I mentioned Koncrete a couple of months ago. His mixtape, Well Grounded, is set to be released on March 26. He just sent us a freestyle, on the much used Over beat.  This dude has a ridiculous flow, and he is definitely an artist to watch.

Download: Koncrete- Kon Air (Freestyle)

Bonus: Koncrete- Too Young To Die

Today marks the Kickoff of the The Soul Tour at the Kia Collective in DC which will feature Wale, Dan Deacon, Ponytail,  and the Creepers rocking out through out the weekend in a warehouse in Washington DC.

Next weekend, Kia  moves on to Philly where MGMT will be joined by The Drums, Amanda Blank, Popo, YACHT and Francis and the Lights.

All the shows are free except you need a ticket for the MGMT shows that you get by test driving a Kia at the respective Collective location Friday through Sunday from noon – 8pm.

ML will be in the building Space in DC on Friday night to catch the homie Wale, and on Sunday for MGMT.

DC Location: 3330 New York Ave, NE

Philly Location: 23rd Street Armory 22 South 23rd St

More Info at The Kia Collective site.

This is some gorgeous throwback soul perfect for your next BBQ. Video is on point too; ladies love cool Mayer. A Strange Arrangement drops in September.

This song is actually a cover of a song by Detroit group New Holidays. O-Dub at Soul Sides has the scoop.

DOWNLOAD: Mayer Hawthorne & the County – Maybe So, Maybe No

Tour dates for Mayer Hawthorne and the County after the jump.

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Seriously rivalled only by the infamous “thugginest” interview with NORE (we’ve linked to this twice already, but it never gets old.)  HipHopGame’s latest interview with two-time Beat Drop honouree Alchemist is about a week old, but it’s so damn entertaining that I’m posting it anyway. Alc drops knowledge on getting weed delivered to your room, making beats with pots and pans and the greatness of matzo brie.

Here’s a selection of some of the best parts. On producing:

HHG: Can you take us through the making of an Alchemist beat?

A: Usually I turn the lights down and I’ll put on a record. First I usually stand on my head and I get the blood rushing into my brain because it gets the ideas rushing more. So I’ll stand on my head and I’ll wait for something to catch me on the record or my face is so purple that I have to stand up. It’s good. It’s almost like a high. I’ll find a sound and I’ll go from there. I pretty much just zone out and there really isn’t any method to the madness. I’ll find drum sounds anywhere. I’ll bang pots and pans into the microphone or smash metal cans. I can make my kicks. How did I make a kick? Oh yeah, I remember, I made a kick by turning the record player up really loud and just banging on the turntable and you get an 808 sound. It’s pretty fresh. I stole it from watching Numark on stage with Jurassic 5. I’ll make the kicks myself. It’s pretty much just acting like a complete asshole.

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Browsing through the Crate Kings archives, I came across this mini documentary about the Fat Beats location in New York, hosted by the legendary (and Beat Drop Contributing) DJ Eclipse.  Pretty interesting. They also did a slightly more generic documentary on the store while back that’s worth checking out too.

You already know we’re fans of Fat Beats at ML.

Something new from the last good member of the Unit. I really liked the original, and Banks definitely respects the song enough to rip it.

I’ve always thought that Lloyd Banks had what it takes to be one of the best. But as long as he stays on the Unit, and keeps releasing RnB then he’ll never get the shine he deserves. Who knows? Maybe he’ll drop a dope street album on that indie tip.

But probably not.

Download: Lloyd Banks- I Do It For This Block

Fascinating story behind this beautiful animated interview with John Lennon, courtesy of Current.

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview. This was in the midst of Lennon’s “bed-in” phase, during which John and Yoko were staying in hotel beds in an effort to promote peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries traditional pen sketches by James Braithwaite with digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message.

It’s incredible to me that Lennon spoke to this 14-year old kid without an ounce of condescension. John treats him like an interviewer on network TV.

As of yesterday, Lennon’s been gone for 28 years.

Copped this a few days back while roaming the new Harris Teeter back in the ol’ DMV. Immediately this has become my non-alchoholic beverage of choice. From what I gather, this has been only launched in a few select markets in the States, after selling like hot cakes tea? in France (where it is called Pamplemousse Rose, ML is sooo bilinugal). Alas, I’m already suffering from withdrawl, Buffalo is not one of the lucky select markets (contain your shock, please).

Hold up for a second. Forget all that bullshit assclownery going on in music right now. Forget Souljah Boy. Forget auto-tune. Sit down. Pour yourself a classy drink (ginger ale and rye is always a good choice) and sit down in a comfy chair. Lee Morgan has something he’d like to play for you.

“I Remember Clifford” performed in 1958.

I got an email a few days ago from Chicago emcee Nico B promoting this EP he put together. I don’t normally post stuff by people who don’t reach out to me directly, but this album is ill. Sabada Gigante is Nico’s tribute to salsa legend Hector Lavoe, produced entirely by DJ Noble. The beats are dope, all based around Lavoe samples, and Nico is pretty nice on the mic, although he does quote classic lyrics a bit excessively at times (lemonade was a popular drink in the 90s and apparently still is!) Can’t forget that fantastic album cover either.

I got into salsa pretty recently through the great Willie Colon compilation, A Man & His Music: The Player, and I’ve been wanting to flip salsa samples for a while. This EP is a breath of fresh air and very welcome on a shitty winter day, highly recommended. You can stream tracks off the tape at Nico’s MySpace too, if you’re not sold.

Download: Nico B – Sabado Gigante EP

Let me leave you with Hector singing “Periodico de Ayer” in 1978: