Ghostface is still ill

Tony Starks back at it like always. I heard Wu-Tang is going on tour immanently.

El Michels Wu-Remixes

In the ongoing series of remixes known as the 38th Chamber, all sorts of folks are going in over the El Michels Affair versions of classic Wu beats.

Check out "Trifect Your Neck" which does a nice job of paying homage. Check out whoever is ripping where Method Man's verse was. He's got the cadence spot-on. I've never heard of any of the guys on this track, but it's impossible to keep up with all these underground rappers now that the internet is around.

Buy a copy of the whole album here (iTunes).

Video: Wendy Rene "Crying All By Myself"

Oh man. Wendy Rene is so awesome. Stax Records. Memphis, TN. Her "After the Laughter" is also highly recommended - RZA sampled it twice. (Once for Wu, and once for an ODB collab on the 1st Bobby Digital record). Her voice is just so unique.

Magical Mystery Chambers

Wu Tang vs. Beatles - that's an appealing thought, but so many possible outcomes. Don't expect the Grey Album. This is a little more traditional in the production style, but certainly no less effective. Excellent selection of Wu songs and tight beats.

Grab it here (you'll have to register, but it'll only cost you an email address.)

El Michels vs. Diamond District "The PJs"

A couple months ago, the El Michels Affair released a live instrumental cover album of the Wu-Tang's classic 36 Chambers called "Enter the 37th Chamber" - well now FatBeats and URB are getting together to remix the El Michels joint with a nice selection of emcees.

Check out how Diamond District gets loose on this cover of Rae's "The PJs". (right click to download). This joint is so chill.

Fat Possum to Re-Issue Hi Records Catalog

Oh Damn...

If you like southern soul, then you already know that Memphis-based label Hi Records was pretty much the gold standard for deep soul cuts - including Al Green, O.V. Wright, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson and so many more. For those hip hop heads, you probably know a lot of these records were the foundation for a ton of Wu-Tang mastermind RZA's samples (if you look at the track listing from the Shaolin Soul series, more than 50% came from either Hi or Stax).

So the big news [via Billboard] is that the label Fat Possum has just gotten the publishing rights for the whole Hi catalog...

Of course Al Green's Greatest Hits have never gone out of print, but there is a ton of amazing material in that catalog that hasn't seen the light of day in a long long time, and hopefully
Fat Possum (who have released great albums from artists like Junior Kimbrough and King Khan) will do it right and bring back some of that lost goodness...if nothing else it will save me the time of having to rip all of my 45s into digital format if I can just pick them up online somewhere...

Take a listen:

Is It Because Im Black, - Syl Johnson

Plus, since it got a mention, here's how RZA flipped the track on The W:

Hollow Bones - Wu-Tang Clan