The first project I heard from Thelonious was Fear of Flight and it was dope. I kept checking back with Thelonious, and he just cranked one beat tape out after the next. I have had the honor of doing the art for one of the many beat tapes, Big Wheels &  Gold Teeth, but also keep it in heavy rotation on my iPod. A few days ago Thelonious let me know he was getting ready to put out Life Of A Teenage Champion, and explained that he was feeling really good about this one. I was excited for him and couldn’t wait to hear the progression that Thelonious made from his first beat tape to this Life Of A Teenage Champion. Thelonious still makes long beat tapes; and with 21 tracks Life Of A Teenage Champion is no exception. Download Thelonious – Life Of A Teenage Champion here. Also check out Thelonious’ interview on Infinite Cycle. BIG thanks Thelonious for banging out good work and learning from it.

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Thelonious – Victory Lap

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Thelonious – Sing To Me

The fam Infinite Cycle had this crazy idea and ran with it. He kicked it around with some A 1 cats, J Buziness & DJ Gade Real and they were down from the word go. Now understand Infinite Cycle is in Sacramento, J Buziness & DJ Gade Real in the I.E., so face time ain’t the easiest. They managed the whole project through phone calls, Twitter, emails, and file sharing host. You gotta love technology.

“From something that started out as a discussion about not having enough unity in music to having a mixtape out in about a month shows how much a small idea can be brought into fruition by a little dedication and hard work. After all of the scrambling and deadlines, the Cali Co-op Vol. 1 mixtape was formed and what we have here is only some of California’s finest talent in one package, mixed by DJ Gabe Real.” –Infinite Cycle

Download Cali Co-op Vol. 1 here. All the artist featured on this mix are making BIG waves, so keep your ears open. BIG thanks to Infinite Cycle, J Buziness, DJ Gade Real, all the artist, and everyone that made this project happen.

Tracklist:

1. NOE ft. Oddio – 11, 12 (Prod. by Ro Tone)
2. Noa James – My Bars, My Life
3. Speak – Persian Disco
4. Skeem Price – Star Struck (prod. by J.bizness)
5. Jynxx – J.Y.N.X.X (My Story Chapter II)
6. Prophit PAN, Craze, B Boy – I Ain’t Hearin It (prod. by J.Bizness)
7. Tomorrow,Yesterday – Ladies Say
8. Lagos vs. New York (The Garfield Adams Suite remix)
9. Pheo – Turn It Up (prod. by AFTA-1)
10. Prophit PAN, Craze, B Boy – 15 Minutes (prod. by J.Bizness)
11. Trek Life & Oddisee – Enjoy Yourself
12. Reverb, Trek Life, Dvooa – Get This Money
13. ELzhi, Willam S., FOCus – My City (prod. by Rick Hughes)
14. Magnificent Ruffians & Eno – Krazy (prod. by DJ Gabe Real)
15. Gritty Bop (DeanLemm Remix)- Percee P.

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.

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Thelonious – Didn’t Want To Go

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