Hip Hop
Sid Sriram ft. Sonny Shotz – Elevate
After the first few listens, I wasn’t too sure what to make out of the new song Sid Sriram has with Sonny Shotz of The Dean’s List. Wasn’t sure if I liked it, or I absolutely hated it. Just a few more listens, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I love it.
The reason I love it is because of Sonny Shotz. I think he’s really stepped his game up this year and he flourishes on these darker beats (another example here).
This marks the second song in the recent months that Sid Sriram & Sonny have linked up for and I think they made quite the duo. Peep it below!
Childish Gambino – We Ain’t Them
So Donald took to Twitter about half an hour ago and just started a Kanye-esque rant. Well okay, “rant” is a harsh word. Donald basically felt the need to explain himself–what’s he’s doing with his rap career, how he’s trying to improve, why he goes out of his way to mention kids like Trayvon Martin, and much more. The fact that he feels like he has to defend himself is ridiculous, but the things he said were insightful into the mind of one of the most talented young artists around today. He is ambitious, but he doesn’t think he’s the best (even when he says it all the time). He’s grateful for the many good things that have happened in his life but also remembers the bullshit he had to grow up with. A lot of people don’t realize that he’s paid his dues; he’s faced the same sort of hardships that many iconic rappers have faced. He’s just as “hood” as they are. After talking about how Childish Gambino started as an inside joke and has now become a legitimate rap career and how he has accepted that, he dropped the link to his newly redesigned site, featuring the picture above and the realest Big Ghost review of it. “We Ain’t Them” was first heard live at The Switch, which streamed online late last month. My favorite part of the song is when Gambino talks of reminiscing about Whitney Houston with Questlove. That’s royalty.
MP3: “We Ain’t Them” – Childish Gambino
Bonus!
This one dropped yesterday on Funkmaster Flex. I hate radio tags but love the song and the Schoolboy Q feature.
MP3: “Unnecessary (Radio Rip) (ft. Schoolboy Q)” – Childish Gambino
We don’t wife ‘em like Khalifa, we just party then we leave ‘em
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[Brenton Duvall Remix] The Knocks – All We Got ft. One Room & Kardinal Offishall
Our guy Brenton drops this brand new joint, remixing The Knocks song with Kardinal Offishall, All We Got (original), and he adds in one of our favorites, One Room.
Two favorites in one song? Yeah, we’re kind of excited about this drop. Lydia should be too. Two people in this song crush on her! Chris (of One Room) and Brenton…I see you both!
Kardinal Offishall used to be my shit back in the day.
Brenton Duvall – All We Got Remix ft. The Knocks, One Room & Kardinal Offishall
ANTHM – Polaris (ft. Blu)
ANTHM sent me a preview of this track a couple months ago and I was sworn to secrecy about it and the feature on it. Listen to this song for yourself and keep in mind that Blu (one of my favorite rappers) is featured on a track with my buddy, and imagine having to keep that to yourself for a significant period of time. Oh, and it samples James Vincent McMorrow. Let’s just say shit was hard. And on that note, ANTHM and Blu both go hard. I absolutely love this track.
Shouts to 2DBZ for the premier!
Interview: One Room + New Song
One Room is unlike any other group around today. Sunset has been supporting them since day one, and all the way up to now their releases have been nothing short of impressive. Their music is a unique blend of that dramatic Weeknd flare and the grounded, honest lyricism of someone like Kid Cudi. The group consists of Samuel (who released a solo track in March) and recent Indie-Pop signee Chris P. I had the pleasure of interviewing the duo earlier this year, and now you can read the full interview and listen to their brand new song “Tip Toe” in anticipation of their debut EP which will be released this June.
Arjun: How did One Room begin? Whose idea was it?
Chris: One Room came from a deep place inside both of us. It was kind of a mutual idea for us to do music together. Before you know it we had all these tracks we called ours.
Samuel: Yeah. We needed a new creative outlet that combined our individual strengths and talents into one big one. Watching all the awesome music happening around us and wanting to make something different… At first it was more experimentation than anything.
Arjun: What exactly is Heavy Roc‘s role in your music (production, distribution, etc.)?
Chris: The Roc is where it all goes down. Everyday pretty much we would go down to the studio and work. I was one of the engineers. Sam was always brewin’ something up as far as production, so by the time it was done I just had to cross the t’s and dot the i’s on it, ya know.
Samuel: The studio is our center, it’s really the way that we met and began to make music together and our friendship and the creative things began overlapping. We also knew that the HRM blog would be the first place we premiered our music. Everyone at Heavy Roc is really supportive, and we definitely owe them a huge thanks.
Arjun: I don’t think I get this whole set up yet. Who exactly does the production for One Room? And Samuel sings and Chris raps?
(Hit the jump to read the full interview, including who they’re both listening to right now and how Chris ended up being Lydia‘s Valentine this year.)
Ab-Soul – Control System (Album Stream)
Ab-Soul’s Control System album represents the latest piece of work from the Top Dawg Entertainment crew. Continuing his brief stints of magnificence, Ab-Soul enlists the help from fellow members including: Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock (Black Hippy) and the result is rather impressive. Few standout tracks after a few listens are “Lust Demons” and “ILLuminate”. The Los Angeles group keeps on rollin’ after turning heads throughout the hip/hop scene within the past year. Looking forward to what the future holds for this extremely talented group. Until then, check out Control System below and be sure to purchase it on iTunes.
