MIA - Shells M.I.A. continues to be way far ahead of anybody in terms of pushing and graying boundaries. "Shells" is off of the How Many Votes Fix Mix EP and is pretty crazy. If I tried to describe it I guess I would say a sing songy, deep bass grooved song that uses Angolan samples. Hope that helps haha.

Juice is getting lots of love these days and we are definitely glad to see it here at B&B. This is an interview with him and Camp Lo that took place backstage at the AllHipHop.com 10th anniversary party. He talks about his beat battle championships, how he met Camp Lo and their new album on the way, A Piece of the Action, that he helped executive produce. Pretty dope interview and I can't wait to hear what they cooked up for this album!

I know we had them on the old site before we migrated over to this site but with Tip's upcoming album, The Renaissance, on the way I thought we would put them up on here. Well as I have stated before, Q-Tip is one of my favorite rappers and Tribe as a whole are one of my favorite groups. Tribe's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm was also my first hip-hop album. Sampling Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" in "Can I Kick It?" was one of the first times that I recognized a sample immediately too. So a lot of firsts in hip-hop are associated with this group for me. Click the break to read more. Tribe has also been influential to many hip-hop artists and help lay the groundwork for much of the underground hip-hop we hear today with the slick flows and jazzy beats in the background. Where would someone like Common be today without Tribe to lay the groundwork? They were one of the first groups for me that brought a true musicality to rap. I could hear the guitar, I could hear the bass guitar, the piano etc., I was down with the other rap at the time but this truly hit home. They were bridging the gap for music purists who could hear the sampled jazzy loops and could kick back and listen to the smooth deliveries. Hell the beat for this song could be played in a hotel lounge and no one would know the difference. That is exactly why I chose "Electric Relaxation" to highlight my reasons for loving this group.

bob_-_left_field_lovely Ahh finally a break from all the videos and and there's nothing better than a new B.o.B. track to do that. B.o.B. is coming with a pretty low key track with a sung chorus and piano loop. Everything this guy has put out since "Haterz Everywhere" has been good music and this is no different. Listen close to the crowd at the beginning of the track, they say some pretty funny stuff in the background.

In a turn I never saw rap beefs taking Kidz in the Hall are talking about challenging Asher Roth to game of flip cup because they question his college credentials haha. Then Double-O and Naledge start repping U Penn and talking about Wharton and ask if Asher really went to college. They even describe their degrees as "Bentley's on the wall" haha, this shit is just hysterical.

The Battle of Billboardsburg from jeff on Vimeo. TheReal just keeps coming with the funny ass videos. This one was done to commemorate the great battle of Billboardsburg aka the beef to sell more records between Kanye and 50. They do a historical type documentary on the whole beef and it made me laugh my ass off. "I think 50 Cent's main issue right now is he's tired of using technology ... AYO!"

At a recent Columbus, OH show these 3 go off freestyling on stage. This is probably one of the best legitimate freestyles I have heard in a long time. All 3 really seem to go off the dome instead of spitting prewritten verse. This is definitely worth a listen.

This crazy ass cypher went down last night at the Knitting Factory in NYC. K-Salaam was on the one's and two's and this cypher consists of Donny Goines, Mickey Factz, Skyzoo, Sha Stimuli, Torae, Panama, Melo X, Phase One, Mista Mista, Esso and Apinks. That was crazy to type and crazy to see. There are more videos of this insane show and cypher just click the jump. Part 2 Part 3

Definitely a well done and good video. It has a nice concept and isn't your typical rap video at all. Is anybody else still tripping out that T.I. and Rihanna used that melody from the Euro club song that was popular while I was in college? That shit used to make me laugh back then that crazy American kids knew the words to that random song and now T.I. using it haha. OK I looked it up and the song is called "Dragostea Din Tei", and the video is priceless, click the song title to view it.

dj_babu-guns_gon_blow__feat_termanology Here is a track off of DJ Babu of the Dilated Peoples upcoming album Duck Season Vol. 3. which hit stores yesterday. The track is solid and the beat sample heavy with a piano loop, definitely some cool shit. I meant to post more of his tracks earlier but to make up for it just hit the jump to hear another joint off of the album called "The Unexpected" featuring Sean Price and MF Doom! Something just seems right to see two legends of the current underground rap scene coming together to do a track for DJ Babu. This track is a banger too, MF and Sean P both kill it and the beat is sample heavy but very original at the same time and you know Babu is gonna give you that real hip-hop vibe whenever you hear his beats. dj-babu-f-mf-doom-and-sean-price-the-unexpected