Over the years, Los Angeles producer Exile has helped introduce several rappers to a national audience, from Aloe Blacc (with whom he shares the group Emanon) to hotly-tipped MC Blu. Now, just two months after the release of his second album Radio, he’ll assist San Diego’s Blame One. While a new name for most, Blame One (pictured above, right) has been around the indie scene for a minute, notably appearing on Exile’s 2006 solo debut Dirty Science.

Set for release on March 31 via Soulspazm Records, Blame One’s Days Chasing Days doesn’t stick to Exile beats. Instead, it incorporates tracks from Kan Kick, Black Milk, Oh No and Blu. Guest spots come courtesy of Aloe Blacc, Sean Price and others.

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Mush Records, one of my favorite experimental labels, celebrated its tenth anniversary last year. (Its first release was Boom Bip’s The Low End Sequence EP). To mark the occasion, it recruited Los Angeles producer Thavius Beck, whose track record includes acclaimed projects such as Saul Williams’ Niggy Tardust! affair and K-The-I???’s recent Yesterday, Today and Forever. Beck created a two “disc” mix of tracks from the label’s catalog for your downloading pleasure.

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Later this month, freestyle icon Myka 9 will tour in support of his upcoming album 1969, due out January 20 on Fake Four Inc. The 1969 tour also includes Anticon figurehead Sole, Canuck producer Factor, Ceschi, Def 3 and LoveMoney.

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Two weeks worth of newsy, post-holiday items:

• Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard passes away (hiphopdx.com)

• Talib Kweli’s Blacksmith imprint splits with Warner Bros. (allhiphop.com)

• Warner Bros. pulls content from YouTube (cnet.com)

• Internet-ish: 2tall’s Faster mix for Brighton, UK’s Juice 107.2 FM (sendspace.com), Poo-Bah Records’ Follow the Reindeer (myspace.com), Living Legends, Legendary Music Volume 2 (www.legendarymusic.net), DJ Jamad and Wreckineyez’ The Delivery Guys (zshare.net), Rhettmatic’s official Ghostface mix 36 Deadly Darts (myspace.com), Mick Boogie & Terry Urban’s The Best of 2008 (mickboogie.com), Fashawn’s Higher Learning (2dopeboyz.com), INT from La Melodia’s Welcome To Christmas Wonderland (moovmnt.com), DJ Y-Not’s The Domination Mix Vol. 2 (Don’t Holla) (sharebee.com), Bisc1’s The Strange Love Project (busybisc1.com), Strong Arm Steady’s Gang Mentality (yearoftheblacksmith.com), High Water Music compilation (highwaterismusic.com)

Stop ripping off Dilla!

Here is a speculative list of ten 2009 hip-hop albums. All of these titles are scheduled to drop sometime during the next 12 months. I omitted some perennial “coming soon” titles (Madvillainy 2, 9th Wonder’s The Wonder Years, Ghost & Doom’s Swift and Changeable, Big Boi’s Sir Luscious Left Foot and others). Not to say that they’ll never come out, but we’re moving on now.

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Since 2003 2002, Virginia indie-rap pioneer Skillz has dropped a free MP3 that wraps up all of the past year’s goings-on in lyrical fashion. Today brings a new installment to the series. Download it after the break.

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From the upcoming album. Peace to Ryan and Pancho.

Sven Barth & Induce are: Casual Sax - Whorer Core from induce on Vimeo.

Okay, so I didn’t bring the lovin’ that I promised on Christmas Day. But hopefully these MP3 collections will make up for it.

First up, there’s a folder of Lil Wayne “A Milli” remixes. Think you’ve heard every “A Milli” remix in existence? Check out these contributions from Flying Lotus, Lyrics Born, Busdriver and others.

Second, there’s a folder of remixes from Radiohead’s “Reckoner” and “Nude” remix projects. Participants included Flying Lotus, Diplo, Aloe Blacc, Jneiro Jarel, Cadence Weapon and, of course, Amplive. I promised to post these back in October, but am only getting around to it.

All of these tracks were found on the Internet through legal means. They’ll be available until January 1.

Happy holidays!

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Just in time for Christmas, Poo-Bah Records has assembled Follow the Reindeer, a mixtape full of tweaked-out holiday fare. Participants include label guru Ras G, underrated L.A. producer Take, Plug Research artist Matthew David and others.

Check below for the download.

I have some special treats for y’all, too — look under the Plug One mistletoe on Xmas Day.

