Rising New York hip-hop artist Azealia Banks has just released the music video for “1991”. The 1991 EP was released earlier this year and has received overall good reviews for the singles “212” and “Liquorice”. Justin Mitchell, who has previously worked with KiD CuDiand Death Cab for Cutie, directed the music video that you can view below. In the music video, you can see Azealia Banks simply being Azealia Banks posing and dancing in this simplistic music video. Her debut album, Broke With Expensive Taste, has again been delayed to a further release date. So far the expected release date is February 12, 2013, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was delayed again.
Cudderisback. No, really. The Man on the Moon is back.
After showing his rapping self for a capricious 30 seconds on Hit-Boy‘s “Old School Caddy”, the Kid Cudi of old made his full reappearance late last night on “Just What I Am”, the first leak from his forthcoming Indicud album. Alongside him is another new (but not really) face: King Chip, the artist formerly known as Chip Tha Ripper and Cudi’s longtime collaborator. Both artists kill it on some Cudder self-production, something he seems to be getting into recently for Indicud, which he has described as his version of Dr. Dre‘s The Chronic 2001.
With Rock the Bells on its way (we’ll be there!), the G.O.O.D. Music collaboration record looming, and Indicud being worked on, it’s going to be a pretty busy year for Cudder.. so turn the music up and vibe with the MP3 directly below.
Hit-Boy‘s second song as a rapper is the long-awaited, often-teased “Old School Caddy” collaboration with G.O.O.D. Music fam Kid Cudi. This time, the producer-turned-rapper got behind the tables himself to churn out his own production, which fits perfectly with Kid Cudi’s energetic Man On The Moon/A Kid Named Cudi era flow. Cudi is actually only on the song for about 36 seconds (one short verse after Hit-Boy spits his two), but his presence is huge, especially since Hit-Boy still sounds like he’s trying to find his voice and lane as a rapper. I’ve heard criticisms about Hit-Boy’s laid-back flow and voice inflection since he appears a bit lazy at times, but I think it works much better on “Old School Caddy” than on his debut “Jay-Z Interview”. The song title is certainly better.
You can download “Old School Caddy” for free below, courtesy of Hit-Boy himself. What do you think? Can Hit-Boy follow in his mentor Kanye‘s shoes or should he just stick to production? On a side note, how about Cudi’s return to rap?
Hit-Boy takes a page from his G.O.O.D. Music co-conspirator and mentor Kanye West with his debut rap song, the oddly-titled “Jay-Z Interview”. After conquering the production world with bangers like “N–gas in Paris” and A$AP Rocky‘s “Goldie”, the famed producer is now starting his recording career as a rhymer. Below, you can listen to Hit-Boy’s rap debut alongside the visuals for the track, which includes cameos from Jay-Z, Kanye, Kid Cudi, and Rocky.
Not quite sure how this came about, but the new Ghost Recon game will come with a brand new song by TDE’s Kendrick Lamar. Titled “War Is My Love”, the song features a synth-heavy beat that reminds me of Kid Cudi‘s “Mr. Rager”. As always, Kendrick kills his verses with his lyricism and haunting rhymes. The hook isn’t necessarily the greatest, but considering this was made for a game soundtrack, I guess it’s not too shabby. Give it a listen below.
Since putting out the critically acclaimed album The Suburbs, Arcade Fire did not release any new music up until now, when the band unveiled their contribution to the soundtrack for The Hunger Games. The anthemic “Abraham’s Daughter” was first made available by Entertainment Weekly, but has since been removed from their website. You can still listen to the track here.
“Abraham’s Daughter” is set to appear on the upcoming film’s soundtrack alongside new work from The Decemberists, Kid Cudi, Neko Case, and more. Arcade Fire also contributed an orchestral piece entitled “Horn of Plenty” for the album, which will be released on March 20th. The Hunger Games will appear in theaters everywhere three days later.
Any longtime Kid Cudi fan is familiar with the story of the long-lost “Dose of Dopeness” track produced by Dot Da Genius, who produced Cudi’s entire new rock album WZRD. Recorded all the way back in 2008, “Dose of Dopeness” was a live favorite but was never fully finished and released. After countless delays and pushbacks, Dot Da Genius finally liberated the track via Twitter. It’s clearly classic Cudder with his old melodic, sing-songy flow and even features him rapping about how underground his music is.
By way of Twitter, Kid Cudi and producer Dot Da Genius, known together as the newly-dubbed WZRD, revealed the very first single from the yet-to-be-named rock album. Set for a January 30 release date (Cudder’s 28th birthday), the upcoming album will have no profanity and will have a very uplifting sound. Today’s preview, titled “Brake”, has a completely different vibe from the previously leaked, woozy-sounding “Perfect Is The Word” (listen here). Heavily driven by hazy guitars, booming drums, and Cudi’s distinctive voice, “Brake” actually sounds pretty dark and brooding, perhaps even psychedelic at times.
The long-awaited short film for Kid Cudi‘s “Maniac (feat. Cage & St. Vincent)” has finally been released. Directed by Shia LaBeouf, the ten-minute-long video features Cudi and fellow rapper Cage going on violent, gory killing sprees. Over the top? Definitely.
Today is Halloween and today’s the perfect day to celebrate. I put together a mix of songs that in my opinion would be great to listen to during Halloween. None of them are actually directly related to Halloween in any way, but I think they have a very suitable vibe. The playlist this week isn’t really focused on any specific genre, but the first half of the playlist is rap and the 2nd half is a mix of dubstep, folk, and R&B music. The last song is “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” by Sufjan Stevens and if you’re at all familiar with the song, you’d think it wouldn’t fit in this playlist, but I think that it’s a perfect ending to this week’s mix.
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