Madlib x Black Star x Blu

Madlib. Man or BEAST?

Black Star have just released their reunion single 'Fix Up' on the world.

It is the pre-cursor to what is being touted as the lead-single of their upcoming sophomore release.

Talk about 'the difficult second album'; their sublime debut LP 'Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are...' was released in 2002!

Turns out that Blu also had dibs on that same beat w/ a track titled 'EZ'.

Oh well, all great MC's. 

Double ups are mean as boltz!

Monday Five - June 6th 2011 (The Late Edition)

One. B - 'Jesus'

Two. Little Brother - 'Nighttime Maneuvers'

Three. Nomo & Shawn Lee - 'Upside Down'

Four. Fantastic Man - 'Say What You Said'

Five. Vanilla - 'Away So Long'

Blu - 'Jesus'

Blu is as prolific as he is good!

Here is his latest offering under the alias 'B' titled 'Jesus'.

I have had a good listen through the course of today and I am digging it, yes! 

Low-slung 90's type beats that get as much shine as Blu's rhymes, it's the porduction roster that raises eyebrows for me: Alchemist, Madlib, Hezekiah, Knxledge...

Particularly into '4U' and title track 'Jesus'.

Blu - 'Her Favorite Colo(u)r' Mixtape

Rapper Blu has laid another sweet set upon the world!

'Her Favorite Colo(u)r' is swathed with 60's pop and jazz samples; a mellow ride that breezes past with tasty beats and sporadic sick-rhymes.

15 tracks, 30 minutes. 

Precise and succinct, this a nice hold-over as we wait for Blu's forthcoming LP proper.

Track two from the set, 'Amnesia' has seen release as a 12" for the vinyl heads, so keep an eye out if that's your format.

Head to i-Tunes for the dig DL.

Monday Five - November 1st, 2010

One. O.C. - 'Time's Up'

Two. Space Dimension Controller - 'Kaleidoscopic Ecstasy'

Three. Debo Band - 'Adderech Arada' (Kiddid Remix)

Four. Tanya Morgan feat. Blu - 'Morgan Blu'

Five. Herbie Hancock - 'Cantaloupe Island'

Blu - 'Amnesia' x Billie Holiday

In my humble opinion, Blu is one of the best around at the moment. One of the hardest working too.

This track has been around for a minute, but it's just lovely nonetheless.

Sample & Flip #4

I interviewed US MC Buff-1 the other day on 'Off the Record'. Good guy.

As a bed for the interview I dropped the instrumental of C.R.A.C Knuckle's (Blu & Ta'Raach) 'Bullet Through Me'. When the drum intro hit, Buff was saying, "Yeah man, I love this one!"

(Foreshadow: There's actually a clue in the title and it's basically a crazy cover version...)

Turned out he thought it was the Ta'Raach beat for Erykah Badu's lovely 'Gone Baby, Don't Be Long'.

Mild confusion ensued, and we both mistakenly concluded that the C.R.A.C beat was by Johnson & Jonson producer Mainframe.

(Fact: Blu is also the rapper for Johnson & Jonson.)

Actually, it is also Ta'Raach on the beat.

Buff was elusive as to who the original artist was that was sampled for both of the beats, the drums being the same. 

I didn't know then on the spot, but I do now!

So, after my knowledge seeking, I thought that this was a suitable addition to the 'Sample & Flip' series.

The Monday Five: July 4th, 2010

Yeah, I know this is posted on a Sunday, but I am gonna be fuckin' busy this Monday so I planned ahead!
Besides, there are so many lovely tunes in my head at the moment, they just gotta be exposed...

Here is the latest. The Monday Five:

One. Daisuke Tanabe - 'Kanon'
Two. Aloe Blacc - 'Femme Fatale'
Three. B.Bravo - 'Computer Love'
Four. Sotu the Traveller - 'Hour Glass' (Daisuke Tanabe Remix)
Five. TiRon feat. Blu & Asher Roth - 'The Richers'