Our friends from Jakarta Records haven’t been sitting still lately. The Winter In Jakarta compilation comes out officially today and it’s a worthy follow-up to the previously released Summer In Jakarta.
My resources tell me Jakarta has been under water for the past three days, so officially I wouldn’t say it’s wintertime. Of course in Germany it’s full on winter, but don’t expect no icey cuts though. Most tracks on this compilation are smoldering and will surely melt your face…guaranteed!
Last week Okayplayer premiered three tracks and today we gladly premiere two more! First one is by one of our favorite Dutch producers Singularis. His laid back funk cut called “Island” is super groovy and will make plenty of heads nod. Suff Daddy‘s “Pumpin Like Reeboks” comes so damn hard it knocks your teeth right back into your throat. Wish I had a 4 minute version of this, but I guess I will just have to abuse the replay button.
Take a listen to both track below and download Winter In Jakarta for free. Also keep your eyes open for the free cassette tape edition available from selected retailers.
Blvnt Records is an independent Hiphop label / collective out of Ann Arbor and Chicago. We’ve been following them for a minute and are glad they have just released their “The Blvnt Compilation“.
The collective consists out of a gang of producers. To give you an idea, here’s a few of our favorites. Harris Cole, C Y G N, IanEwing and Fitzroy are without a doubt talented producers that you should check out. Of course don’t let us guide you too much and make sure you grab a super affordable download (by visiting the Blvnt Records Bandcamp page) of the compilation so you can hear for yourself.
Three weeks have passed since the inception of Werk Space. A monthly Dutch producer series that takes place at the Red Bull Studios Amsterdam. Here’s how it works.
Each month we invite a producer from the Netherlands to showcase his artistry and challenge him to work in an amazingly fruitful environment.
The Red Bull Studios Amsterdam is a state-of-the-art recording and production facility, where renowned and up-and-coming artists, are provided with everything they need in order to celebrate and create music!
Nineteen-year-old Singularis delivers the first blow with some help of fellow producer Sndwvs. After two days of pure creativity, and some laughs, they left the studio having devised a laid back Hiphop beat entitled “Ride”.
We joyfully premiere the very first piece of music spawned from this series. We’ll merge all three tracks into one EP and release it as a free download early April. Best believe this is only the first of many music findings. You will come to know, love and respect the many talented producers our little country has to offer.
Big shout out to the wonderful Serena Indigo for creating the artwork for Werk Space.
So new Hiphop sensation Jay Prince has raised the bar again. Clearly inspired by nineties groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Souls of Mischief.
This 21-year-old rapper from London releases his “BeFor Our Time” EP today with productions mainly from our German homey IAMNOBODI and Jay Prince himself. Other producers on there are Mozaic, Jordan James and Richie Saps. Thankfully this is not another Trap Rap album…sh*t is Hiphop. I enjoy the balance on BeFor Our Time and for me it’s just right. Reminiscent of the early sounds of the nineties, without sounding outdated at all. This is what Hiphop should sound like in 2015!
Check for a free download here and make sure you show some love for Jay Prince on Soundcloud.
Drew Dave is Hip Hop producer from Alexandria VA/DC Metropolitan who used to go by the name of Soulful!. He resides in the crux of vintage and modern techniques. This guy is faithful to the soul that lives in his Native Instruments Maschine, but he maintains forward vision for live instrumentation and midi-synths.
His upcoming “SynthBASED” album contains live instrumentation and vocal contributions from rappers Cortez and Kenn Starr and is not just an instrumental Hip Hop album. SynthBASED is a concept album. It’s a soul, kind of jazzy, with some electronic elements, kind of album with the common denominator being that every single track utilizes a synth saw bass. The title derives from that, with the “BASED” just being a play on “bass” and Lil B’s “Based God” ideology.
This album feels like the beginning of Drew Dave really stepping outside of solely sampling. On it he plays with melodies, incorporates live instrumentation and percussion and plays out every bassline. He also does some slight stuff on the keys, and lays subtle harmonies. His good friend Drew Kid plays some additional melodies and chords throughout the album and another dope producer, Charlie Ross from Soular Heights, did the live drums on FullCircle.
