[Album] MALIK B. & MR. GREEN - "Unpredictable"

It's pretty fucking unbelivable how many incredible releases we are getting in just like a weeks time right now. And all these albums are some of my most anticipated of all 2015; I mean a new Ghostface, Fashawn's real second album, the return of motherF'ing Cannibal Ox and now the brand new album from The Roots' legend Malik B. who has teamed up with producer Mr. Green for some of that pure, unadulterated hip-hop shit with lots of samples, turntable work, pounding drum programming, jaw dropping loops and lyrics at its finest. Since I've heard the original singles, "Devil" and "Definition" I knew this was going to be something out of the ordinary. Malik B. always was an absolutely mindblowingly ill emcee, but always having to go toe-to-toe with Black Thought (one of the best to ever hold a microphone) would put anybody in the shadow. I think as a solo artist he will finally gets the shine he deserves and with production like this, there's no question that hip-hop heads all over the world will support the realness - at least they should! Stream the album below, but be sure to grab the real deal either by buying the CD @ UGHH or buy your HQ download @ iTunes. As it should be, guest artists are few and far in between, instead focusing on the one MC, one DJ format, though RA The Rugged Man, Skrewtape, Benefit and Nate Green pops up for a song each. Check out the grind house influenced "Rips in the Paper" up top, before streaming the album in its entirety below; shouts to DotGotIt for the link.

DOMINGO - "We Put It Down" (Ft. M.O.P., GP100) / "The Return" (Ft. KRS-One, Chris Rivers & R.A. Rugged Man)

Domingo's is another highly underrated legend coming with a brand new album this year. The East New York producer who has worked with some of the best talent in the game throughout his long career, has rounded up some of the finest talent in the game for his July release "Same Game New Rules". Pre-order and read more about the project @ IndieGoGo.com and TURN THE VOLUME UP LOUD on the three singles released so far; "We Put It Down", up top, features M.O.P., GP100 and DJ Cazz on the wons and too's while "The Return" and "Free" is high powered posse cuts with KRS-One, Chris Rivers, R.A. The Rugged Man and Bamboo, and G Rap, Greg Nice, and KRS again going at it HARD. Phew! 

The Game Ft. SCARFACE - "Hollywood"

Let me stress that I'm far from the biggest fan of The Game, though I believe that "The Documentary" was one of the strongest releases of 2005, and its follow-up was a dope record as well. Since then there's been some dope tracks here and there but the constant name dropping and endless constructed gangsta stories gets tiresome. However, Scarface is one of the illest and most authentic emcees around, and has been so, as both a solo artist and as part of Geto Boys, since the late '80s. Therefore the Scarface assisted "Hollywood" where a haunting beat complete with a slick bassline, tough breaks, and a nicely chopped vocal loop sets the perfect stage for the sparring of the two emcees. Interestingly enough, this wasn't even included on the official DJ Skee hosted Game street album "Oke", but only appears as an iTunes bonus. Don't you just hate that when they save the best tracks for thsoe deluxe editions, seems to happen more and more often (another recent example is R.A. The Rugged Man's "It's Gone" from the limited cassette version of "Legends Never Die")... Oh well...

RA The Rugged Man / Talib Kweli - "Learn Truth"

R.A. The Rugged Man and Talib Kweli are both lyrical beast, and their distinct styles sound great together on "Learn Truth"; their first, much overdue, collaboration together. Mr. Green is the producer behind this dope jam which will appear on Rugged Man's upcoming Nature Sounds release, "Legends Never Die", out April 30.

VIDEO: Hell Razah & RA The Rugged Man

Official video for Hell Razah and R.A. The Rugged Man's "Return Of The Renaissance", one of the many standout moments on last years brilliant "Heaven Razah" LP. It's great to see Razah back and looking healthy after all that went down with his brain surgery. I wish him all the best and continued health improvement. The video is directed by Yoni Arava and edited by Ed I. Rosenberg and R.A. The Rugged Man. If you haven't already, pick up the album @ Amazon.

Ruste Juxx / R.A. The Rugged Man

I realized I forgot to post this video when it first dropped a few days ago, so here's for anyone who might've missed this dope cut. Ruste Juxx is teaming up with producer Kyo Itachi (who previously worked with Finale and LMNO amongst others) for a full album and judging by the sounds of this first single it's gonna be one to look out for. As expected R.A. The Rugged Man delivers a marvelous performance.

RUSTE JUXX - "NO PRINTS" (Ft. RA The Rugged Man)

VIDEO: Timbo King / S-N-W / Royce Da '59"

Several clever and interesting music videos to banging songs of the year has been released to the net over the last 24 hour. As usual, instead of making individual posts for every  joint in these type of cases, I merged them all into this bigger post. As some people have complained about the small size of the videos on the site, which is a problem I've tried to fix but I haven't gotten there yet, you can just double click on the video which will open a new window and then pause the video in the window with The Lost Tapes still in it.

Let's kick things off with this absolutely hilarious concept video for Timbo King & R.A. The Rugged Man's brilliant "Higher Ranking". The track is the second single from 'Bo King's equally brilliant "From Babylon to Timbuk2" which I hold as one of the best albums of the year so far, review coming very soon. The CD was released yesterday while the limited edition vinyl edition drops one week later. You can order/pre-order either from, for example, UGHH. Please support real hip-hop while it's still alive and kicking!

Another mad funny concept to me is executed on the third video, which happens to be for the title track, from Pete Rock & Smif-N-Wessun's "Monumental" LP. The trio takes to the streets of London to hijack one of those red double deckers, with the passengers riding along and nodding their heads to Pete Rock's thumping beat and the trio's banging vocals. If you've missed out on it before, check out my review of "Monumental" and once again, please support this album if you're feeling it. 

Last out of our video viewing session for today is the visuals for Royce Da 5'9"s latest album, "Success is Certain" which is in stores now. "Writer's Block" is a sick track which has Royce spitting hard with Eminem providing the hook. An interesting part about the actual viddeo is that it works as kind-of a double feature; about halfway through the beat switches to the DJ Premier remix of the joint. That track only appears on the digital iTunes deluxe edition of the album, but you can download the CDQ of the remix below. You can buy the CD, a version of the album on CD or the LP edition on Amazon.

ROYCE DA 5'9" - "WRITER'S BLOCK" [DJ PREMIER RMX] 

Timbo King / R.A. The Rugged Man

A full length album from Royal Fam frontman Timbo King has been pushed back and shelved over and over again, going on about 15 years by now. The wait is finally over for both Timbo and his fans as "From Babylon to Timbuk2" will be released via Nature Sounds on August 30. I believe the LP will be absolute nuts as Timbo King always been a standout emcee to me, and the new single below proves he's still as sharp as ever. The track, which is called "High Ranking" also features a crazy R.A. The Rugged Man verse and the beat is nothing but certified Bronze Nazareth heat. Props to Etze. TURN IT UP!!

Edit: Thanks to The_Silencer, you can also check out a rip of Timbo King up at the Halftime Radio Show promoting the upcoming album. Download/stream here. 

TIMBO KING - "HIGH RANKING" (Ft. R.A. The Rugged Man)