BLACK MOON - "Go To War"

This is some fantastic news right here! I unfortunately missed the chance to see Black Moon live earlier this December, but at least they are forming that raw energy again and are bringing out new music for us dedicated fans. DJ Evil Dee, Buckshot and 5 Ft. joins forces once again and their new single "Go To War" is bound to satisfy each and every long-time follower of the hardcore New York Boot Camp trio. As if that wasn't enough DJ Evil Dee, obviously really embracing the Christmas spirit, is letting loose a download of the free mixtape "Broadcasting Live", featuring exclusive and new music by the likes of Heather B, Dysfukhional Familee, Nutso, Makeeba Mooncycle, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Finsta Bundy, Rock Mecca and many more. Download or stream both for free below and TURN THIS SHIT UP!!! DUCK DOWN!

[Album] BUCKSHOT & P-MONEY - "Backpack Travels"

New Zealand boom bap producer P-Money dropped his album "Gratitude" last year which featured collaborations with a lot of American heavvyweights and was in fact a pretty damn good album. Now he's hooking up with Duck Down records and Buckshot as an emcee in particular on the fittingly titled "Backpack Travels". I've heard the singles so far and everything has sounded absolutely smashing to my ears so I'm excited about this 10 track LP which sports guest apperances from as varied artists as Raz Frezco, Joey Bada$$, CJ Era, Smif-N-Wessun's Steele, T'Nah Apex, Charles Reject and David Dallas. The CD is out now, while the split color vinyl drops on August 5 - both can be ordered/pre-ordered @ UGHH.com. You can also stream the entire project for free via Soundcloud below, where you can also purchase a digital copy if that's more up your alley. Also check out the official video for "Sweetest Thing" up top, featuring female spitter T'Nah Apex on the hooked.

BUCKSHOT & P-MONEY - "Just Money"

Duck Down and Bucktown legend Buckshot joins forces with New Zealand producer P-Money for a full-length project entitled "Backpack Travels". Judging by the new single "Just Money" (above, also featuring Raz Fresco) and the earlier "Flute". this is taking it back to the golden era with knocking beats, heavy bottom, tight cuts, well written rhymes and soul samples. The album is available on June 24, but just a few weeks ago P-Money dropped his own producer project "Gratitude" which beside Buckshot also features legends like M.O.P., Havoc, Freddie Gibbs, Roc Marciano, Talib Kweli, Skyzoo, and more. Check that out below or download via Bandcamp.

[Video] BUCKSHOT & P-MONEY - "Flute" (Ft. Joey Bada$$ & CJ Fly)

Not even a week ago I was posting the news that the always ill Buckshot and talented up-and-coming producer of the recent "Gratitude" album, P-Money, have been working on a full-length collaboration to be released soon. "Backpack Travels" and it's title track intro was obviously short but very powerful, and now the duo let's loose of the first real song from the project, in the form of a video nontheless. The song is called "Flute" and features Buckshot going at it together with Joey Bada$$ and CJ Fly of Pro Era and its another banger that have me anticipating June 24 even more. Enjoy!

BUCKSHOT & P-MONEY - "Backpack Travels"

Last year New Zealand producer P-Money signed a deal with Duck Down Records and released his album "Gratitude" which features a host of veteran hip-hop emcees such as Havoc, M.O.P., Freddie Gibbs, and Roc Marciano, to name a few. But looking back now, perhaps the most important collaboration on the disc was the song "Killuminati" where he teamed up with Black Moon legend and Duck Down co-founder Buckshot. This joint sparked a creative partnership that is now bearing fruit with a full-length collaboration between the pair called "Backpack Travels". Made up of 10 songs, all produced by P-Money, the LP hit stores via a deal between Duck Down, Dirty Records and Dawn Raid Records. June 24 is the date and sharing mic duties with Buckshot is Joey Bada$$, CJ Fly (Pro Era), Steele (Smif-N-Wessun), Dave Dallas, Raz Fresco, Chelsea Reject and T'Nah Apex. Peep the stop motion promo video for what I suppose is the intro for the album (defo sounds on point), while you find the original "Killuminati" joint mentioned earlier right underneath. Looks like it's gonna be another good year for Duck Down.

