Metal Lungies

Don’t be afraid, it’s more Wu-Related goodness.

We are just glad these got out before all the legal drama! Personally, we think maybe selling some of the stunna goods and paying The Dogg Pound would’ve been a nice thought. Don’t ever expect copped to be this lavish.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=P8b1Fa1yYzQ[/youtube] [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ICUHk5XN64c[/youtube] Read the rest of this entry »

You may remember we mentioned Chocolate Rain very briefly a bit ago. We were stunned when we saw Eskay post this:

its on loop.

Incase you were wondering how Rick Ross spends his holiday…If you enjoy footage of rappers getting daps from fans and giving turkeys to people while a loop plays in the background then this is the video for you.

The event was a part of another hip hop charity: Rick Ross Charities.

Great online hip hop shop Underground Hip Hop has an excellent video section divided into new music videos, interviews and live performances. What I’m want to point ML readers to today is the Old School Videos section on Underground Hip Hop.com, which has loads of classic vids ranging from A Tribe Called Quest to Just-Ice. While the selection is pretty small at the moment and I’m sure you can find some of these elsewhere, no other site has them in such pristine quality (especially the older clips.)

Go take a look, you won’t regret it.

My personal pick:

Gang Starr feat. Big Shug, Freddie Foxxx – The Militia

I’m going to be posting a lot less in the next few days, so I hope this holds you for the weekend. It’s been a great week, thanks for the feedback.

Happy Thanksgiving all you fellow Americans. Everyone else- enjoy your work day.

It seems all this bull about record sales has led to a lot of talented rappers being dropped from their labels for not being marketable.

Of course, the internet makes makes it easier for rappers to put out material and get it to their fans. But it would be nice to see these talented spitters getting the shine they deserve. Here are my picks in no particular order:

1) Peedi Peedi (or Peedi Crakk if you prefer)

Peedi’s hyper, psychotic Bugs Bunny flow led to him being pegged as the next big thing several times over. But despite being part of Roc-a-fella’s lineup when it mattered and knock out cameos on records by Freeway, Beanie, the Roots & DJ Jazzy Jeff, his supposedly finished debut “Prince of the Roc” has still not been released (though apparently scheduled for this year). A damn shame; I would have liked to see what he did with a whole album. And how the fuck Young Gunz going to get an album released before Peedi?

2. Killer Mike

One of the dopest out the South, Killer Mike has pure lyrics, sheer intelligence (go listen to “That’s Life” off I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind to get an idea) and a gritty, no-BS cadence. Like Peedi, he built up a rep through several great guest appearances and an affiliation with a well-regarded hip hop supergroup (in this case, the Dungeon Family). He even put out a decent album, Monster that sold decently but didn’t really represent his talents. But a recent dispute between Big Boi of Outkast and Sony has led to his follow up Ghetto Extraordinary to be pushed back several times from its original release date of 2005. Since his first album dropped, he left Outkast’s Purple Ribbon Records and has put out excellent street albums on his own independent label Grind Time Records (like the aforementioned “I Pledge Allegiance…”). Still it’d being nice to hear him over name brand producer beats with the budget a major can provide.

Edit:Whoops, Theory of Black Ice tells me I’m wrong and KM is distributing Grind Time Records through Bay Area record label SMC. My bad, good for Killer.

3. Joe Budden

Joey Budden is a talented storyteller with an appealing every-man quality but the guy can’t seem to get a decent break. Since the release of his self-titled debut he’s been dropped from Def Jam and his second album The Growth reportedly became stuck in development hell and no one really knows when it’s coming out. Like KM, he’s been putting out cohesive, well-thought mixtapes with very little of what one would consider irritating mixtape conventions (DJ shouts, pointless skits, etc.) and mostly original production. He’s now gearing up to release the third installment in his Mood Muzik series. Hopefully Budden will get signed at some point; he has been working with Just Blaze again lately on tracks like “Pop Off” and they’ve both indicated they’re going to some more collaborations. Let’s see what happens.

Anyone else you can think of? Let me know in the comments.

Bonus links: The vid for “Brand New Funk 2K7” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & Peedi Peedi

Trailer for Mood Muzik 3:

Killer Mike’s Grind Time Sports Show series on Superdeluxe, “Making It Rain” (hilarious) Interview with Peedi on The Sound of Young AmericaAnd Killer Mike

One of the Bay’s finest rips it nice and fast.

Free At Last drops today, so I thought I’d round up all the music videos he’s made in 2007. Free’s been busy, damn! Here we go!

His first video of ’07 was his appearance of Skillz’s "Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know". It sounds exactly like "What We Do" but I think that was the point. Love how they’re wearing each others’ t-shirts.

"Still Got Love" with a nice Curtis Mayfield sample, if I’m not mistaken.

"Lights Get Low" ft. Dre and Rick Ross: (sidenote: man, if Ross doesn’t have the second best beard in hip hop…)

"It’s Over" (dope production on this one):

Bonus: A freestyle.

Whew, I think that’s it. Don’t forget our recent roundup of 4 other recent Freeway tracks, none of which apparently made the album. Why did they take off the excellent "Where You’ve Been"?

According to this site, GZA’s dropping a new album on Jan 8th, 2008. No big deal right? Only it’s supposed to be his follow up to “Liquid Swords“. Arguably the greatest Wu solo ever and the only one to have an appearance by every Wu member. So if this is the follow up, what are “Beneath the Surface” and “The Legend of the Liquid Swords” considered? Somebody help me out?

BTW welcome aboard AaronM!!!