The beats are shinier and the guests are bigger but Freddie Gibbs still raps better than nigh everyone in possession of a microphone. Best song? “Neighborhood Hoez” with monsieur 2 Chainz.

Download: Freddie Gibbs – Cold Day In Hell

via LRG

Starlito’s newest mixtape Ultimate Warrior is a swirl of ambition, regret, and base desire. It’s more a mass of new material than a proper street album, but no less entrancing for it. The Nashville rapper is wildly charismatic and raps in lyrically dense bursts. Even when he adopts familiar topics – drug dealing sagas and misogynist romps – he sits on top of them and sneers at them. Or he transcends them by telling the stories with genuine feeling rather than going through the motions.

Ultimate Warrior starts with “#UW,” a title track for the hashtag age and a confrontational and cheeky introduction. Vitriolic peaks excuse the lack of a hook. Starlito raps from the back of his throat in a strangled croak that sounds like he’s about to throw up. The anticipative beat serves a hostile, outspoken loudmouth. “Antonio Montana” opens with Starlito reciting Scarface lesson number one, “Don’t underestimate the other guy’s greed,” before breaking into a cackle. He wavers between sardonic and aggressive throughout Ultimate Warrior.

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Huntsville rap is iridescent, but gritty; starry-eyed, but grounded; and always heavy on bass. It’s pretty much the only hip-hop scene worth getting excited about today. Family Ties came out this week, a new mixtape from O’Third, themselves a subset of great rappers and producers behind Huntsville’s relatively bigger names.

They’re much more grounded in today’s Southern rap sounds and tropes than their affiliate group G-Side. Money, weed, and bitches all make appearances. O’Third’s left turns aren’t as brazen — many of their songs wouldn’t be out of place on Def Jam release, except for the fact that they’re really good. The Auto-Tune verse on “Say My Girl” has no business on an underground mixtape, but it comes as naturally as the Hitchcockian beat on “DeBo.” Producers R.Dot, Snypa, and Bossman are in a league of their own and Monster, Zilla, DJ Cunta, and Mitch all command attention with authoritative performances. My only gripe is the line, “Killin’ ‘em all like Auschwitz,” which is tasteless and offensive, even by hip-hop standards.

Still, Family Ties is a milestone in Huntsville’s winning streak and a contender for mixtape/album of the year. Believe the hype.

Untamed is a mild alternative to adlib-heavy Southern rap. They have more in common with Freddie Gibbs than Waka Flocka; that is, they can actually rap. Grab The 6 Day Equation below and don’t forget about Street Solid.

Exile’s greatest strength is quaint, jittery loops set to the ruminations of a talented niche of local rappers, but he takes a few excellent detours on his new mixtape, a collection of new and old tracks. The unexpected Bun B feature is one such excursion, a helping of syrupy, buzzing funk and “Mic Jackson” by Dag Savage (a collab rapper Johaz) is huger and more anthemic than usual for Ex.  There are reliable appearances by Fashawn, Co$$ and of course Blu. The sooner that Blu realizes that his most memorable work is with Exile (and vice versa), the better. Intro to the Outro is an hour-long reprieve from the usual deluge of crap.

Download: Exile – Intro to the Outro

via LRG

XXX makes for a nasty listen. It’s a death spiral of drugs, alcohol, and sex and yet the title actually refers to the roman numeral. Danny Brown just turned 30. Inebriated fornication is hardly a new topic for hip-hop, but XXX takes a startlingly dark tone. “Die Like a Rockstar” is the album’s thesis. Brown compares himself to deceased entertainers, his cartoony cadence making him sound truly deranged. “Bruiser Brigade” is the backdrop to a night of belligerent drunkenness and “Lie4″ is the same, but with hallucinogens. The project requires cracked, this-is-your-brain-on-drugs beats and Skywlkr, Brandun Deshay, and Paul White rise to the task magnificently. XXX is an outburst from an artist who can’t call himself a young man anymore and one of the best rap albums of the year.

Download: Danny Brown – XXX

via fool’s gold

Knxwledge’s Hexual Sealings LP (think about it… done? OK) starts off with a remix of Musiq Soulchild’s “Be Friends” that isolates the neo-soul elements and butters them up nice. An equally suave Darien Brockington remix follows. Much of the new disc from the Philly beatmaker falls under ‘grown and sexy,’ but it would be a mistake to brand Hexual Sealings as just neo-soul. Knwxledge can’t resist minimalist remixes of Nas’ “Book of Rhymes,” J Dilla’s “Let’s Take It Back,” and Andre 3000′s verse from “The Art of Storytellin’ Part 4.” A remix of “Heart of the City” pointedly cuts Jay off at “Where’s the love?”  The common thread is organic, addictive beats that give each acapella a second life, often a hot and sweaty one.

Releasing your mixtape without an animated cover in 2011 is like releasing it on an actual tape and selling those tapes in the parking lot of Home Depot. LA Da Boomman is ahead of the game with his new mixtape Boomin’.

Donwill celebrated his birthday by releasing a free EP. Explains Don,

i guess i should actually say something about DPPLGNGR huh? long story short it was recorded mid to late last year after i found out about this guy named suff daddy and was put in touch with his label (mpm) thanks to the homie jon kim. i went back n forth with them via email for a while then the conversation just kinda stopped. i waffled about releasing it and finally decided that it was too good not to share. the songs are relatively old and they deal with my lows and highs and everything in between. the title comes from just becoming a whole different person over time, sorta like a doppelganger of yourself. that feeling that you get when you look in the mirror and dont really know the person looking back at you even though they look just like you. our lives change us incrementally on a daily basis so after a few jarring experiences one day we all lose who we were to become who we are. thats life right? you change it or it changes you.

Donwill, Von Pea, and Ilyas of Tanya Morgan release music whenever they feel like it, but it’s never just a stray track. All of their releases, no matter how off the cuff, are fully realized projects and none of it sucks. Maybe it’s quality control, or maybe they’re just unerringly talented. We’re a few days late, but go wish Donwill a happy birthday.

via Donwill

In anticipation of the release of his debut album, Co$$ released Sleepwalking, a mixtape of completely original material. So he basically dropped an extra album’s worth of material. What a guy. Watch the video for his single “Spaceman” below and check back for our interview with Co$$. Before I Awoke drops June 21.

Download: Co$$ – Sleepwalking

via Nah Right