A while back, my homie DubMD reached out about hopping on an EP he’d be dropping titled “Requiem”. The record is now prepped to see the light of day this Summer, and he decided to leak our song as one of the first singles. I’m really glad this beat found a home (I always wondered how an emcee would’ve approached it).

If you’re not hip to DubMD, he’s done mixtapes for everyone from Columbus’s Dominique Larue to SlaughterHouse’s Royce the 5’9″.

Enjoy the song and download free HERE

As we prepare to announce a few more dates for the Ohio Takeover 2012 Tour w/ myself, LxE & Stalley, I figured I’d pass along the link to Stalley’s new free “mixtape” (read: album) “Savage Journey to the American Dream” (insert Hunter S. Thompson reference).

Download HERE. Hit the jump to stream live and watch the “Party Heart” video that was packaged alongside the album release.

Given 5 months before he passed. On the eve of the 7 year anniversary. I still miss dude’s energy and listen to his Pandora Station on a daily basis.

RIP Mitch Hedberg

Came up on this, too. Even though I hate Jimmy Johns.

I came across this compilation a couple days ago and have been listening pretty steadily. Plug Research is a label home for a really diverse array of artists, ranging from Sonnymoon and Bilal to Hawthorne Headhunters (a dope-ass group featuring St. Louis artist Black Spade).

“This is a free compilation that we wanted to share with everyone. All brand new musiccoming out on plug during the spring quarter of 2012. We have been at this for the last 15 years and at some point this year, we will have had our 200th release. This is the year of letting go. Opening the flood gates of Plug Research for all to enjoy all of the wonders we have in our vaults.”

DOWNLOAD HERE

I love the shit out of El-P’s music. Finally, a follow up to ISWYD (which was his masterpiece to me). Dude has been sorely missed in hip-hop these past few years. I posted about his insane joint “Drones over Brooklyn” a few months ago. Now, “Full Retard”.

New Album “Cancer for Cure” on deck.
Download the song HERE. Peep the change up at 2:42. This dude is so on some other shit.

Peep the Camu Tao/PRZM  “Lil Bitch/Count These Bars/On the Floor” Reference. Boom.

I usually don’t like posting about things everyone else has already posted about but….every once in a while something of genuine quality actual gets the attention it deserves. “Forever-N-a-Day” is the genuinely amazing record that is actually garnering this attention. I honestly didn’t expect to like this record as much as “Return To 4eva”, but I think I may like it even more (which is saying A LOT). Plus, I got to hear KRIT soundcheck “My Sub”  at the show a couple weeks back in Athens and I got all pumped and shit, so I’ve been in a big KRIT mood anyway.

KRIT’s writing keeps getting better and better. There are points in this record where I genuinely feel like I’m losing my breath at some of these verses (see “Red Eye“). KRIT’s (self-built) production is always on point. He’s diving into live instrumentation which is only adding to the lushness of the music behind him. Dude is EVERYTHING I love about Southern Hip-Hop. He gets it. I love his mind frame and where he’s headed. I don’t see him folding for much of anything to complete his sound and vision. That alone deserves attention in this day and age.

Oh yeah, and it’s FREE.

I first saw Stalley at 6AM on MTV2 a couple years back featured on Curren$y’s “Address” video.

But I didn’t officially start checking for him until “Lincoln Way Nights” dropped. Rashad (LWN Producer) had just produced “The Measure” by LxE for the Uncool, which I still think is one of the best hip-hop records to EVER come out of Ohio. Off the strength of that, I assumed “LWN” would be just as fresh. And it was. I’m really a fan of the one emcee/one producer set-up. Needless to say, this record didn’t disappoint. Most of all, it just sounds like such an Ohio-ass record. Everything about it is Ohio. If you live here you know, if you don’t you should get a pretty good idea.

With that said, Stalley has recently been dropping some Loosies, and just yesterday dropped the making of his new record “Savage Journey to the American Dream” (which is such a dope-ass title). Looking forward to it. Enjoy watching, and snatch up some loose joints below as well.

Stalley feat. DJ Khaled-City Of 30,000 Wolves by Stalley330

“…Me? Well..I’ve never been there…well, perhaps once…”

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble covers “SpottieOttieDopaliscious”, one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard (peep how they flip Sleepy Brown’s verse)

PS – I can’t wait to cover this song live again (coming soon).

I usually don’t have the time and energy to find new music on the internet. Specifically hip-hop. After a while the blogs all start running together. Every couple of months, a new rapper comes along that everyone buzzes about and over-hypes to be the most amazing dude on the planet since the last most amazing dude on the planet three months ago.

So I had heard about the Black Hippy group for a while. And I thought Kendrick Lamar was dope and everything just like everyone told me I was supposed to. But last week I was intrigued by this new Schoolboy Q record “Habits & Contradictions”. I don’t know why. Then I listened to it and watched the “Hands on the Wheel” video. Now I like it. And him. And his record. And his videos. This dude is really creative and I like that he could give two shits about anything except what he’s on. I miss this energy in hip-hop right now. This vibe is sorely lacking. These dudes have picked it up and put a nice twist on it. I fuck with it. I love discovering artists at this moment in their careers. It’s like a small layover of time where they’re discovering their potential, style and sound in front of the world before the industry folks try to market it. It’s still raw as shit, but not unpolished.

Hit the jump for a couple videos:

LxE just hipped me to this dude a couple days ago, as sometimes they he backs LxE up on the decks when he performs.

Then I came across a post on this record by my friends at TheHigherPlane.

Which is cool and all. But then I looked at the tracklist.

I feel like outside of my circle, no one in Ohio really messes with half the artists I mess with, so when I see FlyLo, J*Davey, and The Weeknd (amongst many others) on here, I get relieved that I’m not going crazy.

Here’s the trackslist & link

Corey Grand Says:

Based on a journey of self-exploration through his craft, he has woven a fabric of sounds that showcase his diverse ear for music. One of the main points of emphasis presented in this collection of mixed original content arrives with an eerie ambiance letting the listener know this is no ordinary compilation.