August Mix 2011

Nas and AZ at this year's Rock the Bells. "Life's a Bitch" I presume.

With school starting up again and my mom nagging me to paint the living room, I have failed y'all once again. I really liked the idea of actually mixing these end of the month playlists, but I couldn't even land two in a row. But on the bright side, now that I have some sort of schedule in my life, I know I'll gain some consistency when it comes to providing you all with dope music once again. This month's mix is not the best mix I've came up with, but far from the worst. Still a lot of dope releases in August. Enjoy!

Download August Mix

Kendrick Lamar at the Music Box in Hollywoord

Why did I have to get a job the week of Kendrick Lamar's show in Hollywood!?!?!? I've seen a ton of footage of this show the last few days and I keep wishing I could go back in time and some how see this monumental performance. Kendrick is the new west. If you don't believe me, ask Game, Snoop, Dre, Daz, Kurrupt, Kweli, Mos Def, etc. All of these classic rappers where at the show, on stage, praising the 24 year old for his Hiii Power music. The Revolution will be televised!

The Game - Martians vs Goblins ft. Lil Wayne & Tyler the Creator

Since the Compton rapper dropped his 4th studio album today, I thought it would be proper if I shared one of my favorite tracks off the album. This track actually features OFWGKTA's head honcho, Tyler the Creator and I must say he's done an exceptional job on his two big features. The R.E.D. Album it self is a good piece of work, for the most part, with only a few songs I wasn't feeling the first time around. Heads up, you're going to want to watch Boyz In The Hood right after.

Download Martians vs Goblins

STS - The Illustrious (Album)

Black Thought's homie STS (Sugar Tongue Slim) dropped this dope, free album today. I've been following the Atlien since before I knew the lead vocalist for the Roots enlisted him onto his Money Making Jam Boys Crew and it's nice to see the new comer put out consistent dope music. *Fingers crossed for him to land the 2012 XXL Freshman Class*

Download The Illustrious (Album)

Blu - NoYork!

Damn I wish I would've been able to make it to this year's Rock The Bells. Blu decided to throw out copies of his new NoYork! Waner Bros debut while he was rocking the stage. Oddly the album has yet to even receive a release date so whether Blu remains on Warner Bros will be something to look out for. But as for the album, I knew he was looking to experiment on this album and have a very different sound this time around. Although the production is far from his classic Below the Heavens (2007), this album is still dope and definitely something worth holding in your Ipod. The LA representative still remains in my top 5 (of current hip hop).

Download NoYork! (Album)

J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story (Artwork)

I'm starting to get annoyed of all these unloyal Cole fans... Reading comments on hip hop websites of people bad mouthing the rapper they praised just a few months back is getting on my nerves. His music is THE SHIT so quit switching sides because a hand full of retards think he fell off just because of his radio singles. Fuck em' all! Cole World! Sept 23rd!

Cole World: The Sideline Story from Jermaine Cole on Vimeo.

Big K.R.I.T. - Last King 2 (God's Machine) (Mixtape)

Country Boy K.R.I.T. shows once again why he deserves that XXL Freshman cover. Until his commercial debut, Live From The Underground (Sept 23, along with Cole, 9th, Phonte, etc.), he's blessed us with another mixtape to keep his fans entertained. Great mix with a bunch of unreleased tracks and also tracks which he has been featured on.

Download Last King 2 (God’s Machine) (Mixtape)

Seizure Head Nod

Some of these underground cats attract the weirdest fans... Is this guy truly having a seizure? Or could it be that he's a white boy with not a single ounce of rhythm in his body? My bet is he dropped acid right before the show.

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Otis (video)

New video for Yeezy and Hov's single off Watch the Throne. WTT is currently #1 on Billboard 200 with over 436,000 copies sold. The duo also broke Coldplay's old record of 282,000 digital copies sold on Itunes, setting the new record at 290,000 copies in a week. The wip in the video is also being auctioned off to some lucky, rich Kanye/Jay-z fan. That shit cray!

Dee-1 - The One That Got Away ft. Mannie Fresh

Never heard of Dee-1, but his Top 10 Things Females Say and Do, and What They Really Mean post on TheWellVersed.com inspired me to give this man some shine on his last single/video. This track features Mannie Fresh (yes, the badass from Still Fly) and can be found on his latest project, I Hope They Hear Me Vol 2.

Download The One That Got Away

J. Cole - Any Given Sunday #1 (FreEP)

So if you haven't been following Cole lately, he threw out his idea of dropping a mixtape before the album drops in late september, and instead decided to just let lose a few new tracks every now and then until Cole World: The Sideline Story hits the shelves. This is his first installment of Any Given Sunday, a series of Free EPs, which he will, by the title of the project, most likely drop every Sunday until September 27th hits. Only two new songs on this one but still great additions to my list of Cole classics.

Download Any Given Sunday #1

July Mix 11

Its been a year since I started this blogging hobby and since I still haven't given it up, I decided to try a little something different this time around. It feels as though music fans today have short attention spans when it comes to giving new music a chance. People are constantly hungry for new jams and may only listen to 10 seconds of a song before clicking their mouse to move on to the next track. For this reason I had my business partner, Jimbo Slice, mix this end of the month playlist into a single track that is filled with smooth transitions and dope hip hop. If you have the time (a little over 40min), let this track play in its entirety and give every single song that I chose as July's "best of' a chance. If you really give these songs a full listen, then maybe you will see why these songs stuck out for me.

As for the July Mix... Another month full of heaters. July may be remembered for Kendrick Lamar's classic Section.80 album or even Lil B's attempt to shock the music industry with his sudden switch from songs filled with random ignorance, to an album filled with conscious driven material (not to mention his album was titled I'm Gay). But regardless whether it was new comers providing music that the average joe can relate his struggles to, or the legendary Wu-Tang Clan dropping a project that left no fan disappointed, this month was proof that hip hop continues to strive and head in the right direction.

Download July Mix '11

After listening to the mix like it was intended to be heard, add all the tracks to your Itunes here.