Fresh Beats

I tend to find that January and February are pretty quite months for new releases, or more specifically, the good quality releases that we're waiting for don't generally drop during the post Xmas lull.  But although no killer albums have dropped yet, there are a number of tracks that are bubbling right now that hint towards 2013 having some interesting releases.

There's even enough of them to make it worth me cobbling together this post together and sharing them with you (and that doesn't happen to often!).

Boston's Finest

First up is some new Edo G.  Boston's long time favourite emcee is back with more of the grown man rap that we've come to expect from him.  This is a release from his forthcoming album Intelligence & Ignorance that drops on 5th February.  I've got to say, that Edo G is certainly one of the more consistent emcees from the golden era, and this track demonstrates it.



That's not it, there's plenty more after the jump!

Ill Bill & Pete Rock

If you haven't heard this already, it's certainly worth checking out.  Not a combination that I would have put together, but Pete Rock certainly delivers something fresh and Bill adapts to it effortlessly.  Bill's album drops at the end of February.

Big Noyd, Large Pro & Kool G Rap

Big Noyd isn't a name I thought I'd be putting up on this blog any time soon, but this is a real head nodder from Noyd, Extra P and G Rap.  

Blu, R.A. The Rugged Man and Tristate

This interesting collaboration of artists comes with Thelonius King, a track with sporadic drums, a hook that in places me reminds me of Apache and a killer verse by R.A. The Rugged Man.

Rough and Rugged Bumpy Knucks

I wasn't that impressed by last years Bumpy Knuckles and DJ Premier collaboration, yeah there was some nice tunes on there, but overall I thought it was a bit of a let down.  So I approached this new joint from Mr Knuckles with some caution, only to be pleasantly surprised by the kind of production that Premo should have cooked up for him last year, and Bumpy kicking lyrics just the way I like em.  Definitely give this one a listen as he breaks down his impressive recording history on Peep the Resume.

And now for something completely different...

Credit to Repo over at the Ageing B-Boys Unite site for bringing this to my attention.  I didn't think I'd ever hear someone use that classic Bobby Byrd break again and not instantly hate the track.  Don't get me wrong I love the break, and when Lord Finesse used it in 1988 I couldn't stop playing the track.  But after the popularity of Das EFX's The Want EFX, and MTV shamelessly playing it to death, it permanently killed it for me....... until now!

Mistah Bohze chops it up a bit differently and then effortlessly weaves in and out of the beat with great cadence.  Some of my overseas cousins may not catch all the rhymes, as the Scottish tongue can be a wee bit tricky to get your ear lobes around, but it's still worth a listen.