" Nightbreed Steez "

After "Ka" left Natural Elements he was in a group called NIGHTBREED with a cat named Kev...

Not to be confused with the other Nitebreed that rocked more of a horrorcore steez ("Meditations on Death" is my favorite cut from THAT crew, go track that one down if you know what's best for you)...

Anyway, if you carefully listen to "Grief Pedigree" you can tell that Ka has put in a lot of work with his pen game...The NIGHTBREED material isn't half bad, but you can definitely hear a Mobb Deep influence in their approach...

All cuts produced by Charlemagne..

"Long Time Coming"



"Two Roads Out the Ghetto"

" Slicker This Year "

WHEW !!!!

These official "Art Of Rap" tees by your boy Slick (Dissizit) are no fucking joke...

I'm not exactly sure when these are going to hit the market, so check Slick's blog periodically to stay in the know..

PEEP...

" Early "

Late last night I gave that Masta Ace & Doom "Son Of Yvonne" joint a listen (the official release date is not until July 17th - HAHA)..

As much as I wanted to dismiss this album as another marketing scheme gimmick, I actually enjoyed the project from front to back...

Sure I have heard those "Special Herbs" beats hundreds of times, but Ace breathes new life into those productions with well thought out concepts, parables, clever song writing, and unpredictable bars...

HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD TOP PICKS...

"Slow Down"



"I Did It"



"Home Sweet Home"

" Mid - Week Steamerz "

DJ Spinna supplies us with a session of certified body rockers on "Brazilian Funk Mode"...This initially dropped in 2003, so if you missed it the first go-round here is your chance to scoop up this batch of goodies..

Catch a groove!!!

TRACKLIST-

01. baoba
02. periscopo
03. hipnose
04. meu balanço
05. mentira
06. esperar pra ver
07. se o mundo acabasse em mel
08. malandro
09. tio macro
10. cala boca menino
11. bananeira
12. tudo que voce podia ser
13. eu reu me condeno
14. whistle stop
15. ei voce psiui
16. bairro negro
17. na boca do sol
18. tema da zorra
19. caça a raposa
20. psicose
21. barumba
22. zanzibar
23. black soul brother
24. assim nao da
25. mexerico da candinha
26. tanga
27. na na hey hey
28. voo cego

DOWNLOAD...

" DJ Day On The Remix "

It is obvious that DJ Day crafted these beats around the vocals..Some cats just slap the accapellas over any old beat and call that shit a remix.....HAHA..

Take a listen to these and get your motherfucking mind right...

Nas - "It Ain't Hard To Tell" DJ Day Remix...



Jungle Brothers - "What Planet, What Station" DJ Day Remix..

" Beat Tape Breaks "

DJ Boba Fettucini splashes the set with "Amazing Spidey Breaks"..

Most beat tapes I hear lately put me fast to sleep, but this joint caught my attention with heavy drums, well crafted samples, interesting segues, etc....

Check in homeboy..

DOWNLOAD...

" 3 Large Pro Shots "

Late last night I sat down and gave Large Pro's new album "Professor @ Large" a thorough listen....

Sixteen solid cuts of bare bones Hip Hop without all the extra preservatives and artificial flavorings....If I could pick three singles for him to press up on vinyl - these would be my choices...


"Professor @ Large"....Produced by Marco Polo....These two have developed a good chemistry over the years...Go pick up that "Under The Radar Remix" for further proof.......This beat is out of control by the way.



"Kick The Habit"......Two thumbs up..



"Focused Up" Featuring Tragedy Khadafi & Cormega.....I'm digging this one, but something about the chorus is off in my opinion...Fresh regardless.



* "Key To The City" is already pressed up on wax so I didn't include that one in my picks..

" Street Dance Fundamentals "

Just got back from the "Battle Of The Skillest" B-Boy jam....

FRESH IS THE WORD....I even brought my 19 month old son JAHMEL along so he could get a taste of what his father is dealing with....Salute to everyone that made it happen, too many of ya'll to name but you know what time it is...

