“You try to claim the unknown, the unknown’ll claim you…”

Gravity Sample Track

Continuing on with or addition of more old school albums to CTR’s archives here’s the highly acclaimed sophomore LP from Da Bush Babees. I personally only discovered these cats about one or two years ago, but they seem to fit right in with the rest of my listening patterns. Gravity, which is probably the first LP to master the art of blending hip-hop and reggae in a way that leaves no emptiness or further craving for either respective genre, features tracks blessed by Native Tongues gods Q-Tip and Posdonus and as credited with being the first major exposure for Blackstar’s Mos Def as an emcee. Like Group Home, Black Sheep, Black Star or Brand Nubian? Cliche yes, but you’ll love Da Bush Babees.

TRINIDAD STAND UP

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Been waitin on this shit fo a while. Crazy beats and dope features.

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Here’s the debut ABB release of the SoCal Jazz Rap group Sound Providers. Like other Californian groups of the same genre, the Sound Providers cleverly mash boom-bap styled hip-hop with smooth jazz blends. The album features guest appearances from Little Brother, The Procussions, Asheru and others. Fans of People Under the Stairs, INI, Crown City Rocks, and Kero One will love this one, but fans of old school cats like Tribe, De La Soul, and Pete Rock & CL Smooth should be able to feel this release as well. Download it and if you like it, cop it here.

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Man, oh man. After hearing this track I can’t say how excited I am about Jake’s new Rhymesayers release (White Van Music due out October 7th). For those who don’t know Jake One has been the man behind the boards for everybody from MF Doom and De La Soul to 50 Cent & Nas. I mean damn… who didn’t love Rock Co. Cane Flow? His album is slated to feature underground & mainstream legends alike and with his ability to get cats who would have otherwise never worked together on the same track, this is going to be ill. Check this track out for a taste of what I’m talking about. Ill ass collabo. Fucking crazy…

Download: The Truth.mp3

One of the best hip-hop albums ever. No hip-hop blog is complete without this.

TITLE INFO

ARTIST: De La Soul
TITLE: 3 Feet High and Rising
RELEASED: 1992
LABEL: Tommy Boy
TIME: Disc 1: 67:17 min, Disc 2: 46:02 min

RELEASE INFO

SOURCE: CD
GRABBER: EAC (Secure Mode, C2 Error Correction Disabled)
ENCODER: LAME (Command Line: -V 0 –vbr-new)
SIZE: 182 MB
QUALITY: 240-260 kbps VBR, Joint-Stereo
RIPPED: 12-10-2006
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I originally slept on this one when it came out, but it’s def worth the listen. These cats (who recently changed their name to The ABs from Asamov) from Florida will really take you back to the mid 90s and put you in the mind of groups like De La Soul. They were featured on the A3C mixtape a while back with this crazy joint called “Boombox” which I posted the single of. If you like the track check the entire album (guest apperances by 9th Wonder, Akrobatik, Mr. Lif, Wordsworth, J-Live, & Cassidy).

Boombox.mp3

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As any of you who know me can tell, Brother Ali is one of my favorite two MCs of all time (just look at my last.fm page). Unlike most artists I listen to, I didn’t get into Ali from listening to his first album because when I started listening to him the album was near impossible to find. Thanks to somebody who order one of the first 300 copies of Ali’s 2004 Champion EP, Ali’s Rites of Passage finally started to pop up all around the internet late last year. If I had never heard of Ali before I would’ve thought this album was made in the early-mid 90s… which is a good thing, a really good thing. This album takes you back to the time of Brand Nubian, Black Sheep, Black Moon, Tribe and De La Soul from Ali’s lyrics, to his production (he produced this album), even to the interludes. Rites of Passage is a masterpiece of an album, so please don’t sleep on it for your own sake.

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1. The Future (3:50)
2. Verbal Clap (3:16)
3. Much More (4:05)
4. Shopping Bags (She Got From You) (3:57)
5. The Grind Date (3:22)
6. Church (5:33)
7. It’s Like That (4:37)
8. He Comes (3:44)
9. Days of Our Lives (3:51)
10. Come On Down (5:01)
11. No (4:34)
12. Rock Co.kane Flow (3:05)

Total Playing Time: 49:01 (min:sec)

Download here

De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers, Monie Love, Queen Latifah… just watch the god damned video and enjoy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2hG9VhrZSA]