Thursday, October 29, 2009

Agustus thElefant: Abuse

















This song is the reason why I have this blog! To pass along quality music that you might not have heard before. Dude is dope! If you like meaningful lyrics and chill beats this one is definitely for you! I'm not gonna say anything else. Just check it for yourself and enjoy!


Cause: Save The Game












If you're listening to this song while doing something and it's just background music (which I do 60% of the time) then you won't be that impressed. The beat isn't overwhelming and Cause's flow is decent. But his lyrics? Dope indeed. He covers everything from Puff being happy that Shyne's locked up to Obama and how he feels about the job he's done so far. Def worth a close listen. "Mr. Obama I was really 'bout to thank ya, then you went and hired a crew of investment bankers". Wow!! Diggin' it!

LuGuz: Drunk Driver












Damn! The sample in this song is ridiculous! Rob Dougan "I’m Not Driving Anymore". LuGuz is nice on the track too. Check it.


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sean Price Is Right

Damn I guess I'm too late. I had this idea about a year ago! Following rappers around while they go through everyday situations like this is brilliant! Sean P goes to the grocery store and talks about heavy duty vs. super strength aluminum foil, being fooled by Glade scented candles, and more. "You got Heavy D the rapper but if he was Super D... I guess he would be better than Heavy D, at least by name".

Ashkon: Hot Tubbin'

In anticipation of the NBA season and the Warriors opener tonight versus the Rockets.... what better way to kick of the season than a little "hot tubbin on the late night"? Even if it has nothing to do with the Warriors really....

Way Back Wednesdays- Eazy-E: Real Mothaph**kin G's

"Real Mothaph**kin G's" is off Eazy's 1993 album titled "It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa". This diss song (which was original titled "Real Compton City G's") was directed towards former N.W.A. band mate Dr. Dre and his protégé Snoop Dogg. The song was in retaliation to Dre's song titled "F**k Wit' Dre Day", a diss song aimed at Eazy.

Some of the best lines from "Real Mothaph**kin G's":

"Muthaf**k Dre, muthaf**k Snoop, muthaf**k Death Row, yo and here comes my left blow."

"Ya like a kid ya found pup and you're dapper, but tell me where the f**k you found an anorexic rapper".

All in all some great stuff from both sides! The funny thing is that Eazy had a contract with Dre to be his exclusive producer, so when the two went separate ways and Dre made the diss song "F**k Wit Dre Day", Eazy still got paid off of it. Anyways enjoy the classic.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Brother Ali Live From Paris

I'm so bummed I missed the Brother Ali concert when he was local a couple weeks ago. Luckily Grandcrew.com is here to the rescue! Def make sure to check out that website. Concerts in full equals dopeness!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Wale: Letter Ft. John Mayer

















I guess this was supposed to be on Wale's upcoming album titled, "Attention:Deficit", but for what ever reason it didn't make the cut. Wale writes a "Letter" to Obama and Tupac in this one. Overall the songs pretty clean.


The Incomparable Shakespeare: Wonderwall












When I first saw the title of the song, "Wonderwall", obviously I immediately thought of Oasis. With that being said it was a "must check out" for me. To my surprise the song was dope! Not often do you go into something hoping for a good outcome and get rewarded. This time was the exception. In Oasis' song, an imaginary friend comes out of nowhere to save Noel Gallagher. In Incomparable's version it's hip-hop that "saves" him. Check it!

Shad: The Calling Ft. Jermiside & Destruments

All I can say is wow! I posted a Shad joint ("I Heard You Had A Voice Like An Angel") a while back and this new track is definitely a sign that Shad is still fueling the fire! Off the EP titled "Introducing" produced by Danny Diggs (a producer from Ireland). The video is beautiful! All the movement goes amazingly perfect with the tempo of the song. Anyways be sure to check this song out. No letdowns here!

Felt Interview Pt. 2

Ray Shemersy is back at it with his "hard-hitting" technique and the Felt boys are left to answer his questions. Check it out.

