Big K.R.I.T. - If I Should Die

The latest leak from JonnyShipes forthcoming Good Talk Vol. 9 mixtape presented by Cinematic Music Group. KRIT goes soulful on this one.

Kendrick Lamar: Monster Freestyle

What the f*ck just happened?! That was insanity! Kendrick been getting a lot of play on my site and for good reason! "I'm compton, big ass condom, motha f*ck yo mama, I go inside the studio a suicide bomba, I bomb on Obama!" Wooow! R.I.P. Killed Kanye's version!

Fashawn & DJ Skee: Grizzly City 3

I just downloaded this one and can't wait to hear it. If the songs are anything like "Santiago's Revenge" then you're in for a treat.

DOWNLOAD: Fashawn – Grizzly City 3 | Mediafire

Big K.R.I.T. & 9th Wonder In Studio

You know you're good when 9th is impressed!

Black Hippy Cypher

TDE! "I put your best material in then fast forward, Kendrick signing off, I'm sure your signatures forged."

Kendrick Lamar: Average Joe

Kendrick just keeps getting better and better! Kendrick, Krit, Curren$y and Gibbs are def my favorite MC's of the moment.

Big K.R.I.T.- My Interpretation

New Krit! No need to waste words. Just listen!

Kendrick Lamar Never Before Seen Music Videos

Wow. F*ck a Hook is so dope! The other video is Today which is also pretty nice.

Dee Goodz: The Ghetto

Directed, shot & edited by Erin G. Wesley.

Marky: Infinity

"Infinity" will be featured on The Rest Stop Series (Thurs, Aug 26).

Big K.R.I.T.- Somedayz

You already know. Off Jonnyshipes GoodTalk vol.9: Curve Your Enthusiasm edition hosted by Big K.R.I.T., dropping September 14th with features by Nipsey Hu$$le, Dom Kennedy and more.

Black Hippy Photo Shoot

A Black Hippy photo shoot? Self explanatory and dope.

Closed Sessions x LRG: Freddie Gibbs Edition

As part of the Closed Sessions series, Freddie Gibbs and Chicago rapper YP got together and recorded this new song. Million $ Mano’s ill re-sample of Soul Mann & The Brother’s Shaft remake classic “Bumpy’s Lament”. Gonna be bumpin' this one for a minute!

Celebrating 500 Posts!

I remember when I started this thing a couple years back... I never thought it would last this long. But for some reason there's enough people still interested in RRHH. Thanks to the people in all 50 states and 114 countries and counting who have checked up on the music I post here! Above is a card I received from Grandmama herself congratulating me on this achievement. Below are a few voicemails I've received in the past couple days from Verne Lundquist, Gus Johnson, Kenny "The Hawk" Harrelson and more. Thanks so much for your kind words guys!

RPM: Less Is More

Just a random post. A group I was put onto a while back... I can see Scarub ripping this beat.

Rasheed Chappell: Building 8

"This is the 1st official video for the Future Before Nostalgia album Produced by the legendary Kenny Dope...this is a visual montage of how far we've come and how much we've stayed the same...hopefully it inspires dialogue & self & societal examination."

GemStones: XL (Excel)

Speaking of food PSA's... "This Song deals with personal issues that Gem has dealt with, including weight loss and coming to terms with the troubles of the world (so to speak)."

Strong Arm Steady: Chittlins & Pepsi ft. Planet Asia

Produced by Madlib and directed by Henry DeMaio. From the album In Search of Stoney Jackson. Foood PSA haha! Shouts to Trader Joes!

Kendrick Lamar: Ignorance Is Bliss

Off of Lamar's album O.D. set to drop 9/15/10. Should be a good day for hip-hop heads!

Curren$y: Nothin But Us ft. Smoke Dza

KRSP X CREATIVE CONTROL X CURREN$Y brings you the first single from Ski Beatz's 24hr Karate School album entitled, Nothin but Us. The album needs to drop already!

Wiz Khalifa: Fly Solo

I'm into this. Congrats to Wiz on signing with Atlantic. Hopefully they don't fuck with his creativity. The chorus sticks out to me on this joint for some reason.

