Homeboy Sandman rapping with a live band is a beautiful thing. The Live at the Clubhouse Vol. 1 EP will also feature Blu and Freddie Gibbs. After the break, watch the video for “Fully Equipped” as well as a clip of Boy Sand performing his forthcoming single “72 For Chosenberg” in the backseat of a cab.

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Most throwback rap recalls the late 80s and early 90s, but “Bounce Squad Blackout” is a refreshing homage to New York post-Biggie, pre-9/11. I need to hear this with a DJ screaming “Streetsweepers” or “Cluemanatti” over it.

You can pause at any point in this video and you’ll get an image that doesn’t belong in a rap video. One scene has Jackie Chain and his crew of Korean fratboys at a karaoke parlor while another has Scoob Vercetti checking out his face piercings in the mirror. But the duo pull it off, demonstrating that rap artists transcend racial distinctions when united in pursuit of flyness.

Our favorite prolific West Coast beat-auteur Daedelus is back with a new album. Ninjatune describes Bespoke as “the work of a master tailor, for whom craftsmanship and quality is every bit as important, but no more important, than standing out from the crowd.” It comes out April 26 in the US and April 11 in the UK. For now, you can have the TOKiMONSTA remix of the single, “Tailor-Made.”

Daedelus is one of the most interesting and articulate interview subjects I’ve ever had. Capone-N-Noreaga are up there too.

Download: Daedelus – Tailor-Made (ft. Milosh) (TOKiMONSTA Remix)

How come you didn’t tell me how good the cheese was?

To be played at the Harvard Business School commencement ceremony.

The highlight here is Kendrick Lamar’s slow emotional build up which at its apex has Kendrick rapping about the come up with vitriol that would make Eminem proud. He does something similar on Terrace Martin’s “I Had No Idea.” Smoke DZA’s album T.H.C. (The Hustlers Catalog) is on the way.

Download: Smoke DZA – Uptown81 (ft. Kendrick Lamar, Mara Hruby) (produced by Hit-Boy)

via The Smokers Club

“Why Even Try” reeks of the 80s, but it falls short of being just a hokey 80s throwback because Theophilus London injects cutting edge gaspy relationship raps, the kind of stuff Kid Cudi might rap about if he still bothered to rap. But if you can tolerate a song that’s two parts 80s pop, one part rap, you might really enjoy this. Diplo on the cuts.

Download: Theophilus London – Why Even Try (ft. Sara Q)

And if the tweet to download thing is a hassle, direct link here.

ML is still dancing with the DJ. Deal with it.

Unless you were one of the few dozen deadbeats who happened to be at The Local 269 on October 17, you missed a very special show. A jazz trio called Stray Phrases played J Dilla’s Donuts live in its entirety. Yep, you missed out on history, but they’re doing it again next week.

Stray Phrases consists of Storm Siegel on drums, Dave Mainella on piano, and Evan Crane on bass. Come to the Tea Lounge on 837 Union St. in Brooklyn at 10:30 and watch these guys get busy. Now that you’ve heard the full recording of their set, you know that missing it a second time would be unforgivable.

I will be in the house, so if you’d like to say hi, look for the guy stealing silverware.

Salute Joshua Gross for the beautiful poster.

Reks trimmed his beard, picked out his best fitted hat, and went to Coney Island to shoot the video for his DJ Premier-produced single. And, yup, it’s incredible. The album is called R.E.K.S (Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme) and it has beats from Pete Rock, Hi Tek, Alchemist, Sean C & LV, and Fizzy Womack.