Mainstream Mondays: The Clipse- Popular Demand (Popeye's) Ft. Cam'ron & Pharrell

Here's the newest leak from the Clipse's upcoming album titled "Till the Casket Drops". Honestly I think these guys are the most overrated hip-hop group out there. I've been trying to understand why and I still can't come up with a conclusion. Not to say that Clipse's bad or anything, I just think they're way overhyped. Anyways check it out for yourself.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Oldies But Goodies

Got damn I hate when people say "oldies but goodies"! So basically I titled this post like that so I could express my displeasure for that phrase. I feel so much better now. Here's some tracks from a while back that you may or may not heard of....












This joint is off the "DJ Sean Lever 2008 Mixtape". The mixtape by the way is hotter than stuff that's hot! "Jab, jab, move, crack, wam, boom, you're laid out, you're brains way out in Cancun".

Mibbs of Pac Div: Grammy Family Freestyle



















Most likely you haven't heard of Audio-Ink yet. I heard about them a couple years ago and am def anticipating some new tracks. This track was off "The Movement" mixtape.


Audio Ink: To Emcee


Easy Star All-Stars ft. Citizen Cope- Karma Police

I've been wanting to branch out a bit. This is mainly for myself. No matter how much I love hip-hop, it gets tedious writing about the same genre over and over. So here's my escape! It's not going to be anything regular but I'll sprinkle in some non-hip-hop stuff "every once in a little while" (that's a Killers quote if you're not cool like that). If you haven't checked out Citizen Cope yet you need to! He's pretty snazzy! This is a cover of Radiohead's song "Karma Police" that he did with ESAS.

Hoodie Allen: Making Waves Mixtape

















Hoodie Allen is a rap duo from New York, just in case you haven't heard of them yet. I knew I'd dig these guys when I heard the TLC "Waterfalls" sample that they used for their song "Making Waves". They also through in a Pharcyde sample and you can't go wrong with the "Passin' Me By" beat. Anyways the mixtape is definitely worth a look.


Saturday, October 24, 2009

Who'd They Sample? Saturdays: Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks- Whenever I Call You Friend

I'm in Long's (or I guess they call it CVS now but fuck it, I'm a traditionalist) the other day buying candy before seeing Paranormal (not that good) and I heard this song come on. Instantly I thought Immortal Technique. He used this sample for his song titled "One (remix)". Pretty well done. I decided to use this video because of the pictures (we're trying to touch hearts here at RailRoadHipHop.... "one heart at a time" is my motto).

Friday, October 23, 2009

Unknown Prophets: Hate Face Ft. Grieves

















New song from UP feat the homie Grieves. The song will appear on their newest album titled "Le System D" which is set to drop sometime in December. I'm pretty sure I dated the same chick that their rapping about.... Peep it.


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wiz Khalifa: The Thrill (Walking On a Dream)

















Wiz remixes Empire Of The Sun's song "Walking On a Dream" for his track "The Thrill" off his upcoming mixtape "Burn After Rolling". Honestly this is Wiz's first song that I've liked but it's enough for me to keep listening to the dude.

Jared Evan: Frozen

Jared Evan's debut mixtape is here. Presented by Rik Cordero and hosted by Polow Da Don. I've been hearing a lot about this guy lately and I'm pretty impressed with this song and video. The chorus is a little weak but the verses hit hard. "Frozen" which Jared wrote and produced, appeared on the Lebron James documentary soundtrack titled "More Than A Game".


Darren Hanible: Fly away

















I'm so lost here! All I here is Kid Cudi! I have no idea what's going on and it's frustrating! Dope song regardless. "Fly Away" is on DH's mixtape (
an all Daft Punk sampled mixtape) titled "Bliss" .

Zumbi of ZION I: Infinite

















Off the new mixtape "Science of Breath VOL. 4" comes "Infinite" produced by Lee Bannon. The mixtape features Mistah Fab, Gift of Gab, Talib Kweli and more. Check it.

