The Roots… what can I say about them that you don’t already know? They’re arguably the best live act in hip-hop, who’s currently taking late night TV by storm as Jimmy Fallon’s in house band (answer to one of the giveaway questions if you haven’t gotten it already), and as it rarely happens to those who are deserving, The Roots have been awarded one grammy (nominated five other times). What most of you probably don’t know (or rather you do, but you tend not to delve into it) is that The Roots existed prior to 1999 at which time they rose to fame for largely thanks to their Grammy Winning track with Erykah Badu & Eve, “You Had Me”. Before there was Phrenology, Things Fall Apart, The Tipping Point, Game Theory and Rising Down (their better known albums) there was Organix, Do You Want More??!!??! and the focus of this post, Illadelph Halflife. I can’t front and say I was always a fan of their early works, because the first album I bought from the Roots was The Tipping Point (there was a Jean Grae feature ), but right after I bought that album I was passed Illadelph Halflife from my Dear (sometimes anyway) ol’ Dad from his personal collection. Before this point I was under the impression that there could be no greater Roots album than the single one I had in my collection, but Illadelph Halflife royally blew my mind. Panic!!!, Episodes with Dice Raw (one of my favorite tracks of all time point blank), Push Up Ya Lighter with an appearance from fellow Philly native, Bahamadia, The Raphael Saadiq accompanied, What They Do, Clones, Concerto of the Desparado, Universe At War with Com, No Alibi, The Hypnotic (with D’Angelo), The Universal Side with a feature from Q-Tip and the gritty story of Alice In Wonderland by a young Ursula Rucker (that was a bunch of tracks right? I should’ve just listed the entire damn album) this album is exceptional in every way possible. If you listen to no other album by The Roots, I suggest you listen to this. If you buy no other album by The Roots, I suggest you buy this one. It’s said the entire group was depressed when recording this album because they feared they wouldn’t be able to surpass their previous two releases, and maybe it was the fear that propelled them into making such a brilliant record, but regardless of the creative process, they managed to surpass all previous and future releases with this one album.
So what, he has a music video on MTV/BET… so the fuck does Atmosphere, The Roots, Kidz in the Hall, Brother Ali, Jean Grae, Talib Kweli and the list goes on… props to Kirby (be on the lookout for his new CTR affiliated blog) for this one.
Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in collaboration with New York street wear brand 10.Deep as a free download.[5] The mixtape caught the attention of Kanye West, which spawned his signing to GOOD Music.
In early September 2008, he performed at the 2008 VMA’s alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. Kid Cudi is featured on Kanye West’s 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak, singing with him on the track “Welcome to Heartbreak”, providing additional vocals on “Paranoid” and helping with songwriting on “Heartless”. “Welcome to Heartbreak” peaked at #87 on the Pop 100,[6] and a music video for the song has been released.
Kid Cudi was featured in both XXL and BBC News’s Sound of 2009 poll of up-and-coming acts.[7] He has also been featured in VIBE, Complex Magazine, The Source, Rolling Stone, and Interview magazine.
He is finishing up his debut album Man on the Moon: The Guardians for a Summer 2009 release on Universal Motown Records [8].
I’ve been meaning to do this one for forever, finally got around to it. Like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Dead Prez, Common, Kanye West, The Fugees, Jill Scott, The Roots, Dave Chappelle, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Bilal, Cody ChestnuTT, and John Legened? Well this movie is for you (if you don’t you probably shouldn’t even be looking at this blog). When I first saw this movie back when it came out on DVD I was expecting something completely comical and although the movie does have it’s many funny moments, it’s more for the music lover (it’s dedicated to J Dilla). A hip-hop classic, by a comedic genius (directed by Michael Gondry). Peep the trailer if you haven’t seen it before.
Presented by our friends and affiliates at Musical Schizophrenia. Shouts to heap. Any indie head needs to peep. Excited to peep the Speech interview.
Interviews: Kero one: ‘I am an early believer’, Speech (Arrested Development): ‘We are the change we want to see’, Sabzi (Blue Scholars/Common Market): ‘I definitely thought about doing a solo record’. Featured Artists: The Roots, Black Milk, Sabzi, J Dilla, Headnodic (Crown City Rockers), Kero One, AmpLive (Zion I), Jake One, Speech & way more. Articles: Vinyl: we’re still diggin’ in the crates, Mainstream; a rapper’s main dream?, Tupac: overrated or underrated?, Battle of the Beats: DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock, Africa: word from the motherland, Hip Hop and Materialism & more. Reviews: Kero One – Early Believers, The Eternal Top 10, Time Slip: Hip Hop from 1989-2009 & more.
