After a few hours of more careful examination on this Blue Dream & Lean mixtape, I realize I nearly forgot to mention this other video featuring Kreayshawn which, you know … is definitely one of the highlights, both of the mixtape and of her short but illustrious career in rap. These are not complicated songs, they’re all about getting high as fuck which, if you are reading this, you either really like to do or you’d like to really like to do.

Or, maybe, you used to really like to do it and now you let Juicy & Kreayshawn have all the fun for you. “Damn son, where’d ya find this?”

Juicy J – U Trippy Mane (feat. Kreayshawn) [Produced by Key]

[ Download Juicy J - Blue Dream & Lean Mixtape ]

HOLD UP A MINUTE, WHAT? What did you just ask me? Oh, my bad… I was just, you know… I was too busy not really giving a fuck what anyone was asking me right then because I’m too busy uh you know, just .. listening to the much-anticipated Blue Dream & Lean mixtape from Memphis’ own Juicy J. Hosted by DJ Scream with tracks produced by Lex Luger, Drumma Boy, Sonny Digital, Juicy J and others, this mixtape features guestos from Project Pat, Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, Kreayshawn, 2 Chainz, Alley Boy, Casey Veggies and a bunch more.

All you gotta do is download this junt, grab you up some trippy sticks, a zip and a double cup, make sure your rims spin, the whip is clean and you okay to drive, grab up a couple of college girls and head to the party with this on notch.

Now look here lil’ mama: some of you around my part of town think that Three 6 Mafia click haven’t been getting it in, and you would be wrong. So, if you callin’ this a comeback, don’t fix your lips improperly — you’re the one you hasn’t been paying attention, and you damn sure missed out on Rubbaband Business 2 — which, of course, you’re gonna need to know before you can proceed. “Stooooooners night…”

[ Download 'Blue Dream & Lean' Mixtape ]

The first video from this mixtape dropped last month, in case you missed that, too, here it is.

Juicy J – I Don’t Play With Guns (feat. Alley Boy & Project Pat)

I had a whole thing written up about this track, but at the last minute I decided I’m not gonna run it — this time out, I want to hear from my readers. To me, the flows from every one — PAT24seven, Skewby and Pule — are dope, and Web (of The Machine)‘s production & beats are solid.

Like it / hate it / love it? What do you think? I do have a comments section for a reason.

PAT24seven x Skewby x Pule – Other Sh!t (dirty version)

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Kid Sister is back up in the cut with a new EP called ‘Kiss & Tell’ out on 29 November and apparently, it’s full of club bangers, workouts and, yes, RAPS. In this video, Kid Sis teams up with fellow Fool’s Gold label mate Danny Brown to deliver that flow on “Gucci Rag Top” & she keeps it 100 sharing verses with Riff Raff on the Sinden/5kinAndBone5-produced “Hide N Seek”. Just in time for the holidays, Melissa threw on a batch of stuffing for us, y’all. Thank you, boo-boo. N’JOI.

Riff Raff featuring Kid Sister – Hide N Seek (prod. Sinden & 5kinAndBone5)

Michael x Lola x Marshall = “Ugly Boy Swag” maxed out on adderall. New Yelawolf, Radioactive, is out 21 November on Shady Records.

Let me be up front: mainstream hip-hop isn’t really my thing, but I recognize talent and hook when I hear it.

I went to a listening session in Ardent Studios recently-renovated (and incredible sounding) Studio C last week and had the chance to hear this track and see this video from Memphis newcomer Russ P. Like a lot of young rappers, he’s promoting himself as everything all at the same time — CEO, artist, producer, songwriter — and this kind of swagger is normally something I flee from instantly. It’s a known fact: there are just too many rappers who talk all this big shit and most of them ain’t got anything on it except the idea and the dream. Maybe the bullshit most rappers come at you with comes out of the bravado of youth, that feeling like you’ll never die and the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude that it takes to make it out there in a flurry of entertainers trying to get all the recognition, pussy, money and whatever else comes with success.