[Mixtape] Beau Young Prince – Dream Catcher
The homie, Beau Young Prince, dropped his latest mixtape, Dream Catcher. Definitely a solid effort and he keeps it short and sweet with only six songs, and only one feature from Huey Mack. This will definitely play to his advantage, in hopes that he gets people to want more. Download and preview below.
See You At The Show is probably my favorite. Peep it!
Too Many Rappers ft. Nas – Beastie Boys (Urban Noize Remix)
Urban Noize, the remix/production duo out of Florida, continue their recent rise to relevance (alliteration!) with this fantastic remix of the recent Beastie Boys and Nas collaboration, found on the Beasties’ Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1. The duo infuse an awesome funk-feel into the hip-hop track, which brings it a greatly welcome new feel. Most likely spurred on by the death of Adam Yauch, this is one of the best ways I can think of to honor the late Beastie Boy. RIP MCA.
MP3: Too Many Rappers ft. Nas – Beastie Boys (Urban Noize Remix)
Azealia Banks – Jumanji
Yung Rapunxel aka Azealia Banks aka the reincarnation of Missy Eliot just unleashed this new jam off her SoundCloud. It’s a busy song with an even busier flow by Ms. Banks that’s sure to get people on their feet. Looks like this one is a cut off her upcoming mixtape, Fantastic. Ooh wee.
THE “FANTASTIC” MIXTAPE LEAK: “JUMANJI” PROD. BY HUDSON MOHAWKE & NICK HOOK soundcloud.com/azealia-banks/…
— ♥ YUNG RAPUNXEL ♥ (@AZEALIABANKS) May 11, 2012
Xander The Great – Royal Blood [Mixtape]
I’ve been sitting on this mixtape ever since it premiered over at Hilly Dilly. For whatever reason I haven’t posted it until tonight when it hit me–Xander The Great is insanely talented. He sang, rapped, and produced this entire tape, and the best part about that is that it’s so good. I’ll be honest I don’t know what Xander did before Royal Blood. Part of me is curious to know, but also part of me wants to go to sleep as soon as possible. Essentially my point is that Xander must have been doing something right before this mixtape dropped because his music right now carries a weight of experience with it that only time can buy. On Royal Blood Xander sounds like a veteran artist despite being only 20 years old. Which rappers would I mix in a people-mixing lab to create Xander The Great, you ask?
Drake, Kanye, and a mysterious third person (maybe Sonny Shotz of The Dean’s List?). Check it out.
MP3: “Milan” – Xander The Great
MP3: “Overbooked Hearts” – Xander The Great
MP3: “Lock Her Down” – Xander The Great
MP3: “Sonic Dellusion, BYE” – Xander The Great
DOWNLOAD XANDER THE GREAT – ROYAL BLOOD HERE
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G-Eazy: On The iPod [Top 10 Songs]
Welcome to the 6th On The iPod feature. To refresh your memories, let me recap what this feature entails. We are asking people, be they artists, listeners, or fans, what they would do if they were stranded on an island with an iPod that held only 10 songs. Which songs would they pick and why? Up to bat: G-Eazy, one of Sunset’s favorite emerging hip-hop stars.
1. Nas – Halftime
Illmatic is probably one of my 3 favorite albums of all time. It’s hard for me to pick my favorite song off of it, because it’s really one of those I like to listen to top to bottom. But if i had to pick one song to have on my iPod, itd be halftime. He goes in so hard on this track, these verses never get old. His bar structures and rhyme schemes are so crazy.
2. Kanye West – Drive Slow
It’s really hard to pick a favorite Kanye song, but this one is a classic, it just never gets old. The story he tells is so vivid… And that beat, man… He flipped 2pacs “shorty wanna be a thug” and just made it sound so much better. It’s definitely one you can play over and over.
3. Outkast – Aquemini
4. Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues
My grandpa and my mom both used to play Johnny Cash records all the time, so I heard them over and over again growing up, and I eventually got into his music on my own later on. He’s always been a staple on my iPod or iPhone or whatever.
5. Harry McClintock – Big Rock Candy Mountain
This is legitimately one of my favorite songs of all time. The story of a utopia told from the perspective of a hobo coming down the railroad tracks in those days is fuckin classic. Plus I’d need some of that to keep my spirits up.
6. 2Pac – Thugz Mansion
This is basically pac’s version of ‘big rock candy mountain’. If I was stranded on an island I would definitely need these records on my iPod, just so I could imagine being there.
7. The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
8. The Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever
9. Daft Punk – Something About Us
10. Lupe Fiasco – Day Dreamin’
I figure if I was stranded, I’d have plenty of time to lay around and kick it… this would be a perfect record. It’s also my favorite Lupe song.
Left Boy – Call Me Maybe
I’m usually not a fan of remixing “guilty pleasure” songs, but if I had to trust anybody to get the job done right, it’d probably be Left Boy. Sampling the annoyingly infectious single, Call Me Maybe, Left Boy puts Carly Rae Jepsen through some sort of video game soundtrack blender and adds his own weird brand of bars to boot. Word.