Ran into Zulu Gremlin and copped one of his DVD's, "Street Dance Fundamentals"...

If you want to add a little fire power to your performance I highly suggest that you swoop this one up trooper...

PEEP...

" Friday Steamerz "

A mixtape paying homage to writing ?

SAY WORD....

There are plenty songs out there that go into detail about graff besides "Wrong Side Of The Tracks"....I will always salute that joint, but there are other cuts that deserve some shine time as well..

DJ Elmattic (Spraycan Diaries) might just give you some inspiration to catch wreck this weekend folks..

Tracklist (Spotted at DU)

Subway Theme – DJ Grand Wizard Theodore & Grandmaster Caz
Out To Tag – Serve 1 & Sue Works
Platform Rapform – The Chemist
Graff Time – Chali 2na
Out For Fame – KRS-One
Ambush in the Night – Looptroop
Tagz, Throw Ups & Pieces – Da Nuthouse (feat. El Da Sensei & Sak One)
End To End Burners – Company Flow
Wholecar – Roger Rekless
Slow Burna – Akrobatik
Getting Up Anthem: Part 1 – Talib Kweli (feat. Rakim)
Wrong Side Of Da Tracks – Artifacts
4 My Writers – MC Juice
Got The Fever (Lewis Parker Remix) – Meyhem Lauren
Graff Life – Literates
Bombing (Snippet) – L.I.F.E.long & Shamalex
The Escapades of Futura 2000 – Futura 2000 & The Clash
Pump Me Up (All City Mix) – Trouble Funk
Telemundo (Bombing Theme) – El-P

DOWNLOAD...

" Golden State Warriors "

How can you go wrong with an all MC Eight mix ?

Nevermind, I take that back...There was a period when he switched up his sample based sound and chose to rock over synth-heavy joints (that's when I tuned out for a minute, HAHA)....Luckily for us Rob Pursey picks the sure shot selections from Eight's catalogue to feature on this session..

Ghhheeeaaa !!

* On another note, where is that MC Eight album that was supposed to drop on Year Round Records ?

DOWNLOAD...

"JS-1 : Rap Is Out Of Control "

Here is the latest edition of RIOC with JS-1 filling in for Eclipse....I haven't spotted a link for this show in a long time so this is a nice surprise...

TRACKLIST-

1-Eclipse Rap is Outta Control Intro - Kool G Rap n AG
2-Comin' 4 U (solar diss) - Big Shug
3-Occupy All Streets - Sean Price
4-4 Finger Ring - Trez
5-Golden State (of mind) - Copywrite feat Casual, Evidence n Roc Marciano
6-Walk Hard - Gangrene
7-I do Whatever I want - Homeboy Sandman
8-Fuck Rappers - Planet Asia feat Fashawn
9-Early 90's - Double AB, Karniege, Torae
10-Just Rhymin' w Skizz - Dj Skillz n Problems
11-Rise n Shoot - D Strong feat Prince Po
12-New York City - Punchline n SoulClap feat Torae, Ruste Juxx
13-All or Nothing - Asylum Lifetime
14-Times Up - Mike Flo
15-People's Champ - OC n Apollo Brown
16-That Nigga Crazy - Show n AG
17-Power of Rhyme - Craig G n Marco Polo
18-Nautica - OC n Apollo Brown
19-Berri Love - Show n AG
20-Takin' Over - Illa Ghee
21-UndagroundGoOn - Dj Premier n Bumpy Knuckles
22-No Apologies - Planet Asia n Raekwon
23-Hardest from the Underground - Ruste Juxx
24-All Day - KRS-One
25-Knock on my Door - Wordsworth
26-Dead Pool - Rah BoomBap
27-Easter - Artifacts & Dj Dutchmaster
28-Biters - Dj Soko feat Guilty Simpson
29-Get the City - Neek the Exotic n Bumpy Knuckles
30-Wolves - Show n AG feat OC
31-Gregory Heinz - Soul Khan n J57
32-Effortless - Craig G feat Chaundon n Big Pooh
33-Pushin' Aside Pushin' Along - De La's Plug 1 n 2
34-I'm good - Erick Sermon
35-Today - Jay Love
36-Kaboom - Punchline n SoulClap feat Stricklin, Masta Ace & Wordsworth
37-Takeit2theTop - Dj Premier n Bumpy Knuckles
38-Thug Poets - 1982 feat Roc Marciano n Havoc
39-Miles White - Gee Dubs
40-Greatest Force - Truth
41-When You Sleep - Dj Numark feat Large Pro
42-Elite Status - J57 feat Rasheed Chappell
43-Holy Smokes - Mr. Complex
44-Freak Rock - Pep Love

