Phil Ade – The Letterman [ALBUM] [Hosted by DJ Don Cannon].

Phil Ade‘s second project is here, and by the looks of things, it looks like my hometown will be partially responsible for bringing the boom bap back to hip-hop. The first DMV artist with the “CANNON!” drop all over his $#!t. I told you this city was coming up. That’s why I had to come back! It’s a full-length album, with all original production, and presented by OkayPlayer x DJ Booth for FREE!

Featuring Tabi Bonney, Raheem DeVaughn, Skillz, Wale, Raekwon, and more great talent. The tape dropped on Tuesday this week, and since I’m just getting back into the blog game, I’ll let my brother Winston from Couch Sessions give you the word on the project. Here’s my favorite track on the joint, “Paid In Full” as well as a download link.

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DOWNLOAD: Phil Ade – The Letterman [Mixtape] [Hosted by DJ Don Cannon]

You may remember how I threw his first joint, Starting on JV, on the blog about a year ago. I didn’t know anything about the guy except that he could rap. Well, much has changed since then. I was fortunate to be around at the studio a couple of times while songs on the tape were being recorded, and I’ve seen him work. I can’t even believe how fast he writes. Just hears the beat, goes into the zone for a few minutes, and walks in the booth to record it. It’s ridiculous.

I’ll say it again. Ridiculous.

Me and Phil got a chance to kick it over at SXSW in Austin, TX, earlier this year (me, him and Dre roomed together in this nice hotel that was way too far from the city. Goodness.) and I can honestly say that he’s one of the most genuine guys I’ve met in this music stuff. Motivational for sure. We arrived to several venues with Phil being the unknown act who was on the bill, and by the time we left, people were singing the hook to “Hollywood” out loud. He made even the most reluctant concert attendee bop, and that’s why I believe his showmanship was among the best I saw all weekend. Keep in mind that I probably saw like 15 shows with hella artists at each one.

(Editor’s Note: We have no idea who that white guy was. Literally no idea. I’m still baffled as to how he bogarted his way into that photo, because normally, in situations like this, Dre would have leaned on him with the quickness. Chip clearly was all for it, though. One of the coolest artists ever. Speaking of which, look out for the concert that DC to BC / The Great Progression will be throwing with Chip Tha Ripper, 7.23.2010 in NYC at Santo’s Play House. Get your tickets NOW! Talk about promo. I see you, Kev!)

The networking that 368 Music Group did over that SXSW weekend was wild. Somehow, me and them finagled our way into mansions that had things going on that you only see in the movies (I see you, Virgil!) and crazy parties (thank you, COMPLEX!). Once I get my stuff together, I’ll drop the video footage I took from that unforgettable week. Shout out to the whole 368 camp for letting me rock with them. I ran into Dre outside Commonwealth two days ago, and he played some stuff for me that led me to believe that they will take over the city pretty soon, as far as hip-hop is concerned.

If you want to know more about Phil, my brother Jabari has it all covered. He linked up with Okayplayer to present “Chasing The Letter,” a three-part series that gets a little deeper into Phil’s story, as far as his path to where he is today and how The Letterman was created. Very well put together! Check all three videos out below (they’re worth it, and not too long either.).

Jackie Chain – Haze.

Did you ever get a chance to hear “Daze,” that joint that should have been a summer smash by Soulja Boy‘s new right hand man, JBar? Marcel put me on a while ago. Well, Quinn recently put me on Jackie Chain‘s rendition, which, for those paper plane throwers / tree climbers, is probably the preferred track out of the two. The half-Asian sensation has done it again!

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DOWNLOAD: Jackie Chain – Haze

And I’ll throw you a little extra, just in case you need to compare the two versions. I honestly think that if Jackie’s version came out first, it’d be a spark to his career, which is criminally overlooked. JACKIE, WE LOVE YOU!

BONUS: JBar – Daze

Why Childish Gambino Is A Champ.

