Dope Friday

Dope Sandwich is dropping tracks every Friday - some new stuff, some old stuff, some random stuff - here's an old posse joint from circa '06.

Irresponsible Rap Song

I feel bad I'm a few days late in posting this because a bunch of people beat me to showing this vid some love despite the fact that Knife is my homeboy. This is now one of my favorite hip hop videos of the 21st century - and I'd say that even if I didn't know the man.

Knife - Irresponsible Rap Song from Knife on Vimeo.

Get some free music, including "Irresponsible Rap Song" here.

What Good is a Castle?

Joe Bataan is the king of Latin soul. 

Video: Groundislava "Animal"

This youngster from the west coast makes beats that I like.

Groundislava - Animal ft. Jake Weary from FoF Music on Vimeo.


Get a free download via XLR8R

Jubee and the Morning After

These guys came through the Savannah Urban Arts Festival and killed it last Saturday. Macon, GA - and Georgia in general - has some artists doing interesting things with hip hop and rock that aren't rap rock - Floco Torres, Baby Baby, KidSyc@Brandywine, Jubee and the Morning After - keep an eye on 'em.

Yancy

Yancy came down and did a set yesterday during the Savannah Urban Arts Festival and it was dope. He's got of Jay-Z type style but without the pomposity or the dope game. Let this joint ride past the intro and get blessed with a real smooth piano line and some suave mic control.

Unda the Villa

Unda and P.Villa, residents of the Blunt Guts Nation, just dropped this mixtape of beats and it should not be slept on. Unda came through the SUAF beat battle yesterday (he was defending his title), and played some new stuff that is going to melt heads in the near future. This time around, Unda doesn't just get it on the beats though, he does some rhyming too - more of the Guilty Simpson school of rap than Big Daddy Kane, but he makes it work.
If you like your jazz spacey, your samples choppy and your beats knocking, then this is a must have.


Grab the whole thing here.

Vinyl Appreciation

Vinyl Appreciation turns one year old this Sunday at Muse Arts Warehouse (703 D Louisville Rd. SAV). 5-10 p.m.

DJs and record collectors playing strange and wonderful analog recordings. Bring a friend. Bring some records. Or just come and hang out. Whatever. $3 at the door. There's nothing cooler you can be doing on a Sunday evening.

Get more info here.

Nittyville

 New Madlib release is a serious collab with Frank. Get info on the 3LP release here. Tune your ears to a new track here (click to listen, right click + save as to make it yours).

Taste II

The first Taste event took place two years ago at the former Meddin Slaughterhouse, which was artist studios at the time. It was live art, fashion show, tons of music, DJs, exhibits, food, beer and more...basically everything you could want wrapped up in one event. Now, the old Meddin building has taken on a new form, now as a state-of-the-art digital production facility, but they've opened their doors to the event this year. Expect 11 hours of awesomeness all sourced from Savannah, GA.

fLako's new album

 I like this guy a lot. Just solid, cerebral beats that understand tradition but aren't afraid to bend the rules in the name of innovation. He's got a new album on it's way called Mesektet (an ancient Egypt reference you can read more about here). Check a snippet off the upcoming project:


Go back and listen to his first release, Mini Tollbooth, too.

Tax Day

The following is a true story:
My Accountant: Do you follow current events?
Me: Yeah.
My Accountant: You know how there's a lot of talk about the middle class getting screwed...
Me: Yeah.
My Accountant: That's what happened this year. You did better than last year and there aren't any deductions available for you.

Hey Bank of America, GE and all you other multi-national criminals corporations, go fuck yourselves.

Baby Baby

These guys are from ATL/Carrolton/Macon and are posted up in Savannah all weekend. Last night they played LiveWire with KidSyc@Brandywine and Aux Arc. Tonight they snuck onto a tight bill at Hang Fire with Cusses and The Shaniqua Brown, and tomorrow, they will play at the Bean for the opening of the Savannah Urban Arts Festival. Find them at one of those events.
They are hard to pin down stylistically. Someone from Cusses described them as Fishbone with out the horns, which is solid. It makes me want to jump around a lot. Not a lot of music does that any more.  I'm gonna be jamming this all summer like a teeny bopper.

