I started to recognize a sound today when listening to MattM’s mix which includes Thundercat’s first single, “(Thunder) For Love I Come”. With a little thought, it reminded me of MF Doom’s “I Hear Voices”. And with a little internet research (thanks Who Sampled Who), I learned that the original to both was George Duke’s “For Love (I Come Your Friend)”.

Each artist brought a lot to the table with their songs. Of course the greatest contribution comes from the legendary George Duke, but Doom’s rapid fire flow and subtle extension of the loop have made “I Hear Voices” one of my favorite tracks from him (The LIVE version is the best of the many available versions). Now Thundercat has taken the source material and worked it into a more pensive, moody track as opposed to Duke’s original funk rock. “Thunder For Love I Come” and “Daylight” have made Thundercat’s upcoming release eagerly anticipated.

A great quick mix using You Tube as my jukebox!

MosDub – HistoryTown

Download audio file (MosDub-02-HistoryTown.mp3)

This is my song of the moment. Max Tannone has been busy of late making enviable mash-ups of the above Mos Def with Reggae Dub as well as mixing two giants of the music industry, thuggy biz-ness-man! Jay-Z and the ever moody Radiohead to make Jaydiohead. But this is the standout cut for me. Perfect for the summertime. Enjoy!

Jaydiohead Ignorant Swan Medley

BONUS: this video of the a Jadiohead medley is a must see. Finally some new and interesting street dance!

DJ Omni – QuickMix: Cinematic

tracklisting:

Janelle Monáe – Say You’ll Go

Wale Feat. Marsha Ambrosius – Diary

Jay Electronica – Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)

There is a trend, of late, where musicians have turned to movie scores for inspiration and sample sources. Most recently Janelle Monáe‘s fantastic album features the song above that gracefully segues into what at first sounds like something from Alexandre Desplat’s score for Benjamin Buttons but on second thought more closely matches Claude Debussy’s Claire De Lune. A song that has appeared in many a film score, but in recent memory in Ocean’s 11. Next Up, Wale, no stranger to film and television inspiration for his music, improvises on the other side of the romanticism portrayed in the film Amelie with his song Diary. And finally, perhaps the starter of the trend. This artist is only now reaping the commercial rewards for the momentum that this download-only, concept track started a a handful of years ago. As Just Blaze notes in the intro, no one was doing this kind of music at the time (and most still aren’t). Jay Electronica‘s brilliant movie score mixtape, Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge). Not only does he work the moving Jon Brion Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind score into a strong backdrop for his concept-heavy rhymes, but he also weaves in snippets from Babel, The Prestige, and even the vintage Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

As source music, you can’t do better than the music scores of today’s Hollywood blockbusters. These movies have become the homes of our contemporary classical composers.

TY – EMOTIONS music video featuring Sarina Leah and Shaun Escoffery from tymusic on Vimeo.

“Who never got the props that (he) damn well deserved…” ~ Phife
TY can rock a party with an a capella orchestra. At six in the evening. In Elephant and Castle. I’ve seen it.

And that is when I realized that his is a talent that is not to be denied. He was selected to work with Tony Allen on Tony’s solo album. He’s had guests like Tyler McFerrin, Rich Medina, and De La Soul on his last album and his latest album is pretty dern good. He put out a maxi single of remixes to his latest single. Heavy weight music from Dego MacFarlane (One half of 4 Hero) and WAAJEED (another One to Watch!), but i still prefer the above original version.

Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Mercury Prize nominee TY.

“Tigallo For Dolo” by Phonte (Little Brother)

Download audio file (03-Tigallo-For-Dolo.mp3)

Wow. Tay goes hard on his verse. Dope song too! DJ Premier has been playing this song ALOT on his radio show.

I would love to see people take notice of this song trying to change the current state of hip-hop in the same way that Jay-Z’s “D.O.A.” did.

o:{Phonte. Don’t give up on Rappin’ ‘Tay. Grammy boards may not recognize it, but your considerable rapping skill is what got you to this point, not just your singing and “pre-We Are the World 2010″ Quincy Jones-like orchestrations.}

Zone out to this beautiful piece of thought and music.
And for get that fake @$$ letter.
Rest in Power, Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal.

dope. a great viral video and i kinda want the shoes after watching this. It definite demonstrates the benefit of the product!

o:{ and every pair should come with this song. then the campaign would be perfect. ;}

SOURCE: endgadget

Growing up watching Yo! MTV Raps, I always wondered who this Fab 5 Freddy guy was. I had never heard of him. Come to find out he’s directed some of my favorite music videos of all time. Videos like “My Philosophy”, “Talkin’ All That Jazz”, “Ladies First”, “Just To Get A Rep” and “One Love”, as well as producing the classic “Wild Style” movie. Now I wanna BE him!

See some of his work on his site.

dj omni – quickMix: this is Africa from viral vinyl on Vimeo.

quickMix “this is Africa”

tracklist:
“African Voodoo Queen (Drama)” by Madlib
“Ayo Ayo Nene” by Mor Thiam
“Ololufe Mi” by Fela Kuti

quickMix™: 3-7 songs. download in seconds.

This quickMix™ starts with a hypnotic head-nodder from the prolific mind of Madlib. We then continue into a recently unearthed jazz gem that, according to Gilles Peterson, was created by the ever-nasal Akon‘s father. We conclude with a master. A rare cut that I went in search of after hearing the Fela section of J. Period & K’naan’s “Messengers” mixtape.

o:{dedicated to the delivery of Khalilah Elise and Elijah Samir Kearney. Congratulations to the proud papa and a speedy recovery to the lovely mother.}