Are you watching closely?

It's very rare these days when a hip hop artist will stop you in his tracks. Lil' Wayne did it last year with Da Drought 3, but I feel this year we gotta get a little deeper, cerebral.

Jay Electronica is an artist who has been skirting the fringes of greatness for some time. He has produced tracks for Nas and Eryka Badu (who he has a live Twittered child with) and recently cut a track with Just Blaze. His breakout track Act I: The Pledge referances the film The Prestige and see's Jay spitting over fragments of Jon Brion's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack about UFO's and voodoo men. No drums in sight.

Check the slightly more conventional Renassiance Man below and stop the slow singin' and flower bringin' cause hip hop ain't dead yet.

Jay Electronica - Renassiance Man

Wikipedia

Hermitude - Threads

Regular readers of BW would know that we are quite the fans of the boys from the Blue Mountains around here. It was with great joy that I have now got my grubby little hands on their new LP, Threads.

On this record Hermitude have moved to diversify their sound even further. Smooth hip hop inspired beats rub shoulders with live instrumentation and electronic bleeps and squeaks. It should be also noted that almost half the cuts are laced with a vocal. They range from soul to atmospheric with the odd verse thrown in for good measure, courtesy of Urthboy and Hau.

While not quite as consistent as their previous effort, 'Tales of the Drift', this record is still shines with effortless beats and grooves perfect for the coming summer months.

Hermitude - Slychain

Myspace | Website

Tha Shizzle

One of my very talented friends (check out his previous mixes here) has decided to celebrate the imminent Australian tour of the one and only Snoop Dogg with a seamless mix of some of his hottest jams.

Grab it for yourself here and find the track listing below.

1. Snoop Dogg – Who am I (Whats my name?)
2. Snoop Dogg – Snoop D O Double G
3. Snoop Dogg & Pharell – Sets Up
4. Snoop Dogg & Pharell – Drop it like its Hot
5. Snoop Dogg & Kurupt – Gold Rush
6. Snoop Dogg – Doggz Gonna Get Ya
7. Snoop Dogg - Those Gurlz
8. Snoop Dogg & Charlie Wilson – Perfect
9. Snoop Dogg & Charlie Wilson – Doggfather
10. Snoop Dogg & B-Real – Vato
11. Snoop Dogg & Akon – Boss’ Life
12. Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre – Just Dippin
13. 2Pac & Snoop Dogg – 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted
14. Snoop Dogg – Doggy Dogg World
15. Snoop Dogg – Ups and Downs
16. Snoop Dogg & Nate Dogg – Crazy
17. Snoop Dogg & Nelly – Girl like You
18. Snoop Dogg – One Chance
19. Snoop Dogg & Charlie Wilson – Snoop’s Upside Your Head
20. Snoop Dogg & Tray Dee – 21 Jumpstreet
21. Snoop Dogg – Murder was the Case
22. Snoop Dogg – Gz and Hustla’s
23. Snoop Dogg – It Wasn’t Your Fault
24. Snoop Dogg – Make it Clap
25. Snoop Dogg – Snoop Bounce
26. Snoop Dogg & Xzibit – Bitch Please
27. Snoop Dogg – Tha Shiznit
28. Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre & D’Angelo – Imagine
29. Snoop Dogg – Gin & Juice
30. Snoop Dogg – Can You Control Your Hoe?
31. Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg – Nuttin’ but a G Thang
32. Snoop Dogg – Step Your Game Up
33. Snoop Dogg, Warren G & Nate Dogg – Aint No Fun
34. Snoop Dogg & Silkk the Shocker – Gangsta Ride
35. Snoop Dogg, Warren G & Nate Dogg – Dont Tell
36. Snoop Dogg & Pharell – Pass it Pass it
37. Snoop Dogg – Think About It
38. Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg – The Next Episode
39. Snoop Dogg & Akon – I Wanna Fuck You
40. Snoop Dogg, Pharell & Charlie Wilson – Beautiful
41. Snoop Dogg & Supafly – You Thought
42. Snoop Dogg & Justin Timberlake – Signs
43. Snoop Dogg – Sensual Seduction

We just dippin....

Let's Get Retarded In Here

Shawty Lo - Dey Know feat. Young Jeezy, Dubb, E-40, Plies, Gorilla Zoe, Ludacris & Lil' Wayne



Is Shawty Lo taking the piss? Or is there a competition for how many people you can get to guest on a track? This is seven guest rappers. SEVEN. If I'm the record company, and Shawty Lo goes "I want seven of my friends on this track, and you need to pay them all," my response is "you, sir, are responsible for Shake Tha Laffy Taffy, and that's enough spasticness for at least the next five years." Shawty claims he's going solo so he's not typecast by Laffy Taffy, which is why he upped the smarts and called his track Dey Know, confirming he is illiterate. And it's a 7 minute remix. Seriously. This is entering hip-hop idiocy territory previously populated by R. Kelly, when he released Remix to Ignition WITHOUT RELEASING THE ORIGINAL TRACK.
Having said that, someone was kind enough to throw money at this celebration of all things retarded and I'm glad they did. 'Cause it's a kinda balla track. Not a fully-blown club banger, but worth a listen. Three-point-five mics.