Children Of The World - Big K.R.I.T.

Been hearing this dudes name for a minute, even heard a couple joints that were good, but this one tipped me over into dude's camp. Krit is from Mississippi, and makes beats too, including this one.

1,2 Pass It - D&D All-Stars

Fuck all that Jiggy shit...

Beats, James Beats - Shy Guy

Download Album

Snoop Dogg vs. Narduar

Snoop Dogg - "Gangsta Luv (Mayer Hawthorne G-mix)"

Been falling off on this, but I got that raw for anyone who checks for us. Mayer remixed the big single off Snoop's Malice In Wonderland. Mayer redoes the beat, and the hook.

Download: Snoop Dogg - "Gangsta Luv (Mayer Hawthorne G-mix)"

New Erykah Badu Produced by Madlib

"Strawberry Incense" is off her upcoming record Listen Here.

Jay Electronica - BBC 1xtra Interview With Benji B

Jay Electronica interview w Benji B on BBC 1Xtra www.pinboardblog.com by PinBoardBlog.com

Dorian Concept

Dorian Concept is an electronic musician from Vienna. His music, is heavily indebted to Jazz, he even cited McCoy Tyner as his first influence in an interview. He has performed live with Flying Lotus, and has been championed by Gilles Peterson. Here are two videos, my boy Daveed put me on to, of him shredding on a MicroKorg in his bedroom. This ish is Bananas.


I've never seen anyone really play a synth like this, he even plays outside the changes on both of these videos. Imagine if this dude did shows with Exile.

all these crab rappers know the deal

Blu & Exile: Unheard Song From New Project

I'm really feeling this shit...

Bonus Beats: Old Souls

While We're on the subject of Blu and Flying Lotus(or Flying Lotus affiliated artists) here is a Flying Lotus produced track featuring Blu off of The Grouch and Eligh's most recent album. This song is not that new, probablly like a year old, but I really love it.


Old Souls - The Grouch & Eligh feat. Blu(Produced by FlyLo)

UPDATE: Just Googled Blu & Flying Lotus found this. I like these a little more than that song "GNG BNG" they put out a while ago.

"Local Legends" - Blu & Flying Lotus

Blu - Amnesia(Video)

Official Video for this track off of Blu's album/mixtape/EP HerFavoriteColo(u)r.

Gonjasufi - A Sufi and a Killer

I was talking to Blu before his show here at Oberlin and while we were walking around listening to 60's German Psych-Rock off his iPhone he was telling me he had heard this record and it was going to be one of the best of the year. It is produced by Gaslamp Killer except for one track by one track by Flying Lotus. I think this will prove to be a defining moment for the scene that has grown around The Low End Theory in LA the last couple years. You can stream the record here. I'm in the middle of listening to it right now and it is equal parts Low End Theory brand spaced out glitchy Hip-Hop, and Psychedelic Rock. Tons of Indian samples, and the occasional obscured reggae feeling. Gonjasufi's vocals are hard to pin down. Soft and intimate, but gruff and otherworldly. One song even reminds me of Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album is coming out next week on Warp Records.

The Sand Pit - Sam O'Hare

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

I miss New York. Info on the production of this beautiful short film check here.

Co$$ - "Dub Plate"

New joint from Ca$hius King, on some old school shit.

Download.

Intelligent Hoodlum - "Grand Groove(Remix)"

Dan just hipped me to this video by Intelligent Hoodlum aka Tragedy Khadafi. For those unaware Tragedy is a Queensbridge native, member of the legendary Juice Crew, first album was produced by Marley Marl, and has more verses on CNN's The War Report, than Capone. Peep the young Pete Rock cameo, lookin' like he's 16.

Kutiman- "The Mother of All Funk Chords"

An original piece composed of chopped Youtube videos..

Guru is in a Coma

Terrible news, Guru had a heart attack last weekend and is currently in a coma awaiting surgery in a New York hospital. Lets all hope he makes a speedy, full recovery.
More info at hiphopdx.