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The download is only 3 MB, so why not download/read it?
Launched in 2004 by hip-hop outfit the Roots, Okayplayer Records here presents the first volume in a projected series. TRUE NOTES VOL. 1 is an impeccably hip collection of revered artists, including the ground-breaking DJ RJD2 and LA rappers … Full DescriptionDilated Peoples, and relative unknowns Nicolay & Supastition, whose hilarious “The Williams” (about a surplus of bills, hence the title) is a highlight.
Dilated Peoples’ “Okay” is one of the most self-assured tracks on offer here, but Jean Grae takes the honors for the collection’s most rambunctious performance with her effervescent “Fall Back.” RJD2 turns up again to produce Roots associate Dice Raw on the strangely relaxed “I Do What I Like,” and Virginia rapper Skillz is in his usual take-no-prisoners mode on “Take It Back.” TRUE NOTES VOL.1 is both a labor of love for its creators and a fine mix of established and up-and-coming hip-hop artists
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. =)
Chicago. Jazz. Hip-Hop. Blues. Groove. Live Band. Word.♡
This was one of the first new releases I spotted this morning (-errr afternoon) when I woke up. Thought it’d be something super left by looking at the album artwork, but you obviously can’t judge a book by it’s cover. When I have the time I try to get a feel for everything I post, so I previewed the EP on their myspace, and although I wasn’t a fan of the first joint played, Goodbye Foolish Bird, Look Into The Sun completely drug me into their sound. I’m still not quite sure which MC is Czar Absolute and which is Aquil, but one or the other sounds much like Black Thought of The Roots, but not so much that he sounds like he’s mocking dude. Regardless both, do their thing over this fuse of jazz, hip-hop, groove & blues instrumentals, bringing something new to fans of live hip-hop acts.
Not familiar with the name, but their concept of live instruments intrigues me. Will check this out later tonight for sure.
Heiruspecs (pronounced high-roo-spex) is a live rap/hip hop band based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, specifically the Midway neighborhood. The band’s name is based on a deliberate misspelling of haruspex. The band is mostly known for their live performances. In contrast to many contemporary hip hop groups that use sampling and turntables, Heiruspecs emphasize a raw, live sound, their roots and local scene They have also been known to do shows with Minnesota-local hip hop label Rhymesayers Entertainment. They have a very upbeat sound and are typically on tour for at least half of the year. The group style has been compared to the live hip hop band The Roots.
Tracklist after the jump. Grab this in stores near you!
Been meaning to post this one for a while, Breezila did a nice job of reminding me. I’ll post their other release (Kontains Jazz Tones) when I get home from work. Cop the album here
For fans of the Roots & LA Symphony.
You might remember Rashaan Ahmad dropped his critically acclaimed (yet silently released) album The Push (Om) earlier this year and after a four year hiatus it seems as if the Oakland live hip-hop band is returning as new tracks keep popping up all over the place. Haven’t heard either of their two EPs before, but Earthtones is a boom bap classic and One is a solid debut effort. Get familiar and cop their new joint when it drops.
Comprised of the Cali bred MC Raashan Ahmad, producer Woodstock, the Berklee trained keyboardist Kat Ouano, bassist/producer Headnodic, and drummer Max MacVeety, Crown City Rockers formed in Beantown’s Roxbury section during the late nineties.
Raashan, who’d moved from Pasadena at the time to pursue his dreams of emceeing ran into the Berklee contingent at various open-mic and freestyle sessions aroung the city (Kat hails originally from Wichita, Kansas, Headnodic from Wisconsin, and Max is from Massachusetts). Everyone clicked, sharing an interest in organic hip-hop and live instrumentation, bonding musically as well as personally.
“We did some shows in Boston trying to get our name out,” recounts Raashan. “And then we decided to move out to Cali to record an album.”
And so, the group, then known as Mission: which at that time included Moe Pope (check Project Move), set out West. The trip to Cali proved to be an adventure in itself. An 18-wheeler totaled all of the group’s instruments and the car they were driving. Once the group finally made it out west, they used the insurance money from the accident to put out a self-titled EP to get their name out.