Theophilus London: Hey Wonderful

Directed by Onat and Fabian and shot in Amsterdam and Brussels, here are the latest visuals from Theophilus’ I Want You tape.

Show Tufli: The Normal Sin

KeepinMindThatImAnArtistandImSensitiveAboutMyShit (Music Inspired by Erykah Badu) coming soon.

Muja Messiah: Am I wrong ft. Mike the Martyr

First time I've heard of dude. Diggin' it.

Lupe Fiasco: Go To Sleep

Posted the snippet a few days back. Here's the full. Enjoy.

Los: Closer Freestyle

I'm disappointed that these rap cats had to hear Drake go over this beat to discover it. That being said Los does an amazing job with it. "You ever heard the story 'bout the genius and the dummy? Genius was getting smarter, dummy was getting money, dummy kept getting dumber, the genius was good at math, he calculated some numbers divided his flow in half, you ever hear me rappin like a dummy on a track, just know I'm too far from a dummy to not go and get that, cash."

KRS-One & Buckshot Interview

I posted an interview I did with KRS-One & Buckshot
about a year ago but never got around to posting the audio. My lazy ass finally got around to transferring the audio from cassette to mp3 (such a hassle). The interview cuts out for about 30 seconds around the 48 minute mark due to me having to flip the tape to Side B. Anyways KRS touches on everything from the first rap battles to people getting killed over their chains and Buckshot speaks on his fondest memories of Pac and what he thinks of auto-tune. Ignore the nervous laughter by me!

Dom Kennedy: Bun B For President

Dom K for president!

Long D.O.E. Ent. Presents: The Cypher

"Atmosphere, Prof, Tony Bones, Big Wiz, Meta, Mr. Snuff, Mike The Martyr freestyle to Carnage b-boxing live. IT'S A MOVIE! - Directed by DAVE WILSON & JESSE CAIRNIE."

Big Sean: Supa Dupa

I'm not to big on punchline rap but Sean's word play on this joint is pretty nice. "Realest ni**a ever, Kunta Kinte, Ultra master, Super sensei, Dawg in the 9th inning we just trying to hit a homer, Marge, comprende? Hard, al-dente, MJ. Jordan or Jackson? Only difference is I ain’t fuckin with these kids."

M-Dot & DJ Maron: You Don't Know About It Ft. Masta Ace

Always good to hear some new Ace!

Los: Power

Bodymore artist takes his turn on Kanye's single. Dope!

Nike SB Presents: Nas & Paul Rodriguez

"Nike SB is proud to announce the global launch of the Zoom Paul Rodriguez 4 on 8/21/2010. This year we brought Paul to New York to hit the streets and spend time in the studio with one of his idols, hip-hop legend NAS. The result is a 60-second commercial, directed by Nike SB’s own Jon Humphries, following Paul’s journey through iconic New York City skate spots, accompanied by music and a voiceover from Nas." – Nike

The ILLZ: Ode To New York

The latest visuals from ILLZ.

GZA Presents: Wu- Tang The Documentary Preview

"A new Wu-Tang documentary is upon us. Produced surprisingly by the genius of the clan GZA, the 10 years in the making doc takes a look at the sometimes dysfunctional 9 member crew from Shaolin as evident by it’s trailer which shows Rae & U-God going at it and every member taking their turn giving RZA’s brother Divine a piece of their mind about his & RZA’s shady business practices. No official date has been set for it’s release." – ICE

J.Y.- Money

Lyrical content and concept is below average but the beat is the reason for this post. Banger!

Lungz: Talk To Me (Monster Trailer)

This is the first time I've heard dude and I must say I'm impressed. Def give the man a listen.

Lupe Fiasco: Go To Sleep Preview

That other site won't ever post this joint so I will! I'm into this one.

J. NiCS: Clark Gable

Debut video from J. NiCS off his album The Stimulus Package (set to drop in September). Smooth.

Illecism: Plus Sign Vibes

Eurazmus is dude's real name? If that was my name I'd rep it at every chance possible haha. Sac town resident comes with some smooth shit.

KiD CuDi: Mr. Rager

I'm actually into this track from Cudi, which is somewhat of a surprise after hearing some of his newer music and the direction he has chosen. This piece seems more like the Cudi I like.