UPDATE: Guru is now recovering from surgery, and has woken from his coma. Great news, get well soon.

J Dilla Stussy Documentary part 3

Stussy - J Dilla Documentary Prt3 (of 3) from Stussy on Vimeo.

Here is part three of Stussy's J Dilla documentary, and my favorite of the three. It would be very heard to put down here how much Dilla's music means to both of us, lets just say alot.

Ol' Dirty Bastard - "Brooklyn Zoo (Chinatown Version" (Lord Digga Mix)

Via UpNorthTrips.

The Making of "Drop The World"

Surf Club - Chase N. Cashe & Hit-Boy x Lil Wayne ft Eminem - Drop The World Beat Construction from Jelani Fr3sh on Vimeo.

As much a flop as Rebirth may be, this song is pretty incredible, Wayne's vocal performance is one of his best. I don't really fuck with Eminem's verse though.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

New film. via frank151

?uest Love on Fela Kuti

I remember the first time I ever heard Fela very clearly. I was in high school and one of the guitarists from Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra came in to do a little clinic about Afrobeat music. He explained about how the music originated, how it works and gave us a quick biography of Fela. The track he played was "Zombie." I really feel what Ahmir is saying about all the little repetitive parts coming to create something hypnotic and undeniable. I really love music that does that, and I relish the moments in music when it feels like everything is in place and the song begins to boil over with emotion and energy.
More Fela:

PS if you're not up on Fela get knowledge

Frankie Knuckles - "Your Love"

I was checkin' for Chicago House legend Frankie Knuckles and stumbled upon the sample Animal Collective used for "My Girls"

Behind the Making of Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem) With Jay-z and Mark 45 King)

Here's a behind the scenes look at the making of Jay-Z's hit "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" produced by Mark the 45 King. I remember listening to this song on the radio in the car with my parents when I was nine or ten, and even they were intrigued by the use of the Annie sample. I love the irony of what truly was a ghetto anthem for a time being created from the soundtrack to the musical of"Annie".

Posthumous J-Dilla Documentary by Stussy (Part One)

This is the first part of a new short documentary on the late great music producer Jay Dee/J-Dilla featuring interviews with musicians, DJs and artists who knew him during his life (House Shoes, Peanut Butter Wolf, DJ Rhettmatic, J-Rocc, B+, Frank Nitty (of Frank-N-Dank) and DJ Garth Trinidad). As big a fan as I am of Dilla's music it was interesting to get some "behind the scenes" insights into his character and musical career. Here's a link to part 2 on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7d-uMSsklc

Gangstarr - "Just To Get A Rep"

Sucio Smash: Profile by Tone

PROFILE: SUCIO SMASH from TONE on Vimeo.

Mad Vimeos today. Sucio Smash is coming to Oberlin to DJ for Sene on March 5th. He also took over the legendary Stretch and Bob's spot WKCR after they left in '92. Tone is a New York based photographer and artist. This post was jacked from Frank151.

Spec Boogie - "Bed Stuy"(Video)

Spec Boogie - Bed Stuy from Boombaye' on Vimeo.

No clue who this dude is, dope video though. I generally mess with all things Brooklyn related on here anyway.

Atw - "Bring The Kush Back Freestyle"

Bring The Kush Back Freestyle... from Atw Music on Vimeo.

H-Town rappers don't know much about them, pretty ill though. Spotted at Screw Heads.

"Made You Look (Live)" - Nas feat. Jadakiss & Ludacris

Sean Price - "Street Shit"

Real Hip-Hop Stories: Pun and Just Blaze

Just Blaze talks about Big Pun on Toca Tuesdays from Toca Tuesdays on Vimeo.

New and hopefully recurring segment here at Brooklyn Sheriffs. I've always loved stories about the nitty gritty of Hip-Hop history, and how certain artist may have crossed paths and affected each other in ways that aren't always obvious. In this clip Just explains how Pun helped him get the gear together for his first studio.

