Metal Lungies

Fame, Billy, Term and Statik all outdo themselves on this grimy track. Foundation is shaping up!

Download: M.O.P. – Crazy (ft. Termanology) (produced by Statik Selektah)

(image source)

DJ Green Lantern provides great audio from Jay-Z’s 2006 concert in London.  The first link starts with Jay doing “Where I’m From” and goes to the line, “Who’s the greatest MC, Biggie Jay-Z or—” but before he says “Nas,” the man himself comes out amid a surge of excitement from the audience and launches into “Made You Look.” His entire set lasts 14 minutes.

The second link is Jay-Z and Nas performing “Dead Presidents” with Chris Martin of Coldplay on the piano. Instead of Jay’s third verse, Nas does the first verse from “The World is Yours.” And the third is “Heart of the City,” once again assisted by Chris Martin.

Listening to “Where I’m From” and “Dead Presidents” reminds me how Jay used to rip shit.

Download: Jay-Z, Nas – Where I’m From, Made You Look, If I Ruled the World, Hate Me Now (Live in London)

Download: Jay-Z, Nas – Dead Presidents (ft. Chris Martin of Coldplay) (Live in London)

Download: Jay-Z – Heart of the City (ft. Chris Martin) (Live in London)

via DJ Green Lantern

OH SHIT. Aziz (of Human Giant/Parks & Recreation/Funny People fame) drops such a crazy hot exclusive, I had to play it 8 times in a row before my ipod died. heat rock. Download/listen/stream now.

Download: Jay-Z feat. Aziz Ansari and Kanye West – Hate (DJ Aziz Ansari EXCLUSIVE)

Sidebar: I’m sorry for the lack of updates (and e-mail responses) lately (ie last 6 months), real life/9 to 5/debilitating twitter addiction have been getting in the way heavily. But you best believe your boy will overcome.

This that Blueprint 3 shit right here.

Thank you, Jeezy.

I could tell there was something off about Blueprint 3 right away and it wasn’t just the awful tracks Jay got from Timbaland or the hopelessly corny “Young Forever.” Even though Jay-Z gives his best performance in years and there are number of standout tracks, there was something deeply disappointing about Blueprint 3 that I couldn’t put my finger on.

Then Jeff Weiss pinpointed it: Blueprint 3’s problem is that Jay “relied on Kanye and Timbaland to tell him what THE FUTURE sounds like.”

We typically associate the future with space travel, infinitely useful brain-chips, and robots butlers that satisfy our every wish. Thus, when we describe music as “futuristic,” we’re usually referring to synthesizers, vocal effects and other relatively new technology/beeps and bloops.

But it’s 2009 and I still don’t have a flying car.

The fantasies we have about the future are actually very unrealistic and silly. Likewise, Blueprint 3’s “future” sound is really just pop-influenced electro-bullshit. “Future music” is not Mr. Hudson. Future music is unexpected and groundbreaking. Blueprint 3, while very entertaining at times (my picks below), is neither.

Download: Jay-Z – Thank You (produced by Kanye West, No I.D.)

Download: Jay-Z – Already Home (produced by Kanye West)

And of course “D.O.A.” and “Run This Town”