Which Authority?

As the weather begins to heat up, so does the music.  With several decent albums having dropped this month (more on this in my next post), and potentially several more in the near future, hip hop is looking quite good right now.  The winter drought appears to be over, and here are a few pieces of interest from around the world wide webz that reflect this.

Somewhere In between 1 and 2!

Next month Marco Polo releases his follow up to his 2007 debut LP Port Authroity that is imaginatively titled Port Authority 2 (I guess it tells you what to expect from it!).  As expected nowadays, some early marketing and hype is required in the form of a mixtape, so Marco has released the free to download Newport Authority 2.  It's slightly confusing as there isn't a Newport Authority 1.  

Well aside the confusing and effortless titles, the mix contains some better tracks than I've come to expect from these promotional releases.  This is due to the fact that these tracks were only left of the final cut because of legal issues around sample clearances etc.  I found the Tragedy Khadafi track particularly head nodding (and it's good to see Trag back in action), but there's a few others that are worth a listen too, not to mention the already leaked tunes from Big Daddy Kane and Rakim.  

Zoned Out

I've been a fan of J-Zone's production from the beginning, so it was nice to watch this short clip of him crafting something new using a well known break and chop it up with some more unusual samples.  And if you've ever wondered where all those retro movie sound bites come from, well he answers that too!

Mister Warz Taking Over

If you're over 35 years old and haven't yet stumbled across the Disco Scratch site and its frequent radio shows, then you're missing out.  Disco Scratch is dedicated to providing suitable hip hop to B-Boy's of a certain age.

This month saw Mista Warz make his debut appearance on Disco Scratch with an eclectic showcase of music that was all held nicely together with crazy snippets and sound bites.  For me this show has that unique balance of playing classic cuts that are familiar, but still rare enough for you to say "hell, I've not heard that in ages".
Check out the show (embedded player or download link) and the full track list here: http://discoscratch.co.uk/2013/04/18/warz-takeover-show-1/.

An Educated Mind

A friend brought this to my attention, and whilst it might not be strictly hip hop, it's urban poetry which is only one step away.  I'd highly recommend you watch this as the message is delivered with good punchlines and thought provoking ideas that most of us can relate to.  This is the type of message that hip hop used to convey to the kids, what happened?