DOWNLOAD...

" Reading is Fundamental "

Al Fingers will be releasing his book "Clarks in Jamaica" in October of this year....It's about time someone paid homage to all my west indian brothers who know what time it is...

"Through current and historic photographs, interviews, and previously unseen archival material, and with particular focus on the Jamaican musicians who have worn and sung about Clarks Originals shoes for years, this book explores how footwear made by a Quaker firm in the small, quiet, English village of Street, Somerset, came to be the »baddest« shoes in Jamaica".

Check out this article by Jesse Serwer in the UK Guardian that most likely inspired the writing of "C.I.J"...HAHA..

PEEP...

" Large Pro Speaks "

Pay close attention as the live guy with glasses "Large Pro" drops heavy jewelry detailing the stories behind twenty five of his classic records with Complex..Everything from Breaking Atoms, In The Ghetto, etc..

Be on the lookout for his upcoming album "Professor At Large" dropping June 26th...Dont sleep.

TUNE IN...

" Joint Of The Day "

The Bronx crew People Without Shoes put out their only album "Thoughts Of An Optimist" on Rage Records in 1996...Eleven cuts deep, but their is one song that truly stands out in my opinion..

TAKE A LISTEN..

"Ghettonetics".

" The Starchild Speaks "

The man behind such tunes as "Old School", "Do You Like That Funky Beat", "It's Rocking Time" - the Bronx Bomber Kool Kyle - "The Original Starchild" is the special guest on the Old School Radio Hour with TG The Master of Disaster...

He talks about his days running with Grandmaster Flash, Enjoy Records, block parties, and all types of other shit..

If your a dedicated Hip Hop student you will do the right thing and check in with a quickness...

DOWNLOAD....

" 4 All My BCC Heads "

The good folks over at BCC 4 Life assembled this collection of Sean Price joints recently...

I wish they would have taken the time to mix these (most of the BPM's are in the same range), but I can't complain to much because this is a nice batch of non album tracks, unreleased shit, B-Sides, guest appearances, etc ...

Be on the lookout for Mic Tyson sometime in the near future...

DOWNLOAD....

" Tuesday Body Rockerz "

Andy Noble & Frank Straka take us on a journey into boogie wonderland with heavy selections on "I'm Just A Dreamer"..

Some of my regular BATTLEFIELD readers might not dig this type of steez, but these type of cuts put me in some type of backyard BBQ, 1983, fresh Fila suit flashback trance...

YA HEARD ME...

CATCH A MOTHERFUCKING GROOVE..

" Boom Shots : Best Of Supercat "

The Don Dada, The Wild Apache, Mr. Supercat had the dancehall on smash in the early to mid 90's...He had a nice string of hits with "Ghetto Red Hot", "Dolly My Baby", "Boops", "Cabin Stabbing, "Scalp Dem", "Don Dada", "Dem No Worry We" and many others..

Here are a couple facts about the "DON" that you might not be aware of..

1..Supercat was the chief suspect in the shooting death of rival toaster, "Nitty Gritty"....He was eventually cleared of all charges after a jury ruled that he acted in self defense...

2..He was once signed to Colombia Records..