But see, luckily for Russ P and everyone else, he’s not full of shit: in it’s own way, ‘Dirty Taylors’ comes across as a hype track with solid production and a dope-assed video to go with it. It does not try to be anything other than what it’s meant to be, and it works. Russ P, unlike a lot of those phony rappers, actually has the bumping tracks and the verses to go with all the titles. To top it all off, my man’s rapping about wearing the most basic of basics, everyone’s favorite sneaker, the classic Chuck Taylors.

So in this rare instance, I gotta give it up for a mainstream track that caught my ear. Russ P and his producer, RayNel, took a heavily overworked area of hip-hop and gave it a unique twist. This track feels like a hit, but what do I know? I’m not a blogger, I just tweet a lot.

Dirty Taylors (Explicit)

[ Purchase 'Dirty Taylors' from Bandcamp for $0.99 ]

:: CMYK 2 — Wheat-Faced Edition ::

CMYK is a monthly showcase of live music and visual art under one roof. This month’s CMYK will offer an extraordinary interactive visual arts opportunity that will give everyone the chance to leave their mark on the beloved Hi-Tone.

Come be a part of live art installation history in a work by Kyle Taylor. Beginning at 9 o’clock we will be covering the interior west wall of the Hi-Tone with faces of CMYK attendees. This will be a permanent installation!

::: CMYK 2 Music :::

:: Delicate Steve (Luaka Bop) ::
• http://delicatesteve.com/

“In just over a year’s time, the five-piece wordless band fronted by guitarist Steve Marion has become one of the most talked about bands in NYC. Last seen joined onstage by Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Delicate Steve’s hyperactive live shows have been likened to the explosion of multiple suns and celebrated from Fader to Stereogum, New York Times to NPR. With audiences in Brooklyn and New York reading like a Pitchfork who’s who- members of Yeasayer, Dirty Projectors, Javelin, Fang Island, Beirut.. the list goes on.. Delicate Steve might be worthy of a reflexive backlash if the band’s music wasn’t so irony-free, so sincere, so joyful, and inclusive. A young band growing live on stage each night, this is an early opportunity to see what is developing as one of the better live bands playing right now. Wondervisions was released by David Byrne’s label Luaka Bop earlier this year.”

Delicate Steve – Sugar Splash

:: Youniverse ::
• http://youniverse.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-american

Youniverse – Menage-Soixant-Deux

:: Austin Wyatt ::
• http://www.myspace.com/musikmississippi

:: Mr. White ::
• http://www.myspace.com/thesongleader

::: Visual Art :::

:: Jason Miller – “Soul Recorder” ::
• http://jasonsoulrecordermillerphotography.com/

:: Kyle Taylor ::

Come be a part of live art installation history. Beginning at 9 o’clock we will be covering the interior west wall of the Hi-Tone with faces of CMYK attendants. This will be a permanent installation!

• http://www.kyletaylorart.com/

18+
doors at 9pm
$5 advance / $7 door (Cash / Credit / Debit Cards Accepted)

http://do901.com/events/2011/07/21/

I think Toronto’s Skratch Bastid might have cc:ed every listener that he’d see-see round town with this track. It’s the rapping mash-up panty dropper of the week, so groove on.

And of course, RIP Pimp C.

UGK x Outkast x George Michael – International Whisperer’s Anthem (Skratch Bastid’s Sexy Sax Mix)

PHOTO: Hannibal Matthews Photography

Asher Roth is a rapper. According to Twitter, he set up his studio at home today, recorded himself spitting a verse over the classic Boogie Down Productions “The Bridge Is Over” beat, and shared it. Here it is. Not bad for free-throw shooting, huh?

Asher Roth – Kidz Theze Dayz

Fresh off its premiere at Live From Memphis’ MVS 2011, the new video from notorious ‘aristocrunk’ pioneers Lord T and Eloise for the song “Wu Hui” is all up in your grill. Directed by Christopher Reyes, this video is guaranteed to give you 10000% of your Recommended Daily Allowance of Tommy Kha and may cause a desire to spontaneously get up and dance..

