IMAKEMADBEATS & MidaZ The Beast - "Figaro Chain Mystery"

Producer IMAKEMADBEATS recently released the very cool concept album, "Daylight / Nightlight" via Doxside Music Group. Some of y'all might remember that this was originally conceivied as two separate EP records, one featuring Butta Verses and the other with Midaz the Beast handling microphone duties. Besides the original fourteen tracks, the new repackaged album version also features a couple of fresh bonus cuts, including the dark "Figaro Chain Mystery". Grab your copy and read more about "Daylight / Nightlight" @ Doxside.

[Video] NAS - "Daughters"

Brand new video for Nas' latest single, the No I.D. produced "Daughters". All three singles from the upcoming album are still getting steady spins, I got high hopes for "Life is Good" which is scheduled for a June 17 release.

BILLY DANZE Presents Raps United Nation

At the beginning of this year, hip-hop legend Billy Danze launched his latest project - "R.U.N. - Raps United Nations". Rather than your typical solo album, Danze has created a platform for talented emcees, producers and DJs from around the world, giving them a chance to be heard. "These artists need to be heard and have a united voice. I am very passionate about giving them that opportunity and will do anything in my power to help those that really want to win," said the M.O.P. rapper in an interview with HipHopDX back in January.

About a month following the abvovementioned interview, the UN of rap music released "First Wave", a 30 track mixtape with a long list of debuting artists and a few more familiar names; hosted by Billy Danze and DJ J-Ronin. Now, the follow-up tape "Second Wave" has been released to the public, featuring plenty of hot beats and rhymes, spread out over the 30 songs. The sequel is once again hosted by Danze, this time alongside DJ U-Neek. Peep the tracklist/stream here or grab it right away.

[Album] M-Dot - "Dots On The Map"

Boston rapper M-Dot has made his mark on the underground scene the last couple of years, with several mixtapes and tours in both USA and Europe. Before heading out on the road again, he has unveiled his latest project, "Dots On The Map", for free download and it's strongly recommended. Featured on the tape are lots of different artists, such as Masta Ace, Big Shug, Nutso and Punchline representing the US, and Prop Dylan, DJ Connect, Rocc Spotz and others holing it down for the EU. The mixtape also works as a prequel to M-Dot's upcoming full-length LP, "Layer Cake" (where the vid above is lifted from), which drops on May 29. Download via 1200.

M-DOT - "DOTS ON THE MAP" LP

The Making of Nas' "It Was Written"

One of the best examples of an album that has been reevaluated over time, Nas' sophomore LP "It Was Written" saw the Queensbridge emcee reach for the charts while maintaining integrity. Lyrically, it's as strong as "Illmatic" although the topics were much different and The Trackmasters, Havoc, L.E.S., Dr. Dre and DJ Premier constructed a rather dark, and often moody, soundbed for Escobar's words to flourish on. Because of its tangible differences from his much praised debut, the '96 follow-up led to the first accusations of Nas' as a sell-out. Today, "It Was Written" is more often considered a true hip-hop classic, and a good representation of the time and place hip-hop was at during the time the LP was conceived. Something I personally agree with.

Complex Magazine follows their recent Nas interview/article with a trip down memory lane, with Nas, Trackmasters, DJ Premier, Prodigy and Steve Stoute discussing the making of "It Was Written". A very interesting read, no doubt; much props to Complex for their incredible in-depth articles!

"The Making of 'It Was Written'" @ Complex

[EP/Comp] MC EIHT - "Which Way iz West"

 MC Eiht's album "Which Way iz West" has been in the works for a long time by now, and was originally set to be released in 2010. Yet, there's still not even a release date for the LP, which on paper and based on the singles released so far should be nothing short of incredible. For the project, Eiht has hooked up with long-time friend and super producer, DJ Premier, and his Year Round Records imprint. Eiht and Preem together guarantees a hot ass album, but we all know that there's been a lot of unfortunate problems with the label; resulting in both Blaq Poet and Nick Javas leaving to pursue other deals, while NYGz "Hustler's Union" remains without even a release date after four years of push backs. I really hope "Which Way Iz West" will not end up a shelved classic, and that we will be able to pick it up at least within a reasonable time frame.