3..On Nas's newest release "The Don", they rocked a Supercat vocal sample for the chorus....

Anyway, Innovative Sounds gives us a comprehensive Supercat mix that is loaded with head nodders...YOU KNOW THE DRILL.

Tracklist:

01.DANCE INNA NEW YORK CITY
02.A CLASS RUB-A-DUB
03.CRAZY LOVE
04.BIG & READY
05.PERMIT FI GUN
06.TELL ME HOW
07.TOO GREEDY
08.WALKATON
09.HISTORY
10.BOOPS
11.PEROGATIVE
12.POPS
13.A.B.C
14.BUBBLE & WINE
15.DON DADA
16.MUD UP
17.NUFF MAN AH DEAD
18.WE NUH STOP CRY
19.GHETTO RED HOT
20.AWA DO THEM
21.OLD VETERAN
22.CHALICE A LICK
23.SANDOKAN
24.READY BACK
25.SETTLEMENT

DOWNLOAD...

" Masai Bey Shit "

Masai Bey lets loose on this ode to beat making (Beat Root)...

"Sampling is an art not a crime / when I manipulate a sound, the sound becomes mine"...

SAY WORD!

While most most M.C's these days flock to the latest trend, Bey rocks a unorthodox style that is all his own..Matter of fact, I can't even name anyone that sounds remotely familiar..

* Taken from the "Vitamin" EP.

" Let The Beats Rock "

Three questions came to mind after listening to Will C's latest instrumental project (Adieu or Die)...

1..What type of equipment did he use making this ?..

2..How long did it take him to make it ?..

3..Who mixed this down for him, or did he do it himself ?

Will took the time to put this all together rocking strictly "Beach Boys" samples....I usually bypass this type of shit, but for some reason I decided to give it a chance...

There were a couple joints that definitely caught my attention.

Here are HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD'S top picks..

"In A Ocean".....This is a straight up B-Boy explosion right here...Heavy layers and unpredictable sequences, I wish he would of made the whole project like this..



"Dilation".....The drums are real nice, floating chord changes, well thought out arrangements.....Some cats might consider this corny, but this reminds me of some fresh Yo Gabba Gabba type shit...HAHA.

" Beats In My Sleep "

If your built like Mr. HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD you go to bed with your headphones on every night, blasting loud, angry ass music before you go to sleep (my son and my girl must think I'm crazy, HAHA)...

With the recent addition of this flavorful MPC pillow by Acrylick, my nights just got a little more grizzly...

COP HERE...

" The Rulers Back "

One of the west coast most dangerous M.C.'s has to be "E-Rule"....It's downright criminal that his name doesn't get brought up more often when cats are yelling about who is ill on the west side of things..

He keeps the flames burning with this new scorcher entitled, "2012 Occupy L.A."...

Your boy hasn't lost a step, this joint is flooded with nonstop venomous lines..

FRESH IS THE WORD.

" Smooth The Hustler : 2012 "

The trailer for the "Art of Rap" documentary looks very promising....It appears as if Ice-T has given back to the Hip Hop community in a major way with this one...

"T" deserves his proper due, regardless of all the contradictions and shenanigans..

If someone out there has a copy, shoot a brother a link (HA-HA)..

Just gave the official title song for the project a listen..."The Art of Rap" by Smooth The Hustler covers a lot of ground- 109 M.C.'s to be exact....

PEEP.

" Roc Connect "

If this Connection + Roc Marciano project on Digi Crates slipped past your radar, here is your chance to give it a thorough listen homepiss...

HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD TOP PICKS - "Strive" and "For Thought"...

" New Shit On Deck "

In case you didn't know - I'm going to be splashing strictly 2012 joints this week...

WHY ?

Cats are always running up on me complaining about the current state of Hip Hop...I understand where dudes are coming from wholeheartedly , but you can't expect fly material to just fall in your fucking lap in this era - you have to actively seek it out..

On that note, "Wildelux" has been getting it in for awhile now....He is currently in the lab working on a full length with Lord Ron (keep your eyes peeled)..Until then take a listen to a couple cuts that should hold your attention..