_{Full disclosure: I actually voiced several characters on their latest album, Rapocalypse 2013 which is currently available direct from Lord T and Eloise.}

Tyler the Creator of OFWGKTA drops a video for the single “Yonkers” from his forthcoming album Goblin. You can cop this single on 2/15 from iTunes.

If you don’t know about OFWGKTA, they’ve got next, like it or not — so get familiar. Prepare to be outraged and amazed at the same time.

FREE EARL

ODD FUTURE WOLF GANG KILL THEM ALL ON TOUR

02/14 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
02/15 – New York, NY @ Santos Partyhouse
02/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary
02/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
04/15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival

[ OFWGKTA on Tumblr | OFWGKTA Official Site ]

If you don’t know about the documentary known simply as The Carter, it’s time you became familiar.  The movie, which screened at this year’s Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals (among others) to rave reviews, gives fans and foes an inside look at the mind and the day-to-day world of what it’s like to be Lil Wayne.  The movie will be released next week on DVD, giving anyone willing to pony up $15 a chance to see for themselves what goes on behind the scenes. If you didn’t trust me before, now y’all will know — it’s not easy being Weez. It’s all there — the drugs, the excess, the fights, the drama — exposed for all the world to see in a way you probably never imagined Wayne would even allow.

Variety has said about this movie, “‘The Carter’ is the ‘Don’t Look Back’ of rap” — a comparison who’s fairness I look forward to testing on my own.  Whether you like, love, dislike, or hate Lil Wayne, you cannot ignore his presence as a force in music and culture.  There’s a realistic fear on Wayne’s part that this movie might ruin his image and his career, but I’m pretty sure that his folk anti-hero status is well-secure in the modern era.   I can’t think about all of that — I’m ready to pop the popcorn and chill out at home for the night to learn more about one of the most important and polarizing figures in modern music.

Pre-Order The Carter on DVD by clicking here.

I suddenly felt small.

So deadlines for the “best of 2007″ rolled around, and I was in a tailspin, dogged by the massive amount of music I had encountered. I kept reflecting on these words of Billy Corgan that I’d read years ago. Billy had once quipped to, I think, Rolling Stone, that, “Not every year can be a great, or even good, year in music.” This thought just stirred in my head and fed into some neurosis. The thought actually fucked with me; maybe 2007 wasn’t that great? Or was it? So I slacked until it was way too late to really do it with any fervor.

Newsflash: Shit aint happening like that this year. I’m past all that, and this year’s going to be different.

I don’t know if my opinion is necessarily better or worse than anyone else’s when it comes to music. I’m a long-time deep music fan who combs the trenches for something new and different, someone who’s been doing that for years. I have an opinion about music which is informed by all that, but I don’t pretend to know what is or isn’t “good” or “the best”. If you love hip-hop, you’re going to think a different album is the #1 album of the year than I am (even though I love hip-hop). If you love indie rock, same thing.

If I sat down and tried to pinpoint the one unifying factor in the music that I listen to and enjoy, it would have to be “music with a soul”. It doesn’t have to preach an ideology or start a movement, it doesn’t have to be anthemic or angelic. It simply has to get me to stop what I’m doing and go, “What in the hell is this?” When I become awestruck, the music will stay with me.

This list represents the songs released in 2008 (to the best of my knowledge) which caught me in my tracks, got me to stand up and take notice, gave me a reason to write and feel good at the end of the day that I was telling everyone a new secret or spreading the good news. I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I have enjoyed hearing them.

1 – Voxpop – “The Boomerang Generation” (unsigned)

When this London four-piece popped this song into my inbox, I had no idea what I was getting. They sent a sweet and humble letter along with it asking me to please share with my readers. The song is dynamic in a string of ways: it’s a pop song, it’s a protest song, and it’s filled with the kind of energy I love to hear. Far and away, this is my favorite song of 2008. Let’s hope that 2009 will bring us a Voxpop album to hear & enjoy.

