» New Jersey

John Robinson – Gifted

aaron — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:40:17 +0000

A friend of mine told me, “if a rapper has to curse every other word…they’re not a rapper.” John (JR) Robinson is a rapper for sure! The Gifted is one of those albums I can play with my mother in the car and she won’t give me that look like what are we listening to. Gifted has a laid back vibe that will still have your head nodding. John Robinson’s flow it clear, and said with care. I’m digging Gifted because of its comforting classic sound, but keeping it in the now. Download John Robinson – Gifted on Band Camp. Thank you Mr. John Robinson for tweeting about this one.

John Robinson - Her

John Robinson - Cherish Feat. Wordsworth

Thelonious – Life Of A Teenage Champion

aaron — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:27:34 +0000

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.

Thelonious – Victory Lap

Thelonious – Sing To Me

K. Sparks – Super Senior

aaron — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:15:44 +0000

My man Thelonious was dropping beat tape after beat tape. One day we were tweeting, and he mentioned he was looking to work with some emcees. K. Sparks was one that he brought up a couple of times, and told me to keep my ears open. Shortly after, Thelonious emailed me this dope track called Obsession that I kept playing it over and over. It’s a little dark, but the combo of the 2 works is awesome. I started digging for more K. Sparks stuff, but no luck. A couple of months passed and I seen that 2 Dope Boyz and KevinNottingham.com presents K. Sparks Super Senior. I was like “what?! That’s dope.” The album has a good mix and with 25 tracks you’ll find the one you crank the volume up on. Obsession isn’t featured on Super Senior, but I’m sure there’s another project in the works with it. Download K. Sparks – Super Senior from DJBooth.net. Also check out Thelonious – Big Wheels & Gold Teeth. BIG thanks to Thelonious for the heads up.

K. Sparks – Mind Drift/Juicebox Love (prod. Thelonious)

K. Sparks -Obsession (prod. Thelonious)

Thelonious – BIG Wheels & Gold Teeth

aaron — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:02:45 +0000

I have no idea where Thelonious comes up with these titles, but I’m sure he’s got a good reason for it. I can’t say much about the first track, Big Wheels, except bangin. I don’t know how many times I played it before I got to the rest of the tracks. Big Wheels & Gold Teeth shows Thelonious’ growth and exploration of sounds. In some beats, he drops in movie samples that compliment the tracks giving them a big cinematic feel. Over all Big Wheels & Gold Teeth is another well done beat tape you gotta check out. Download Big Wheels & Gold Teeth here. If you’re not up on Fear of Flight check it out too. Get the latest info on Thelonious and his upcoming projects on his blog. If you’re wanting to hear some flow over some dope Thelonious beats…just wait its coming. B+C plug: Check the cover art front and back.

Thelonious – BIG Wheels

Thelonious – 4th Grade Highlight Tape

Thelonious – Fear of Flight

aaron — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:18:43 +0000

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.

Thelonious – Didn’t Want To Go

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

Dub MD & Illmind Presents…

aaron — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:33:32 +0000

Just to let you know how much reading and reviewing I do, it took me 3 blogs (days of posts) and 2 mixtapes (that weren’t that good) to find something I think is worth posting. And this is totally worth posting. One of the blogs lead me to The Kaos Effect, which got me reading about IllMind. I was downloading the mixtape (Dub MD & IllMind Presents Blaps, Rhymes, & Life Vol II) and was like, “man the production on this stuff is hot.” I liked that it has a good balance of nice tight rhymes and beats. The artwork totally caught my eye too. If you haven’t heard of IllMind or Dub MD check the mixtape, and I’m sure you’ll be looking for more. BIG thanks to The Kaos Effect for posting it. Check out Dub MD and IllMind on MySpace. Download mixtape here.

Bambu – Quit (Prod. by Illmind)