It’s been a great few days for remembering the work of J Dilla. The annual Dilla Weekend took place just days ago in Miami, and today, on the date of his actual death, there have been videos, interviews and mixes showing up everywhere. Here’s a quick round-up:
Get Live With It mix, from J. Rocc and DJ Rhettmatic:
2002 studio session footage, with Common and others:
Memories of Dilla from Camp Lo, Ski Beatz and his old group Slum Village:
The latest episode of The Champs podcast features an in-depth interview with one of the greatest emcees of all time, Black Thought from The Roots. He delves deep into his family history, the stresses of being part of the band for Jimmy Fallon, being at school with Questlove and Boyz II Men, and more.
Listen to the podcast here.
Diggin’ in the Crates crew member and all-round legend Lord Finesse is releasing an extended version of his excellent The SP1200 Project: A Re-awakening album in March, and you can hear snippets from eight of the new tracks below. Pay your respects to one of the most gifted rappers and producers of all time when it hits stores in a few weeks time.
Raw Poetic and K-Def have teamed up for new album Cool Convos in Quantum Speech, and its sounding nice. Stream the whole thing below, and then head on over to iTunes to cop it.
Hip-hop and The Beatles. Its been done before, but these two mixes from the aptly-named MartinGeorge are something a bit special. Listen to parts 1 and 2 of An Adventure to Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space below. Way better than that Kanye/McCartney shit.
Joey Bada$$ is currently everywhere we look, and continues the onslaught with a video for Teach Me, from the recently-released B4.DA.$$ album. It’s a change of pace for the young Joey, and not our usual thing, but you can’t help but admire the kid’s swagger. Check the video below and let us know your thoughts.
Pro Era artist Kirk Knight drops new track Brokeland from his upcoming debut album. It’s another promising sign of good things to come, and proof that the crew is more than just Joey Bada$$. Listen below and hit us up in the comments.
Kendrick Lamar goes in hard on new track The Blacker the Berry, from his much-hyped upcoming album. A million miles from the upbeat i, K-Dot is angry as fuck on this one. Check it out for yourself below.
Hood films can be hard to do well. Remember the string of movies that came out back in the 90s, after Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society blew up? There were lots of imitators, but most weren’t great. We were therefore understandably skeptical about the long-awaited NWA flick, but judging from the trailer and the slick intro from Dr Dre and Ice Cube, it might actually be half decent. Think New Jersey Drive, rather than Jason’s Lyric. Peep the trailer below, and make sure you go watch it when it hits cinemas later this year.
DIRTYDIGGS and west coast legend Planet Asia have dropped a new EP entitled 2010 AD. Care to guess what year the tracks were recorded in? No worries if you can’t figure that one out, because the beats still sound fresh five years on. Listen to all four tracks below.
http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-album/kingmedallions/2010-ad
