Metal Lungies

You can pause at any point in this video and you’ll get an image that doesn’t belong in a rap video. One scene has Jackie Chain and his crew of Korean fratboys at a karaoke parlor while another has Scoob Vercetti checking out his face piercings in the mirror. But the duo pull it off, demonstrating that rap artists transcend racial distinctions when united in pursuit of flyness.

How come you didn’t tell me how good the cheese was?

To be played at the Harvard Business School commencement ceremony.

The highlight here is Kendrick Lamar’s slow emotional build up which at its apex has Kendrick rapping about the come up with vitriol that would make Eminem proud. He does something similar on Terrace Martin’s “I Had No Idea.” Smoke DZA’s album T.H.C. (The Hustlers Catalog) is on the way.

Download: Smoke DZA – Uptown81 (ft. Kendrick Lamar, Mara Hruby) (produced by Hit-Boy)

via The Smokers Club

“Why Even Try” reeks of the 80s, but it falls short of being just a hokey 80s throwback because Theophilus London injects cutting edge gaspy relationship raps, the kind of stuff Kid Cudi might rap about if he still bothered to rap. But if you can tolerate a song that’s two parts 80s pop, one part rap, you might really enjoy this. Diplo on the cuts.

Download: Theophilus London – Why Even Try (ft. Sara Q)

And if the tweet to download thing is a hassle, direct link here.

Unless you were one of the few dozen deadbeats who happened to be at The Local 269 on October 17, you missed a very special show. A jazz trio called Stray Phrases played J Dilla’s Donuts live in its entirety. Yep, you missed out on history, but they’re doing it again next week.

Stray Phrases consists of Storm Siegel on drums, Dave Mainella on piano, and Evan Crane on bass. Come to the Tea Lounge on 837 Union St. in Brooklyn at 10:30 and watch these guys get busy. Now that you’ve heard the full recording of their set, you know that missing it a second time would be unforgivable.

I will be in the house, so if you’d like to say hi, look for the guy stealing silverware.

Salute Joshua Gross for the beautiful poster.

Reks trimmed his beard, picked out his best fitted hat, and went to Coney Island to shoot the video for his DJ Premier-produced single. And, yup, it’s incredible. The album is called R.E.K.S (Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme) and it has beats from Pete Rock, Hi Tek, Alchemist, Sean C & LV, and Fizzy Womack.

At least Def Jam’s bungled promotion of Ghost’s Apollo Kids album gave us a dope video for the single. Between this and the Sheek vid, the rap label of yore seems to know who to call to make a standard, but fun rap video.

Gangrene is about to tour Europe, but they need to be playing this in Egypt and Tunisia right now. The “Demons” remix is a leftover from Gutter Water, one of the few great rap albums of 2010.

Download: Gangrene – Demons (Remix) (ft. Evidence, Fashawn)

via Xclusives Zone

Ever since Rittz played AZ to Yelawolf’s Nas on “Box Chevy,” I’ve been waiting for him to drop something of his own. My prayers will be answered in the form of his upcoming project White Jesus. “High Five” shows that Rittz’ burst of fast rap was no fluke. Rittz sounds like a mix of Paul Wall and Big Pun. Burn One actually gave us an unmixed version of this back in September, but here’s the finished product.

[audio:http://ia700408.us.archive.org/35/items/Rittz-HighFive/HighFive.mp3]

Download: Rittz – High Five (produced by DJ Burn One)

via The Smoking Section

Co$$ told us about his album Before I Awoke back in August 2009. Since then, he took a detour and did a mixtape with Florida producer Numonics. But he appears to be back on track with this introspective track. Co$$ puts more genuine feeling in one line than most rappers have in their entire catalogs.

Download: Co$$ – Through the Flames (ft. Blu) (produced by Beatnick Dee)

via 2dopeboyz