Army of the Pharaohs: Contra Montra

So AOTP just released a couple songs off their upcoming album titled "The Unholy Terror". The beat has the classic AOTP eerie style which I love but it still seems like it's lacking something. Jay-z's modified sentences in the background saying "AOTP" is a pretty neat touch. The song features Crypt, Esoteric & Celph Titled. Produced by DC the Midi Alien the album hits stores the 24th of november.


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Way Back Wednesdays: Mast Ace- Jeep Ass N***a

This song is so classic. You can tell from the bass and the lyrical content that it's from the 90's. "Drivin down the block, like what else shoulda brotha do? It's Saturday, it's Saturday, the heat might smotha you." This song comes off Masta's 1993 album titled "SlaughtaHouse".

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Felt Interview Pt. 1

"Ray Shemersy Tonight interview with Felt". Haha these guys are brilliant (using the name Ray Shemersy from the word rhymesayers). Anyways the Felt boys are back and this time their answering some fan questions. Check it out.


Monday, October 19, 2009

Oddisee: Make A Song for That

I just heard this dude for the first time today and I must admit he's pretty clean. When the beat dropped in this song I was like "please have good flow", because the beat is so old school! It's got the feet-tapping, head-boobing vibe to it for sure. He just came out with a new mixtape too! It's called "Odd Autumn". I gave a few tracks a listen and to my understanding it's all instrumental. Anyways check out this video which was shot on the streets of DC.


Grynch, Macklemore & Gatsby: Something New Remix

I was really digging how this joint started! The Grynch had a nice delivery and ill lyrics, "I used to think if I should lose you like Nina Simone, I wouldn't know what to do if it was me on my own". But when Macklemore came on he seemed out of rhythm (which is odd cuz I normally dig his music). As far as Gatsby? I'm curious as to where he got that name. Hopefully it doesn't have anything to do with the book because he's far from Great. His lyrics were definitely sub-par. And dude, are you serious with poppin' your hoody? Please don't. Overall I was disappointed with the their collective effort.

Mainstream Mondays: Lupe Fiasco- Solar Midnite
















I'm not sure how I feel about this song yet... you be the judge.

"Solar Midnite is my first commercial release that I actually produced as well as wrote. The New Moon team asked me if I could do a song specifically for the film. They invited me to an early screening of the unfinished film from which I pulled different elements that I thought would translate into a great song. I pulled in vocalist and bassist Graham Burris and acclaimed musician Matt Nelson to help fill it out my vision musically and "joila" Solar Midnite was born. The song basically deals with the chaotic love story that takes place between the characters. It's more on the rock side of my musical catalog and comes straight from my die hard fanhood of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Anthony Keidis, one of my FAVORITE RAPPERS."



Saturday, October 17, 2009

Who'd They Sample? Saturdays: Sister Nancy- Bam Bam

You guys remember Guerilla Black right? You know.... the rapper who came out and sounded exactly like biggie. Yeah him. I thought he was tight... don't know if anyone else did since I haven't heard anything about him in a while. His song "Compton" sampled Sister Nancy's song "Bam Bam". Damn this bass pumps! Just in case you don't remember Guerilla Black:

"Just like my bagels, Have them like Christians over they head smoking halo's".



Sister Nancy:

Drunken Nights Never Lead To Anything Promising....














I hate drinking... I really do. Somehow I manage to continue on with my drunken ways. Last night was just another Friday night. Hangin' out with some buddies, drinking at the house and walking downtown. Half way there we get to the Catalyst (the local venue in Santa Cruz). It was packed outside... hmmm what's going on? Who's playing here tonight? I didn't realize until later on that Brother Ali was playing! Another concert missed! F*** it! So as I'm walking past the Catalyst I see this tall white dude with a ponytail waiting in line to get his pizza. Ant?! My favorite producer of all time is standing in line to get a piece of shitty pizza?? Awesome! We hung out for a good 5 minutes, took a picture, talked about hip hop and how he can't do interviews anymore.... the dude is a stand up guy for sure. He's totally down for his fans and that's all you can ask for in an artist. When I was about to leave I realized that I left my cigarettes at home (I knew if I brought them out on a drunken night my lungs would be hating me right now), "Hey Ant, I know you smoke! Can I bum one of you for a dollar?" His girlfriend looked at me and politely said "He doesn't want your dollar". Ant then turned at me and mumbled out "Yeah just use it for the waitress tonight.... I mean bartender". I think he was on the same level as me. I guess every once again a drunken night works out.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Felt: Get Cake

I don't even know how to describe this video. Dude's are crazy! "Ninja Turtles are to pizza what Felt is to Thai food".

