Kanye West & Mos Def - Blue Note Jazz Club Freestyle

Kanye West & Mos Def - Blue Note Jazz Club Freestyle

No Freestyle Friday this past week. Sue me. Apparently, Kanye and Mos blessed the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC on Saturday by crashing Lupe's show. The Robert Glasper Experiment backed them up with a soulful, acoustic Dilla beat. Kanye goes off the dome and speaks on why he hasn't begun touring yet, his ties to Illuminati and random vices that have held him back. Mos more just flexed his lyrical muscle and shouted out the crowd. All in all, that would've been a nice way to end any Saturday night. I really wish there was video footage of this, but the audio does the trick just fine. Check out some GOOD Music...

Kanye West - Lord, Lord, Lord (ft. Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon & Charlie Wilson)

Kanye West - Lord, Lord, Lord (ft. Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon & Charlie Wilson)

Didn't post last week's GOOD Friday track (or the week before that, I think), but this week I'm on my job. Kanye waited until the wee hours of the night to release this cut. Mos Def, Swizzy, Raekwon and Charlie Wilson joined him for this smooth, jazzy cut. I'm not sure what Swizz was thinking with this verse, or what he was talking about, nor am I clear about what the song was about, but it sure sounds good. I think this track just deserves a few more listens. I suppose Yeezy has calmed down a bit with his original fervor. Whatever the case, this is definitely a track to vibe out to and relax. Check it out and stay tuned for more GOOD Friday tracks...

24 Hour Karate School - Release Date Confirmed

The wait is over. That's right. The wait is over. All of you underground heads that have been waiting for the Ski Beatz-headed collaborative project '24 Hour Karate School' can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as the album is now slated to drop on September 14th. Featuring Curren$y, Mos Def, Jay Electronica, Stalley, Jim Jones, Rugz D. Bewler, Tabi Bonney, Wiz Khalifa, The Cool Kids, Camp Lo, Jean Grae and Terri Walker, this figures to be one of the most hyped-releases of the year. What baffles me is how many of the tracks are already available on the interwebs. Does that take away from the value of the complete work? Not necessarily, though Ski may very well have to pull something crazy out of his dojo to keep all of the students happy. Again, 24 Hour Karate School drops on September 14th, just in time for you to bump it on that 'back to school' playlist. Check out the promo video DD172 and Creative Control released to go with the good news...

Curren$y ft. Mos Def & Jay Electronica – The Day

Curren$y ft. Mos Def & Jay Electronica – The Day

Group albums are a rarity these days in hip-hop. Child Rebel Soldiers with Lupe, Kanye & Pharrell was supposed to be out 3 years ago, we're waiting on another Wu-Tang collab and the rest of the rap world is content throwing out wack solo albums. That said, it's nice to see some of my favorites jump on a track together. Curren$y's 'Pilot Talk' is set to drop on June 30th, and I, for one, could not be more excited. Spitta's really grown as an artist as of late, refining everything from his metaphors and wordplay to his flow. I guess it doesn't hurt to have Dame Dash, Jay Elec and Mos Def in your corner for inspiration when those plane and weed references get old. Even so, I don't think he'll need a lot of help. The track is soooooo jazzy in the beat department, thanks to Ski Beatz, and reeks of blaxploitation films and great drums. I really hope Ski comes out of the woodwork with some of these unfinished projects. Regardless, check out one of the tracks off 'Pilot Talk'. Spitta lives!!!

Ski Beatz - 24 Hour Karate School

Ski Beatz - 24 Hour Karate School (Snippets)

Remember the Kicks, Chicks & Porno Flicks mixtape I posted about a month ago? Well, in that post I spoke about togetherness in hip-hop and a new wave of collaborations coming our way. This is one of them. Producer Ski Beatz, along with Dame Dash brought together the likes of Mos Def, Jim Jones, Curren$y, The Cool Kids, Stalley, Jean Grae, Jay Electronica, Camp Lo, Wiz Khalifa and Tabi Bonney to create the album '24 Hour Karate School'. Clearly most of these MC's aren't well versed (pun; get it?) in karate, so they did the next best thing, and rapped. The tape doesn't come out until March 30th, so I guess you'll have to practice centering your chi until then. Check out the trailer and some snippets from the tape...

2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards: The Cyphers

I'm not going to lie... The Hip-Hop Awards were dry, bordering on tasteless at times, and also pointless in the grand scheme of things. HOWEVER, just as with last year, the cyphers were an event to be reckoned with. There's no point in mincing words. Just know that one of these was a pure throwaway and another one was one of the best cyphers I can say I've heard in a minute. Enjoy people...