See that guy above? That’s comedian Donald Glover. I said a few years ago (to myself. Like I was just muttering to myself one day under my breath, per usual. Maybe more grumbling than muttering, but still. Something like that.) that he’d be pretty damn successful in the entertainment world. The thing is, I was making this assumption solely because of his outstanding work in comedy. You’ve probably been linked to YouTube videos of his NYU internet sketch comedy group, Derrick Comedy, sometime in the last four years. Here’s one of their clips that has 5 million views:

All of these videos are funny as hell, and he’s often the standout performer in the clips. Anyway, the man graduated from NYU in ’06 and right after college started writing for 30 Rock, although you probably had no idea he was doing that (I know I didn’t before I saw him on some late night talk show discussing it all). If you watch the NBC show Community, then you’re familiar with his recurring role as the former high school quarterback Troy Barnes. I won’t fake like I watch the show, but I did think this was one of the better things I saw on YouTube last year:

Exactly. He’s hilarious and incredibly talented. So hilarious and incredibly talented that I went ahead and spent my hard-earned cash grabbing his his 15-minute Comedy Central special that aired in March on iTunes. I won’t lie, it isn’t nearly as awesome as Aziz Ansari‘s was, but he held his own for sure. At this point, I was scouring the internet so hard for more Don Glover material that one would think I was a groupie of sorts. But whatever. If I didn’t go so HAM sandwich searching, I wouldn’t have stumbled upon his music.

Yeah, I said it. His music. Apparently, he’s been producing and rapping over electro-esque/hip-hop beats for a while under the name Childish Gambino (Editor’s Note: WHAT!? RIGHT!? HOW MUCH TRILLER CAN A NAME GET!? MY GOODNESS!) and dropped a few tapes in the last two years. The first project I got my grubby paws hands on was called I Am Not A Rapper, where he flowed over a rack of awesome indie beats (Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks,” Neon Indian’s “Deadbeat Summer”, that type of stuff.) I’m fairly confident that anybody who heard the tape and wasn’t familiar with the songs he jumped on would go out of their way to hear the originals. That’s how good his beat choice was. You remember how Wale jumped on that Justice track, or how Wiz Khalifa jumped on that Empire of the Sun track? It’s like that times 1,302. You be the judge.

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If you can look past the fact that he’s a comedian (which you’re gonna have to do, buster), then you’ll respect each bar he spits. For the most part, it’s a lot of $#!t talking. Very, very well-warrented $#!t talking. if you pay attention, you can piece together his life story, from growing up in a struggling household and being teased for being the “weird black kid” at a predominately white school to pulling bad ass chicks due to his recent success and blowing money on gear that he’ll most likely never put on just because he can. As much as you say “Oh, everybody’s rapping about that stuff,” it’s so much more intriguing if you’ve followed his professional career. And if you feel like there’s a chunk missing, it’s because the stuff he doesn’t rap about is the stuff you already see him doing, like acting and doing stand-up. Respectable.

On his latest (and greatest, in my opinion) effort, Culdesac, it’s more of the same greatness. Very therapeutic for him I’m sure. Surprisingly impressive original beats (I’m not sure who produced them, but if he did, then he’s officially a problem.). He even sings a bit. You thought Drake was a singing rapper? Just listen to the guy do it over an acoustic version of ”Got This Money” real quick:

Did you just hear that? No effects added. No funny auto-tune. His falsetto makes The-Dream uneasy about his next career move. I don’t even think me writing more about Donald Childish Gambino would help. You just need to grab this. Jam this sample; the tape can be found below the audio player.

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DOWNLOAD: Childish Gambino – Culdesac

That link will take you to a place where you can direct download the album, plus stream all the joints in case the songs you heard didn’t move you. If I came back to the internet after months of no posts to write this, you’ve gotta take my word. Let me know what you think. Don’t rush it, either. Soak this tape in.

UPDATE:

Mr. Donald Glover himself somehow stumbled across the blog post, and hit me on Twitter:

I didn’t even send it to him. I’d much rather famous people stumble across my stuff I write about them than force-feeding them to read it. And it just worked out. This is why I do this stuff – to put people on to the overlooked and underappreciated. It’s not just music. It’s everybody. That’s what The Gee Pee will hopefully do a little more of.

BONUS: