I wanted to open this week’s episode with a breakdown of why the number 135 was special. Turns out, nothing of any significance is tied to the number, so that’s that.
All caught up? Good. Feel free to resume your browsing by clicking below for this week’s instalment. There’s also a surprise new feature included in this episode that we’ve been requested to add for some time. Mysterious. → Continue Reading R&B Fridays: Episode 135
Despite being the project I was looking forward to the most, it seems to have been mistakenly left out when posting the glut of material from the weekend, which I’ll blame on my excitement for the tape’s release.
Hopefully, this is more of that characteristically gritty, gutter material from The Chef, and the lineup of producers promises much with 9th Wonder, Statik Selektah and many more making appearances. The guest spots on the album are certainly noteworthy, with Mobb Deep, Busta Rhymes, Rae’s own artist JD Era and plenty of others coming along to assist Raekwon here. Unexpected Victory? With the artist, producers and features, it’s shaped up to be a pretty expected all-round win. Free grab below.
Normally, I don’t go for these ‘personality hosted’ mixtapes as they just tend to be a mish-mash of readily-available tracks. However, the ever-entertaining Peter Rosenberg (one of the few prominent lovers of both hip-hop and wrestling!) has really pulled off something special here, with a 23-track project full of original material from the likes of Raekwon, Odd Future, Kendrick Lamar, Asher Roth, Childish Gambino and many more. There’s even a Macho Man Randy Savage interlude!
Needless to say, this looks like a must-have for all hip-hop fans, and alongside the glut of rap gargantuans, there are a couple of ‘middle-ground’ names on here I’ve been looking to get into, whilst I’m sure we’ll also be introduced to a few new and upcoming stars. To quote Peter, ‘With so much BS out there — sometimes it’s hard to find what’s really poppin. Well I did the work for you. Enjoy.’
Hip-hop. That’s what (I hope) we’re all here for right? Well it don’t get no better than this. Wu and The LOX come through with their first offering from their upcoming collaborative album Wu-Block. RZA crafts driving horns yet thankfully mixes things up sporadically throughout tailoring things perfectly for each emcees to drop those characteristically heavy bars. Now this is some Supreme Clientele Ghostface. Top stuff.
Good to see these kind of tracks getting visuals although scanning YouTube reminds me that Rae isn’t scared of dropping videos for the more ‘street’ tracks too.
We know the drill with the audio thanks to Indi back in March and the visuals, which clearly didn’t break the bank, do enough to demonstrate the lyrics on hand here. Nas and Rae drop their respective verses amidst a sea of homies, chains and bitches.
This sets things up nicely for a Rae feature on Nas’ upcoming LP, although with Nas the logical never quite seems to register.
Raekwon’s Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang can be purchased in a variety of places of your choice but I’m going with this one for ease/routine/laziness.
So Rae’s still carrying the torch for old school hip-hop?
Visuals here from Rae’s very good Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang. Quite a short track/video combination here but the visuals do enough to emphasize that gritty subject matter without being overly monotonous.
Reminds me a lot of The Wire which I’ve been getting into recently. I know, absolute #latepass on that one.
New visuals from The Chef’s latest project Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang.
I haven’t watched this yet as I’m in a bit of a hurry and my Internet could die any second but expect some vintage gritty visuals from Rae to compliment that gutter wordplay and instrumental. One of my favourites from the LP and one which can be acquired from here.
With all the excellent album releases already this month (R.E.K.S., Avenger’s Airwaves, :03 From Gold, Lasers) it’s been easy for me to sleep on certain projects. One project which keeps rising to the top though is Rae’s most recent effort, the accomplished Shaolin vs Wu-Tang which continues Rae’s inroads into bringing those 90′s soundscapes back.
Here are two tracks which were left on Rae’s cutting room floor. Wu-Crime has that signature Wu sound and welcomes vocals from GZA and Priest. The second, Your World & My World with Mobb Deep’s Havoc, is somewhat more darker but neither would have sounded out of place on the LP.