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Sandpeople: I Don't Care

Looks like I'm a little late on this. But thanks to discovering The Prime I discovered the Sandpeople! In case you don't know, the Sandpeople are a group from Portland O. This ill song comes from their album "Honest Racket".

The Prime: Common Place

For those of you who don't know, The Prime consists of Luckyiam from the Living Legends and Sapient from the Sandpeople. "Common Place" is their first single of the debut album tilted, "One Uppers" which is set to drop November 24th.



You can download the song
HERE

Souls of Mischief: Tour Stories

Tour Stories is one of the dopest songs I've heard from Souls of Mischief in a while. Off their upcoming album "Montezuma's Revenge". The album is set to drop December 2nd. I might just have to make it out to Slim's next week for their concert.


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Way Back Wednesdays: Lost Boyz- Renee

As I wrote in "The Art of Storytelling" post, this song describes a man who meets a girl and a relationship soon blossoms. Renee later gets shot and dies. "Ghetto love is the law that we live by", referring to inevitable tragedy and loss for those who live in the "ghetto". Renee was on the Lost Boyz second album titled Legal Drug Money, released in 1996.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Freddie Gibbs: Murda On My Mind

Gibbs hails from Gary, Indiana, a place that ranks towards the top of the "Most Dangerous Cities" list. Gibbs was the first rapper from Gary to be signed to a major label and for good reason. Gibbs flow is tight, his lyrics are on point and the video is dope.This is kind of a change in pace from my normal posts so hopefully some of you enjoy.

Mac Lethal: Heart of a Pig

A post in celebration of Mac Lethal's Love Potion 5 Deluxe Edition coming out today. The record has 6 brand new songs featuring Devin The Dude and Aesop Rock. Lethal makes his way through Cali on 10/14 at The Glasshouse in Pomona and on 10/16 at the Hogue Barmichaels in Newport Beach. Check out the video. It's pretty trippy and def dope! "I don't write none of my shit down either. Does that make me the greatest MC in the world?"


Monday, October 12, 2009

CunninLynguists: Running Wild Ft. E-40 & Evidence

















Any track that's produced by Kno is gonna be hot nine times out of ten. Featuring Bay Area's own E-40 and Evidence from Dilated Peoples the song touches on society’s increase in chaos and violence. I'm not that impressed with E-40's verse... his voice starts to annoy me very quickly. But overall the song is cool. Running Wild is the first single from CunninLynguists new album titled Strange Journey Volume 2, the second installment of this year’s double release from the trio. The album drops November 3rd.


Mainstream Mondays: Kanye West's Glow In The Dark Book (Pictures)
















So it rarely happens when something "mainstream" interests me but Kanye's book from his Glow In The Dark tour seems pretty snazzy.

"THIS IS THE PHOTO BOOK FROM THE GLOW IN DARK TOUR. NABIL CAPTURED THE EXPERIENCE LIKE CRAZY! WHEN I LOOK AT THE PHOTOS IT BRINGS ME RIGHT BACK TO THAT TIME! IT’S VERY EMOTIONAL FOR ME BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE TO TOUR BUT MY PAIN BROUGHT MY GREATEST CREATION TO DATE. THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY WHO CAME TO THE SHOWS AND EXPERIENCED THIS MOMENT IN TIME WITH ME"! – Kanye West

The book features an interview with tour collaborator Spike Jonze, 288 pages with gatefolds, 400 photographs, and a CD with unreleased music. Kanye's going rate for his book is $50 U.S. and is set to drop sometime this month.

