Soon after came their first full-length, called One. The album quickly established the group as subterranean scene stalwarts in the Bay Area hip hop community, where they were now located. After that, the group, who in 2003 changed their name to Crown City Rockers after The Mission, (a British goth dance rock band) asked them to switch monikers, hit the studio hard recording countless songs, eventually placing 19 on their 2004 debut, Earthtones.
On the Roots’ classic LP Things Fall Apart (by far my favorite album of 1999), Black Thought had the line, “You need to buy the CD and stop rewinding this”. The MC on the Roots’ albums who most often makes me go back and catch what he said is Dice Raw, an always nimble, articulate MC who caught the Roots’ attention via a talent show and soon became an essential, if not omnipresent, part of their collective. Any MC good enough to capture the ears of the Roots must be talented, and he is; Dice’s appearances on the Roots’ albums are always remarkable.
Thus Dice Raw’s debut CD Reclaiming the Dead comes with high expectations. The sad news is that he doesn’t deliver…at all. Simply put, listening to this the first time was an entirely disappointing experience. Dice Raw’s always had a harder edge than the other Roots’ MCs, but he was also always quick with his words. Here he hardly sound like the same guy; most of the time he’s stiff and awkward, and most of the songs have annoyingly repetitive choruses. His edge is still sort of there, but it’s often reduced to rote bragging, and his quick-witted side seems to have drained away.
Reclaiming the Dead isn’t an entire waste of time, however. It just seems so in the context of high expectations and missed opportunities. For one, the music is impressive throughout. The production, by The Heat (a partnership of 5) is more beat-driven and straightforward than that of the Roots, but still lively and engaging throughout. There’s extra instrumentation that nearly saves some songs that are otherwise 100% tired, like the saxophone bits on “Go Dice Raw” and the guitar on “You’re Not the One”.
Never even heard of this one until somebody mentioned in the The Freshest Kids DVDRip post. Started watching it, pretty badass. Seems something desirable for any head’s collection. Haven’t quite finished this one myself but it features Cameos from everyone from Wordsworth, Mos Def, Black Thought and Talib Kweli to The Coup, Freestyle Fellowship and Juice.
Freestyle makes for the ideal double-bill with Scratch, Doug Pray’s fine film about the art of the DJ. Kevin Fitzgerald looks instead at the MC, specifically those who make their rhymes up on the spot, like a slam poet or jazz vocalist adding new flavor to an old standard. Unlike Scratch or The Freshest Kids, an exploration of b-boy culture, Freestyle doesn’t explain or trace the history of a form as much as celebrate it. In other words, the focus is more on the practitioners of the present, despite some valuable commentary from Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan of the legendary Last Poets, on circles and battles, and some inspiring footage of a 17-year-old Biggie Smalls (the Notorious B.I.G.) cutting loose in Bed-Stuy. Other notable participants include Common, Black Thought (the Roots) Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), Mikah 9 (Freestyle Fellowship), and Mos Def (Black Star)
Definitely in an ol’ skool mood today people. I also love this drop because of the cover, weren’t they wack before people got good at Photoshop? Definitely miss those days. Check out this remastered mixtape if you’re a true OG, lots of memories in there!
Backcover after the jump. Buy this from P.F. Cuttin directly here.
VA - P.F. Cuttin Presents Hip Hop 38 Halloween Havoc (1996)
would be nice to see some more "classic" mixtapes to be
mastered onto a cd like this one, that were only available on
cassette tape, till now, thanks cuttin'....
says "mastered from the original mixtape" on back
u can buy your own copy from cuttin's myspace site.....
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=66468394&blogID=445248860
gotta love them old school 90min mixtapes, priceless....
Tracklisting
CD1 (Side A)
01. P.F. Cuttin - Intro
02. Jeru - One Day
03. Busta Rhymes - Live 2 Regret
04. Lil' Kim - Queen Bitch
05. M.O.P. - Brownsville
06. Shaq & Rakim - Game Of Death
07. Cella Dwellas - Cranium
08. Keith Murray - Your Flow Sounds Used
(feat. Coco Bros. & Busta Rhymes)
09. O.G.C. - The Storm
10. KRS-One - Da M.C.
11. Ghostface Killah - Camay (feat. Raekwon, Cappadonna)
12. Keith Murray - Can't Control The Rhyme
13. The Roots & Common Sense - Universal War
14. Jeru - Playing Yaself
15. Meanor - Real Rap Song
CD2 (Side B)
01. Chuck D - No! (P.F. Remix)
(feat. Charlie Brown, Hienas, and more.)