Atmosphere: To All My Friends

So glad to hear some new Slug! I'm really diggin' this joint. Mellow!

"To get all of our friends ready for the "To All My Friends Tour" Atmosphere & Rhymesayers want to make sure you have something new to listen to. The appropriately titled track "To All My Friends" is now available for download on iTunes so take a listen to the track and stay tuned for more on Atmosphere and their "To All My Friends Tour"."

Curren$y: The Day Ft. Mos Def

Did I really not post this already? Dope song! "There is not an adjective to describe" similiar to Slugs lyrics on Woman Tonight, "lonely isn't a strong enough adjective to describe."

Dead Prez: Mind Sex

I was put on to this joint last night. Totally relating to this one right now. "Before the night's through, we could get physical too, I ain't tryin to say I don't wanna fuck cause I do, but for me boo, makin love is just as much mental, I like to know what I'm gettin into."

Kanye West: Power

Obliged.

"So what exactly is the piece?
Well, it’s a video portrait of Kanye. It starts with a very tight shot introducing him that’s kind of a reinvention of a neoclassical painting. It pulls back from the shot, without any cuts, and we reveal the video canvas, populated by all these characters who are depicted in various stages of undress and decadence. The iconography comes from Roman iconography, Renaissance iconography, and it connects to the sexuality of the music as well. As we reveal the setting for it, there’s a feeling of a moment of transition for him. A fall from grace, if you will. It visualizes power, and him as the icon as power, and then at the end of the piece it challenges the power that I set up at the beginning. It’s an elliptical piece of storytelling.

How did you guys end up using that kind of imagery?
He approached me via my gallery and he wanted to do something that wasn’t a music video. He wanted a video work that would accompany the music. I said, “That’s great, because I don’t do music videos.” I wanted to give it an epic feeling. The song feels very personal, but the orchestration and the production of the track is epic and I wanted to give it something hypersensational and exaggerated.

And I understand you’ve heard that Dark Twisted Fantasy is the name of the album?
I’ve heard that’s the latest name. I would say not locked-in, and it would probably not get locked until closer to the time of the album release."

Danny Brown: Shooting Moves

Yes? No? I dunno. George Costanza? Yes!

Ab-Soul: Turn Me Up Ft. Kendrick Lamar

Off Long Term 2. This beat is nice. "This is hip-hop at it's finest, when you find this in a ziploc, 'till the wheels fall off, fuck a pit stop or what not, where my teardrop? I murdered it, my pot holes is turbulence."

Fashawn: The Ecology/ The Score

Ecology /The Score featuring Planet Asia from Fashawn's debut album "Boy Meets World" in stores now. Directed by Punit Dhesi. Ecology Sample: Nina Simone- I Can't See Nobody

The ILLZ: Persistence

The latest from The ILLZ!

"It’s a pleasure to be around hard working people, even more it’s truly an honor to be around people who inspire creativity. The ILLZ is one of those people. The ILLZ some time back hit me up and told me about this “In Between Video Series” that he wanted to do. He told me he had 7 tracks and wanted 7 videos. I was like, “cool, which one you wanted me to do” he looked at me and said “You can do all of them, but lets start off and do 3.” He must have seen my face drop, i can do 7 videos but i wouldn’t have a life, hahaha. SO HotMop partnered up with The ILLZ and Krystopher Rey- Talley to take on this project. This is the first one out of the three were doing.

This is us in the green room (more like the red room) of Santos Party House living in the moment. We were blanketed by that red light bullshiting and laughing together and I looked at him and said ” This room is ILL, let’s shoot a freestyle video” and we did. But the minute we were done with it… I was like, “Fuck a random freestyle let’s shoot one of the videos.” He gave me a pound “Let’s do it.” Nahgee (good friend, business partner, and HotMop shooter) walked in with the second camera and we got two angles going at the same time. IN 20 minutes we walked back out to The ILLZ soundcheck and we had this video in the bag." – HotMop Films

An Interview w/ The ILLZ

What do you see when you look out the nearest window?

Trees and the brick wall of the next building lol.

What do you like most about living in New Jersey?

