New York rap has a new mascot. Happy Pesach, everyone.

Download: Action Bronson – Blue Chips

via DJBooth.net

This is a remixed version of NoYork!, I guess? Tasteless artwork aside, I actually like this a lot more than the original because the beats are so far left. Half of them sound like they were recorded through a McDonald’s drive-through intercom, which can be grating for some, but I love it in this context: an alternate reality version of NoYork! where Blu has nothing to do with Warner Bros. and he’s still hurtling deeper down the rabbit hole after Below the Heavens. For all his ups and downs, Blu still has a unique brand of psychedelic rap that keeps getting more potent.

Big K.R.I.T. has condensed a career’s worth of work into three mixtapes. If K.R.I.T. Wuz Here was his humble debut and ReturnOf4Eva was his star-studded follow up, then 4Eva N A Day is his high level concept album here he shuns famous features and keeps it super personal. In the Behind the Music version of K.R.I.T.’s life, this would have spanned ten years, six Grammys, two divorces, and a DUI. That’s actually not quite the case for K.RI.T., who has yet to drop his major label debut. 4Eva N a Day is K.R.I.T. ascendant, turning from raucous trunk rattlers to deeper reflections on the traditions surrounding his Pimp C/Willie Hutch derived organic funk. His old school car gets a humble ode. Wah wah guitars are abundant (a staple of country rap tunes, DJ Burn One once told me). Strippers. Beyond that, K.R.I.T. gets elbow deep in the moral juxtapositions on his album cover. Forget a debut album with Def Jam’s fingerprints all over it. I’m content with another three mixtapes.

Download: Big K.R.I.T. – 4Eva N A Day

Bonus: David Banner – Believe (ft. Big K.R.I.T.) (produced by Mr. Lee)

Apologies to Jay and Fif, but pimping belongs to the West Coast cats. Suga Free and Pimpin Young demonstrate that pimping is more than flamboyant dress and a yacht full of sluts. It’s about channeling supreme confidence over a picture perfect sample of “Who Is He And What Is He To You?” Peep the highlights from the duo’s new mixtape below.

Download: Pomona Pimpin Young – Who Is He?

Download: Suga Free, Pimpin Young – Turn Me Up (ft. Casino the G)

via dubcnn.com

The Cure 2 is stream of consciousness drug peddling rap and Willie The Kid has some truly dazzling wordplay. Download the whole thing here and grab the keepers below.

Download: Willie The Kid – Twilight Freestyle Interlude One (produced by MoSS)

Download: Willie The Kid – Waste Not. Want Not. (produced by The Alchemist)

Download: Willie The Kid – Your Encouragement feat. Krondon (produced by Lee Bannon)

Let me explain,
Nothing’s been new since Big Daddy Kane.

I love it when a rapper so succinctly shits on the whole game. Grab the mixtape below.

Download: Ludacris – 1.21 Gigawatts: Back To The First Time

I heard about Chico 2Triple in January when Traps N Trunks posted “6 Year Grudge,” a loud and bullish self-introduction over stuttering hi-hats and a chipmunked vocal sample. Chico’s provided bio would make an A&R salivate: he had just been released from a six year stint in federal prison. In July, I spoke to Chico on the phone about his album The HomeComing, which was released online two weeks ago.

Chico was born in Columbus, Ohio, then moved to Detroit, “But I might as well be from Huntsville, Alabama,” he said. The city’s hip-hop scene has treated him well. “Before the rap thing, I was a real drug dealer. I was a real hustler. So they got respect for somebody who go off, do they time, don’t talk, and come back, and live what he really talk about.” Laughing, he added, “I can’t tell you how much free beats I done got and how much love I got.”

[Read more]

Scram Jones lives on the sidelines. I’ve seen his name on production credits for as long as I can remember, but I can’t name any of them. He acknowledges his lack of visibility on “40 Bar Flashback,” where he says, “Was cool like that before I could produce a track / Ten years in the game and they’re like, ‘Scram Jones (who is that?)’” Littered with rap references, the tape is a hip-hop celebration with enthusiasm and mirth instead of suffocating reverence. There are familiar samples, punchlines that you’ll be tempted to tweet, a memorable Alchemist appearance (two if you count the previously-released Gangrene track), and Kenny Powers interludes instead of cries of “For the culture!” Proof that rap can still be casual and fun.

Download: Scram Jones – The Hat Trick

Starlito chases Ultimate Warrior with a nine song supplement. Separation Anxiety is a lot like Ultimate Warrior, but with an inclination toward slow jams inflamed by hi-hats, Lito’s laid back jeering, and cries of “bitch!”

via grindhard apparel

Rounding out this week’s deluge of mixtapes (Cold Day In Hell, LiveLoveASAP) is L.E.P. Bogus Boys’ Now or Neva. It’s street rap by the book, but not without its moments, which I’ve cherry picked for you. Keep that in mind when our telethon rolls around.

Download: L.E.P. Bogus Boys – Closer (ft. Dion Primo) (produced by Frank Dukes)

Download: L.E.P. Bogus Boys – Last Dance (produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)

via Fake Shore Drive