Evidence - “The Layover” Video (The Rap Up) Russell Simmons Honored at 2008 ADCOLOR® Awards (HiphopRuckus) T.I. Does "Chelsea Lately" (str8nyc) Joe Budden: Halfway House (Mixtape Review) (allhiphop) Mack 10 Stars in Los Angeles Based Hustler Movie (HiphopDX)

big-sean-billionaire You know we are huge supporters of Big Sean and here is a new joint off of his album coming out called Finally Famous. The beat is on some out there spaceship type shit just like the Freeway song from earlier. Big Sean's lyrics are dope and he switches up flows pretty well in this song like all the others. Kanye knew what he was doing when he signed this cat.

q-tip-believe_feat_dangelo Another smooth joint from Q-Tip off of the new album called The Renaissance coming out on Election Day Nov. 4th. This song was going to be released a few years back but the album got shelved, Tip still decided to redo it and put it on the new album. I had never heard it before and it kind of sounds more like his Tribe Called Quest days with the jazzy beat.

A deep 3 verses from Rhymefest about some heavy topics. He talks about how he came up with the concept of this song by hearing a preacher on tv talking about giving him money for a blessing. This has been labeled a freestyle but this is 3 verses to a song that he named "Prosperity Preacher". Rhymefest comes with the real rap as always, something that makes you think or as he said it "conceptual shit that I've been thinking about lately rap" haha.

freeway-rocket_ship_rap_prod_sap_da_beat_man Wow Freeway is on some crazy shit with this beat. Sap Da Beat Man produced this nutzo beat that is heavy on what I think is the xylophone, that's right I said xylophone. That's how crazy this song is, it makes me have to look up how to spell ridiculous words like that. Anyways I have to assume this is off of the upcoming album Freedom of Speech which should be dope.

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I am posting this flier that has a list of commonly asked voting rights questions. Many people of both parties have used tactics to try to deny people the right to vote due to people not fully understanding their rights. Please read this, sorry for the small type but if it is too small to read please save the picture and view it yourself. Also an easy way to avoid all this mess is to vote early in your state if it is allowed. Unfortunately New York where I am doesn't currently offer it but many states do so click the link to find out this and other information state by state voting information.

Skyzoo and Torae teamed up at a CMJ event this past week to perform their song "Get It Done". For those of you that don't know, CMJ is a huge music festival that goes on for a week or two up here in NYC every fall. It showcases various genres of music (rock, hip-hop and everything in between) and there are dozens of shows every night all over the city. Here is just one of the little gems that occurred during CMJ.

06-q-tip_-_we_fight_-_love__feat_raphael_saadiq Q-Tip is one of my favorite rappers of all time. He is just a smooth guy and rapper and this song is as smooth as it gets. Raphael provides the chorus and the beat is as smooth and soulful as Raphael's voice. This is off of Tip's upcoming album The Renaissance coming out on Election Day Nov. 4th!

kanye_west_-_robocop Kanye keeps coming with the tracks off of 808's & Heartbreak and what we have learned is that he can't put the vocoder down and that he wants to be even more of a pop star and not just a rapper. Here are 2 new tracks that are supposedly on the album, "Robocop" and after the jump is "Coldest Winter" and a bonus non-album track called "What It Is". Kanye was really busy over the weekend so I am giving them to you all at once. Also I hear that the above picture is going to be the album cover. Damn, I really wanted the picture seen here. Hit the jump for the other songs! "Coldest Winter" and "Robocop" are very much in the same vein as "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless", the first 2 singles on the album. He also sings on all these tracks and rarely raps. "Robocop" is more of a club track with an upbeat tempo, distorted vocals and heavy use of the vocoder. "Coldest Winter" is more stripped down with some keyboard effects and a booming drums. kanye-west-coldest-winter "What It Is" will not be on 808's & Heartbreak and seems like a leaked verse from an unreleased track. This song is definitely more of the "old" Kanye where he raps and uses a heavily produced beat instead of keyboards and stripped down drums as is the case with 808's. The beat is a little crazier than what we are used to hear him working with but its cool to hear him have fun with it. kanye-west-what-it-is