A Big Hip Hop Round-Up

A bunch of random heat just in case you need some new jams for spring time riding. Turn the system up loud.

On the topic of rolling around in cars (with a particular penchant for talking about fellatio), this track "Let's Ride" by left coaster Shane Eli is pretty hot. Features verses from durrty southerners Playboy Tre and Rittz (one of my two fav white rappers out right now). The beat is a flip of a Marlena Shaw jam. The content won't enrich your mind, but it with summer time around the corner it's time to lighten up a little. Download a copy of the single here.

 Fresh from ATL is this new mixtape from Aleon Craft called Mothership Decatur. Tracks like "Yoga Flame" and "Donkey Kong" have been floating around the internet for a good minute now, but there's some nice new stuff too. Definitely got a little bit of everything on here stylistically too, from the hazed-out southern space funk to club bangers and some straight spitting for the old school heads. I'm particularly feeling this joint.

Download the mixtape here.

If you prefer your hip hop to originate north of Mason Dixon line and to get a little more abstract than pleasures of the flesh, you might be happy to learn that Stones Throw is re-releasing DOOM's first album, which has been out of print for too long. The original album, plus some lost footage and instrumentals...finally...If you never heard this, you better go back to school.

So Curren$y and Alchemist have been working together for the Spitta's new album Covert Coup. The results are pretty serious. Drop by 2DopeBoyz to check out the first leak "Ventilation" (there's been another since this one dropped, but I think this one is better).

The final installment in the series of things you need to jam...closing on the mellow tip...is this 80 Blocks from Tiffany's (the collab between Pete Rock and Camp Lo) remix featuring Planet Asia. Go check it out, along with the original 80 Blocks mixtape release over at the Smoking Section. Download the track here.

SUAF 2011

The Savannah Urban Arts Festival kicks off April 17, and it's gonna be a dope year. Swing by Indigo Sky on 4/17 from 4-6pm for the opening reception of Fresh Produce, featuring a bunch of amazing Georgia artists curated by Sean Fahie and I, along with a live beat set from last year's beat battle champ Unda. There's film screenings, loads of music, a graf workshop, artist development workshops, dance, poetry and more...Peep the full schedule on the website.

Gimme Pizza

Millions of people have watched this...if you aren't one of them, go ahead and get with the meme already in progress...This thing is crazy on so many levels...The fried chicken moment and the "waterfalls of whip cream" line are worth waiting for...

Fly or Die

Check out this epic space funk off of Project Mooncircle's Finest Ego beat comp series, the Australia/NZ edition:

D.Ciano "Beautiful Noise"

 This will be one of the five best hip hop albums to come out of Savannah this year...I say that unequivocally. D.Ciano's debut Freshman Year last year was smart and well produced. The track "My Hometown" was riding, and he's got tons of support on the Savannah State campus. This new album meets the standard he set for himself and raises it.
Download a copy here.
Here's "My Hometown" off his first record, just to give you an idea of what he's working with...there's no videos up for tracks off the new album.
(BTW - that sample got flipped for this before K.R.I.T.'s mixtape hit the streets, although both of them kill their respective versions)

GangGangDance "MindKilla"

Here's a new track from GangGangDance called "Mindkilla" - if you've been looking for something over the top and danceable that's like a cross between MIA, 70s synth-wave, cambio and a variety of less tangible influences, this is your huckleberry...


Grab a free download from their site.

Fresh Produce

I'm co-curating an art show during the Savannah Urban Arts Festival with Sean Fahie of Nine and Three Quarters. It'll feature a dozen artists from Atlanta, Savannah and Augusta - all of whom are ill with the art skills. The show opens April 17 with a reception from 4-6pm at Indigo Sky Gallery.

