Koncept takes it back to the essentials on Playing Life. He assails the listener with the contents of an extremely refined rhyme book over classically boom bap production from his underrated Brown Bag AllStars crew. Damn, remember when dudes could rap like this?

It took me a minute, but I can now confidently call myself a Freddie Gibbs fan. You can only avoid the deafening consensus of the hip-hop blogs for so long. Gibbs & company sell a determinedly bleak, glamor-free brand of gangsta rap reminiscent of the survivalist mentality of 2Pac and the Outlawz. Equipped with an agile flow and an excellent ear for beats, Gibbs has no trouble delivering a tape that’s great from beginning to end.

Str8 Killa No Filla is the mixtape. Str8 Killa is the EP, which drops Tuesday.

Download: Freddie Gibbs – Str8 Killa No Filla

via XXLmag.com

Update: Here’s the untagged version of the mixtape minus the songs that appear on the EP. Yay for not having duplicates in iTunes!

Download: Freddie Gibbs – Str8 Killa No Filla (untagged)

via The DJ Booth

Brake Lights recalls the belligerence of Game’s older mixtapes where he recklessly swung at G-Unit and whoever else shot him a funny look. But those rivalries are long dead aside from the occasional snide remark in an interview. Nowadays, Game is struggling to get a single on the charts and a release date that will stick. Game seemed pretty blasé about his album situation in a recent interview where he made it seem as if it’s just a matter of time before his big radio record comes along. And while he waits, here’s an entire street album of original material.

You have to admire Game’s enthusiasm. Rather than moping about leakers and record execs that don’t see his vision (hi Lupe), Game uses his connections and resources to record a project that’s pure fan service. Interscope would never release such a haphazard album without records carefully tailored to appeal to different markets and demographics. Despite completely original beats, it’s apparent that Brake Lights was recorded on an impulse. Game rambles about sex and homicide in glorious excess over surprisingly dark production from assorted b-grade producers. It’s all been said and done before, but Game’s charisma and audacity is magnetic.

Download: Game – Brake Lights

via XXLmag.com

Update: Here is the untagged version of the mixtape. “Stop” featuring Rick Ross is missing because DJ Skee doesn’t have the untagged version. I took the liberty of fixing the metadata, which was a jumbled mess.

Download: Game – Brake Lights (The Raw Files)

via Rap GodFathers Community

This rap shit can be awful cruel. Both Drake and Wale played the sensitive rapper card. Wale’s talent grabbed him a dedicated following, an Interscope contract, and Roc Nation management, but disappointing first week sales. Drake came out with an unremarkable bubblegum rap album and had Jay-Z, Kanye, and Wayne on his nuts. Attention Deficit was flawed, but not the 10th grade love affair that was Thank Me Later.

More About Nothing is more fully realized than anything Wale has done before, effectively a concept album looking at relationships from multiple angles. Seinfeld dialog once again provides strangely pertinent interludes. Wale sounds equally comfortable over pop tracks and Southern thumpers and he uses his dynamic flow to make them get along. The tape is proof that Wale makes better music when left to his own devices and that his mountain of hype may get him somewhere yet.

Download: Wale – More About Nothing

via Rap Radar

35 tracks deep, 6th Sense’s new tape is a bullish statement of his talent and versatility. His sound is clean, crisp, and practically begging to be populated with lyrics. Rappers, throw away the shitty beat tape you’re currently listening to and contact this man. “Losing My Mind” is especially fearsome.

via It’s a 6th Sense Beat Yo!! (6th’s Tumblr)

HerFavoriteColo(u)r is an EP from the darling of the underground hip-hop scene,  Blu. It’s entirely self-produced, relying predominantly on jazz samples. But don’t think you’re getting a fully developed Blu album; HerFav is only 30 minutes long and half of it is instrumentals. It’s unpolished, but not in a bad way. It plays almost like a jam session.

Also, I have a newfound respect for Blu because the intro samples The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, one of my all-time favorite movies.

Download: Blu – HerFavoriteColor(u)r

via i write in red ink that turns blu when the book closes…

Update: Well this came out of nowhere. Nature Sounds has announced that they’re re-releasing Her Favorite Colo(u)r on August 24. The album, which has been mixed and mastered, will come with The Godlee Barnes LP as a bonus disc, which also initially saw release as a low quality download about a year ago. Here’s a song from the mastered Her Fav and yup, it’s still dope. Blu’s long-delayed album on Warner Bros. is slated to drop next year, but it’s more likely that Blu will quietly throw half an unfinished version of it on his Tumblr before then.

Seriously, this guy murdered the rap game in 2007 and he’s been missing ever since he signed with fucking Warner Bros. It’s like major labels don’t know what to do with talented artists.

Download: Blu – Untitled(LovedU)2

Free music outweighs commercial releases ten to one in the Tanya Morgan catalog. These guys just can’t stop recording. For their latest project, Von Pea and Donwill dumped some of their spare bars over the funky “sandwiches” that The Roots play before and after commercials on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. These guys can rap their asses off and the contrast between their voices resembles the Rae and Ghost dynamic. Tanya Morgan are my favorite rappers people ever.

via Pea’s Gotta Have It (Von Pea’s blog)

No dusty crackly samples over here. Oddisee’s Odd Spring sounds like it was recorded with a room full of musicians; warm, whole, and lively, but still hard pounding hip-hop with deft rappers.

Odd Spring is the last in Oddisee’s Odd Seasons series and the DC producer plans to release all four parts as a vinyl box set.

Tour dates after the break.

[Read more]

Shawn Jackson sent out a mixtape of b-sides and rarities this morning. Shawn has perhaps the best ear for beats of any underground rapper I can think of. He raps with a suave, consistent LA flow and DJ Lowkey did a great job mixing the tape as well.

Download: Shawn Jackson – Hollywood Shuffle: Side A

K.R.I.T. raps and produces an entire album of deep south soul sampled hip-hop. Big K.R.I.T. rep Goodtalk told DJ Booth, “We dug deep into the crates for the music/movie samples! The first person who can tell us which samples we used we will get $1,000 cash and a pan of Jonny Shipes famous brownies.” That sounds like a challenge. Have at it, Internet.

Download: Big K.R.I.T. – K.R.I.T. Wuz Here

via The DJ Booth