Weekly Tuesday Track: Handsome Boy Modeling School - Sunshine

Don't mind the weird name, Handsome Boy Modeling School is one of the great producer duo's of all time, regardless of genre. Composed of beatmakers Prince Paul and Dan the Automator, they fused soul, jazz, electro, and funk into a clean hip-hop package. Although with only 2 official releases (So...How's Your Girl? and White People), their style of music is ridiculous. As one of the two most unheralded producers of all-time, they make audio gold. 

This track Sunshine simply transcends genre, maintaining a funky soulful beat with beautiful vocals. It features Sean Lennon (son of John Lennon), Money Mark, Josh Hayden, and Paula Frazer. Simply musical bliss (after the jump). 

Read more »

Dred Scott - Breakin' Combs (1994)

Yeah, this is best picture of him.

Dred Scott (the name inspired by you know who) was a rapper in the early 90's. Not much is known about him, since he kind of disappeared from the scene after dropping his debut album. That's a shame since his album is one of many hip-hop classics that dropped in the great year of 1994. Word is he married Adriana Evans, who he met in '93. She's featured on the track "Check The Vibe" (that's streamed below) and he produced her debut album.

So that's it. Don't have much else to say that this is one of the finest examples of jazz hop out there. Dope samples, smooth rhymes, and did I mention awesome horns? Do me a favor and slap yourself if you're still reading this and not downloading it.

Read more »

The Complete Blu Collection [Discography]

Just recently did a little digging into Blu’s solo work, which a lot have you been requesting for awhile. This definitely took longer than my previous Jay Electronica and Kendrick Lamar megaposts combined. If you don't know Blu, you should. Coming out of Los Angeles, he is well known for his laid-back, personal approach to hip-hop, and his chill beats. He is as prolific a producer as he is an MC. Sort of in the vein of MF Doom (who I think is the only artist who's top 10 as both a producer and MC), Blu has stayed mighty busy over the past 5 years or so. He has an amazing amount of material for that time span, certainly the polar opposite of Jay Electronica. Overall, he probably has more than 200+ tracks he's been involved in during his short music career.. Let's just say it's so many songs that I don't even want to count. 

A lot of people have only heard his work with producer Exile, Below The Heavens. While I think that is both a great starting point and a classic album, some decide to end their knowledge of Blu's work right there. I did for awhile, but after a little digitial digging, I found gems everywhere. Unfortunately, as some of you Blu fans know, he has a proclivity (don't know how I thought of that word either) to release projects out of the blue (pun intended) but with horrible quality. So don't shoot the messenger, but this is as good as they were made. 

Below I will present to you every official and non-official releases/mixtape out worth downloading with an assortment of new Blu tracks at the time. This includes his solo work, compilation mixtapes, guest features, and official projects with other artists. 

After the jump, check for a total of EIGHTEEN releases that Blu has released in the past handful of years. And if you're iffy on Blu (which you shouldn't be because you're reading this), I presented a periodical stream from each release to peak your interest. As we await the highly sought-after NoYork! album this year, catch up on everything Blu in the meantime. Plus, you gotta check my mediocre/snazzy album artwork.

Read more »