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Tis’ the season for slow news cycles:

• RIAA pledges to stop suing MP3 traders, plans to cut off their Internet access instead (online.wsj.com)

• Scarface becomes latest rapper to claim “retirement” (sohh.com)

• Quannum and Reebok team up for Darfur benefit (quannum.com)

• The Cool Kids draw “mixed results” in licensing ventures with Mountain Dew, Rhapsody (billboard.com via thedailyswarm.com)

• Will.iam uses “Yes I Can” Obama video to promote Black Eyed Peas’ upcoming album on Tavis Smiley’s talk show (hiphopdx.com)

• New Internet-ish: Grip Grand’s Chart Toppers (routinefly.com), Metermaids’ Nightlife in Illinoise (prefixmag.com), GLC’s Similar to the Letter (rubyhornet.com), Legend, DJ Nice and Green Lantern’s Back 2 The Basics (onsmash.com), Berlin Battery compilation with Ben Mono, others (berlinbattery.blogspot.com), Melo-X’s Mustafa’s Renaissance (moovmnt.com), DJ Wristspect’s Bridging the Gap (2dopeboyz.com), Khrysis & Rhettmatic’s On the Boards with the Heat (2dopeboyz.com), Dela’s Atmosphere Airlines Vol. 2 (rappersiknow.com)

Myka 9, former member of the influential crew Freestyle Fellowship, has a new album called 1969. It’s set for release on January 13 via Fake Four Inc.

Myka 9 (or Mikah Nine, Myka Nine, etc.) is an elusive and eccentric member of Los Angeles’ underground scene. He has released several solo albums, including 2006’s Citrus Sessions, that rarely traveled beyond a small, devoted fan base. His biggest appearances this decade have been on others’ recordings, notably Prefuse 73’s classic Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives and Daedelus, Busdriver and Radioinactive’s The Weather.

Here’s a brief description from the press release:

Legendary Freestyle Fellowship cofounder Myka 9 and Fake Four Records are readying a hip-hop release infused with soul, funk, and even disco for 2009 called 1969. Not since 1993’s “Park Bench People”, a classic joint detailing Myka’s own struggle with homelessness, has this LA emcee created such personal and poignant album. 1969, the year of Myka’s birth, is a nostalgic trip filled with references to the culture and sounds of Motown, hippies, psychedelics, choppers and Cadillacs– things that surrounded him throughout his early childhood. Guest appearances on 1969 include his Project Blowed comrades Aceyalone, Busdriver, and Awol One.

Myka says of his inspiration to get back into the studio recently: “Maybe it has something to do with being older and wiser. I got a lot of ideas. I feel it’s time to share these concepts with others.”

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Earlier this year, between August and October, Buck 65 issued a trilogy of works called Dirtbike directly to the Internet. Why am I only writing about this now? Because I know and hear about a lot of music, but I don’t know everything.

Ah, but I digress. Dirtbike, according to Buck 65’s notes on his website, consists of three parts, each of which lasts around an hour. The first and third edition appear to have been released as a long, single-track MP3s, much like his 2000 album Man Overboard. Dirtbike 2 is available as both a single MP3 and several individual tracks.

For the Dirtbike series, Buck 65 recruited an impressive list of collaborators. Buddy Peace, D-Styles, Jel from Themselves/Subtle, Moka Only, Mia Clarke (formerly of Electrelane), Dose One, Cadence Weapon, Sage Francis and Skratch Bastid (who produced Buck 65’s 2007 album Situation) are only a few of the contributors. The music ranges from throwback hip-hop to stylized spoken-word pieces and covers of old country and blues songs.

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British netlabel Myuzyk has released a new compilation called Twisting the Frame. Here’s a brief description:

In the making and delayed for over two years, this collection of free thinking progressions and mutations of hip hop is here at last. Compiled by Long Distance Dan via various sources of talent it draws in producers and artists with something different to offer. Twisting The Frame delves into the leftfield, takes you through sounds from multiple subgenres with intrumentals and vocal tracks.

Twisting the Frame mostly consists of unknown producers: it’s most prominent names include 2tall (who issued an album with Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow), Buddy Peace (who has worked with Sage Francis and Buck 65) and Remdog (who has worked with Mike Ladd through his Reptiles alias). So it’s a fairly underground endeavor. But hey, you never know who will turn out to be the next Flying Lotus.

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On February 1, Barcelona, Spain producer Filastine will make drop his second album Dirty Bomb via DJ/Rupture’s Soot Records. Much like DJ/rupture, Filastine’s musical style incorporates various sounds — dub, breakbeat, dancehall, ambient electronics and hip-hop — into an exotic, difficult to categorize blend. Here’s a bit from the press release:

With his sophmore album, Dirty Bomb, Filastine returns with a gritty transnational soundclash of urban rhythm. Freely splicing dubstep with balkan brass or hiphop with bollywood, Dirty Bomb parties in the mud puddle of our increasingly polluted world. Kick drums beat out rapid patterns for dances yet to be invented. Rich acoustic strings merge with programmed synths. Bits of field recordings and radio static degrade the signal. Each featured voice is sourced from an on-site collaboration. Over the contorted crunk of “Hungry Ghosts” rap aboriginal Australian Wire mc and Japan’s ECD, underground rap icons of their respective countries. Closing the albums is teen gypsy La Perla, recorded in a squatted cave in Andalusia.

