School of Hard Beats

Scratch Academy DVD: Beatmaking 101 from Hevehitta on Vimeo.

I don't even know who the other guy is (DJ Shok?). He seems a little jittery, probably because he's in the company of a couple of legends. Very good stuff from DJ Premier and DJ Evil Dee who provide some interesting insight on the art of beat-making.

Speaking of DJ Evil Dee, I've been meaning to post something on the Beatminerz. For some reason, the random shuffle of my iPod has been landing on some burners from Evil Dee and his brother Mr. Walt. I think it's a precurser for the heat that's about to hit this summer and I've got some Beatminerz material to match that. Stay tuned.

Simma down simma down now

Mos Def's full length The Ecstatic is set for a June release. Can't say that the first official single "Life In Marvelous Times" did much for me. The production (Mr. Flash) is a little snoozy. "The Glow" might have been a more solid choice but there's no confirmation that it will even be on the new album.

"Quiet Dog" is the second official single. Produced by Preservation, it's a stronger, uptempo cut that showcases Mos Def's ability to pretty much become the track he jumps on. Production-wise, it's basically a rhythm track anchored down by groovy percussion and, of course, Mos Def's steady and unwavering flow. Quiet dog bite hard!

Mos Def: "Quiet Dog"

On My Grizzly

Grizzly Bear is serving it up big and heavy with this one. From their new album dropping this spring.

Grizzly Bear: "Cheerleader"

Uptown Baby!

Random flashback here. I only put this up because I was listening to Steely Dan's essential Aja album this morning and kept going back to "Black Cow", probably my favorite Steely Dan song from one of the best albums ever recorded. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker created a masterful "Side One" that lines up "Black Cow", "Aja", and "Deacon Blues", a flawless 1, 2, and 3 song combo that I don't think any other "classic" album is able to match.

I'm not the biggest fan of Peter Gunz & Lord Tariq but "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" is intoxicating simply because the "Black Cow" break was used to such perfection.

The Chef

What we can count on when it comes to Hip Hop album release dates is that you can't really count on them. It's been a few years now since the Cuban Linx sequel was suppose to drop and Raekwon is confident that it will actually drop this year, tentatively in June. And I use the term "tentatively" very loosely.

CBRAP put up a list a while back on building your own Cuban Linx 2 and dropped a couple of woozies that, in all likelihood, are not going to make the final cut (if a final cut actually exists). I've already heard most of them but there are two cuts that are new to me that I hope will make it on the album.

"Kids That's Rich" - Produced by Pete Rock. Chef puts his lyrical skill and wordplay on major display here. I think a Pete Rock and Raekwon collabo album should be seriously considered by both camps. By the way, Raekwon apparently knows nothing about this track so I think it's going to be on the album with a different title. It's too good to be excluded.

"Blue Eagles" - There's a complete version of this floating around out there somewhere. This is a snippet. If I can't find it I'm hoping it makes the album.

This goes out to you, and you, and you...

And you.

And you can get the lyrical remix.

You can even get the Gasface Rebuttle.

The Nat King Cole Remix Project

I've heard some scattered remix projects created for legends of the past. For instance, I really enjoyed the Sergio Mendes Timeless project. It's got one of only a handful of Wil.I.Am productions I like on it by way of "That Heat", a f--kin' scorcher.

The Nat King Cole project Re:Generations sounds promising. I've heard "Walking My Baby Back Home" featuring The Roots and wasn't much impressed. But "The Game of Love" featuring Nas and reinterpreted by Salaam Remi? Excellent. It's short and wastes no time. Nas follows Nats lead and goes in. The tracks whimsical sound is a definite winner here and doesn't make either artist come off awkward.

Nas: "The Game of Love"

For the record, after watching the above trailer, I'm actually looking forward to the Wil.I.Am and Natalie Cole collabo.

And the Just Blaze track sounds hot as well.

The Blaq Out

Wow. Now this is the Primo production I've been waiting for. From the other half of Queensbridge's own Screwball.

Blaq Poet: "Ain't Nuttin' Changed"

The album The Blaqprint set to drop via DJ Premier's Year Round Records this spring.

Nothing mind blowing with the video but still, the track is ridiculous.