What I like most about where I live in Jersey is its close proximity to NYC. I love the fact that I am 10 minutes away from NYC with an amazing skyline view. It's great because it offsets that madness in NYC with the calmness of Jersey.

The Pursuit LP starts off with an old school HOV interview. What inspired you to use this piece?

Shouts to my man AR he's the one that got me that interview. One day he was in the crib and he was like "Yo, check this old school rare Jay interview that I found". I was just listening to it and I was astounded by how humble, hopeful, and even nervous Hov was. Obviously those aren't things you think about when you think of Jay-Z. He is like the king of confidence you know. So the more I listened to it I realized how I was at the same point and felt the same way about my music in the respect that right now I just want to be appreciated. That interview took place RIGHT before "Reasonable Doubt" came out so this was before anybody hailed it as a classic or even a good album. This was Jay before releasing the album so something in his voice showed how he was just hungry for appreciation since he put so much into it. Now we can see how he got that and ALOT more from that album.

Can you explain the back story to the song "M.P.A. (My Public Apology)"?

I was dating a young lady at the time. We were friends for a long time but finally decided to take it to another level you know. Everything was great, she was great however it ended badly. It really ended completely out of the blue. I was to blame, I just became scared that I was maybe misleading her and that it wasn't fair to her. One day I just completely disappeared and sank deep into my music, began working out, and just getting my mind right you know. Even though I wanted to reach out to her for some reason I just couldn't so she was in a position where one day everything was all good then the next day she would never hear from me again. I felt like it deserved an apology and a lot more. However the only way I can come to doing it was on a record.

In the music video for M.P.A. it shows you writing on a piece of paper. What were you writing?

I was writing the entire lyrics to the song. The way I wrote this record was more like a letter than an actual song so that's why it made sense to incorporate that into the video.

How do you go about sampling and what attracts you to the style of music you sample?

I don't have a ritual per say. I just come across plenty of records and it has to be something that moves me, something that I can relate to, and something can stir up certain emotions within me. However I am careful in what I sample, sometimes you can ruin a certain song by adding your two cents to it. I always make sure I don't taint it even though I will be taking a different approach.

The song Dreams of Life & Beth samples Beth Gibbons song "Show". How did you discover Beth Gibbons and/or Portishead?

I listen to ALOT of music, as a matter of fact I dedicate a lot of time to finding new music and/or artists on the net. Obviously Portishead I knew about just because they are HUGE, however I wasn't really aware that Beth Gibbons had actually recorded a solo record until months ago. I actually have a new record coming out from the 'In Between Video Series' that uses a Portishead record.

When will you know that your dream is reality?

That's a good question, there can be many indications. Maybe something like selling out my own show, charting on the Billboards, signing a contract. I really don't know, however when that feeling arrives I will be able to recognize it, but I can't say what will spark it.

How do you translate your emotions into words so well?

That's a good question that maybe only the powers that be can answer, I am just very grateful that I can channel and translate them into something that people can relate to it and serve as a mean of therapy for us all.

Your bio states that you're an actor as well. How did you get into acting and what have you acted in?

Inspiring actor is probably a better term. As of now the only work I have done is on my own videos. However acting is as big and important as music is. Something inside of me tells me that I can be great in it and I truly believe that. However everything takes it's time and I am willing to wait.

Normally as an artist you have years of material piled up and it all goes into that first couple projects. How do plan to keep that artistic side of you going for years to come?

I think as time goes on I will only be able to produce a lot more material. All the material I have done so far has been juggled in between regular jobs and the issues you deal with trying to survive and pay bills. I think once that is diminished and I begin to actually make a living off of music I will have the time, inspiration and necessary mental space to take my music not only in volume but also quality to new heights.

If you could change one thing about hip-hop what would it be and why?

I was actually having a great discussion with my man Joe Scudda the other day and we agreed on one thing, we in Hip-Hop have TOOOO many rules and actually box ourselves in. I believe those rules have been breaking down slowly recently with certain artists that are out now. However I think ignorance, immaturity, fear or growth and something different is prevalent in Hip-Hop music and I think it stunts its growth as a genre. I think we're getting there slowly but surely.