The Root Down was on fire last Thursday with Frank Nitt, Illa J, J Black, and DJ J Heart. I was coming back from NYC and looking for an LA party, so I hit the El Cid for the Root Down. I got an LA party with a Detroit twist that was bang’n. Line up and get your copy of Frank Nitt and Illa J’s albums at Delicious Vinyl. Get the lastest on Frank Nitt, Illa J, and check for DJ J Heart’s podcasts. She knows how to throw it down. J Heart- next time get that light guy to hit up your part of the stage. Line up and get your copy of Frank Nitt, and Illa J’s albums at Delicious Vinyl.

The end of the album sums it up…”I should have called this shit great.” I got an email right before my vacation from this cat Dylan Thomas. I did a quick look and seen he rocks some stuff with the fam bam Haz Solo. You know that cat cranks out the tunes like crazy. I checked around to see what was crack’n, and Dylan Thomas’ name came up more than once. This album is on fire, and yeah Haz got in on this too. And It Was Good has a laid back and lounge sound that will keep your head nodding. Shelly is one that I can play over and over. I won’t steer you wrong on this one. Download And It Was Good here. BIG thanks Haz, and Dylan for the email. You guys keep makin bangers and videos. Yeah I seen it, All Jokes Aside.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dylan Thomas – Good Man

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

dylan thomas – Walt Payt (Prophetic)

I hit up the fam at Fresh Selects to see what was going down, and was given the heads up on an exclusive…Free Money mini mix.  I got Free Money from Kenny last night, and stayed up until 4am rock’n it. This mix was put together by DJ Buddy and Trek Life. Free Money is chill but with an upbeat tempo adding to Trek’s flow. This one will definitely go into your heavy rotation playlist. Check out what I mean and  download Free Money mini mix here.

Beside this, Mello Music Group has been busy cranking out the good stuff. Check out New Money: The Oddisee Remixes available on itunes. Also check it out on Ughh.com exclusive for a free copy of Trek’s first album, Price I’ve Paid. BIG thanks to Fresh Selects for the heads up; I owe you one. Check out DJ Buddy on his site and Trek Life on MySpace. If you need the low down on Mello Music Group faster, check them out on twitter. Keep your eyes pealed for 5Animals Play.

Track List:

1. Black Music ft. J-Bizness
2. One Idea
3. Long Time Coming
4. We Still Here ft. Silo
5. Hold Me Down ft. Champ MC
6. Good God
7. Never Again
8. Last Joint

I wanted to wait for the smoke to clear on this one. The day it dropped everyone had it posted. I wanted to rock it for a while, and you know Pac Div comes with the bangers. Church League Champions doesn’t fall short of what you get from Pac Div. But they did crank up the bass and come hard on this one. Church League Champions will make you want to “BOOM it in your, Boom it in your, Boom it in your Jeeps.” Fo-sho. I have to give them mad props on the artwork that goes with it. If you haven’t yet, download Pac Div’s Church League Champions click here. BIG thanks Pac Div you fellas are makin some bangers. Keep rep’n LA.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Pac Div – For You

Take A Trip will definitely take you on a trip. I rocked it the first time, and mentally went through my albums figuring out who sampled what. The second time I played it I was enjoying the original tracks, so I played it a 3rd time straight. J1 is throwing out the knowledge on this one. He breaks out classics that artists from Mary j., Mos Def, Dr. Dre, to J. Dilla have sampled from artisits like Brenda Russell, L.T.D., Howard Robert’s Quartet, and Ronnie Laws; just to name a few you may have heard of. Going from The Stashbox to Take A Trip shows the range that J1 has as a DJ, producer, and drummer. Take A Trip will get any DJ or producer to think heavy on their next sample. If you’re like me and love checking out where samples come from (the original tracks), this is the podcast for you. Download Take A Trip here. Check out what else J1 is up to on MySpace and Twitter. BIG thanks J1 for another dope exclusive.

Track list:

1. WHERE THERE IS LOVE – PATRICE RUSHEN
2. A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE – BRENDA RUSSELL

3. LOVE BALLAD – L.T.D.

4. DIRTY OLD BOSSA NOVA – HOWARD ROBERTS QUARTET

5. FOOL’S PARADISE – MELI’SA MORGAN

6. ONE STEP AHEAD – ARETHA FRANKLIN

7. MERCY MERCY MERCY – WILLIE MITCHELL

8. TIDAL WAVE – RONNIE LAWS

9. I WANNA DO SOMETHING FREAKY TO YOU – LEON HAYWOOD

10. MR. COOL – RASPUTIN’S STASH

11. YOU’RE GONNA NEED ME – DIONNE WARWICK

12. MI COSA – WES MONTGOMERY
:::::::::::ALL JOINTS ON VINYL::::::::::::

Know:Juander kills this album. If I had a rating system, A Kid Love:Beat would get 5 outta 5 mics. I like to take my time to digest an album, but this one I got it from the word go. From the proper production to the ill lyrics I was so blown away. I got a hold of Know:Juander to let him know how ill A Kid Love:Beta is and asked him a couple of questions. I wanted to know how was all worked on the the production, but it was all him. I mean crazy isn’t?! The cats got flows and cranks out the beats. If you’re looking for an album that ever tracks is hot…this is it. Download A Kid Love:Beta here. Check out what else Know:Juander is up to on MySpace and Twitter. BIG thanks Know:Juander for bringing it on this one.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Know:Juander – Mom’s Street Canvas