To celebrate the release of Rae’s Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang album, popular NY radio station Hot 87 are hosting the official album release/launch party, and are kindly streaming it worldwide for free.
I’ve heard pretty good things about the album from various folk, so this should certainly be a very celebratory event which will undoubtedly showcase some great music. I’m told to expect a glut of special guests at the event and with both Hot 97 and Rae’s reputations, I don’t doubt we’ll see some pretty good people turning up.
Show starts at around 2am UK time (9pm EST for you American folk), and will be available in this embedded player. Free concert/star-studded bash in your own living room, for free? Why not eh!
The one track I was most looking forward to from Raekwon’s new album, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang (which is out next week!) has been liberated.
That’s right, Nasty Nas and Raekwon collaborate once more to great effect. Whilst the Damian Marley collaboration project that Nas involved himself with last year was excellent, I’ve certainly missed his old gritty sound. This is a track that’s a return to that particular sound, one that Raekwon is most definitely familiar with.
One for the hip hop heads, audio is available for your ears by clicking right here.
Fat Joe takes things back to the streets with Respect Mine/Firewater collaborator Raekwon. This beat is on some East Coast epicness and Joey Crack spits that old school, Fat Jiddo steelo which makes up for the fact Rae just does that annoying 50 Cent trait of talking out the remaining bars. No idea what this is from, just find it as a welcome addition to my iTunes.
Fat Joe’s 90′s shit > everything you’re listening to now
A few interesting remixes this week, with over a third of this week’s tracks being of the remix variety. Other great tracks in there too, making this an R&B Friday that you’ll forgive for being a little late to the party.
New mixtape from DJ Kay Slay which features a whole host of familiar names. From the likes of Raekwon, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Styles P, Papoose, Vado, Maino and Ghostface Killah, we can see a huge New York influence on this mixtape (wouldn’t expect any less from Kay Slay!).
Click this bit of red text to grab hold of this tape and click the red text below to check out the tracklist!
Having heard the two drops from the album so far, it looks like Rae is set to continue his OB4CL2 legacy by releasing gutter mafioso rap again.
Hit the jump for the tracklist for Rae’s Shaolin vs Wu-Tang due for release March 8th. Rae’s lined up some mouthwatering collaborations, with Wu counterparts Ghost, Mef and Deck all making appearances alongside industry men-of-the-moment Lloyd Banks and Rick Ross. But the joints I’m really waiting on are those with Nas and Black Thought.
The first single from Rae’s upcoming album of the same name, we’re treated to that classic Wu-Tang formula: ridiculous B-movie samples opening the track, the step into an urgent, intense beat, and fleshing out the piece with the deliverance of those gutter raps from Raekwon.
Rae comes on a less ‘drug-related’ tip than usual, mixing a little braggadocio with some violent subject matter to serve up a decent mixture of lyrical content. The production is a joy to listen to, with a haunting and atmospheric beat headlined with some strong work on the string samples. Good lead single, looking forward to more.
As the end of year lists begin to pop up everywhere, it’s only right that we enter the fray. Murray, Indi, Liam and myself have put our heads together to compile a list of the very best acts in hip-hop this year, and come up with shortlist of who we feel stood up and really did something worthwhile this year. With the differing tastes and perspectives of four writers, you’ll definitely find some good talking points amongst the commentary we’ve offered on our selections, for better or worse (hopefully better!).
Click below to see who ranked at #15 all the way up to #4. The top 3 will be released shortly afterwards. Without further ado, let the mayhem begin!
Rae just exclusively dropped this on his Twitter. It’s the street single for his, now completed, Shaolin vs Wu-Tang album due for release next year.
This is typical Rae. Haunting, cinematic board-work, accompanied by trademark Wu martial arts soundbites whilst Rae waxes lyrical with razor-sharp consistency. This will no doubt please the hardcore Wu fans amongst us in that Rae’s recently raised profile due to the success of OB4CL2 hasn’t gone to his head. Hopefully any ‘new friends’ he may have made along the way (*cough* Kanye, Bieber), will stay out of the way.
