Jhene Aiko - Growing Apart Too

Does this sound familiar? The beautiful Ms. Aiko offers her rendition of Kendrick Lamar's "Growing Apart (To Get Closer)" with some help from HOPE of U-N-I fame. Which version do you guys like more?

Apathy - Death To The Culture Vultures

A banger from 1/3 of Get Busy Committee, just because.

[NEW!!!] Black Star - Fix Up (Live)

This is Jon back on this blogging shit, and for good reason. This is one of those "stop the presses!" moments that only happen so often in music (at least as far as I'm concerned). Black Star dropped their genre defining debut album "Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star" in 1998. After both pursuing successful solo careers, they've always been flirting with the idea of dropping a second album...they're finally doing it!

Anyways, they appeared on The Colbert Report during the week. After explaining Mos Def's name change to Yasiin Bey (kind of like The Beatles changing their name to Gravy Train during their career) and explaining how they release music, they performed. Live. It. Was. Fucking. Beautiful. It felt like something they would release in '99.

After the jump I link you to their interview, an embed of their live performance, and a handy 320 kbs mp3 of their live performance. Best available for awhile, I'm sure. FUCKING DOWNLOAD IT.

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J. Cole - Sideline Story

Support on iTunes...or not...

So, after years of releasing killer track after track and accumulating thousands of high-school female fans, Cole finally drops a non-mixtape...and yet, two of the album's best songs we've heard before. Cole World: The Sideline Story is kind of a disappointment. I was expecting some of Cole's finest production (in the mold of "HiiPoWer") and what I got was nothing special. No doubt Cole will get heavy rotation in Euro Pop Clubs with "Mr. Nice Watch". This track was supposed to show us what Cole and Jay could do, but all it really does is show us what Timbaland will sound like in 20 years. Sadly, that may be the most creative beat on the album. I mean, the track "Lost Ones" has pretty much the same beat pattern as Cole's old hit "Lights Please"!

With that being said, Cole World as a whole isn't really worth the computer space. Throughout the entire album, one track really caught my ear:

Sideline Story

This is the type of beat that's playing in the background while you're treating your girl to some shrimp and lobster (or something that's NOT a 2-for-20 deal) at her favorite restaurant. Nevermind the lyrics, the music is just classy.

Azad Right - Alone

You guys remember Azad from that "Spiderwebs" post a while back...This dude continues to impress. The violinist/pianist/rapper definitely deserves all of the shine he's about to get - check out his newest (free) project "The Time Is Right"!

TiRon & Ayomari - Jack Kerouac

On September 13th my twitter feed went nuts over TiRon & Ayomari's freshly released "A Sucker For Pumps", and I won't lie; without checking out the tracklist, I looked for a download link. And I couldn't find one! So after countless minutes of excruciating deliberation, I broke bank and headed over to bandcamp so I could buy the 14-track album. This was my latest musical purchase since Section.80, and we all know that's well worth the money. But what about ASFP? I'll start by saying this is a classy effort by these guys. As the title suggests, the album's theme is women. Break-ups, make-ups, intimate relations, promises to do better...ASFP has it all, without ever once belittling the females in our lives. Anytime an artist can relay positive messages with such strength and consistency throughout an album is well deserving of a purchase. Most of the tracks are memorable, none sound too familiar and the production is unique and eccentric. Here's one of the many tracks that stand out.

Jack Kerouac

If you like what you hear, don't do what I tried to do and download it. All too often, great work is grouped in with the radio slop we hear because no one wants to step up and drop 8 dollars for it. Break the cycle, guys - head on over to Bandcamp or iTunes and support guilt free.

Blu - NoYork! (2011?)

The man that needs no introduction. And well, if you need it, I made a megapost about him a few months ago that will satisfy your needs for EVERYTHING Blu. 

Blu performed at Rock the Bells (LA) over the weekend, and was seen throwing out free copies of his upcoming album out into the crowd. Word on the street is that his label still hasn't given him a release date...so here we are. He knows what he was doing. Based on his latest twitter status -- which has a youtube channel that has all the songs --  he wants it out. So here it is. Tracklist (about official as you can get other than a few grammatical nitpicks) and link below.

*includes all 4 possible album covers, along with the one shown above mosaic-style (my favorite)

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Azad Right - Spiderwebs

Azad Right is a Santa Monica native who happens to be a classically trained pianist/violinist. The beautiful piano riffs he plays in this track are very easy on the ears to say the least. Oh, and he happens to rap pretty well too. If you like what you hear, check out his website to cop his latest releases.

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DJ Mitsu The Beats & Fat Loop - Loop Amplitude (2011)

Fat Loop is a band from Japan that specializes in live instrumentation of hip-hop tracks. Lucky for us, they cover a vast array of hip-hop classics, but also put a new mind-blowing spin on each track. Mixed by DJ Mitsu The Beats, a incredibly gifted producer in his own right, this is a must have album.

Featuring live covers of tracks such as "Big Poppa", "They Reminisce Over You", "'93 Til' Infinity", and "Electric Relaxtion", this is an amazing project you shouldn't be able to pass up. I literally just found out about this today and I have a feeling it's going to stay in rotation indefinitely. This is essentially an unheard of album, if last.fm charts mean anything. Barely any listeners. Don't sleep! Streams and link after the jump.

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Upcoming Artist: Boho Fau & Elevated Soul: Coffee House Swinger: Brewing Sessions (2011)

I present to you another up and coming artist, Boho Fau & Elevated Soul. I've given you a sample of some of their songs on my previous jazz hop mixtapes. This pretty much the epitome of jazz hop: melodic samples, laid back lyrics, and great vibes. Check out after the jump a bandcamp link towards a free download of their newest release. I promise you won't be disappointed.


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