I started checking out Full Crate & FS Green with their monthly podcast. I  first heard of Versis when he did Love produced by fLako. Not that long ago I got an email from this cat Versis with the track Make Me Laugh that he did with Full Crate.  Versis breaks out with smooth lyrics and a raspy voice, I had a Tone Loc flashback for a minute. It was tight. I hit up Versis to ask what else he has in the works, because I was in the middle of writing a post. He told me that I might want to wait a bit for Synergy the EP (produced by Lucid) to drop. Man, good thing I did. It dropped on July 11th and I rocked Synergy for a couple of days. Versis has more projects in the works, but hopefully this will hold you until then. Download Synergy and Make Me Laugh here. Versis has a few other tracks with some top producers, so check for them. Get the info on Versis and Full Crate on their sites. Keep your ears open and your eyes peeled for Versis. He’ll be making big waves soon. BIG thanks Versis for the heads up.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Full Crate ft. Versis – Make Me Laugh

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Versis – Fresh

My friend Alex asked me if I have ever heard of this group called CunninLynguists. I was like what are you talking about man, and he told me to check’em out. I didn’t have to do much diggin for these cats, because they recently dropped their 7th album titled Strange Journey Vol. 1.  I ran across this YouTube video  Never Come Down (The Brownie Song), and it had me roll’n. The lyrics are crazy and the video is a perfect match. You’ll get a kick outta it. Check out CunninLynguists on MySpace page. BIG thanks for the heads up Alex.

I was catching up on some twittering, and read one by the fam Infinite Cycle about this cat Thelonious. Now Thelonious isn’t his real name, but after this you’ll understand how he got it. Monk was mad genius on hitting the keys, and anyone using “Thelonious” better live up to the name. So seeing how this cat has that name, I had high standards for the beat tape. I rocked it for a couple of days and was impressed. That wasn’t the kicker though; I got a hold of Thelonious to let him know he had some dope stuff, and that I was in the process of writing a post. He sent me the background story of the title and an artist bio. I read it on my way home and stopped dead in my tracks. “Only 16 his musical ear stretches far beyond his years…” Yes, that’s right 16! Can you say Prodigy?! I was typing like crazy to see what else Thelonious had cooking. I think I’m still in shock on how well this beat tape is polished off from such a young person. I read some more and learnt how he threw his hat into the rap ring, but was attracted to producing.

Thelonius’ explanation of the title was “The tape Fear of Flight was to capture a certain time period that students have between the end of school and the start of summer vacation. You really don’t want to go anywhere, all your friends are still around, and you’re still off the high that school is over. Hence the FEAR OF FLIGHT.” I couldn’t have explained it better. I know the feeling. Download Fear of Flight here and check out what Thelonious is up to on his blog, or Twitter. BIG thanks Infinite Cycle for twitt’n.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thelonious – Didn’t Want To Go

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Bonus)Volition, D-Dand, & Topaz Jones - Backwards Japanese (prod. by Thelonious)

Let me start off with HAZ SOLO is a triple threat waiting to make a home in your speakers. Producer: On “June Bug” this cat makes the craziest beats I have ever heard. At first I totally didn’t get it. I was ready to pass it up, but I’ve seen this dude on twitter everyday putting in work. There had to be something to it. When I took the time to listen to it, I was shocked that I had almost passed this by. I was feeling it. I did some more digging and found out HAZ is an emcee! MC: Are you for real?! He had lyrics to match. I downloaded Missing and rocked it in my car…a few times. I got to a friends house and thought to myself “What happened to the music?” because I wasn’t in my car. It was cool. PR: HAZ is his own PR guy. I see this cat on twitter hitting the folks he needs to, and building relationships with bloggers. Wild isn’t it?! Download JUNE BUG here. Head to Haz Solo’s MySpace and download his self titled album & Mission. HAZ SOLO BIG thanks and keep do’n yo thang.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Haz Solo (June Bug) - Cruize Chips

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Haz Solo (Missing) – Propa Like (prod. by Props)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Haz Solo (HAZ SOLO) – Chopped Grass (prod. by Dylan Thomas)