Metal Lungies

Strong Arm Steady’s “Chittlins & Pepsi” was Food Network rap, but this right here is om nom nom rap. “Wooden Wall Silverware” appears on Rapper Big Pooh’s FatBoyFresh Vol. 1. Madlib beats are rich in omega-3s.

Sure enough, there’s the button-down Co$$ bought right before our interview last month. He told me “Pot Ash” is his favorite song on Before I Awoke.

Produced by Showbiz, cuts by DJ Premier. At it’s best, Premo’s Year Round Records label generates tracks like these that match great rappers with strong boom bap while limiting deja vu.

The Naked and Famous are an indie band from New Zealand that haven’t gotten nearly as much attention in the US as they have in their native land. They are comprised of five members that each add an integral ingredient to what makes their sound so full. They have two great vocalists, Thom Powers (who provides vocals that anchor their sound) and Alisa Xayalith (who’s crazy range gives the band a one up against competition). Alisa captivates the audience when she sings and it’s hard not to pay attention during their set. Check out one of their singles Girls Like You:

“Good On That” isn’t so much a rap song as it is a ritualistic chant, an unholy invocation of Lil B or whoever these men pray to. There are no verses, only a few repeating choruses about would-be haters and swagger jackers. In the video, the chubby man with the neck scarf brandishes a pistol and aims it at the camera while he and his congregation bop around a derelict rural house and mime cooking motions. It’s exceptionally creepy. Maybe it’s just the industrial sounds of producer Asston Kusher, who I last encountered on “Jungle Pussy.” His foreboding beat is what really turns the track into an evil backwoods seance.

Sonnymoon took some liberties with their remix of Flying Lotus’ “Zodiac Shit.” They plunged the beat underwater, they added hallucinogenic singing, and they slyly put an ‘f’ in the title to make it PG. Still psychedelic. Still makes the brain feel good. Listen here and watch the video for the original below.

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.

Detroit bred Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. slowly crept into the music scene last June with a four song EP, Horse Power, that proved to be a hidden gem. Now, exactly a year later, their first full length album has arrived. Although It’s a Corporate World includes 8 brand new tracks, the songs previously made for Horse Power are still the best on the album (in particular Nothing But Our Love). The only regret we have with DEJJ is their inability to adequately name things, really, it’s all about first impressions. The only advice ML can give to you is not to judge this band based on their name or album title, they really are worth a listen.