft. Jay Electronica)

08. "Underground Kings" (Ft. Killer Mike & Schoolboy Q)

09. "Microphone Preem"

[Album] SOULS OF MISCHIEF / ADRIAN YOUNGE - "There Is Only Now"

It was a long time in the making, and I had very high expectations on the LP and it actually managed to live up to every single one of them. There's no question that Adrian Younge's produced Souls Of Mischief album "There is Only Now" is a straight-up fantastic album that's equally potent to both Souls and Younge fans. The album is out now and is a definite purchase for every serious hip-hop head if you ask me, and if you haven't had the chance to hear it yet, you can stream it in it's entirety below thanks to their official Soundcloud page. The stream is clean but after you heard it you will most likely be very tempted to purchase a copy of the vinyl or CD @ at your favorite retailer so press play and head over to UGHH or your retailer of choice. TURN IT UP and stay tuned for more info on the Bilal/Younge/Ali Shaheed LP as it progresses!!

SOULS OF MISCHIEF - "Ghetto Superstar" / "Finally Back"

Man, I'm so hyped for this album! Souls Of Mischief / Adrian Younge's collaborative effort with Ali Shaheed Muhammad hosting is bound to be a fantastic LP judging from all the singles and interviews we've taken part of so far. Both the fourth and fifth single from the album, "Ghetto Superstar" and "Finally Back", have been released simultaneously and both are heavy hitting, old-school flirting banger with emphazis on Rhodes, booming bass and exquisite live drums. You can bet I'm copping "There is Only Now" when it drops on August 28, and so should you! And as that wasn't enough,, Younge and Muhammad is also producing the entirey of Bilal's upcoming album (scroll down to the first single "Sirens II" below for an early taste).

BILAL - "Sirens II"

Bilal's new single "Sirens II" is another winner from the soul whiz, working as a sequel to Adrian Younge's "Sirens". Matter of fact the track is produced by Younge, together with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who is working together for the entire project. Amazing news!

SOULS OF MSICHIEF - "Panic Room"

Most likely the most interesting producer working today amongst the younger generation, Adrian Younge, has created modern masterpieces for The Delphonics, Ghostface Killah, and his own Venice Dawn. Now Younge is working with the legendary Oakland quartet Souls of Mischief for the group's first full-length album since 2009's heavily slept on Prince Paul sponsored "Montezuma's Revenge". "Panic Room" is the third single from that LP which is entitled "There is Only Now" and drops via Linear Labs Music on August 26. Listening to the leaked tracks so far has me absolutely flabbergasted... God damn, I can't wait for this! Also peep the official video to "There is Only Now".

SOULS OF MISCHIEF x ADRIAN YOUNGE - "All You Got is Your Word"

The combination of the smooth flows of the veteran emcees in Souls of Mischief with Adrian Younge's compositional skills has proven every bit as interesting as one could have expected. The second single, "All You Got is World" features all the elements that made The Souls so memorable and loved when they first came on the scene. Also check out the previous single "There is Only Now" in case you missed it and keep your ears open for the album of the same name, out on August 26 via Linear Labs.

SOULS OF MISCHIEF x ADRIAN YOUNGE - "Only Now"

Oh fucking shit!! Now this is something I've been fiending to hear since it was first announced months ago, Souls Of Mischief's Prince Paul's collaboration "Montezuma's Revenge" was an incredibly underrated and misunderstood album which proved that the Cali crew still got it. And for their new album they has hooked up with Adrian Younge, the most interesting producer around these days, having produced modern masterpieces for Ghostface Killah and The Delphonics using no samples (though you would never guess). The title track and first single "There is Only Now" (click to check out the tracklist) which finally drops on August 26 features a somewhat inspired guest verse from Snoop Dogg (at least for that joke of his former of self who very recently made one of the worst songs of all time with PSY). The album is a story in itself, narrated by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, performed by  the different Souls members who takes on different roles all backed up by Adrian Younge's golden age sounding hip-hop with the use of his own playing and live band.

ADRIAN YOUNGE drops LP w/ SOULS OF MISCHIEF

I figure I got time to drop one more, and this is absolutely juicy stuff if you have managed to not hear about it yet.. I'm sure the vast majority of heads hanging out here are really digging the records Adrian Younge has delivered to Ghostface Killah, Venice Dawn, The Delphonics and for the "Black Dynamite" soundtracks. Well, probably the most exciting thing I've heard this weekend is that Younge has already produced and recorded yet another concept album for Soul Temple Records, and this time it's none others than Hiero's Souls Of Mischief! I  don't really have time to write anything about the little info that is out right now, more than Ali Shaheed Muhammad is doing the narration for the story told through these tracks, and the sound has been described as "Low End Theory" meets "De La Soul is Dead". Read more @ XXL while we wait for that first single to be unlocked!

Adrian Younge x Delphonics - "Enemies" [DJ Rhettmatic Remix]

The original version of "Enemies" was dope enough to warrant inclusion on both of Adrian Younge's most recent projects; the self-titled album by The Delfonics and "12 Reasons to Die" by Ghostface Killah. Here with a remix by the legendary DJ Rhettmatic, several different sections of the original instrumentation and William Hart's vocal parts are layered with impressive turntable work and Snoop samples into a dirty, deep bass grooving West Coast banger that's sure to get your head nodding. Check the crazy instrumental outro @ 2:36... Wow! [You can download the song here]