EMINEM Ft. BUCKSHOT - "Don't Front"

I posted the snippet featuring Eminem's first verse of this a couple of days back, now with the release of his "MMLP2" in stores Duck Down lets loose of the official leak/stream. What can you say other than DAMN?! - Em killed this classic Beatminerz banger... and check the lines about him almost signing to Duck Down back in the day. Wonder what that would have been like? Remember "Any Man"?

[Snippet] Eminem & Black Moon - "Don't Front"

Now this is just in-fucking-sane! A few days ago Eminem released the worst album of his career so far, which ironically happened to be the sequel to his best one. It's only redeeming future was that the once so promising super lyrical Aftermath emcee brought out Rick Rubin to produce four tracks (as well as serving as an executive producer) which actually came together nicely. The rest of the album was plain shit though, club beats for babies, lots of corny lyrics and awful do-it-yourself hooks... Which makes it even more frustrating when he decides to step it up and show people that he actually can rhyme with the best of them.

Turns out that a bonus track for "MMLP2" will feature Eminem and Buckshot trading bars over the Black Moon classic "I Gotcha Opin". This is a pretty damn cool idea as I always wanted to hear Eminem over hardcore New York type of beats, but it seems to be a trend these days to take off the best songs on your albums and release them as bonus cuts on iTunes. Check out the 1:30 snippet above which features Eminem's full verse. Apparantly this track will be made available as a free download for those who purchase the "MMLP2" and a copy of "Call Of Duty: Ghosts" before November 20. Fuck that, I'm waiting for the leak and I'll post the full song as soon as it drops!

The Story of The Crooklyn Dodgers

The monumental meeting between Masta Ace, Black Moon, Special Ed, A Tribe Called Quest and Spike Lee that resulted in "Crooklyn", a track that'll go down in history as one of the finest 12" singles of all time. The song was of course a one-shot deal, made for Spike Lee's beautiful film of the same name, but there's a lot more to the story that you may not know... Now Red Bull Music Academy, who's really been blessing hip-hop heads with fantastic music seminars over the last couple of years, have put together a brilliant interview based around the making and aftermath of the original "Crooklyn". Pretty much everyone who was involved with the joint except for Ali Shaheed Muhammad is interviewed; did you know that ODB was originally supposed to be on it?; did you know that the trio first recorded all completely different verses over the beat?; did you know that Evil Dee was involved in the production?; etc, etc. In other words, an absolute must read for any serious hip-hop connoisseur - CHECK IT OUT!

01. "Crooklyn" [Baseball Mix]

02. "Crooklyn" [Instrumental]

03. "Crooklyn" [Full Mix]

CROOKLYN DODGERS - "CROOKLYN"

[Video] 9th Wonder & Buckshot - "Crazy"

I still need to give Buck & 9th's latest offering "The Solution" a real thorough spin, but I have no doubt it's business as usual with these two. Especially after listening to the latest single from the project, "Crazy", and seeing its Donnie Darko themed video.

EDIT - I've taken some front-to-back listenns to "The Solution"  by now, and I'm real happy with the album. To be honest, I wasn't too impressed by their first LP, "Chemistry", though it had its moments. "The Formula" was better, but from both a lyrical and production aspect I'ma go out on a limb and say that this is the best 9th & Buck collaboration yet. Tracks like "What I Gotta Say", "Crazy", the title track, this single, etc. is really something. Together with the new Sean Price and a few oher releases, Boot Camp and Duck Down is relaly holding it down at the mometnt. Great to see!

9th Wonder & Buckshot - "What I Gotta Say"

9th Wonder and Buckshot has been responsible for some really hot music together, and they are now preparing their third collaborative effort "The Solution" for a November 13 release via Duck Down/Jamla. I got high hopes for this, the two singles have been slamming and to me Buck and 9th's projects have each been slightly iller than the one before so if that logic holds this should be their finest effort yet... But we'll see. The first single was called "Stop Rapping" and saw an agressive Buckshot giving advice to sucker emcees over a wondrous 9th proeduction with a lot of bottom. Today they hit us up with the equally hot "What I Gotta Say" following a similiar formula; what I would like to call rugged and hard-boiled soul music. Pre-order the CD @ UGHH ASAP.