Mr. Vegas’ ‘Boy Shorts’ has been filling the dancefloors since it made its appearance at the beginning of the summer, and now the whole riddim has been released by Jah Snowcone (erm, cool name right?). The riddim is one of those great builders, and actually ends up dropping into a seriously heavy piano riff. After ‘Hold Yuh’, it seems the piano is the sure-fire hit instrument of the moment. Check out Spragga Benz & Nas’ latest offering, which also houses a tuff piano line.
Aside from ‘Boy Shorts’ Ital Stew is worth listening to for Tifa’s version alone, ‘Sticky Sticky’. The opening reminds me of ‘Tick It Like a Clock’, and that can never be a bad thing.
Ever wondered how the world’s most famous sneaker came to be where it is today? Or how it influenced an entire culture? Thibaut de Longeville (the man behind Just For Kicks) has made a feature-length documentary about everybody’s sneaker of choice, starring a trailer load of stars, designers and ballers.
It’s been long time, I shouldn’t have left you, without some dope mixtapes to listen to . . .
Hitmaker Jermaine Dupri has a new mixtape out called I Think I’m Berry Gordy, which is named after the legendary Motown Records founder. On the mixtape, Jermaine spits a freestyle over Rick Ross’ infamous track “B.M.F,” as well as Kanye West’s “Power” and Chris Brown’s “Deuces.”
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation signee J. Cole flips the cover art and title of Nas’ classic LP Illmatic for his new freestyle song called “Villematic.” The North Carolina rapper goes in over Kanye West’s just-released “Devil in a New Dress” tune. According to reports, J.Cole was so inspired by Yeezy’s track that he now plans to record a full mixtape.
Miami rapper Plies teamed up with DJ Scream for his latest mixtape titled You Need People Like Me. This mixtape isn’t for everybody. There are a lot of crappy foolish rap songs on here. But a few standout joints include the somber “Boosie” and the socially-conscious track “Why U Hate.”
Sedgwick & Cedar Present Planet Rock – Paris is one of the best mixtapes of 2010. For those who don’t know, Sedgwick & Cedar is the New York address of the birthplace of hip-hop and its founder DJ Kool Herc. (Recently, the building, in which Kool Herc would spin back-to-school parties there, was saved by developers after years of financial turmoil.)
For this mixtape, S&C tapped famed DJ Just Dizle from Paris to seamlessly mix old-school rap classics. The 28-song compilation features gems from LL Cool J, Davy DMX, Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Fantasy Three, Disco Four, Jazzy Jay and more (Track List). This is a tremendous hip-hop mixtape. Unfortunately, you can’t download it. But you can stream it below:
Fashawn is a rapper from Fresno, California, who has been putting in major work in 2010. His new mixtape Grizzly City 3 (hosted by DJ Skee) represents the quality music he’s been dropping within the past year or so. The 18-song compilation boasts guest appearances from Ron Artest, Dirty Money, Lil Wayne and Grafik. Standout tracks include the reflective “Remember the Times,” the jazzy “Desperado” and the cautionary track “California Streets.”
Even finding a full list of the Essential Mix archive was a hard task, let alone coming across the goldmine: every single mix available to download!! Got about 500 hours to spare? Head here.
The BBC’s Essential Mix series is a bona fide staple in the diet of dance music fans. The 2 hour show, broadcast every week since 1993, has seen a serious hall of fame pass through, from Carl Cox to Carl Craig, Massive Attack to Major Lazer. If you’re too young to know what it was like being a fan of dance music in the pre-internet era, this is an education. As the rave scene in the UK started to fizzle, a newer innovative dance scene started to emerge but couldn’t really find its way into the mainstream. Radio 1 (or rather Eddie Gordon) brought the underground to the fore, every single Saturday night. 17 years on and the show presents no signs of losing its influence; 2010 has already seen Four Tet, Simian Mobile Disco and Mixpak affiliates Buraka Som Sistema get on the 1s and 2s.
Some Essential recommendations: The first ever show with Pete Tong (1993), Ashley Beedle (1998), Freddy Fresh (1998), Jeff Mills (2004), Daft Punk (1997), Unkle (2004), Flying Lotus (2008).
The lovely Brooklyn-based producer William Salas, better known under his moniker Brenmar, has knocked up quite some work these last couple of months. Next to writing songs for his band These Are Powers, he’s done a great mix called 24K this Summer, in which he perfectly blends in Dubbel Dutch with Kelis, amongst other fun edits and remixes. Not many people can stitch together R&B, Hip Hop, House and Bass this naturally. The mix also includes a fun track named ‘Knee Deep’that he made with LA talents and Mixpak acquaintances Nguzunguzu. Next to all of this, Brenmar has been busy working on his first EP out through Discobelle in late October and will be a right treat; the release includes four original gems and a remix package taken care of by Ikonika, DJ Rashad and Optimum. Not bad at all, all I can do is suggest you don’t sleep on this release!
Brenmar has produced a track called ‘Back Beating’that we’re allowed to give away to you for free, as an hors d’oeuvre for his EP release. In Brenmar’s own words, this track is a quirky one for the dance floor, and he’s right: we couldn’t stop our feet from moving even if we tried!
[audio: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3640368/Back%20Beating.mp3] Download (Mediafire): Brenmar – Back Beating