2 – Lil’ Wayne (produced by Bangladesh) – “A Milli”

The song is inescapable. You couldn’t get away from it most of this entire year & it took some folks a minute to get with the program. But love or hate Lil’ Wayne, this song was a cornerstone of 2008 stereos, parties, clubs, remixes, and just about everything else. Respect.

3 – MGMT – “Time to Pretend”

I am extremely proud of MGMT and happy for them — what started as an experiment in their dorm room at Wesleyan has blossomed into an anthemic world-wide phenomenon. This song was on the tips of every tongue that knew its words and could relate. This song is great because, plainly, it paints a portrait of a certain truth (to which you’re either hip or you’re not). The song’s intent, along the group themselves, seem to lack the pretension that the press wants to heap on them. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what their work with The Chemical Brothers is going to sound like.

4 – Santogold – “L.E.S. Artistes”

Santi White is an operator of the highest order: she’s the real deal, wearing every helmet she comes across with dignity and sheer style. Performer, songwriter, executive — she can do it all and do it all well. In the song “L.E.S. Artistes”, Santogold has both capitalized on and captured a portrait of a time in music and arts that has seemed fairly desperate. If ever an anthemic line was needed by those on their way to whatever success, “I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up” should be the mantra to which they adhere.

5 – Estelle (feat. kanYe West) – “American Boy”

It took me a long time to get into this record, but once it stuck with me I was sold. The maturity of Estelle’s progress as a performer and singer is impressive, her vocal prowess unmistakable. The marriage of her style with kanYe’s flows make the song as world-class as it purports to be.

6 – Lord T & Eloise (feat. 8 Ball) – “Back From the Business Trip”

If you’re from down in my neck of the woods, you know that Lord T & Eloise were everywhere this year, selling out (and overselling) venues everywhere. Word of mouth has been kind to them with good reason. Not just because I told you so (and I did tell you so), but because they gave 300% to every packed out venue they set foot in and ripped every microphone they touched. “The Industry” still haven’t figured out how to classify LT&E, but they need to stop thinking about it and just blast their jams. Aristocrunk is on the move.

7 – Aimee Mann – “Looking for Nothing”

As Aimee Mann carries on her journey as a songwriter and performer, she continues to craft elegant pop song structures around stories that evoke the wistfulness of a by-gone era with distinction. Fully modern in their presentation and execution, her 2008 release was a peerless collection of satisfying, soul-wrenching odes, perfecting a sound she has long been masterful in shaping and humbled by creating. “Looking for Nothing” represents her finest material, and one of the most perfectly-penned songs of the year.

8 – Meg Hutchinson – “Home”

From time to time, it seems to me that the least liked (or known) songs are often the most loved. Folk singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson has, perhaps, suffered from a curse of virtual anonymity this year, but by no fault of her music. Some songs cannot be reviewed effectively; they can only take on meaning to the listener through time and circumstance. It is my great hope that others will come to find the deep-ceded affection that I have found for this song, an ode to appreciation for the things we all take for granted far too often.

9 – Erykah Badu – “Honey”

Erykah Badu….man man man. A soul diva and performer of the highest order, she just continues to release albums (and songs) that turn my knobs, nahh mean? Seems like on every record she releases, it’s the “bonus track” that really contains an actual bonus to it. New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) will likely be in my year’s best, and this song represents to the fullest what Ms. Badu is laying down.

10 – Portishead – “We Carry On”

I didn’t know what I was going to do when I heard a new Portishead album was on the way. With so much time gone between records, I couldn’t have imagined them being in bed with their old sound. I remember my shock as darker and moodier sounds came from my stereo; it was everything that I could have hoped for. This song was my #1 favorite from Third, an album I continue to love and be fascinated by.

