Four Decades Later...

August has been a pretty special month that saw hip hop celebrate it's 40th birthday.  There were various events and reviews to mark the occasion, but I'm really surprised that something more notable hasn't been done.  A collaboration track by some of the old school icons, or a decent documentary or something more tangible to make the occasion special.  Oh well, it looks like hip hop spent the night on her own with a glass of wine and a box of chocolates!

Still, despite those birthday blues, she still saw fit to provide us with more goodness....

New Jeru

It's been a while since we've heard from the Prophet, but he's back with a forthcoming EP entitled The Hammer.  This early taster has Extra P on the boards and is one of the nicest tracks I've heard from Jeru in quite some time.  The EP also contains production from The Beatnuts and PF Cuttin.

The Return of the Zone

I honestly didn't think J-Zone would ever release another long player after he retired from hip hop a few years back, but unlike when Jay-Z came out of retirement, J-Zone's return to the game proves that his production is just as good as before (maybe even a tad better!).  Check out this sampler and if you're digging it, then head over to his bandcamp page to check out the full album or make a legit purchase.

Willie The Kid

I overlooked this when it dropped back in July, but this steady paced collaboration with Action Bronson and Roc Marciano with Alchemist on the boards is hitting the spot, even though I'm not normally a fan of Alchemist's stripped down production.  I'm still perplexed by how Action Bronson is so well respected when he sounds exactly like Ghostface Killah.  Back in the day that was called 'biting' and a biter got no love!  Still, this track is nice, and it's worth exploring more of Willie The Kid's music too.

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!

Latest Bloggings

Here is this months round up of goodness from around the web and bloggasphere.  As is often the case with my highlights from the web, it's a mixed bag of old and new, but hopefully it's still full of the realness that us true hip hop heads are in need of (if not, please let me know in the comments section).

Before I get into some of these gems, I want to welcome Moyinka to the FoaWP team. He's an experienced blogger who shares many of his old school rarities (1986-1991) over at the To The Break of Dawn blog (which I recommend you check out). I think he's got something slightly different planned for this blog, but I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Up North Trips Presents The 10s

The fella's at Up North Trips have paid homage to one of the most significant album releases of the 90's, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's Mecca and the Soul Brother which celebrated it's 20th anniversary earlier this month. 
They've picked 10 tracks from the album and focused on the samples and beat construction to highlight the complexity and ingenuity of Pete Rock's production and thus the major influence his work has had on other producers ever since.  The end product is a brilliant mix of the original samples blended with the finished tracks.
You can listen to the mix on the Soundcloud player below, but I'd strongly recommend reading the full article to gain the full appreciation of this mix. 
 

Large Professor - Part 2

Following on from last months update, Extra P continues to break down his classic records in part 2 of Complex's review.  He not only talks about his productions, but also the tracks he featured on as an emcee working with people like Nas, Pete Rock, Beatnuts etc.  He also gives insights behind Nas' groundbreaking track Rewind (the one where he tells the story in reverse). 
http://www.complex.com/music/2012/06/large-professor-tells-all-the-stories-behind-his-classic-records-part-2/

Kurious & A.G.

Kurious is back with a new joint which features A.G. on the mic and Diamond D on the boards.  It's not what you might expect from Kurious or the DITC veteran, but it's still funky all the same.  Thanks to the DJ Premier Blog for sharing this.



Mike Check

Golden Era History

Large Pro breaks down his classic records

I think the title says it all.  Extra P tells Complex.com the stories behind some of his classic joints whilst this month sees him release his latest LP Professor @ Large.  Essential reading:

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/05/large-professor-tells-all-the-stories-behind-his-classic-records-part-i/#gallery

Nas - The Making of It Was Written

Complex.com has produced a number of gems this month.  As well as the Large Pro stories, they've also produced something that is long overdue, a proper look at Nas' 2nd LP It Was Written.  His debut LP Illmatic has been analysed, dissected and digested to the point where there is nothing new left to say, but his 2nd LP is largely ignored.  As Complex rightly point out, it's his best selling LP to date and there was so much riding on it.  How the hell do you follow up Illmatic?  It could have easily been a flop and signalled the end of Nas' career, but it didn't, so how was this achieved:

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/05/the-making-of-nas-it-was-written/

Free Ice-T albums

The OG rapper has offered to share two of his lesser known albums for free. 

The first is an album that was originally recorded in 2004 when he was part of the SMG collective which consisted of Smoothe Da Hustler, Trigger Tha Gambler and the Ice man himself.  However this album was never released worldwide and therefore it is relatively unheard.

The second album is more recent and is released under his Twitter moniker, Final Level. 

To obtain your free copies, go to his bandcamp page and select to 'buy' the album.  Then enter 'zero' in the price box.

Peace
Mike Check

New Music, Major Artists, Free Downloads

I didn't think anyone would mind if I shared some new music, especially if that new music is free to download.  But most notable here is that the artists featured are well known, credible artists, and these downloads offer a great mixture of different styles and era's that I'm sure will appeal to the mature b-boy. 

There are 5 albums embedded here, so readers who follow this blog through an RSS feed may need to visit the site directly to see the embedded media players and access all the download links.

Gensu Dean - Jointz Mixtape

Gensu Dean has released this Jointz mixtape that has been mixed by DJ Chief-One.  It features tracks by Ed OG, Brand Nubian, CL Smooth, Large Professor, Roc Marciano and more.