FREE Skillz Mixtape w/ J. Period & Don Cannon, Little Brother Release, New Rae & Ghost, Idle Warship Dogs Hillary, Big Boi Album, Goodbye Mass Appeal, Kid Cudi.
• We know we’ve been promising you this mixtape from Skillz, and it’s finally here! Hit up Skillz’ blog for the download of Design Of A Decade: Volume 1, the 90’s mixtape, and listen as J. Period and Don Cannon do their thang. Stay tuned for Skillz newest album, Million Dollar Backpack, featuring The Roots, Common, Freeway, and more, out on Koch for a July 8th street date.
• Little Brother has announced that they will be releasing an official version of their And Justus For All (cover) project to stores and iTunes on June 10th. The release will be comprised of seven new tracks on the Itunes version (five on the CD) as well as mastered versions of nine tracks from their 2007 Mick Boogie mixtape of the same name. Check for the singles “Black Light Special” produced by 9th Wonder and “Do Ya Thang,” which is one of four new tracks produced by our boy Khrysis. New tracks also feature appearances from Oh No, Tiye Phoenix, and production from DJ Spinna and Designated Hitters. In the mean time, check out (and download) Rapper Big Pooh’s ” Girls Like” (prod. Big Dho) compliments of 2dopeboyz.
• Take a listen to this new Rae and Ghost song, titled “Necro.” The song is reportedly off of Raekwon’s heavily delayed album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, hopefully this album will drop before the end of the decade. I Was hoping for a little more out of this song, but Ghostface gets raw as ever on this one.
• This is definitely the first primary election to evoke a number of political pop songs- from the Will.i.am hit “Yes We Can” (along with John Legend and Scarlett Johansson, among others) to this new joint from Idle Warship, posted here in Tuesday’s news. Comprised of Talib Kweli and Res, IW have a strong message for Hillary Clinton with “Fall Back,” featuring Chester French. They’ve even re-done the Shepard Fairy Obama poster with Hil’s face and, well, a more simple message. Their point? “You ain’t gon’ win, so just throw the towel in.”
• Sir Luscious Left Foot… Son Of Chico Dusty, Big Boi’s new solo album we told you about before, should be finishing up this August. The first single, “Royal Flush,” features Andre 3000 and Raekwon (who is also slated to appear in the vid). Mary J. is on the second single, “The World Is Too Big.” He has also announced a possilbe Live Nation tour deal before the end of the year.
• If you’re in NYC, stop through our Grape Juice Friday party, this Fri. at Black Swan Wine Bar (70 Greene St.)! It’s a Decon Records extravaganza, with performances by Aceyalone, 88-Keys, and more, along with an exclusive video premiere from Jason Goldwatch (known to many of you from Dilated Peoples The Release Party, and much more). Open bar too, holler!
• We’d like to take a moment to sadly bid farewell to Mass Appeal magazine, which just announced that they will be shutting down after a hearty 12 year run. Although the print mag will cease, at least they will continue the website and special event productions. They even mention that it “may resume publishing in the future.” Fingers crossed.
• Looks like dramatic trailers are no longer reserved for just movies. Podcasts, mixtapes, singles-they all get trailers now. Kid Cudi hit us with his trailer for his upcoming mixtape “a KID named CUDI: the mixtape.” Dude’s got talent so check for that mixtape coming soon.
-gingerlynn, shamz & dantana