Daedelus x Sepalcure

Sepalcure is a Brit who I'm going to have to look into further, because I dig the approach to this Daedelus remix.
Daedelus f. Milosh "Tailor Made (Sepalcure Remix)" by The FADER

New Beasties

 Judging by the phrasing of their blog post, I'm assuming this song leaked at some point, and now the Beastie Boys are putting it out there for the world to enjoy. Pretty dope. Back to basics. It sounds like the Check Your Head era all over again. Shout to Jon Foster for putting me on this.
Also, for those heads who still read things longer than blog posts, I've been tearing through The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip Hop, which I would highly recommend. It actually manages to be more comprehensive than Jeff Chang's Can't Stop Won't Stop, without sacrificing readability.

Softspot

Do you remember the Cranberries? Do you like epic, emotionally charged songs that could be used during dramatic moments of occasionally heavy handed indie films (if used inappropriately)? SoftSpot is playing at HangFire April 15. Sharing a bill with Magic Places and Rifle Report.

Softspot "Bones" from Jessica Collins on Vimeo.

Malachi x Nosaj Thing

Two great tastes that taste great together...
  Malachai - Let 'Em Fall (Nosaj Thing remix) by DominoRecordCo

South Andros

Just returning from a few days of serious R&R in the Bahamas - Driggs Hill, South Andros to be exact - no phone, no computer, no watch - just a perfect blend of adventure and poolside chilling, stirred briskly with some great food and fine island beverages. Shout out to bonefish, blue holes, the ladies who run the liquor store in CongoTown (Magnum with Vigorton and Ginger wine are tops) and family; as well as special thanks to Jerry and Diane Blotcher, and Nancy from the Hungry Trout, who are exceptional hosts. 

Goombay punch - the official pineapple-flavored bubbly drink of the Bahamas - celebrates tasteful minimalism and fun with its packaging design.

If you need a tour guide on South Andros, you've got to call Barbara. This is her leading Carrie and I into a cave full of bats (note the one flying behind her head - and all the block dots on the back wall - those are all bats too), right before we go to the best swimming hole I've ever had the privilege to enjoy. A 15 ft jump off a natural limestone bridge formation landed you in the middle of this glorious "blue hole" as they are known locally, brackish water that comes from a mix of fresh water spring and ocean tides. 

Barbara at the southwest end of the best swimming hole ever.

A detail of the bar counter in front of Ezrena's restaurant, where we had the most amazing Bahamian feast ever, cooked by Ezrena, and topped off by some homemade papaya and habanero-based hot sauce.

The aforementioned feast included cracked conch (fried in a light, crispy batter), lobster tails, grouper, steamed veggies, coleslaw and rice with pigeon peas. The feast opened with the finest bowl of conch chowder ever (it would be among the best chowders I've ever eaten as well), and closed with some locally made coconut ice-cream.

These became fresh conch salad right before our eyes at a roadside conch stall/sports bar.

Getting a quick demo from the owner Roddie (sp?)

"Put 'Em on Punishment"

Maf, KidSyc & Polo do it right on this cut off Maf's upcoming RocknRolla mixtape.
Maf - put em on punishment ft. kid syc & polo by Maf aka Carlitobaby

I'm out of town for a few days after this. Check me next week with a sun tan.

To hold you over until I return, go grab a Mafamadix retrospective, including three mixtapes and some unreleased joints. Get it here for free. Real hip hop. C-Port stand up.

Cyhi da Prince "Hero"

This is sort of a new classic mixtape cut from Good Music's CyHi da Prince. 

Grab a copy of CyHi's Royal Flush mixtape here. 

Yelawolf remix

Nice. Left the Raekwon cameo from the original on the hook, and then dropped in killer verses from CyHi da Prince and Pill, who smashes the closing verse.