Mainstream Mondays: Kid Cudi Interview

At some point in this post I'm going to start a revolution. I'll mark the before mentioned "revolution" with an asterisk so everyone knows when it has arrived. I myself most likely won't have the opportunity to interview Kid Cudi, so for this week's segment of "Mainstream Mondays" I'm posting an interview that Cudi did for PinBoard. Since I started this segment it seems like I've only posted Cudi related articles. I guess that's cuz Cudi's really the only mainstream dude right now that I freak* with.

Nando: Amsterdam Behind The Scenes Video

I just heard this cat for the first time today while listening to Zumbi's "Science Of Breath" podcast and I def like what I hear. I'm guessing Nike Nando sampled this from the song "Amsterdam" by Peter Bjorn and John. Anyways here's a behind scenes look at Nando's upcoming video.

Nando: Amsterdam




Sunday, October 11, 2009

Afro Clasics + Bash Bros. - Workaholics 2











Bash Bros. (Lefty & Piseas) & Afro Classics (Scarub of Living Legends) team up for this second installment of the "Workaholics" mixtape. A few of the songs are even set to be on upcoming albums. Below is a preview of what you can expect from the mix (I believe they sampled the beat from Kanye's "I Need To Know"). Def check this mixtape out! Download available below.

Afro Classics & Bash Bros. – Workaholics 2

Southern Cali Car Music


Saturday, October 10, 2009

Who'd They Sample? Saturdays: Menahan Street Band- The Traitor

In all honesty Kid Cudi's new album is dope! Cudi sampled this song for his song "Solo Dolo (Nightmare)". The first time I heard Solo Dolo I thought it most have been a sample from some early Wu-Tang or something but either way... dope song and dope sample.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Zumbi from Zion-I Interview

Zumbi was kind enough to make some time for RRHH and answer a hand full of questions. My webcam wasn't working so we had to do it like this. Hope you enjoy!

In part 1 Zumbi touches on everything from Hyphy music to how he "writes raps like an author".





In part 2 Zumbi talks about his name change, his opinions on The Grouch, and the Oscar Grant tragedy. For those of you who don't know, Oscar Grant was the man who was fatally shot by a BART police officer on New Years Day.





In part 3 Zumbi speaks about his take on Darfur, the meaning of the song Silly Putty, and the infamous Radiohead remixes.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Murs TV Live USTREAM

Murs and 9th Wonder will be back in the studio to work on the new album "FORNEVER" this week. It's being broadcast live at: Ustream.TV/Murs316 at 3pm from now until Oct.12th!!!
The "Yellow Fever" beat is insane! Look for it around the 26:00 mark.

Way Back Wednesdays: Onyx- Last Dayz

In my opinion this is their best song off their 1995 album "All We Got Iz Us". Even with having no radio-friendly tracks on the album they still managed to reach gold sales status. Vibe magazine says it's "one of twenty albums all hip hop fans must own (but may have missed)". For those of you who slept on Onyx this song is dope!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tupac Shakur: The Lost Interview, Pt.6

Pac talks about his movie Gridlock'd, meeting his dad for the first time, and his views on God and religion in this last segment from VIBE's lost interview.


Mainstream Mondays: ILLFONICS

















Ooops. I forgot to post something yesterday. Nothing is really interesting to me "mainstream" wise right now. I found this email I had written ILLFONICS a few weeks back asking about the infamous beat that Kid Cudi used to freestyle with. Here was the response: "yeah thats a beat that cudi passed on, zoe wrote a track to and we're still currently shopping around so not sure whats gonna happen with it". Be sure to check back for more info on the beat and the ILLFONICS in weeks to come.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Who'd They Sample? Saturdays: Bootsy Collins- I'd Rather Be With You

The sample was used in Too Short's song "Gettin' It". This song was also sampled for the following songs: N.W.A.'s "I'd Rather Fuck You", Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's, "Mo Murda", Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" and Beyonce's "Be With You".