" Royal Flush Speaks "

Queens rhyme slayer "Royal Flush" is the special guest on DJ Toshi's Classic Storm Radio broadcast...

You will also hear tons of new material from Jaz-O, Nutso, O.C., Roc Marciano, Kool Kieth, Doo Wop, etc...

CHECK IN JACK !!!

" Golden State Warriors "

I don't want ya'll to get it twisted and try to put me in the "THROWBACK BROTHER" category, so next week I will be highlighting nothing but brand new music on the BATTLEFIELD...

Keep your motherfuckin eyes peeled because I'm going to post up some cetified 2012 steamers..

So before I head into that zone I want to share this interview with west coast pioneer General Jeff (Rodney-o & Joe Cooley)...He has some jewels for ya'll to soak up so tune in and pay attention homeboy...

VIA - 5TH ELEMENT.

" 4 All My Fly Kick Rockerz "

Ever since my son was born twenty months ago my impulsive sneaker buying has been put on the back burner somewhat..I would rather cop kicks for him so he can shine on these other little rascals roaming around (YA HEARD ME)...

These ill Obyo Kazuki/Ian Brown Adidas joints might force big poppa to come out of semi-retirement....

I'm not a fan of the Stone Roses, but I might have to add these to the stash..

FRESH IS THE WORD..

"Adidas ObyO has collaborated with Ian Brown, front man of the classic English rock band, The Stone Roses for their latest ZX runner release. Manchester’s King Monkey joins the ObyO crew, co-creating these mostly black adidas ObyO ZX IAN’s. The trainer has IAN’s name displayed right next to the 3 side stripes, where you would traditionally find Adidas branding. IAN’s name and face is also posted on the tongue of the shoe".

COP HERE..

" Skill Trade "

Awww shit....

The weather is gorgeous, fly girls are out in abundance, Summer is right around the corner, and now my peoples are throwing a B-Boy battle in a few weeks....

If your in the area on May 26th come celebrate with us as we get shit popping off something lovely...

Salute to the War Party Z's, N.S.Z's, Waset Z's, etc....

" SP - 1200 Steez "

There is something about the SP-1200 that just grabs your attention..Maybe it's the weird ringing sound it attaches to your samples, maybe it's the insane punch it gives to the drums, or maybe it's the creativity it forces you to adopt due to it's limited sample time?

Beat Junkie "Rhettmatic" opens up the vaults and hits us with some good old fashioned "SP" business...This is what he had to say regarding the project..

"So now, what you hear right now is some of old stash of SP1200 Beats that were made from 1994-1998. I actually recorded the beats straight from the SP1200, without any additional mixing…..just straight arrangement, & added scratches & sound effects to keep a little things interesting. What you hear is straight, raw, gritty, 12-bit texture, mono SP1200 beats with the ringy tone samples & smacking drum sounds. I hope you enjoy listening to them (& hopefully you're not making fun of them) while walking down memory lane with me. Who knows, if the response is positive, i might put out more beats to listen….& maybe actually make some new ones too".

Credits
released 10 May 2012
Produced by Dj Rhettmatic for Beat Junkie Sound
Recorded at The Sound-O-Matic Lab - Cerritos, Ca.
Beats are from 1994-1998

" Attack Of The Killer Demos 11 "

Recently I got my hands on some demos from those cats from DIRTY JERZ, "The Artifacts"...

Out of this batch I would have to say that the demo version of "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" is the winner....I'm not going to front though - the version that eventually made it to the full length was an obvious choice between the two..

PEEP.

" Khrysis On The Boards "

Just got done listening to that new Khrysis beat tape "Funk What Ya Heard" (salute to my brother P-Rocker who is the OG when it comes to that FunkWhatYaHeard shit, HAHA)...

Anyway, Khrysis released a solid project full of cracking drums, heavy layers, and a choice ear for composition..

