Raekwon Ft. Kurupt & Kojoe - "Samurydas"

Just got this quite interesting mail via MAC Media talking about an all-exclusives compilation called "The Academy". Normally I am very sketchy about projects like this, they usuaully have a few dope songs and a shitload of mediocre ones, but once in a while you'll be taken by suprise. The project is executive produced by West Coast lyricist Kurupt and interested peeps can look forward to tracks and collaborations from crazy artists like Redman, Royce Da 5'9", Sean Price, Styles P, Jadakiss, Pete Rock, Raekwon,  La The Darkman, Chino XL, Billy Danze, Keith Murray, Planet Asia and Ras Kass to name some of the cast. Production will be handled by the same guys who's responisble for this first single supplied below.

This first single features one of my favorite emcees right now who just never seems to burn out; Raekwon The Chef. Here he trades bars with the exec. himself, Kurupt and a new (?) artist named Kojoe over a soulful banger produced by Marlon Price and JP Beats of Terminal III. "The Academy" features 55 emcees from legends to underground artists, from "the new to the old" if you will; the album will be available through Terminal 3/Bonzi Records.

KURUPT/RAEKWON/KOJOE - "SAMARYDA"

12" Throwback: Pharcyde & Souls Of Mischief

Two of the West Coast's illest underground crews in Souls of Mischief and The Pharcyde united in 2002 to form The Almyghty Myghty Pythons. They were supposed to release a full-length from what I remember but the collaboration begun and ended with this 12" maxi-single, or EP if you will, also released back in '02. It's easy to see that an album had plenty of potential, considering their past track records of course, but also by listening to the three tracks featured on here. 

"AMP" and "Contact" were produced by The Pharcyde's Bootie Brown while founding Soul's member and incredibly underrated beatmaker A Plus handled duties on "Curb Your Nerve". The last mentioned are without a doubt the finest track on the single and is the reason I'm even posting this since that was on heavy rotation for me and the fam back when it came out and several years afterwards. It has all the trademarks of a bangin' Souls of Mischief song, you know that dreamy, sun filled that would infiltrate your mind like a musical equivallent to some high-powered cheeba. Of course having The Pharcyde do their thing over such dope soundscapes wasn't nothing to complain about either, to be honest it is probably the finest production they spat over since the best tracks on 'Labcabincalifornia'

So if you forgot how damn sweet this 12" single really was, or if you haven't heard it at all you can hit the download below since it's obviously an out-of-print release by now. If you're hung-over on this Sunday morning, I suggest you skip directly to track A2.

Almyghty Myghty Pythons - "AMP EP"

Dre + Snoop a/k/a the real 'Doggumentary'

 

When Dr. Dre introduced the young OG who called himself Snoop Doggy Dogg on the timeless “Deep Cover” single, a new era on the West Coast was on the verge of bursting. An era of G-Funk that would rival the dominance New York have had on hip-hop since its birth despite early innovators that repped the West like Ice-T and N.W.A. Already on “Deep Cover” the chemistry between the seasoned Doc and the freshman with the unique voice and slick apperance was evident, but it was with the two-in-one punch masterpieces ‘The Chronic’ and ‘Doggystyle’ that it became truly cemented. Rarely have such a perfect combination of emcee and producer been wittnessed. They was the West Coast equivalent of Gang Starr and Pete Rock & CL Smooth but G’d up as hell and sounding like none else. 'The Chronic' and 'Doggystyle', released within a year of eachother, still stands as two of the best albums of all time.

All the bullshit that went down over at Death Row Records sadly put a halt to the duo’s continued run; Snoop’s second album, ‘96s 'Tha Doggfather', was a dissapointment and didn’t have a single beat from Dre as he was leaving Suge Knight and the guys behind to form Aftermath Entertainment. To promote the label he released a half-assed compilation featuring a bunch of artist that never dropped anything else on the label and was overall a dissapointment.  1996 was the year people were starting to feel that the former duo had started to fall off. Snoop still rhymed great and 'Tha Doggfather' sold well but his choice of beats were a far cry from the magic Dre gave him. But the irony was that Dre was trying to reinvent himself and delivering beats that didn't even sound like him in the first place (“Nas is Coming”, “Zoom”, “Fuck Somebody Else”, “Five Minutes to Flush”, etc.).

I was reading an article over @ HipHopDX.com this morning where they broke down ten promised projects that never happened, including an announced Snoop/Dre reunion around 1997 (apparently the original version of “Zoom” that featured Snoop was supposed to be on there, I included it as a bonus download to this post). That obviously never materialized but a few years later, 1999 to be exact, Dre redeemed himself with the release of '2001'. A true masterpiece in terms of production and nowhere near as weak lyrically as some has made it out to be. Dre had the best ghostwriters available and guests like Eminem, Xzibit, Devin the Dude, Nate Dogg and MC Ren and most importantly for this article – Snoop was all over it and laced all of the singles, each as classic as the previous!

