Hip Hop
Single: Pusha T – “Trouble On My Mind (feat. Tyler, The Creator)”
Track: “Trouble On My Mind (feat. Tyler, The Creator)”
Artist: Pusha T
Release Date: July 9, 2011
Label: GOOD Music/Def Jam
Pusha T always has his drugdealer past on his mind (and in his verses), but this time, the Clipse rapper teams up with Odd Future‘s Tyler, The Creator to discuss the trouble on his mind. The first single from Pusha’s upcoming mixtape Fear of God 2: Let Us Pray, “Trouble On My Mind” features simplistic, atmospheric, and ultimately haunting production from The Neptunes and three on-point verses. Pusha spins a story about his troubled past before handing the mic to Tyler, who delivers a maniacal verse in his signature style. The two then split the third verse, with Tyler referencing his highly-successful single, “Yonkers”, and Pusha T closing by addressing the mismatch between himself and Tyler: “This is for the critics who doubted the chemistry/Two different worlds, same symmetry.” Thankfully for us, he’s right; despite the stylistic differences on paper, the collaboration simply works.
“Trouble On My Mind (feat. Tyler, The Creator)” is from Fear of God 2: Let Us Pray, set to be released on August 23, 2011 via GOOD Music/Def Jam.
Rating: 8/10
Video: The Dean’s List – “Dear Professor”
The Dean’s List have released a brand new video for their song “Dear Professor”, a standout from their mixtape The Drive In. In it, the three-piece attempt to prove that they haven’t changed because of their recent buzz and are still kids at heart. But really though, who throws eggs at the homeless?
Single: The Knux – “Run (feat. Kid Cudi)”
Track: “Run (feat. Kid Cudi)”
Artist: The Knux
Release Date: July 1, 2011
Label: Cherrytree/Interscope
Kid Cudi-featuring “Run” is the second song to drop from rap-rock duo The Knux, who will be releasing their sophomore effort later this year. It’s the same fresh, innovative sound that we’ve already heard from the hip hop duo, combined with the experimental rock sound that Cudi has been focusing on lately. But while Cudi’s new individual work has fallen quite flat (see “Perfect Is The Word”), “Run” is fun — it’s light-hearted, good-natured rock-rap, perfect for the summer months. There isn’t much substance here, but if you’re going to be anywhere near the sun for the next few months, it might be a good idea to keep “Run” on your playlist.
“Run (feat. Kid Cudi)” is from Eraser, set to be released in September via Cherrytree/Interscope.
Rating: 6.5/10
Watch: Drake – “Marvin’s Room”
Drake‘s drunk-dial ode “Marvin’s Room” has received the video treatment, with a brand new music video making it’s appearance on Drake’s October’s Very Own blog. With a number of ephemeral shots, the video is a dizzying, hazy, but altogether quite fitting video companion for one of this year’s smoothest songs. Drake’s second studio album Take Care will be released on October 24, 2011. Check out the video below.
Listen: Chiddy Bang – “Mind Your Manners”
You might remember Chiddy of Chiddy Bang setting the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous freestyle — 9 hours, 18 minutes, 22 seconds of nonstop rapping — at MTV’s O Music Awards just over a month ago. After finishing his freestyle, Chiddy and Xaphoon took the stage to debut the lead single from their upcoming debut studio album Breakfast (out July 19), an upbeat jam entitled “Mind Your Manners”. The duo recently dropped their newest mixtape Peanut Butter and Swelly, available for download here.
We now have the full studio version of the song, which you can stream or download below. Furthermore, if you’re in LA and are interested in auditioning for the music video, more information is available here (shout out to my friend Marc at Mostly Junk Food for the link).
Watch: Mellowhype – “64”
The Odd Future group Mellowhype, composed of rapper Hodgy Beats and producer Left Brain, have released their first ever music video, set to the previously unreleased “64”. Last year, the duo released their sophomore full length BlackenedWhite on their Tumblr, which will now be rereleased physically by Fat Possum on July 12th. The new reissue is revamped with new artwork and new songs, one of which is the aforementioned “64”. Check out the new tracklisting and the music video below.
Tracklisting:
01 Primo
02 Gunsounds
03 Brain (feat. Domo Genesis)
04 64
05 Loaded (feat. Mike G)
06 Deaddeputy
07 Right Here
08 Igotagun
09 Fuck The Police (feat. Tyler, The Creator)
10 Rico (feat. Frank Ocean)
11 Circus
New ZAK! Track
A couple of months ago we interviewed ZAK! after the release of his mixtape, Stuck to the Sidewalk. You can read the interview here. He recently has released a new track to kickstart the summer. “Toast” is a remix by ZAK! over the dubstep song, “Gold Dust” by DJ Fresh. You can listen to the track below and download if you like what you hear.
New: Domo Genesis – “Boss’ Life”
Odd Future‘s Domo Genesis took to his Twitter page last night to release a brand new track entitled “Boss’ Life”. Domo raps for a minute and 45 seconds over Snoop Dogg‘s original “Boss’ Life”, produced by Dr. Dre. The original can be found on Snoop’s 2006 release The Blue Carpet Treatment and features the late Nate Dogg, who provided the hook. RIP.
According to Domo, he recorded his verse over the song last night and then two hours later, decided to drop the track for his followers. The result? A chill track from Odd Future’s most laid back rapper. Look out for his new mixtape, the follow up to 2010’s Rolling Papers, which should be released sometime this year.
Stream the song or download it below.
Watch: Tyler, the Creator – “She (feat. Frank Ocean)”
Tyler, the Creator‘s Goblin receives its second set of visuals in the form of the Frank Ocean featuring track “She”. In his first video (for the song “Yonkers”), Tyler ate a cockroach, puked, and then hung himself, but today, he and his Odd Future friends return by creeping on the new girl on the block. You can watch the music video below.
New: Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius – “Perfect Is The Word”
Fans of Cudi’s traditional rapping need not worry, however. Back in January, he announced to fans via Twitter that a new rap mixtape A Man Named Scott will be released sometime this summer, as soon as he is “all rocked out” with Wizard.
Listen or download the track below.
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