Kanye

Kanye said the initial version that leaked wasn’t the finished product but I can’t tell much of a difference between the two. Thanks to Kanye’s site we now have the singles artwork and it is actually artwork provided by George Condo. After numerous listens to the song I still have the same view I had when I first heard it which is that Kanye is back. It was refreshing to hear him rap again and I hope the new album is more of Kanye getting back to songs like this one. Shouts to OS for the link.

Download: Kanye West ft. Dwele – “Power” (Mastered)

Kanye has been going through some tough times recently so instead of piling on with the negativity (which I did plenty of before the Taylor incident) I must congratulate Kanye on this video. Nabil is one of my favorite directors and always makes a video that is visually entertaining the whole time. I normally am not a fan of these highly artistic videos and maybe its my bias towards Nabil’s work, but for some reason this one seemed alright to me but I did like the album version of the song better. Now this has to be the last video for 808s so the anticipation is starting to build for that rumored new album in the works and I’m sure Kanye has had a lot to write about the past 6 months.

And by the way take a moment and check out Kanye West’s net worth

The Rosenthals are back from hiatus with some more hip-hop comedy to get you through the week. This time, they’re spitting on an original beat sampling Kanye’s now infamous line, “Best of all time!” Focussing mostly on the Taylor Swift fiasco, the brothers drop some funny punchlines about the situation, showing their love for Mr. West. I’m definitely going to bite that “milkbox status” line sooner or later, awkwardly trying to force it into a conversation haha. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we’ll hear this beat, either. Big ups (and welcome back) to ITR.

The end of the year is upon us and after thinking about it the past few days I decided to put together a few mixes that recapped my year in music. First out the gate is the Hip-Hop Jams mix and it is as many of the songs that I rocked for either a little or long period at some point this year. Besides that, the only other criteria I used was that I tried to only take songs off mixtapes and not albums, for obvious reasons. Due to my computer crash, I was unable to recover all my music so this isn’t everything but it is as accurate as I could get. Enjoy the mix and check back for the second of mix of the trilogy called Hip-Hop Gems. You can grab this download and tracklist below the break.

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First off, happy Thanksgiving to everyone south of the 49! I hope you’re all enjoying some good eats and good football. To keep it in the Chi today, I decided to post up the “No DJ” to Mr. West’s latest, “I’m So Appalled”. I’m not aware of any tape or other project this track might be on (inform me if there is one), so for the moment this is just a loose track. As much as we all hate on Kanye and tsk-tsk at his childish ways, there’s no denying the level of superstardom he’s achieved in the 2000s. He’s one of only a handful of rappers who have consistently connected with the mainstream across the music spectrum over this 10 year span. “I’m So Appalled” features some clever rhymes mixed into Ye’s (in)famous braggadocio. The beat’s also nice with the solid snare and bass drum rhythms. Download “I’m So Appalled” here.

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Some more Toronto love, this time for our R&B talent. Melanie Fiona is a singer who is well on her way to international stardom. Her first single, “Give It To Me Right”, was played non-stop on Toronto’s Flow 93.5, and it even broke top 10 on Billboard charts in Italy and Greece. She even opened for the Europe portion of Kanye’s tour in 2008, before her break-out single was even released. Now signed to SRC/Universal Motown, Melanie will be releasing her first album, The Bridge, on September 22. She’s sexy, she has a killer voice – what more can you ask for? Download “It Kills Me” after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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Time to play more catch up. These songs were both released recently (being in the last couple weeks or so) and I hadn’t gotten around to them so I thought I would knock both out in one post. Marky adds a new verse to the beginning of the “I’m the Ish” (Remix) with DJ Class and Kanye West and Marky is the first DMV artist I have heard that jumped on this song. He also takes the DMV to the West Coast with his track “The Anecdote”. I liked hearing an artist try tackle another style that is not their normal one and Marky actually did a great job on this song tearing apart this West Coast beat. Check below the break for the downloads and to listen to “The Anecdote”.

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