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SchoolBoy Q – Setbacks [ALBUM, FREE VERSION!].

modi — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:27:29 +0000

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve already heard me sing this album’s praises. I bought ScHoolBoy Q‘s Setbacks off iTunes, and now he’s released a free version. The free version is shorter than the iTunes joint (couple different songs, and honestly, one of them is potentially a highlight on the tape…yikes…oh well!) Since he dropped the announcement on Twitter Nation, I figured I’d let those who don’t know of him or follow him to learn about him here.

Q’s got a charisma about him, man. His voice is unique, and he kills the majority of these tracks with his somewhat unorthodox rhyme scheme. Every song is pretty intense, too, as far as subject matter. When I play this album, I paint a vivid picture of this hazy, California hellhole. Lots of drug talk, but the stressful life that he seems to lead kind of explains it all. I love pretty much every beat on the album, and the only real problem I have with the project is that he didn’t put the one song that I blogged of his a while back on the joint. I understand the decision (it doesn’t really work with the entire “setbacks” concept), but that joint bumped.

All of the features are awesome. Top Dawg teammates Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock all have appearances ~~(Kendrick actually has two, and the one on “LigHt Years AHead” is my favorite swag verse of his since I heard “Michael Jordan”)~~ ***WOW! This song is NOT on the free version! Sorry, guys!*** BJ The Chicago Kid murders the hook on “I’m Good”, and in a great, great way.

I hate talking about music too much. Just listen to it. Thank me later. I rock with Q the long way. This album is the best thing to drop in January as far as hip-hop is concerned (that I’ve heard, anyway). Check out this video real quick, then grab the whole project via the link below. Oh, and shout out to @daveisfree.

DOWNLOAD: ScHoolBoy Q – Setbacks [ALBUM]

M1 Platoon – Cheesecake Drake

modi — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:23:07 +0000

Nah, it’s not a diss! It’s actually quite the opposite. Following previous cut “Get Money” featuring G5 Clive & Carlitta Durand, M1 Platoon drops another track from their upcoming mixtape Rippin’ They Sh!t. This time around they cover Drake‘s Boi-1da produced track, “It’s Been a Pleasure,” renaming it “Cheesecake Drake.”

Ripping They Sh!t will be released August 10th. The mixtape will be a compliation of original raps over industry beats. Come back here to grab it. If you’ve been here since ’08, you know we’ve featured M1 a few times, whether it be in mixtape form, or as background music for such thought-provoking posts as “Could You Wife The Rolla?“. Ha. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: M1 Platoon – Cheesecake Drake

More Childish Gambino.

modi — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:02:36 +0000

Why? Because I said so! The people who’ve downloaded Culdesac have encouraged me to continue to spread the gospel that is Childish Gambino aka comedian/actor/creator Donald Glover Grab his earlier tapes I Am Just A Rapper 1 & 2 below, where he rhymes effortlessly over indie rock beats (except that “Exhibit C” that for some strange reason had the world talking about it. It was cool, but I mean, come on. Don’t make me talk about that here though. That’s for an in-person discussion.).

If you have an eclectic ear, you may recognize a bunch of these joints. The tapes are also critically acclaimed. You be the judge as to which is triller; my vote’s with the first, but the second has jams too. If you’re confused as to who this guy is, then go check the post I did on him a little while ago.

DOWNLOAD: Childish Gambino – I Am Not A Rapper [Mixtape]

DOWNLOAD: Childish Gambino – I Am Not A Rapper 2 [Mixtape]

BONUS: Childish Gambino – Got This Money [Acoustic Version] shout out to Ricardo aka Internet Goon for this download link! I’ve been looking everywhere for this.

Jackie Chain – Haze.

modi — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:52:04 +0000

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!

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.

modi — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:56:18 +0000

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.

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.

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:

Lupe Fiasco – Say Something x All The Way Turnt Up [Freestyles / Flows].

modi — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:03:17 +0000

Good gracious. Lupe is back. This is like his “I just feel like getting in the studio and flowing” stuff right here, and it’s better than everybody else’s music. That’s precisely why he’s one of the best rappers alive. Easy.

DOWNLOAD: Lupe Fiasco – Say Something

DOWNLOAD: Lupe Fiasco – All The Way Turnt Up

NER*D – Soldier [feat. Santigold].

modi — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:11:27 +0000

You know I’m an N*E*R*D fanatic, so you know I’d have this new joint that they performed this summer with Santigold at MTV’s Spring Break. Off their new album, I like both versions, so in addition to the CD quality version, I’ve got the live joint they did this spring. Interested in which one you dig more, so feel free to throw your opinion in the comments section. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: N*E*R*D – Soldier [feat. Santigold] | Live @ Spring Break [from 3.09]

Wale – Bittersweet Life [feat. Colin Munroe].

modi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:41:20 +0000

He dropped this via his twitter, unconverted. My ninja Omar hit me with the retweet, so I’m over here using my tools to turn .wav to .mp3. And I succeeded. Apparently, it’s an old DJ Toomp beat, and it samples The Verve‘s “Bittersweet Symphony” (you know, that track that made Cruel Intentions that much better? That joint.). Let’s get it.

DOWNLOAD: Wale – Bittersweet [feat. Colin Munroe]

Photography by my girl Gabby. Ask her about that day. Oh boy, wasn’t a good one for me.

Young Money – Every Girl [feat. Lil Wayne, Drake, Jae Millz, Gutta & Mack Maine] [Video].

modi — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:25:08 +0000

are any of y’all into girls like i am, lesssbiaaaaaaaanneessssss“

wow. anyway, video above, DL link below.

DOWNLOAD: Young Money – Every Girl [feat. Lil Wayne, Drake, Jae Millz, Gutta & Mack Maine]

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