The Rest Of The Best (Click Individual Songs in the Playlist to Play, or play for continuous stream in order)

11 Bon Iver – Skinny Love
12 TV on the Radio – Halfway Home
13 Raphael Saadiq – Love That Girl
14 Blitzen Trapper – Sleepytime In The Western World
15 Grace Jones – Williams Blood
16 Teenagers – Starlett Johannson
17 Al Green – You’ve Got The Love I Need (feat. Anthony Hamilton)
18 Adele – Chasing Pavements
19 Q-Tip – Manwomanboogie (feat. Amanda Diva)
20 Oasis – The Turning
21 Treasure Fingers – Cross The Dancefloor
22 Kutiman – Music Is Ruling My World
23 Smoking Popes – If You Don’t Care
24 Chad VanGaalen – Bare Feet on Wet Griptape
25 Benji Hughes – So Well
26 Friendly Fires – Paris
27 Brazilian Girls – Good Time
28 John Elliott – The Ballad of Wallace Green and his Dog
29 Bob Dylan – Dreamin’ of You
30 Department of Eagles – No One Does It Like You
31 Ssion – Street Jizz
32 The Roots – 75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)
33 Charles Hamilton – Brooklyn Girls
34 Sigur Ros – Gobbledygook
35 Jamie Lidell – Another Day
36 Gossip – Listen Up (Punks Jump Up Remix)
37 Of Montreal – Gallery Piece
38 Fujiya & Miyagi – Knickerbocker
39 Anthem In – Down
40 Blood Red Shoes – You Bring Me Down
41 Graham Weber – Italian Lullaby
42 Oh Snap!! – Bill Cosby Sweater (Hostage Remix)
43 Beck – Chemtrails
44 Thunderheist – Jerk It
45 T.I. – Swagga Like Us (feat. kanYe West, Jay-Z & Lil’ Wayne)
46 Coldplay – Death and all His Friends
47 Ivan Colon – Gabriel
48 Cut Copy – Far Away
49 Monsters are Waiting – Don’t Lie
50 Beach House – Gila

Roots Manuva’s Let The Spirit EP will be out Digitally October 28th. We like this preview.

Roots Manuva – Let The Spirit (Hot Chip remix Radio Edit)

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say it right up front: yeah, I’m friends with the men of Lord T & Eloise and I even make a guest appearance on their new album, Chairmen of the Bored. However, that being said, if you read this website with any frequency, you know I make a big deal about being very particular about what I write about. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances out there about whom I have never written a single word because of my strong conviction to only write about music that really blows my mind or trends in music that I see as vital to the progression of things. Furthermore, my friends (at least my real friends) will tell you that I’m more critical of their work than anyone. Why? Simple: because if I actually care about you as a person and I know that you value my opinion, what good does it do you for me to want to sit around and bullshit you?

If you’re the kind of person who comes to me for my opinion only because you want to hear someone else tell you how great you are, I don’t want to be bothered with talking to you or talking about you. Ever. The Lord T & Eloise situation is no different for me, and these gentlemen know it all too well. Now if you want to know the story, read it after the jump.

So now let me break it down for you. The Lord T & Eloise package — from their outfits to their sound to their songs themselves — are part novelty and part skill. They give you what you want while giving you what you need, presenting the excesses of the good life through rap music in the most unique possible way: their over-the-top looks and “aristocrunk” sound represent the highest form of satire, rap songs which beg social commentary, creating solid party anthems that glorify the historical ills of excessive wealth and opulence. What your eyes see is the minstrel show, but what you actually get is a rap party extravaganza the likes of which you have never experienced.

By embracing these extremes, Lord T & Eloise remain both heirs to an empire and anomalies in the current climate of “dirty south” rap and hip-hop. Everything about them, their back story, being the wealthiest industrialist rappers in the world, Lord T’s white flowing locks and blue ring, Maurice Eloise XIII’s gold skin and hair curlers, the idiot savant genius of MysterE and the silent strength of DJ Witnesse is intentionally hilarious. You’re supposed to laugh and, at the same time, recognize that these adornments unwittingly speak to the best and worst of class warfare. As party records and hip-hop are want to do, their songs are laced with unbridled misogyny and capitalism throughout every verse. Being haves vs. being have nots is their central theme of Lord T & Eloise, a theme that for some may lead to misunderstandings about class warfare vs. racial divide.

