A dope line-up of emcees including Rapper Big Pooh and Skyzoo have gathered to pay a tribute to Praverb, who died this time last year. Listen and buy Cruel Intentions on the link below, with proceeds going to his family.
Stream and purchase here.
Category: History
Sadat X – ‘When The Gods Sing’ feat. Lord Jamar
Here’s more good shit from the Deluxe Edition of the slept-on Never Left album by Sadat X. This time he’s joined by fellow Brand Nubian Lord Jamar, and you can listen below. Cop the album here.
Emskee & Mac McRaw – ‘It’s About Time’
NYC rapper Emskee and Mac McRaw have dropped this nice slice of 90s indy rap. First recorded as a demo in 1995 with a beat by Nick Wiz, its been re-recorded and re-produced for 2015, and has been released as a limited edition 7″, which you can cop here. Listen to both versions below.
Listen to Large Professor and Masta Ace on Microphone Check
Two hip-hop icons have recently appeared on the frequently great Microphone Check podcast from NPR. First up was Large Professor, followed a few days later by Masta Ace. Listen to the two legends drop science and history on the links below.
Deeptrunk79 – ‘Untitled’ feat. Special Ed
Old school icon Special Ed appears on this nice single from Deeptrunk79. It also features Xidus Pain, Magmatic and the brilliantly-named DJ Jabbathakut, and you can listen below.
Planet Asia – ‘The Champions’ feat. Del The Funky Homosapien
Cali legend Planet Asia has dropped this unreleased gem, recorded back in 2006, with the equally legendary Del The Funky Homosapien riding shotgun. It’s dope, and you can check it out below.
Sean Price tribute show highlights with DJ Premier, DJ Eclipse and more
Few people are more qualified in the ways of underground and Indy hip-hop than DJ Premier and DJ Eclipse, so its only right that they led the tributes that came flooding in when Sean Price passed. Watch below for highlights from the Rap Is Outta Control Sean P special, with many stories of the late great rapper told.
MC Magnif – ‘The Last’
J Dilla left a huge archive of unused beats when he passed, and the latest to bag one is Detroit artist MC Magnif. The Last is taken from a special 7″ vinyl release coming soon from Fat Beats, which also features the previous Dilla/MC Magnif collabo, The Shining Pt 2. Listen on the link below.
Stream here.
Sean Price – ‘Songs In The Key of Price’
Songs In The Key of Price is finally out, albeit now released under a whole different atmosphere since the sad death of Sean Price. A last minute artwork change, due to legal shit, means that early copies have now become collectors pieces, but you can stream the short but dope project below. Don’t forget that you can also still donate to the Sean P family fund here.
Eazy-E, Peanut Butter Wolf style
In an incredible bit of DIY hip-hop history, Stones Throw Records honcho and all round good-guy Peanut Butter Wolf has unearthed this from his personal archives – a cover of Eazy-E single Boyz N The Hood, with the brilliantly-named local artist Spunky Spunk Dogg on vocals, and PBW on the wheels of steel. A few years later he would go on to link with Charizma, and the rest is history. As for the collaboration with Spunk D-O Double Gizzy, this was their first and only live performance. Listen below, and read the backstory from the man himself further down.
“This recording is the only one I have with him from back then and we performed outside at the backyard of a BBQ on a Sunday afternoon for an audience of around 15-20 people. We did around 5 or 6 original songs we had made and 1 cover and for the cover, we chose the biggest rap song in LA at the time. My turntable kept skipping as it wasn’t a 1200 and nobody even really cheered. I don’t even recall people really paying attention, but we were having fun and it was our first and last show together as a group. This was in the summer of ’88, and soon after, I moved back to San Jose, where I eventually met Charizma and started all over again.”