Blu & Mainframe Launch

Disco Dynamite from A.C.R.O.N.Y.M on Vimeo.

Today, Blu (who we booked for a show at Oberlin with Exile) and Mainframe launch NewWorldColor, which their web site refers to as a "Multi-Dimensional Entertainment Co." They released 9 tracks, available for download on their website, leading up to the premier of their new video, "DISCO D.Y.N.A.M.I.T.E." Not my favorite video, but I expect big things from these guys, good luck in your new business venture.

Davetronic

New joint from my boy.

Floating Points

Floating Points is a producer/DJ out of London, the name comes from a mathematical system for representing numbers that are either too big or small. Very dope.
Latest tracks by floatingpoints

RIP Big L

Holdin It Down feat. Party Arty & AG (original version)

Rock N. Wills Audition Freestyle

Donwill - Laura's Tape

In honor of Valentines day Donwill of Tanya Morgan dropped this High Fidelity themed, RNB tinged mixtape.

Download

Sean Price - "Shut The Fuck Up"

Sean Price - "Shut The Fuck Up"

ODB on Jon Stewart Show

Mystery Vids

Someone with the youtube account iamamiwhoami has posted these four videos in this order over the course of the last two weeks. There is rampant speculation as to who is behind these incredible little nuggets of film/music. An event like this really shows you the power and immediacy of the Internet. Enjoy

Wiley feat. Emeli Sande - "Never Be Your Woman"

The Roots of an Icon

This is a good 6 years before Jay even had an album out. Its crazy to look at the evolution of his style, first it slowed down and became more lyrical, then it slowed down even more and became less lyrical.

Jay's current rhyme style where he uses one pattern the whole song and pauses to saw "awoah" after every line.

Jay at the beginning of his prime, Dame Dash, Good Fellas era.

The Brooklyn Kid hanging with Jaz tryin' to be like Kane, The seasoned but hungry street entrepreneur, the bloated, self-satisfied tycoon/icon.

"Body Rock" - Mos Def feat. Q-Tip & Tash

"Got the competition shook like Tiger Woods about to tee up"

Broken Bells

New album from Danger Mouse and James Mercer, the singer from The Shins. I really like this album, but it sounds alot like the last Gorillaz album, just without any rapper features. And it is weaker for it, especially on a track like this. I think a black Thought, or a Bun B would have brought this track to another level. Its time that Danger Mouse get back to his roots as a Hip-Hop producer, and make a Rap record that incorporates his high-brow pop aesthetic (and I mean a real rap record not another Gnarls Barkley.)

EDIT: The Web Sheriff moves faster than the Brooklyn Sheriffs. Had to remove the track even though it was just streaming.

Best of 2009

Now that the year is over I'm going to finally make a best of list. I've been debating doing this for a while, and decided instead of picking the "best" I'm just gonna talk about some of my favorites.


Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective
I think this is one of the few albums of the year that most people can agree on so I'm going to tackle this first. 2009 was the year where Animal Collective really broke through, and asserted themselves as the standard-bearers of Indie music. This record is not a radical departure form the last, but is its own unique voice. It seems as though they have completely abandoned live instruments for samples and synthesizers. What is remarkable about this album is that without sacrificing their weirdness or diluting their sound, they have become more accessible. It is hard to know how much is their maturation as songwriters and how much is that in 2009 we are finally ready for Animal Collective's entirely original sound and approach to music. Whatever it is, something about this record's raucous, primal energy just resonated. There is something about the joyful whoops on "My Girls" that reminded me of the way I felt the night we elected Obama, and it was released around the time of his inauguration. I also think that with this record, and the Fall Be Kind EP released this autumn, that lyrics have become more important in Animal Collective's music. I find Animal Collective's success to be quite reassuring, that a band so strange, yet so talented are reaching their level of popularity, and acclaim.