This ain’t a review for '2001' or a resume of LA’s finest's accomplishments and as much as you might want me to shut up and just give you the goddamn music then you misunderstood this blog completely. The internet is already full of mindless bullshit blogs that just throw up full albums without even giving a motivation to why. You will never see a full retail album on here unless its out-of-print. You will however find the best compilations on the net @ The Lost Tapes; if you find a better site I’ll donate my lungs to a rasta. But OK I’ll get to the point:

Since '2001' Dre has produced ten tracks for three Snoop albums as well as a few other songs Tha Dogg jumped on as guest. All in all we got 13 tracks and I test drove it earlier and the shit knocks hard; the chemistry is still there to the pleasures of our ears this is the good ol' Dre, not the run-towards-the-grain, "I Need A Doctor" Doc. The only song missing is “Bitch Please II” since I found it to similar to the first part which of course is included. All songs were originally released between 1999 and 2006 and if you don't know who produced them yet then go ahead and shoot yourself. Oh and one last thing, Snoop pissed a lot of people off when he announced that his new album would be called ‘Doggystyle II: The Doggumentary’ and be produced by Swizz Beats!! Wtf?!! Luckily he ditched the Doggystyle II from his Doggumentary, but I didn’t. EDIT: I forgot that Warren G track from '99, but I added a separate link for it and added it as a bonus track.

01. "Intro"

02. "Buck 'Em" (Ft. Sticky Fingaz)

03. "Bitch Please" (Ft. Xzibit)

04. "Hennesey N Buddah"

05. "Chin Check" (Ft. NWA 2000)

06. "Boss Life" (Ft. Nate Dogg)

07. "True Lies"

08. "Lay Low" (Ft. Nate Dogg, Tha Eastsidaz, Master P & Butch Cassidy)

09. "Losin' Your Mind" (Ft. Xzibit)

10. "Round Here"

11. "The Wash" (Ft. Dr. Dre) [co-prod. by DJ Quik]

12. "Just Dippin'" (Ft. Dr. Dre & Jewell)

13. "Imagine" (Ft. Dr. Dre & D'Angelo)

14. "Game Don't Wait" (Ft. Warren G, Nate Dogg, Xzibit & Dr. Dre) [*]

 
SNOOP DOGG - "DOGGYSTYLE II: THE DOGGUMENTARY" 

Snoop Doggy Dogg + Dr. Dre - "Zoom" [Original Version] (Ft. Dawn Robinson) [*]

New Videos: Soulkast, MOP / MC Eith

Soulkast is the dope French emcee who absolutely teared up last years hottest DJ Premier beat on "Premiére Salve" and who's album is dropping on May 9. Besides the DJ Premier cut and the above featured MOP cameo, 'Bientôt L'album' has a very impressive guest list to say the least, how about Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli, Das EFX, Onyx, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and others. Definitely one to watch out for!

 The latest MC Eiht single from his Year Round Records release called "Which Way Iz West' with executive producer DJ Premier lacing three beats besides doing some trademark cuts on others (such as this one). The track is produced by Austrian producer Brenk who also produced the Eiht track on the Year Round Records sampler, "Fine By Me", which we're still waiting for as far as physical release goes.

Shouts to Gim @ The DJ Premier Blog

Rest in peace to Nate Dogg

 This is truly a sad, sad day for hip-hop as I just woke up and realized that we lost one of the illest and most unique voices we had. Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, better known to the world as the one and only Nate Dogg, passed yesterday at the age of 41 after years of struggling with health problems after he first suffered a stroke in late 2007. Ever since his voice was first heard on the classic debut albums of Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Warren G the West Coast sound had truly found the last missing piece in the puzzle and it's for damn sure it will never be the same again. Imagine tracks like "Regulate", "How Long Will They Mourn Me", "Xxplosive", "The Next Episode", "Deez Nuts", "It Ain't No Fun...", etc. without that pimping low bass voice blessing the beats. Rest in peace big man, you will be truly missed!

Here's a few words from his closest associates who commented on the fallen soldier via Twitter.

Snoop Dogg: "We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met.”

Daz Dillinger: "R.I.P. to my homeboy Nate Dogg, DPGC DOGG POUND GANGSTA 4 Life"

50 Cent: “I just landed Nate Dogg is dead damn. GOD BLESS HIM R.I.P. He meant a lot to west coast hiphop. I've always been a fan of him."

* The ill tribute picture at the top of the page was created by RuggedSounds666, props to him for that one

The Game & The RZA

The Game's collaboration with Wu-Tang producer The RZA was announced several months ago. Apparantly the two recorded at least one track for Game's upcoming "The R.E.D. Album" dropping sometime this year. With the intent of building up some hype the man just released his new mixtape, "Purp & Patron" today which features this RZA produced track that also features some vocals from RZA's Chicago protogé Reverend William Burks. I got the sense that Burks might blow up BIG soon enough since he's really talented and got good connections with celebrated artists like RZA and R. Kelly. Hopefully it's just a matter of time cuz he deserves it! Check out the track below and drop a comment on your thoughts on it. You can download the entire mixtape HERE as well.

THE GAME - "HEART BREAKER" (FT. REV. BURKS)