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Dragon Fli Empire (DFE), a Calagary, Canada dropped this album late last year (in Japan, early this year in the US), and although I spotlighted a few of the tracks from this album on another one of our blogs, I’ve only recently had the chance to peep the album in it’s entirety. I still stick to the notion of them sounding like old school acts of yore such as Large Pro, Dream Warriors and newer acts along the lines of Shad or Supa Koop & Outkome, but their sound (since I’ve peeped more of their material) is less laid back that I initially collected (think production along the lines of People Under The Stairs). Canada has been producing a lot of quality material as of late (or maybe I’m just now catching on), would def recommend this for anybody digging for som easy listening.

Dragon Fli Empire (abbreviated DFE) is a hip hop duo from Calgary, Canada, comprising Tarik Robinson, also known as Teekay (MC/producer), and Adam Hicks, also known as DJ Cosm (DJ/producer).

DFE’s first album, Conquest, was released in August 2004. It was followed by Invasion in 2005, Intermission EP in 2008 and Redefine in 2009. Their music is inspired by classic hip hop beats like those of Pete Rock, Large Professor and Prince Paul. They are known for their down-to-earth perspective, with insightful and comedic lyrics.

written by Breezilla \\ tags: 2008, 2008 Releases, BCC, Blackalicious, Boot Camp Click, Cadence Weapon, Calgary, Canada, Canadian Hip-Hop, Crown City Rockers, De La Soul, Del The Funkee Homosapien, Dragon Fli Empire, Dream Warriors, Grouprip, Import, Japanese Import, Josh Martinez, Large Pro, Large Professor, Lynn Olagundoye, Masta Ace, Moka Only, Mos Def, People Under The Stairs, Pete Rock, Rashan Ahmad, Shad, Supa Koop & Outkome, The Beatnuts, The Chicharones

Sweet Jesus, finally some new material from De La Soul. My girl Spleenz peeped me to this release before it dropped, geeked it’s finally here (I was wearing my 3 ft High & Rising T-Shirt when I saw this drop) The songs are all in one track, but the tracklisting is posted below (it also comes with a digital booklet). What a beautiful day.

Buy it on iTunes if you’re feelin’ it.

More info after the jump. Continue reading »

written by Breezilla \\ tags: 2009, 2009 Releases, Billy Ray, De La Soul, Gina Loring, Native Tongues, Native Tongues Posse, Nike, Raheem DeVaughn

I know Mrs. Badu isn’t exactly your typical hip-hop artist (some may even argue she’s not hip-hop at all), but falling in place with your De La Souls, Q-Tips, and The Roots, I think Erykah fits the bill for content posted on this site in one way or another. My mom used to bump her live CD & Baduizm a lot when I was a kid (My sister played the fuck out of Mama’s Gun), but it was only when my personal preferences in music started to mature and I started soaking up the works of Digable Planets and The Roots that I started taking an interest in her catalog. Hip-Hop or not the (primarily) Roots produced Baduizm in all of it’s afrocentric and 5 percent tinged glory, is one of my favorite albums of all time. She may be no Lauryn Hill (is anybody?), on this effort Erykah was able to bring the world an album with philosophical, political, socio-economic, and religious undertones (everything that your atypical urban mainstream artist is prone to avoid) laced with jazzy/bluesy palate (again another key factor in being anti-mainstream) and still managed to make the world love her in all of her headwrapped glory and gave her a grammy to boot. We all know grammys generally mean little to nothing, but when an artist who exudes uniqueness and individuality wins an award, I can’t help but to cheer.

A lot of you cats who aren’t huge fans of acts of soul/r&b probably mainly know her from her relationships with Common, Andre 3000, The DOC, & Jay Electronica (the father of her youngest child), but you shouldn’t let Electric Circus, knitted kufis and bright colored slacks solidify your opinion of her music. Do yourself a favor and at least peep Baduizm (especially if you’re a fan of The Foreign Exchange or Jazzanova), open your mind and a checktherhime. =)

Erykah_Badu-Live-(Retail)-1997-CMP
Erykah_Badu-Baduizm-1997-OSR
Erykah_Badu-Mamas_Gun-2000-RNS
Erykah_Badu-Worldwide_Underground-2003-RNS
Erykah_Badu-New_Amerykah_Part_One_(4th_World_War)-2008-C4

More info after the jump.
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written by Breezilla \\ tags: 1997, 2000, 2003, 2008, Andre 3000, Angie Stone, Bahamadia, China Blac, Common, De La Soul, Dead Prez, Digable Planets, Discgoraphy, Discographies, Erykah Badu, Grouprips, Jay Electronica, Jazzanova, Karon Wheeler, Lauryn Hill, Lenny Kravitz, Live Albums, Outkast, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah, Roy Hargrove, The DOC, The Foreign Exchange, The Roots, Zap Mama

This one pretty much speaks for itself…

Tracklist after the jump. Make sure to support one of the greatest and cop this in a store near you!

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written by TheDude \\ tags: 2009, A.G., Aloe Blacc, Amp Fiddler, Busta Rhymes, Chino XL, Common, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Frank n Dank, Grouprip, J Dilla, Music, Rap, Slum Village, Steve Spacek, The Pharcyde, The Roots, Underground

“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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written by Breezilla \\ tags: A Tribe Called Quest, Alish Shaheed Muhammad, Black Sheep, Black Star, Brand Nubian, Da Bush Babees, De La Soul, Group Home, Mos Def, Native Tongues, Posdonus, Q-Tip, Rahzel

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

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written by DMXXX \\ tags: Alchemist, Bishop Lamont, Black Milk, Blueprint, Brother Ali, Busta Rhymes, C Note, Casual, D. Black, De La Soul, Elzhi, Evidence, Freeway, GMK, Grouprip, Hip-Hop, Ish, J. Pinder, Jake One, Keak Da Sneak, Little Brother, M.O.P., Maine, MF Doom, Mobb Deep, Nottz, Posdonus, Prodigy, Rhymesayers, Royce Da 5'9'', Slug, Spaceman, The Alchemist, Vitamin D

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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written by admin \\ tags: A Tribe Called Quest, ABB, Asheru, Asheru & Blue Black, Asheru of Unspoken Heard, Crown City Rockers, De La Soul, Hip-Hop, INI, Jazz Rap, Little Brother, Maspyke, Music, People Under The Stairs, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Procussions, Sound Providers, Underground Hip-Hop, Wee Bee Foolish

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

written by admin \\ tags: 50 Cent, Brother Ali, De La Soul, Freeway, G-Unity, Hip-Hop, Jake One, Mash Up, MF Doom, Music, Nas, Rap, Rhymesayers, Roc-a-fella, Underground Hip-Hop

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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written by admin \\ tags: 1989, Classic, De La Soul, Grouprip, Hip-Hop

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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written by admin \\ tags: 9th Wonder, Akrobatik, Asamov, Cassidy, De La Soul, J-Live, Mr. Lif, The ABs, Wordsworth

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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written by admin \\ tags: A Tribe Called Quest, Black Moon, Black Sheep, Brand Nubian, Brother Ali, De La Soul, Rhymesayers

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

written by admin \\ tags: 2004, De La Soul, The Grind Date

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]

written by admin \\ tags: A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Monie Love, Native Tongues Posse, Posse Cut, Queen Latifah