A bright and energetic video for Travis’ latest single from Give The Drummer Some.
Featuring two of the Wu’s finest, it’s impressive just how well RZA and Raekwon adjust to this rock-rap production and really make it their own. Their equally comfortable in the video, with RZA in particular being really magnetic. Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello and Travis come through with typically intense performance on the drums and guitar respectively, delivering a video that enhances the track immeasurably.
Rae’s tribute to Ol Dirty Bastard goes through the visual treatment mill.
Although essentially a compilation of ODB footage and images it’s still always welcome to remember a true legend of the hip-hop world and important that today’s generation of hip-hoppers never forget the pioneering work he achieved with the Wu.
Looking forward to Give The Drummer Some, which is set for release sometime this month. This is the next single, with Travis grabbing two of Wu’s finest to lay down a few bars.
I’m on the fence with the production as it sounds very stuck in the 1999-2001 rap-rock style, a sound I was hoping would be modernised and tweaked for this album. It is a nice listen from a retro perspective, naturally enhanced by the features, but as a longtime Travis fan this isn’t quite as dynamic as I’d hoped for. Worth a look nonetheless, as it is strong material in comparison to most of the tripe out there, just not quite up to Travis’ lofty standards.
Let’s be honest, the cyphers are the only reason people watch/care about the BET Awards. I mean, does anyone really know who won what last year? Nope, but I bet you could list a few of the cypher rappers.
Great cypher line-ups this year, with the video for the G.O.O.D. Music cypher (Kanye, Common, Big Sean, Pusha T and CyHi Da Prynce) being up here. After the click, there are great cyphers involving Wiz Khalifa, Mickey Factz, Raekwon, Yelawolf, Royce Da 5’9″, Rev Run and family, Ice Cube and family and so on.
What a massive line-up this is, don’t you just love G.O.O.D. Fridays? This is a very laid back track, which suits Mos Def’s style (who opens up the track with arguably the best verse). Keep the G.O.O.D music coming Kanye!
So Raekwon adds a verse to Miguel’s awesome track, then Rick Ross comes out with his own remix for it as well as doing a remix of Jazmine Sullivan’s Holding You Down. Raekwon has now come out with his version of Jazmine’s track. I think this has been a wasted opportunity, they could have clubbed together and did the remixes together rather than them both just having a short opening verse for each track. Anyway no more remixes of these tracks please, I’m done with them.
Fresh from branching out of his own lane and collaborating with Justin Bieber, Raekwon once again steps out of his comfort zone and lays a verse to Miguel & J. Cole’s excellent All I Want Is You track. Given the nature of this beat I shouldn’t be surprised to hear Rae spit on it, it’s definitely got that Wu vibe, Ghostface Killah would body this song for sure!
Oddly, there are some huge hip-hop names making appearances in this episode. Click on to see what they’re doing hanging around these parts, and what everyone else is up to.
The tagged up version was posted a few hours ago, and the final version has been let loose by Kanye. Comes with artwork too, hence I felt this was deserving of a new post.
One thing that has to be said, despite my previous insistence on not reviewing the track: Kanye’s done a great job with this beat. It’s a bit of a shame it was used for a Justin Bieber collab (no offense, it’s just a beat better suited for a real hip-hop track). As I said before, this track will definitely intrigue almost every visitor of this site so click below and prepare to listen to the Wu-Tang and Justin Bieber together
So it’s finally here. Probably the most anticipated arrival since the aliens landed, the power of Twitter takes its final, controversial and confusing shape in the form of this song.
I think everyone who visits this site has some form of curiosity about this song, whether its musical or morbid, so I’m not going to pointlessly influence you with my opinion on this. Click below and marvel at how crazy this industry is. It has minor tags, so keep it locked for the final version as and when its let loose.Update: That would be now. Click here for the final version and artwork.
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