What do we know about Eiht's upcoming album? As mentioned above, DJ Premier will act as its executive producer, but not as main producer. It has been revealed that he has three beats on the album, with additional scratches on a few other joints. The bulk of the project was recorded at the legendary HeadCQuarterz studios (formerly D&D). So far, four singles has been released, and they have all been straight up supreme; real hip-hop shit, with a lot of soulful samples, tight rhythm tracks, ill turntable work and Eiht in absolutely excellent form. "I think [Which Way Is West] is going to be well-accepted, and it's going to go down as one of my best records," the emcee said in an interview with HipHopDX back in 2010.

An interesting point is that the five tracks we've heard so far, (the vieo above is part of the sampler; if anyoe got the mp3 please send it my wa( has all been laced by Austrian producer Brenk Sinatra. This point to the likeliness that he's the main producer of "Which Way Iz West". Some people might feel cheated of Preem's limited involvement, but personally I feel that the chemistry that's so evident between Brenk and Eiht on these cuts is just as exciting. I've compiled all the released cuts into a little sampler for y'all to nod your heads to this beautiful morning. Most of the songs were released as internet singles, while the track "Fine By Me" first appeared on the YRR promo album - "Get Used 2 Us". I also added the "From QB to California" remix of Blaq Poet's "Aint Nuttin Changed", featuring Eiht and Young Maylay, as it is also representative of Eiht's work on Year Round. 'Nuff talk - TURN IT UP!!

01. "All Hood"

02. "I Need That"

03. "Fine By Me"

04. "Where U Goin' 2"

05. "Aint Nuttin Changed Remix" (w. Blaq Poet & Young Maylay)

MC EIHT - "WHICH WAY IZ WEST" [SAMPLER] 

LikNuts - "Grumpy Crocodile"

Roughly a year ago, the collaboration between Tha Alkaholiks and The Beatnuts as LikNuts was first announced. Now, we gets to hear the first single from the upcoming project, "Grumpy Crocodile". Pretty raunchy joint that does a fine job combining the styles of both groups... Bring out the bottles!!

DJ Nu-Mark x J-Live - "Tonight"

Slamming new track by Jurassic 5's DJ Nu-Mark, featuring J-Live, M3 and Erica Dee. "Tonight" is a great cut that's on a real nice summer vibe tip, which is a perfect soundtrack to this Thursday. The combination of that sweet guitar riff, J-Live's fantastic mic skills, sweet vocals and the classic "kick, snare, snare, hi-hat" formula is bound to have a lot of heads nodding. This is also the second installment in Nu-Mark's "Broken Sunlight" series, following the equally impressive Bumpy Knuckles assisted "Dumpin' 'Em All", and is available on 10" vinyl single and in digital format via the link below.

DJ NU-MARK - "BROKEN SUNLIGHT SERIES #2"

Rosco P. Coldchain to Debut

Rosco P. Coldchain is a street-centered rapper who's been lurking in the shadows of the industry for a lot longer than most would guess. He originally got his break as an affiliate of The Clipse, and was signed to The Neptunes' Star Trak Entertainment imprint, where he recorded the full-length album "Hazardous Life". The LP boosted production giants like DJ Premier and Neptunes but remains unreleased, and it seems it will stay that way. 2012, however, will see a debut release from the emcee, despite his current incarceration. The nine tracks collected on the release, titled "Almost Famous", are all produced by Fatin "10" Horton and were originally recorded between 2003 and 2007. Fatin, who produced suberb cuts for Pharoahe Monch, Skyzoo, Phonte and Torae, assures that they were "ahead of its time". 

While we're waiting for the June 12 release, I want to bring back the two joints that introduced me to Rosco. I believe both of these songs were recorded for "Hazardous Life" sometime in the mid-2000s. Both tracks, which are produced by DJ Premier, are on some vintage hardcore boom bap shit, and has me fiending for the official debut album next month. Enjoy!

ROSCO P. COLDCHAIN - "I'MA KILL THIS NIGGA"

ROSCO P. COLDCHAIN - "WHUT'Z IT ALL ABOUT"

Large Pro on his Classics

Just as I hit play on Akinyele & Extra-P's 1993 masterpiece, "Vagina Dinner", I discovered that the producer is the latest to be featured in Complex's always brilliant "...Tells All: The Stories Behind the Classics" article series. There's few pieces in The Professor's catalouge that's not right down amazing, so you can bet this is an interesting read while we're waiting for the next LP. Especially cool to read the words on his early, largely uncredited work, on Eric B. & Rakim's and Kool G Rap / Polo's early '90s albums.

LARGE PRO TELLS ALL @ COMPLEX