02. M.O.P. & Kool G. Rap - Stick To Your Guns
03. Xzibit - Eyes May Shine Remix (feat. Mobb Deep)
04. O.G.C. - No Fear
05. Blahzay - Don't Let This Rap Shit Fool You
06. P.R.T. & KRS-One - Concious Style
07. Nas - Da Firm Remix (feat. Foxy Brown, AZ, Cormega)
08. Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth
09. Jeru - Da Bullshit
10. Smooth Da Hustler - Broken Language Pt. 2
11. Eric Sermon - Yeah
(feat. Busta Rhymes, Keith Murray, Redman)
12. Ghostface - Exclusive
13. Method Man - Da Monstars (feat. LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes)
Requested by my boy Ant, here low on the official mixtape series for the critically acclaimed anime series, Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks. Anybody who’s seen a few episodes of the show has probably caught onto many of the social undertones and themes of the show (many which have carried over from McGruder’s comic strip by the same title), and his same anti-mainstream society motif shows up in the majority of the musical features on the tapes. Skyzoo, Talib Kweli, Tanya Morgan, Pacific Division, Jean Grae, Mos Def, Little Brother, Blu, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Tribe, Cunninlynguists, AZ, Rakim, Quasimoto, Bishop Lamonot and so many more. Do yourself a favor and at least peep one of these.
For those of you who peeped Mystery Repeats when I dropped it a few months back, here’s the album’s predecessor. As always Pete & Perquisite brilliantly mix hip-hop & jazz so well they give acts like The Roots & Digable Planets a run for their money and although never quite as grimy as The Roots or as chill as the DPs, Pete Philly & Perquisite deliver us an album that hip-hop lovers and jazz fans alike can vibe too. If you like it buy it here.
I was brought up on The Roots so it goes without saying I’m a huge fan and can’t wait for Rising Down (yes I’ll actually buy it) If you’re fiending for the follow-up to Game Theory as much as I am, I’m here to provide you with temporary relief. Here are 4 tracks (sorry, not the greatest quality) from the new roots album as well as the music video to a song which was unexplicably cut . Rising Down is slated to drop on the 29th of this month so hopefully these’ll last you until then.
My user title says checktherime, but I go by many other things… Breeze, Breezilla, Breezus, Breezeus, Breezuno, Queen B etc. and my main purpose behind starting this blog was to get that good shit out
to the masses. I decided to enlist a few other heads from all over the place to help me out with this site,
there’s DMXXX from Estonia and Chesbomb from NY (I’m from AL by the way… big surprise I know).
Anyway, we’re here to promote good hip hop music from now until the rest of forever so if you have a request or something that we should make the subject of one of our posts leave a comment. On the subject of good hip hop here’s the 2006 album by one of the dopest groups I’ve heard in a while, Panacea from Washington D.C. These cats are some The Roots/Crown City Rockers type vibe so give ’em a listen.
Shouts to the fam at Muzik Supremacy
), but right after I bought that album I was passed Illadelph Halflife from my Dear (sometimes anyway) ol’ Dad from his personal collection. Before this point I was under the impression that there could be no greater Roots album than the single one I had in my collection, but Illadelph Halflife royally blew my mind. Panic!!!, Episodes with Dice Raw (one of my favorite tracks of all time point blank), Push Up Ya Lighter with an appearance from fellow Philly native, Bahamadia, The Raphael Saadiq accompanied, What They Do, Clones, Concerto of the Desparado, Universe At War with Com, No Alibi, The Hypnotic (with D’Angelo), The Universal Side with a feature from Q-Tip and the gritty story of Alice In Wonderland by a young Ursula Rucker (that was a bunch of tracks right? I should’ve just listed the entire damn album) this album is exceptional in every way possible. If you listen to no other album by The Roots, I suggest you listen to this. If you buy no other album by The Roots, I suggest you buy this one. It’s said the entire group was depressed when recording this album because they feared they wouldn’t be able to surpass their previous two releases, and maybe it was the fear that propelled them into making such a brilliant record, but regardless of the creative process, they managed to surpass all previous and future releases with this one album.
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