This might very well be the reason why on first listen we picked out “FullCircle” and we are glad to premiere it on the site today. That super soulful Fender Rhodes combined with vocal additions clearly inspired by 2pac’s “I Get Around”. Straight banger bruh! SynthBASED is due to release February 24th on Mello Music Group, so in case you like what you hear here’s the iTunes pre-order link.
Wonderful Noise is without a doubt one of our favorite Japanese record labels. They have introduced us to artists such as Electric Wire Hustle, Julien Dyne and Lord Echo.
In 2014 they continue to surprise us with their “Conglomerates” compilation album. Again there’s an obvious link to New Zealand since it was compiled with the help of Julien Dyne. You can enjoy some brand new music from Christoph El’ Truento, Lord Echo, Mara TK, Isaac aesili, Ladi6, Pacific Heights and more. There are also 3 limited edition vinyl records, but I believe these are hard to come by.
If you’re looking for an original Christmas present, we suggest you pick up Conglomerates at your local records shop or order it online at HHV. As far as we know this will not be released digitally, but a CD release should be out soon.
Upon hearing the first few seconds of Swarvy‘s tremendous track “Carried Away” (freebie alert) this week, we knew we had to get a hold of his forthcoming album as soon as possible.
We have no trouble at all calling this guy Philadelphia’s best kept secret. For this musician slash genius delivers nothing but craziness on his “Scotch” album. For Swarvy’s official debut venture, he links up with bassist Jerry Thompson III and band mate Ryan McKenney. Everything on here is original, sample-free music with heavy 70’s Jazz and Funk influences. FYI..it will be released tomorrow on Chief’s Feelin’ Music imprint.
We’re super excited to exclusive premiere the first track of the album entitled “Kittylitter”. Pre-order now and don’t sleep on the limited (300 copies) vinyl version, which comes with a download card. As if this wasn’t enough, the album contains mind-blowing remixes by MNDSGN (Stones Throw) and Devonwho (All City).
When we first heard about thestand4rd‘s track called “Decisions“, we were really feeling this foursome.
Their unique sounds come together nicely and the thestand4rd, consisting of Allan Kingdom, Psymun, Bobby Raps and Spooky Black, seems like a perfect outcome of an exceptional chain of events. Earlier today they released their self-titled debut album. It was recorded at Doc McKinney’s (The Weeknd’s producer) studio in Toronto. Their weird mix between electronic Hip Hop and R&B is as unique as each member’s identity.
Lucky for us the album is a freebie, so go ahead and download it for free. Shouts to Michael Cina for the artwork and please do share, like and repost if you enjoy the music!
From Billie Black, we now take you to a whole other type of black. For Detroit’s Black Milk is back with a new album entitled “If There’s A Hell Below“.
In an era where most people only care about streams, tracks and not so much about albums or purchasing music anymore, Black Milk comes with (you guessed it) a Hip Hop album. What can I say? The dude is still killing it on the production and with features from Pete Rock, Blu, Random Axe and Bun B this is a solid album. Love the “Detroit’s New Dance Show” track and “Story And Her” sounds tremendous too. Love how he still manages to tell his unique story through the making of this album. Yes folks, albums are stories, memories and point of views. More albums in 2015 please…we need them!
The homie Paulie Salva from San Francisco, moved to Los Angeles a few years ago and he has blown out of proportion ever since.
Salva is about to release “Peacemaker”, a 13-track mixtape that features big names like Young Thug, A$AP Ferg, Schoolboy Q, Freddie Gibbs, Problem and more. Instead of electronic music, like we heard on his debut “Complex Housing” album, the focus at the moment is on Hip Hop music. For his new track “I Could Be” Salva called in the help out Bay brothers B. Bravo and Rojai. Both are my dudes and I’m so happy they can share Paul’s succes. Jairo’s raspy voice sounds superb on this cut and sexes it right up! Adam’s funk-influences make this a perfect late night lounge and Rome Fortune is on point with the rhymes.
Looking forward to more of this California sexy oh and thanks to Mixmag for premiering this one!