When you combine the songs with Lord T & Eloise’s “rich white guy minstrel show” antics, a secondary message comes through loud and clear from a city as notoriously racially divided as Memphis: we have broken down our barriers so fully that finally, even in the culture of hip-hop, no longer is there merely black and white. The only color that should matter to anyone, Lord T & Eloise would tell you inevitably, is federal green. However, as evidenced by the appearance of Eloise on the Grammy Red Carpet this year, this story has plans to be much bigger than Memphis.

The 20-song CD which got into our hands this weekend is a non-stop party record. It’s not just a smart and accomplished recording by four guys from Memphis. Chairmen of the Bored is filled with the kind of banging bass anthems that you want to rock, whether it’s past the bus stop or through the parking lot at the mall or when you’re pulling up to the valet at Hyde. It’s overwhelming to take notice of the phenomenon swirling around Lord T & Eloise at a time when our country is in such dire shape. No matter how hellish your current situation is, Lord T & Eloise want to give you a chance to escape, to take you on a trip to the good life for a minute and forget about your problems. They want you to get up and shake your ass and laugh and have a good time. This album successfully blurs all the lines between “living the party life” and “being the life of the party”.

With so much tremendous material on one record, it’s almost a greatest hits album by itself. There’s club anthems like “Dance Move (featuring Al Kapone)”, deep funk grooves like “Back From The Business Trip (featuring 8 Ball)”, the M.I.A./Spank Rock/Amanda Blank influenced “Hollywood Stars (featuring Gangsta Boo)” and a slough of comedic skits, guest appearances and tracks that encompass a well-rounded traditional party rap album. The collection is far from run-of-the-mill. It’s truly the kind of record that I can imagine I will hear booming out of car speakers from coast-to-coast.

If the physical appearance of these four guys on stage are at once confusing and, perhaps, laughable, the laughter quickly subsides once they start their show. They give 110% of themselves at every turn, they don’t rely on the gimmickry of their outfits to do the work for them — they give an incredibly physical show full of classic hip-hop braggodocio and style. It’s because of this that Lord T & Eloise have been given the seal of approval for their rhymes and their beats (created by MysterE himself) from several forefathers and bridge builders of Memphis’s rap illuminati. The guest vocal appearances on the new album read like a who’s-who of Memphis artistry: Gangsta Boo (formerly of Three 6 Mafia), 8 Ball (of 8 Ball & MJG), Al Kapone, Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Kinfolk Kia Shine (representatives all of a Memphis “rap mafia” if you will) along with Free Sol, Kaz, and even Cody Dickinson (of North Mississippi All-Stars) give you the sense that Lord T & Eloise are the inheritors of a well-deserved validation for their efforts in a notoriously insulated area of rap music.

From a music business perspective, they have the formula figured out correctly. Like the Beastie Boys themselves, Lord T & Eloise present themselves as three MC’s and one DJ and rap (as the Beasties did early on) about partying, making money and getting women. In other words, it’s not exactly a “new model”, but it is definitely one whose formula for success could only be valid if the people who put it together pull it off effectively. If the best evidence I can present to you is their over-sold show at the Hi-Tone this past weekend (which included crowd-moving appearances of 8 Ball, Gangsta Boo, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Kaz and Free Sol), it’s clear that Memphis has seen the beginning of yet another phenomenon in the history of hip-hop.

For the record, this story is really writing itself. I’m merely editing it down in my brain, telling you what I see and what I hear. My suggestion? Sit back, relax, and take notes.

DOWNLOAD ALERT: Click here to check out a song from the new album, “Hollywood Stars (featuring Gangsta Boo).

Click Here to Visit Lord T & Eloise on MySpace Music