Boy Meets World - Fashawn (Produced by Exile)
I already wrote in length about this record when it dropped back in October, which you can read on this blog. Unfortunately I really think this record has been slept on by the masses. I don't think I have met anybody who loved this album, who I wasn't already friends with when it came out. I don't know, maybe it hit me harder than most people. I have some theories about why this is, for example it got almost no hipster love(pitchfork has 0 mentions of Fashawn) because hipsters tend to only like Black Music when they can be ironic about it. This record is completely unironic, it is from the heart, and authentic. This album is also not a street record, nor does it have a hit on it for the mainstream. Therefore, the only people who found this record were Hip-Hop heads which is really a shame because I think it has a universal appeal that non-Hip-Hop fans can relate to.




Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors
I have been a Dirty Projectors fan for some years now, front man Dave Longstreth's voice and composing style fascinated me, but until this record I never got an emotional punch from any of their songs ("Rise Above" excluded.) The earlier records seemed weighed down by concepts, like they were conceived as some bizarre musical equation ("Prince plus African guitarisms times the sum of Stravinsky and Black Flag lyrics....") It isn't that this record is any less eclectic and complex, just more natural; intriguing concepts have been traded in for gorgeous songwriting. On Bitte Orca, Longstreth distributes the weight more evenly, giving lead on two of the best compositions on the record to multi-instrumentalists/singers Angel Deradoorian, and Amber Coffman. At its core this is pop music of the highest variety, in fact I think you could almost slip "Stillness is the Move" on to commercial radio without anyone losing their shit (the movie on the other hand would not fly on MTV, or where ever they show music videos on TV.) This record really makes me think why between the Beatles and now did pop music become so safe? On a side note, last year I had the great pleasure of seeing them live, and was amazed by how well they were able to pull off this incredibly complex and detailed music.



Historicity - Vijay Iyer Trio
In 2009 the Vijay Iyer Trio assumed their role as the next great piano trio. To me the music on this album transcends the label of Jazz, or maybe the word Jazz has been stretched so far that it doesn't mean that much anymore (Rock sure doesn't.) Their basic format is certainly of Jazz: the acoustic piano trio. I also think it is useful to compare them to the two other most notable contemporary piano trios, although they aren't particularly indebted to either. The Vijay Iyer Trio lands somewhere between The Bad Plus, and the Brad Mehldau Trio, although probably a little closer to the Bad Plus side. These three groups all share a progressive, modern taste in repertoire, but while the trio Mehldau very much is in the conventions of a traditional piano trio, albeit no one has really played quite like him, The Bad Plus is very much outside those conventions. In Iyer's trio the instrumental roles get flipped and conventions turned on their head, but there are still what you might call solos, and everything has an improvised looseness, unlike the Bad Plus. Most of the tracks start with a groove, or feeling into which Iyer sinks his teeth, peeling off skittering reams of notes. The repertoire choices are impeccable featuring works as disparate as "Galang" by MIA, and "Dogon AD" by Julius Hemphill. Yet its difficult to tell which songs are original, everything is treated with the same meditative seriousness, but also with a gleeful irreverence.

Honorable Mentions:
Mos Def The Ecstatic
Mayer Hawthorne The Strange Arrangement
Sene ADayLate&ADollarShort
Zomby Where Were You in '92?
Hudson Mohawke Butter

Jay Electronica X Puffy

Jay Electronica Calls On Diddy to perform "Exhibit C" from Mikey Fresh on Vimeo.

I <3 Hip-Hop. Out in Patagonia checking my sites, this just gave me the chills. Diddy starts chanting ¨Real Hip-Hop¨ at the end, C´mon Son?!? Who are you?

Buenos Aires

Posting is going to be mega lite in this first month of 2010 seeing as I will be in Argentina until the 31st, and while the hostel I am staying at has internet, the computers are super old and slow. Also for two of the four weeks I will be in Patagonia hiking making blogging impossible. When I come back I have a couple of big posts looking back on the last year and decade that I have been working on, aswell as Argentine music I assume. Any way here's a picture of where I was yesterday.