Rap songs about weed have gotten predictable. You’ve got the woozy 808 heavy Wiz Khalifa/Curren$y weed songs and West Coast Devin the Dude smoker joints. Da COD veer off with a psychedelic rock sample and a raucous, comical, chorus. Green never fails to inspire.

If you’re in NYC, this is where you belong tonight. G-Side are in New York. DJ01 came away from their SXSW set a changed man.

When I heard the legendary (and I’m not using that term in a throwaway fashion) Nate Dogg died, I was in a near panic attack mode getting ready for SXSW, I couldn’t even get myself together to verify it at first when I saw it. Well a few hours later, it hit me, that the hook master was gone. There have been some great tributes going up on the internets, including a series from Passion of the Weiss. Another of my favorite tributes was from longtime ML friend/supporter Yumi Sakaki who drew a very unique and impressive piece called ‘All Dogs Go to Heaven’, that you see above.

From Yumi

The homey Denmark Vessey of Crown Nation drops a video off his upcoming IH8MYJOB project. You’ll recognize the butter Isleys sample but Denmark flipped it right. This one’s for anyone clocking overtime at minimum wage.

G-Side @ The Spin Loft

SXSW Music 2011 was such a craze that I’m still recovering from pure exhaustion, combine that with a mean head cold I caught, and I’ve been slumbering like a hibernating bear. Fear not though, the grand ol recap should be hitting your face in the next few days. In the meantime, check out the instagram photos I snapped, and you may have missed from the ML twitter feed.

Check the pictures after the jump.

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Jet life, jet life, jet life. Stay tuned for our blowout Curren$y interview. Teaser: Turbo Teen may have been the inspiration for Covert Coup.

[audio:http://www.xxlmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/jetlife.mp3]

via XXLMag.com

New York City, come see Just Blaze field questions from Chairman Jefferson Mao of ego trip. These Red Bull sessions tend to yield serious gems, so if come by if you could go for some hip-hop stories. RSVP info is in the flyer. ML might be in attendance, so stay tuned for our detailed notes.

Totally forgot about this until 30 seconds ago. Here’s the full video of Stray Phrases performing J Dilla’s Donuts at the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn on February 3 — the same show we were hyping earlier this year. This was the second time they played Donuts. ML provided the recording of their first set, but now you can get the visual side of the experience. The video is broken into five parts. See the pink hat the drummer is wearing? He hasn’t taken it off in two years.

Another great hip-hop mystery is laid to rest. The melody on “Shook Ones Pt. II” by Mobb Deep comes from “Jessica” by Herbie Hancock, performed by V.S.O.P. on the The Quintet live LP.

Update: Hawkeye from the Soul Strut forums has deduced that Havoc actually sampled the original version of “Jessica” from the Fat Albert Rotunda LP. Listen here.

Bronco of the The-Breaks.com forums made the discovery, most likely in a scene resembling the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. “Shook Ones Pt. II” is basically the definitive New York rap record and the sample has long been a mystery among rap nerds. When I asked Havoc about it in May, he said couldn’t remember,

You know, they ask me that all the time. I can tell you like this. One of the samples in the song is from a Quincy Jones record … The piano is from a jazz record that I sampled. I forgot what it was by now, but it was a jazz record that I chopped up and did two different pitches and pressed them on the keyboard.

Sure enough, the melody is instantly recognizable when you pitch down the piano on “Jessica,” as demonstrated by Bronco Hawkeye.

To recap, the siren at the beginning comes from “Kitty With The Bent Frame” by Quincy Jones, the drums come from “Dirty Feet” by the Daly Wilson Big Band, and the piano comes from “Jessica.”

via The-Breaks.com

Head-scratching pop-rock sample. Reminds me of “Keep It Thoro.”

Also, here’s a crazy ass sound collage from Lee Bannon’s upcoming instrumental album BTB 2: circus cuts deluxe, out March 29.