Us and the rest of the boom-bap addicts went nuts recently when Stretch & Bobbito released some of their archive radio shows on tape for sale on Fat Beats (already sold out). They’ve also now released several classic tracks and features from the golden years for stream, including appearances from O.C., Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, Kool Keith and more. Listen below, and enjoy that trip down memory lane. Also look out for the Stretch & Bobbito documentary coming soon.
Category: News
Apathy – ‘Crew’
Apathy has dropped another single from his new Weekend At The Cape EP, one of several projects from him set to be released this year. He and Suave-Ski get down and dirty on this one, and you can watch the video below. Click here for previous single New England Royalty.
MoSS – ‘Boombastic’ feat. Slum Village
There’s now a video for the Boombastic single from MoSS that we told you about last week. It features the legends Slum Village, and is taken from producer MoSS’ new album, also called Boombastic. Watch below.
Finale – ‘Just Due’ feat. Oddisee & Homeboy Sandman
Oddisee has blessed Finale with a nice beat for Just Due, taken from his upcoming Odds & Ends album. It also features Homeboy Sandman, making for one formidable team. Listen below, and keep an eye out for that Finale album when it comes this August.
Why Ice Cube being back in N.W.A. is equal parts dope and awkward
The recent BET Awards saw N.W.A. reunite on stage for the first time in years, as part of the promotional grind for new film Straight Outta Compton.
Dr Dre was absent, and with Eazy-E long since passed, and Yella never having been the most charismatic of performers, it was a cut-price N.W.A, left to just Ice Cube and MC Ren to carry the entire legacy. From the videos that emerged online, it was largely disappointing, but not a bad effort considering what they had to work with.
What stands out most is how weird it is to see Ice Cube performing those old gangsta tracks in 2015.
Like LL Cool J, Cube is now so far removed from who he was in the N.W.A. days, and that’s not a bad thing. He’s now a family man making family films. Shit, he even hangs out with Elmo. Switching from that back to the man who rapped so aggressively and explicitly on classics like Fuck Tha Police, Straight Outta Compton and Gangsta Gangsta, is a giant leap.
That’s not to say that the likes of Cube and LL should hide from who they once were. These are two of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time (LL arguably the greatest, at least in terms of longevity), and for hip-hop fans they will always be emcees first, actors second.
But perhaps spare a thought for little Elmo when he watches the BET awards and sees his buddy kicking rhymes about AK-47s and bitches in biker shorts. No one wants the kids putting on Sesame Street and finding that the word of the day is Gangbang.
As for the no-show from Dre? Too busy counting them billions. Its a shame though, because that really could have been something special. We should probably just be glad they avoided bringing Eazy back with one of those tacky hologram joints.
Straight Outta Compton hits cinemas August.
Stig of The Dump ‘- ‘Kubrick’ feat. Jehst
UK hip-hop stalwarts Stig of The Dump and Jehst join forces for this incredible video that pays homage to the many classic films of Stanley Kubrick. The music is awesome too, and the track is taken from Stig’s new album, Kubrick.
Bedlam Brethren – ‘When The Sun Speaks’
Bedlam Brethren is a duo consisting of NYC rapper Udi The Erratic Assassin and Indiana-based emcee Merc Versus. When The Sun Speaks is from upcoming album Instruments of Cruelty, and you can listen below.
MeRCY – ‘Eagle Eye View’ feat. Sean Price
Sean Price features on this brooding new track from MeRCY, taken from his recent new album The Prestige 3. The Heltah Skeltah man steals the show as always, and you can check it out for yourself on the link below.
Listen here.
Blu – ‘Thriller’
Blu is back with a new EP named The Return, and has dropped this single from it. As always with Blu, its pretty dope, and it’s good to have him back. Listen to Thriller below, then go get the rest of the EP.
Madlib – ‘African Earwax’
The Beat Konducta Madlib has unleashed a new edition of the Mind Fusion series, named African Earwax. A tiny run of 30 physical copies were manufactured and snapped-up at a recent Rappcats pop-up shop in L.A., complete with hand-drawn designs from MF Doom cover artist Jason Jegel, but you can stream the whole thing in its digital form below. Dope as always.
Listen here.