Metal Lungies

On their upcoming album Raising the Bar, Cold Heat surround themselves with a mix of unknowns, up-and-comers, and legends. “Spanish Guitars” is a dose of old New York crack. It’s an indie rap thing.

Download: Cold Heat – Spanish Guitars (ft. Nico The Beast, SR, Neta, Meyhem Lauren) (produced by Johnny Walker)

via rockthedub

I’m afraid to like Tinie Tempah because I know I’ll start to hate him as he climbs the charts and his music becomes bland and homogenized. And I don’t mean that as a knee-jerk reaction to chart success. Tinie is especially prone to unfortunate placements as he makes his stateside crossover. His song with Wiz Khalifa couldn’t have been more predictable and the track list for his DJ Whoo Kid mixtape Foreign Object looks like he decided to rap over the American rap songs with the most YouTube hits in the past year.

I’ll enjoy this cut from Chase & Status’ No More Idols for now, but some day soon, I’ll mock anyone with a Tinie Tempah song on their iPod.

Ever the rockstar, Yelawolf commandeers a SoCal princess’ father’s Lamborghini for a joyride in the hills. Few rappers are as entertaining as Yela right now.

I saw DJ Quik perform “Nobody” on Thursday at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn and even though there were only about 30 people in attendance, Quik had just as much fun as he does in the video. He let the beat ride out and started dancing to cheers of “Go Quik! Go Quik!” Music And Times has some footage of the legend in action.

“Second Place” has everything that Hell: The Sequel should have had: a dope beat and spectacular, often hilarious, rhymes. Royce can rap circles around most anyone, but he gets sidetracked with rageaholic Slaughterhouse tirades that are less impressive on every listen. DJ Premier’s low-profile beat keeps Royce in a zone where he can make Talladega Nights references amidst an amazing verse. Royce told Bootleg Kev that Premo is remixing the song “Writer’s Block” from the EP. If anyone can salvage some of that Bad Meets Evil bluster, it’s Premo.

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

Another June, another Bonnaroo Metal Lungies is going to. Starting today we will be roaming the farm in Murfreesboro basking in the glory of the 10th anniversary of the completely sold out festival.

Be sure to catch me on twitter, where we will be ranting, recapping, and instagraming… and other verbs.

If you aren’t fortunate enough to be in Ten-a-key, VEVO will be live streaming a lot of the performances, and Comedy Central will have an event on Sunday from the Comedy Tent.

In case you need to some suggestions on who/what to check out, here are our picks (in chronological order):

Thursday:  5Pm- DJ Neil Armstrong (Jay-Z’s former tour DJ, who earned that spot with his well honed skills) 6:00pm-Lewis Black, Wavves 7:15pm-Best Coast 7:30pm-The Knux 8pm-Lewis Black 9pm- J.Cole 10:15pm-Sleigh Bells (Most likely to melt your face off) 10:30pm-Twin Shadow 11:30pm-Deerhunter, Childish Gambino (see what all the hype is) 12AM- Dam-Funk

Thur night ends early performance wise, so rest up!

Friday: 12:30pm-420 Comedy Blaze (420 at 12:30pm, what?)  2:30pm-Lewis Black (the man is clearly the workhorse of ‘roo this year), 3:15pm-Matt & Kim 4pm-DJ Neil Armstrong 4:30pm-Lewis Black 5pm-Atmosphere 6:45pm-Florence + The Machine 11:00pm-Arcade Fire (*The* act of the festival?) 12:45am-Big Boi 1:30am-Lil Wayne (but after Big Boi ends!) 2:30am-Ratatat (can’t miss. have wanted to see these guys for years on years.)

Saturday: 2:30pm-Donald Glover 3:30pm-Chiddy Bang 3:45pm-!!! 4:30pm-Donald Glover 5pm-Portugal.The Man 5:50pm-Wiz Khalifa 6:15pm-Mumford & Sons 7pm-!!! 8pm-The Black Keys 9:30pm-Buffalo Springfield 11pm-Eminem 12:20am-Screening of 8 mile (I’m just curious to see who watches this after seeing Em live, ‘roo Stans?) 12:45am-Scissor Sisters 2:15am-Gogol Bordello 2:30am-Girl Talk

Sunday: 1:15pm-Mavis Staples (Just learned she was Sam Cooke’s boo.. thanks CBS Sunday Morning.)  3pm-Tig Notaro 4:10pm-Children’s Hospital [Adult Swim] (Cool down and watch this hilarious TV show) 4:30pm-Robyn 5pm-Cold War Kids 5:45pm-30 for 30: Reggie Miller (essential watching for basketball fans, if you are all music-ed out) 6pm-Robert Plant 6:15pm-Beirut 6:45pm-The Strokes

If you are like myself, and pack last minute, I’ve listed some non-camping, basic survival essentials after the jump that you want to make sure to have.

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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

Let’s see if Wale ever makes music like this again. If he tried to make this song today, it would need a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League beat and at least one verse from Meek Mill.

Raekwon has adapted to the present hip-hop market by releasing a lot more music and doing more features. Some of these guest spots make sense, some don’t. “Thor’s Hammer” is one of the former. It’s aggressive, left-leaning, underground hip-hop. Rae is in an interesting place where his legacy allows him to make songs with Kanye and Cannibal Ox.

Download: Vast Aire – Thor’s Hammer (ft. Raekwon, Vordul Mega)

via 2dopeboyz