TAKE A LISTEN.....

And while your at it, you might as well swoop up this collection of Khrysis productions to jump start your Friday morning..

TRACKLIST-

01 - Cesar Comanche - All Praises Due
02 - Cesar Comanche feat Supastition - The Grind
03 - Chaundon - Angie
04 - Chaundon - No Excuses Remix
05 - Edgar Allen Floe - Back In Time
06 - Egar Allen Floe - Craftmatic
07 - Joe Scudda - Door To My Life
08 - K-Hill - Heavenly Father
09 - K-Hill - Walk In My Shoes (remix)
10 - L.E.G.A.C.Y feat Phonte - Pure
11 - L.E.G.A.C.Y - I Want To Know
12 - L.E.G.A.C.Y - Mayhem
13 - L.E.G.A.C.Y - Throw Something
14 - L.E.G.A.C.Y - Too Long
15 - L.E.G.A.C.Y feat Chaundon, Median, Joe Scudda - I’m A Star
16 - Little Brother - Watch Me
17 - Little Brother feat Chaundon - Starvation0
18 - Masta Ace feat Apocalypse - Da Grind
19 - Sean Price - Jamaican
20 - Sean Price - King Kong
21 - Sean Price - One
22 - Sean Price - Stop
23 - Sean Price - The Huckabuck
24 - Sean Price feat Buckshot - Bye Bye
25 - Sean Price feat Tek - Onion Head
26 - Skyzoo - Bragging Rights
27 - Skyzoo - Turn It Up
28 - Smif N' Wessun - Gun Rap
29 - Spectac feat Big Daddy Kane & Kofi - One Day
30 - The Away Team - The Competition
31 - The Away Team - The Odds
32 - The Away Team & Chaudon - Do It Again
33 - The Away Team feat Joe Scudda, Chaundon, Big Pooh - On The Line
34 - The Away Team feat Nervous Reck - Look At Me
35 - The Thyrday - px2 Intro
36 - The Thyrday - Rutherford Affair
37 - Torae feat Stimuli & Kel Spencer - Save The Day

DOWNLOAD...

" Doc Delay : Medium Rare 4 "

What up HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD posse ?

Are you in search for more goods to quench your Hip Hop thirst ?

Of course you are or else you wouldn't have found this spot......Alright troopers, "Medium Rare 4" is flooded with under the radar cuts that will put you in a B-Boy trance...Doc Delay gets the salute for coming correct so do the right thing and take a listen...

"I’ve been making this Rare Rap mix Series Since 2003, and with the web-only release of the 4th edition, I thought it might be blog worthy to share the entire series and provide some history behind the projects. Not every track in this series is great, but there’s something that I found unique enough about every song to include them. The first volume is definitely the most dated sounding and I cringe at the sound of some of my cuts, but it’s interesting to follow the trajectory through the years. I used an alias given to me by this dude Hermitcrab – Tom Thumz. The CDs sold around town and people gave me some great feedback. A few promo copies came in actual supermarket meat trays. The second was part of a double CD package that went with me on a 2 month tour of Europe so most copies ended up over there. I kept catching more and more of these records that I never knew existed, and rediscovered things I had buried for years. The outro on II is my favorite. We recorded this guy Mel in Union Square and he claimed to have been MC Shan’s baby sitter. Volume 3 was the most widely distributed. 1000 were pressed and Traffic had it in stores everywhere. As more and more discoveries fell in my lap, I couldn’t help but try to amass enough for another mix. Volume 4 was recorded one weekend in March 2009, and by the time it was done, there was no drive or energy to try and package and market another hard copy.

Last week, my friend Raj over at Soulstrut posted the fourth mix on the site’s front page and helped breathe some life into the project. I thought I would use the opportunity to share the entire series".

.

PEEP....

" 45 Action "

DJ Forty Fivan (SF) takes on a 45 rpm journey with this nice collection of vinyl scorchers....Over an hour of nonstop action homeboy...

DO NOT SLEEP !!