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America's Most Blunted
Monthly Archives: November 2006
Review: Frank N Dank, “Xtended Play version 3.13”
Frank N Dank Xtended Play version 3.13 Chisel Sound It has been a little while since we’ve heard from the Detroit rap duo. Their last appearance was on Jaylib’s 2003 project, Champion Sound. That same year, FND also put out … Continue reading
Review: Lupe Fiasco, “Food & Liquor”
On Food & Liquor Lupe aka Lupin III is painfully conscious of his otherness, a skateboarding, drug-and-alcohol free Muslim amidst a generation of self-proclaimed crack rappers. Continue reading
J-Dilla loves ruff drafts, Japan
Want more music from James "J-Dilla" Yancey? Hot on the heels of Donuts, one of the best-received independent hip-hop albums of 2006, Stones Throw will add another J-Dilla release to its catalog. Like Donuts, Ruff Draft is an instrumental album that highlights the late producer’s musical prowess. It’s scheduled for release on March 6.
X-Clan & PE band for West Coast run
Can’t get enough of X-Clan? Missed Brother J and Co. during their opening stint on Jurassic 5’s summer tour? The Blackwatch raptivists are now opening for Public Enemy on their world tour. Try to keep your heckling to a minimum when PE hits the stage, though. Chuck D. won’t appreciate it if you ask him why he keeps defending Flavor of Love.
Ultramagnetic MCs are finally in your future
After nearly a decade of false starts and wishful features in XXL, URB and allhiphop.com, Ultramagnetic MCs finally finished a follow-up to its 1993 minor classic The Four Horsemen. Kool Keith, Ced Gee, Moe Love and TR Love, the Bronx foursome behind old-school classics like "Ego Trippin’" and Critical Beatdown, are issuing The Best Kept Secret on January 9, according to their MySpace page.
Review: Lyrics Born, “Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live!”
Lyrics Born Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live! Quannum Like the snow leopard, the flying pig and the honest politician, the live hip-hop album is a very rare beast. No need to wonder why – the fact is that much hip-hop … Continue reading
Review: Tres presents “Shipping and Handling”
Tres presents Shipping and Handling Tres Records Tres Records is being nice. With the release of Shipping and Handling, the L.A. imprint unleashes all of the B-sides, rarities and remixes it previously released exclusively on wax. As the number of … Continue reading
Review: Planet Asia, “The Medicine”
Planet Asia The Medicine ABB West Coast battle rapper Planet Asia is not a team player — in fact, he’s kind of a hip-hop counterpart to basketball showboat Kobe Bryant — and his rap persona will typically outshine anyone who … Continue reading
The Plug One Q&A: Oh No
For Plug One’s inaugural Q&A, James O’Connor catches up with Oh No, Madlib’s kid brother and a producer and rapper in his own right. Oh No released the excellent Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms on Stones Throw Records last summer. Continue reading
Review: Nicolay, “Here”
Nicolay Here BBE Whether as a metaphor to the fact that Netherlands producer Nicolay has “made it” in the music world, or an allusion to his recent move to North Carolina, for the listener, Here is not always where you … Continue reading
Necro heads out on the road
Goremeister and all-around sicko Necro launched his first national tour last weekend. For the uninitiated, Necro is a linchpin of late 90s NYC death rap. He’s released direct-to-video slasher movies with his brother Ill Bill (formerly of Non-Phixion), produced tracks for Missin’ Linx and Cage, runs a record label (Psycho-Logical Records) and makes humorousy horrific albums like The Sexorcist, Gory Days and I Need Drugs (the latter a parody of LL Cool J’s "I Need Love").
Review: Peanut Butter Wolf presents “Chrome Children”
Peanut Butter Wolf presents Chrome Children Stones Throw There are many things in this world that you can only understand if you’re, well, really high. The Friday series might be one of them. James Joyce would be another. And, judging … Continue reading
4 Hero returns, plays with the changes
Nu-jazz fanatics rejoice! Today cultish Britons 4 Hero announced the impending arrival of Play With the Changes. Scheduled for U.S. release on Feb. 27 on Milan Records, it is Dego and Marc Mac’s first album since 2001’s Creating Patterns. Both men have kept busy since then — Dego with his DKD and Silhouette Brown productions, and Marc Marc with his Visioneers joints (including this year’s Dirty Old Hip-Hop), as well as sundry vinyl-only efforts. But 4 Hero is the brand name.