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P.O.S. has announced the first of what will undoubtedly be many tours in 2009. The concerts, in support of his upcoming album Never Better, take place in February and feature several comrades from his Doomtree crew, including Sims, Mictlan, Lazerbeak and Hand Over Fist.

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Here’s an incongruous pairing: Ed Banger Records producer Busy P and Murs the Living Legend together on “To Protect and Entertain.” Murs’ punchy raps and Busy P’s patented electro-funk beats makes for a oddly appealing and funky mix. Meanwhile, Murs rhymes about making out with girls high on coke and E, which is what usually happens when a hardcore rap kid goes to a rave. The track is kinda dope, though.

Here’s “To Protect and Entertain,” which appears on the new Ed Rec Vol. III compilation.

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From today, December 15 until December 24, Warp Records is offering a free download via its MP3 site, Bleep.com. Titled Bleep Loves…Labels, the 11 track collection features contributions from new signee Hudson Mohawke, 4 Hero side project Visioneers, rising downtempo producers Lone and 2 Tall, electro-disco-whatever producers Boyz Noize and others. It highlights the many underground labels which Bleep carries in addition to Warp; and the fact that all of Bleep’s MP3s come without DRM restrictions (unlike iTunes and Amazon.com).

Here’s how the site puts it:

“Bleep Loves… Labels” is an exclusive FREE compilation hand picked by the Bleep staff to showcase a variety of sounds from this medley of forward-thinking labels. Moving from the some of the hottest electronic beatscapers around right up to Eastern European electric blues funk and folk-prog-rock workouts; this compilation gives an insight into the depths of Bleep’s catalogue.

Update: Bleep Loves Labels has been rescheduled for February. No word on whether it will have a new or different track listing. Check the comments section for more information.

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Last week’s hip-hop news bits, both relevant and irrelevant:

• Charles Hamilton concludes The Hamiltonization Factor (iamnotcharleshamilton.com), but not without some controversy (smokingsection.uproxx.com)
• Busy week for Hamilton: Interscope pays him to aid Soulja Boy’s quixotic marketing campaign (2dopeboyz.com) (charleshamilton.blogspot.com)
• Busta Rhymes criticized for “Arab Money” single (daveyd.com) (allhiphop.com)
• Kanye co-signs Consequence for new deal with Universal/Motown (sohh.com)
• Bands complain about U.S. government using their songs in torture sessions (telegraph.co.uk via Idolator.com)
• J-Zone, DJ Nu-Mark contribute to Andy Samberg’s forthcoming Lonely Island project (mtv.com)
• Live: Wale, December 9 at Highline Ballroom, New York (nahright.com)
• New internet-ish: Benn Grimm from Cardboard City’s The Nutmeg (rapidshare.com), Mick Boogie and Judah’s Hype Club (pressplayfashionforward.com), Gemstones from Lupe Fiasco’s FNF crew’s Xclusive Series Vol. 3: Gemstones (2dopeboyz.com), DJ Benzi’s The New Deal (10deep.com)

December 15 update:

• NBC’s forthcoming Late Night With Jimmy Fallon hires the Roots as its full-time band (okayplayer.com)

I’ve been scratching my head over Mr. Lif’s forthcoming album I Heard It Today. It was apparently supposed to come out on January 20, the day of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, but has apparently been pushed back — to which month? I don’t know. Also, when Lif first announced the project in December, he planned to release several songs from the album as digital singles. Here’s how the press release described it:

Presented in a completely unprecedented manner, Mr. Lif will write and release 1-2 songs every three weeks until Election Day (November 4), following which Mr. Lif will release one more single based on his post electoral thoughts. This single will preface the release of the I Heard It Today (Bloodbot Tactical Enterprises) full length on Inauguration Day (January 20, 2009). The album will feature additional unreleased tracks and corresponding artwork.

So far, however, only three singles have been released: “I Heard It Today,” “Welcome To The World” and “The Sun.” He didn’t put out an election day single, which is too bad because I would have loved to hear his lyrical take on it. (He has, however, blogged about post-election issues on the Definitive Jux website.) And, as said before, it’s unknown when the entire project will drop. It’s all very confusing.

What is clear, however, is that Mr. Lif will definitely tour next year. Here are the initial dates; as usual, I will update the itinerary if it changes.

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Souls of Mischief will kick off the new year with the appropriately named Ice Cold tour. To commemorate the adventure, they’ve released a new song, “Tour Stories,” as part of a zip file of MP3s called, you guessed it, “Ice Cold MP3s.” The tour dates and a link to the MP3s are listed below.

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