Metal Lungies

Our hearts go out to the Kanye West and his family upon the loss of mother and manager Dr Donda West, who died of surgery complications on Saturday. Despite all the controversy surrounding the cause of her death, it is important we recognize her influence on her son’s career and music, and her role in being a pillar of support, a loving single mother and an inspiration to Kanye.

ML’s 6th Beat Drop installment, focusing on Just Blaze, will be up on the site this Friday. No special guests this time around, but plenty of special music.

Barring some Christmas miracle, this will likely be the last Beat Drop of the year, but look for Beat Drops in the near future on more of hip hop’s most famed beatmakers — among them J Dilla, RZA, Kanye West (on that note, R.I.P. to Dr. Donda West, who certainly seemed like a great person based on Kanye’s references to her), and the Neptunes. Also, we’ll be doing some Beat Drop posts focused not on current producers, but on artists from past generations — Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Roger Troutman and Zapp, just to name a few — focusing on their classic music and the hip hop tracks that have sampled them. ML was like heaven in ’07, and we’re going to be great in ’08! [Pardon the cheesiness of that last sentence — I was trying to channel my inner-Busta-Rhymes-on-“Scenario”-remix.]

So, why am I bigging up ML so much right now? To provide a perfect segway to this… Hey! Nielsen & Billboard.com have nominated us, along with several other blogs, for their Best Music Blog contest. To all our readers who will click the hell out of any zShare links we post but will only leave comments when we screw up — Just playing, y’all! It’s all love! — feel free to give us your vote at your earliest convenience. We’ll make sure that you’re properly compensated… with quality posts and great music. Hey, it’s almost as good as money!

The panel is back for another discussion.

If we post ONE press release from the chaotic release date, you are damn right its gonna be Ghost. Read up the album details as well as info about Ghost’s upcoming book (just pushed back). Don’t forget about catching Ghost Deni on tour.

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Rae speaks on the long standing rumors about the financial/creative friction in the Wu. Man, I really hope there’s no truth to the 7 WTC members to 1 disapproval rating for the album. Did RZA take scoring Kill Bill Vol1 &2, Ghost Dog, and Afro Samurai too far? 80% Guitars? But on the bright side, they worked out the GFK beef, maybe they’ll work this out too. Part 2 after the jump. Shout out to Buhizzle for the link!

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Somehow we missed that Ghostface, Rakim, and Brother Ali are on tour right now where they are backed by a 10 piece live band! Needless to say we all over this.

Here are the remaining dates:

November 8 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
November 9 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up
November 10 – Kansas City, MO – The Beaumont Theatre
November 11 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
November 12 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
November 13 – Bloomington, IN – Bluebird Theater
November 15 – New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
November 16 – New York, NY – Nokia Theatre
November 17 – Baltimore, MD – Sonar
November 18 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
November 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero

Podcast

This is our most danceable show ever. We play a lot of stuff. Mashups, remixes, Old tracks. The theme is illegal music. Its sort of a crash course.

We are always looking for new themes and songs. Email me.

Playlist:
Biz Markie- Alone Again
DJ John- It Takes Two To Kiss (Rob Base vs. Prince)
DJ Axel-Real Back Poppin’ (Cheryl Lynn vs. Fat Joe and Nelly)
DJ Topcat- Dec. 4th, Oh What A Night (Jay-Z vs. Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons)
Dean Gray- St Jimmy The Prankster
Earworm- Since U Been Gahan (Kelly Clarkson vs. Rex The Dog vs. Depeche Mode)
DJ Danger Mouse- Encore (Jay-Z vs. Beatles)
DJ Jay-R- Sweet Sovereign (Lady Sovereign vs. Eurythmics vs. Shiny Grey)
Beastie Boys- Egg Man
Nybbl- God Only Knows (From Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds)
DJ Jay-R- S.L.H. (Sri Lanka High) (M.I.A. vs. The Ramones)

Wow, a bunch of ML readers (read: 2) have been really feeling the Vol II from a few days ago, so as promised I dig into the ML vault (which really is a zipdisk). To bring you Vol I.

Zip: Ratatat Presents Remixes Vol I (Mixtape)

Tracklisting:

1. Ratatat/Brooklyn Zoo — “Intro”
2. Beanie Sigel & Dirt McGirt — “When You Hear That”
3. Missy Elliott — “Hot” (WEA/Elektra)
4. Raekwon — ”Smith Bros.”
5. Kanye West — “Get Em High” (Def Jam)
6. G-Unit — “Stunt 101” (Interscope)
7. Dizzee Rascal — “Fix Up” (XL)
8. Method Man & Buddha Monk of Brooklyn Zoo — “PLO Style”
9. Lazer Life of Brooklyn Zoo — “Freestyle”
10. Raekwon & Ghostface — “Cutting It Up”
11. L.O.X. — “Dirty Ryders”
12. Jay-Z — “Sunshine” (Roc-A-Fella)
13. Missy Elliot — “Wake Up” (WEA/Elektra)
14. Ghostface Killah & Jadakiss — “Run” (Def Jamz)

Customary props to Spine Magazine. This is the 1st single from Super Gangster, Extraordinary Gentleman, which is SP’s contribution to the soon-to-be-infamous December 4th clusterfuck (nh). Also, peep the trailer to the psychodelic-looking music video over at OnSmash, because – really – what is anything in hip hop nowadays if it doesn’t have a trailer?

When I first heard this track yesterday, I thought, “Ehh, nothing special”… it’s been 24 hours since, and Swizzy’s beat and hook has been on a constant loop in my head. I feel like blowing my mind as a result, and I’m not talking about getting high.

Download: Styles P – “Blow Your Mind” featuring Swizz Beatz

I just came across the fact Ratatat has posted their latest mixtape of remixes on their official site. The mixtape which I’ve been bumpin on my ipod for about half a year, definitely needs to get some shine for the crazy synthy beats they use to remix hip-hop songs. Did I mention that Ratatat is an electronic/rock group? I’ve only been aware of their work for a little over one year and everything they have put out has impressed me immensely.

First rapper to get Ratatat production on an album will win ML’s admiration 4 life.

Our fav. picks on the mixtape: The Mule & Three Kings.

If you like this I’ll dig up Vol.1 for you guys, let me know if the comments.

Zip File: Ratatat Presents Remixes Vol.2 

Tracklisting:

01.  Young Buck Ft. T.I & Ludacris – Stomp                        5:06
02.  Notorious B.I.G – Party & Bullshit                           3:54
03.  Jay-Z & Notorious B.I.G – Allure                             4:22
04.  Z-Ro Devin The Dude & Juvenile – The Mule                    3:55
05.  Young Buck – Shorty Wanna Ride                               3:50
06.  Beanie Sigel & Jay-Z – Glock Nines                           4:07
07.  Despot – Freestyle                                           1:38
08.  Memphis Bleek – Alright                                      4:12
09.  Slim Thug T.I & Bun B – Three Kings                          4:54
10.  Young Jeezy & Bun B – Over here                              4:30
11.  Kanye West – Diamonds                                        3:35
12.  Beans – Freestyle                                            2:22
13.  Notorious B.I.G – Dead Wrong                                 3:10
14.  Saigon & UGK – We Gon Ride                                   3:56