Metal Lungies

So far, Chico 2Triple is three for three on beat selection. “6 Year Grudge,” “Re-Up” and now “Grind Season” all seriously knock. His upcoming tape Home Coming could be a sleeper hit.

Blu uses a smooth jazz guitar sample to to create a summery, carefree beat for ScienZe and Sene to vent about their daily stresses.

Time for some confessions. “My Life” by Von Pea wasn’t really “a bone-chilling hip-hop bildungsroman” produced by 9th Wonder. It was Von dumbing out over “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” And DB49’s “Death & Resurrection” was actually a parody of “All of the Lights” about lite beers. April Fools. Admit it, we got you.

But this amazing day isn’t over yet. We’ve saved the best for last: an exclusive remix of Will Smith’s “Men In Black” by DJ Burn One. One day, when Burn One is mentioned in the same breath as Organized Noize and Pimp C, this track will become the stuff of hip-hop folklore, like Biggie’s Pepsi freestyle or the Lootpack’s Toyota commercial. And maybe, just maybe, people will remember that Metal Lungies had something to do with it.

Many thanks to Yumi Sakaki for the amazing art.

Download: Will Smith – Men In Black (DJ Burn One Remix)

Hopefully you’re up on Huntsville hip-hop by now. G-Side has one of the best albums of the year so far with The ONE…COHESIVE, which features the eye-watering production of Block Beattaz. But the Slow Motion Soundz crew is just getting started.

The new single from DB49, provided exclusively to Metal Lungies by SMS Director of Marketing Codie G, will crack pavement, shatter windows, and uproot redwoods. Kristmas and Bentley contemplate mortality and existence with the backing of the most far-reaching Block Beattaz production yet. CP and Mali Boi match Ahmad Jamal’s “Death & Resurrection” with cataclysmic bass — you will feel like twenty rhinoceroses and twenty elephants are battling in your backyard.

The pride of Bed Stuy, Von Pea, has been holding out on us. The rapper/producer from Tanya Morgan has doled out some of the best albums and mixtapes this side of 2003. But he’s never given us anything like this. While Tanya Morgan was rocking the Move Forward Music showcase at SXSW, ML’s DJ01 tore apart their bus and found a disc containing a track that elevates Von Pea above mortal MCs.

Von summons the demons of his childhood, lays bare his deepest insecurities, and soars at his dreams in a bone-chilling hip-hop bildungsroman. And what the hell is the sample 9th Wonder found to bless Von with? I’m calling it: this is the new holy grail of crate digging. Word is, Jay-Z passed on this beat for American Gangster. His loss. Fans will cite “My Life” when Von replaces Jay in their top five.

It’s hard to dislike Big K.R.I.T. The blog-favorite turned Def Jam signee is endlessly humble (watch the video for “Dreamin'” below where he plays a school janitor) while still capable of mustering the gusto for heat like “Sookie Now” with David Banner. He wears his influences (Organized Noize, UGK) on his sleeve and he appreciates a good sample. Even if a mild-mannered Mississippi rapper isn’t your thing, K.R.I.T. pulls you in with big, beautiful, engrossing beats full of guitars, strings, and all kinds of analog love. And it’s free. There’s no reason to miss ReturnOf4Eva.

Download: Big K.R.I.T. – ReturnOf4Eva

via ReturnOf4Eva

Watch the video for Dream’ after the break.

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My conversation with Curren$y last Wednesday (March 23) never strayed far from weed. We sat down in a makeshift den at a Warner Music Group office in New York and he immediately snatched up a plastic bag of weed from the glass coffee table, delighted that no one took it. He implored his publicist to make sure their driver wouldn’t mind his smoking on their way to lunch, “Please, just ask him to be cool and I will roll a window down, I will buy a Lysol from Duane Reade if he want me to, I will Scotchgard his shit. Please.”

Curren$y’s career includes chapters with Master P, Lil Wayne, and Dame Dash as well as an independent run that included eight free mixtapes and two albums on Amalgam Digital. He released Pilot Talk and Pilot Talk II, which were distributed by Def Jam, with Dash. He also did a mixtape with Wiz Khalifa. Despite a career worthy of a three hour documentary, Curren$y is as nonchalant as a college kid and his music reflects that.

His new project is another sharp career turn. He’s teaming up with Alchemist to release Covert Coupe for free on April 20 through WMG. In our interview, he talks about leveraging hip-hop blogs, his group with Mos Def and Jay Electronica, and the “Choppa Style” video.

ML: You’ve come a long way since [the 2008 XXL Freshmen cover], right?

Curren$y: I guess. I’m still on the grind though. I still feel like that just happened even though clearly it didn’t. They just had the Freshmen cover concert yesterday.

ML: Were you there?

Curren$y: I got there at the last minute. It was like the end of Yelawolf’s set. Everybody was coming out when I was about to walk in. So I was like, ‘Well, shit.’ I just high fived a couple people and got back in the car.

ML: You often get lumped in with the younger generation of rappers. Why do you think that is?

Curren$y: Because it took a minute for that lane to be carved. That groundwork of that took years of waiting even for the game to be ready for something like that. And now, all the music doesn’t have to be the drug music, the gun music to make it. You can kind of just be chillin’. So, it’s easier now. But that time – 19, 20, 21, all that – there was no lane for me at that point. All of that time, it was me carving the lane and waiting for the world to even be receptive.

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Like so many other rappers, Snoop Dogg is only as good as the producer on the track. Luckily, his new album has a lot of good producers on it. Jake One, Battlecat, and DJ Khalil contribute beats as well as Mr. Porter who laces “My Own Way” with some gangster shit. Doggumentary is out today and a great listen if you cut out the fluff. If you need a laugh, listen to Snoop’s new Juan Epstein.

“The Cookout” serves as a reminder of how much fun rap can be. No apocalyptic warnings or excess vulgarity, just crazy rhyming. If New York ever has warm weather again, this is at the top of the BBQ playlist. Taken from Jermiside’s Live & Let Live.

Download: Jermiside – The Cookout (ft. Donwill, Spec Boogie) (produced by Von Pea)

via rockthedub

Kind of redundant as we just posted a Jackie Chain song about weed, but still dope. “Getcha High” has Rittz’ double time edge as an added bonus.

[audio:http://ia600608.us.archive.org/12/items/YoungStruggleFeat.RittzJackieChain-getchaHighprod.ByDavidRay/GetchaHigh.mp3]

via The Smoking Section