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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, New Music

New Common - Drivin’ Me Wild

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Common - Drivin’ Me Wild (feat Lily Allen)

Wow people. Yes, I know I’m on the Common train. Call me a backpacker all you like, but there is no album coming out this year that will match the fire of Common’s Finding Forever. When I heard? Lily “I have a third nipple” Allen is gonna be on a track I cringed, but Kanye makes her tolerable and leaves her hooks strickly in the background. Common’s flow is incredible as always. This track started leaking on the Interweb last week but this is the high-quality non radio rip version.

Finding Forever drops on July 31st.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, Mixtapes

Wale/Catchdubs Mixtape Releasing Tonight

myspace.com/wale202

Update: Here’s the Mixtape.

Wale - Payback (streaming Audio from 100 Miles and Running Mixtape)

I just got word this morning that Wale and Nick Catchdubs will be releasing a new mixtape, 100 Miles & Running, at 7:11 PM on Wale’s MySpace page. The mixtape will also be streaming at HipHopGame sometime today and people are already calling this the mixtape of the year. DC STAND UP! If you’re gonna be in NYC tonight, check Wale at Mark Ronson’s Version release party at the Highline Ballroom.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, New Music, R&B

Album Preview: Hezekiah - I Predict a Riot

http://myspace.com/hezekiah3crateofporn

Hezekiah - Looking Up feat. Bilal
Hezekiah - I Predict A Riot feat. Keziah + E. Shon Burgundy

I told y’all that I have more new music this week….

Today’s artist comes from Philly-based artist Hezekiah who is dropping a new album this summer entitled I Predict a Riot. Does the name sound familiar? Okayplayer heads might recognize the name from his first studio album, Hurry Up and Wait that dropped in 2005. Before and after his album dropped, the dude has been on the grind in the underground hip-hop community, supporting acts like Bilal, Jazzyfatnastees and Bahamadia and of course, the legendary Roots crew.

Although I’ve only heard bits and pieces of Hurry Up and Wait, I got to listen to the promo tracks of Riot and I’m really impressed with his latest effort. Hezekiah, who mans the boards on most of the album, finds a way to mix the best of Philly neo-soul, but manages to keep it unpretentious and accessible for the street. Freeway, Bilal, Jaguar Wright, Aaron Livingston, and even DC’s own Muhsinah all contribute to the album but never manage to interrupt or overtake Hezekiah’s flow. As some of y’all know, I’ve been abandoning hip-hop for a while, but an album like this might just be able to put me back into the fold.

I Predict a Riot drops on September 18th 2007 on Rawkus Records. Tracklisting after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, R&B

The Couch Sessions is For The Kids

(but not in that creepy Michael Jackson sort of way…)

Class of 3000 Theme Song (streaming Windows Media)

Oh Peanut (streaming Windows Media)

In 2006 Andre 3000, in his effort to <strike>further his plans for world domination</strike> give back to the community, dropped his kids oriented Class of 3000 TV show on Cartoon Network. The soundtrack for the show was released this week and they were nice enough to send your boy an advanced copy. I’ve only seen snippets of the show (with my son De’vante of course ), but the music I’ve heard so far is Outkast-level quality. Think Dungeon Family level production for kids. It beats all the craptastic kids music that we had growing up.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop

Talib Kwlei - Hot Thing

Talib Kweli - Hot Thing (Windows Media Stream)

Yet another banger off of Talib’s upcoming album Eardrum. This track is produced by will.i.am.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, New Music

New Official Camp Lo Single - “Black Hollywood”

www.myspace.com/therealcamplo

Camp Lo - Black Hollywood

Most of y’all know that we are crazy Camp Lo fans here at The Couch Sessions. Check out Rome’s interview with the duo when you have a chance. Anyway, Camp Lo’s people sent me their new single Black Hollywood yesterday and its a banger. The full album, Black Hollywood drops on July 27th.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, New Music

Talib Kweli and Norah Jones - Soon A New Day

Talib Kweli and Norah Jones - Soon A New Day

Norah Jones, as beautiful as she is, puts my butt straight to sleep (a near accident on the Beltway confirms this). And you all know how much I can’t Talib Kwlei. So by that nature, I should hate this track. But wow, this track is downright amazing–Talib is lyrically on point and I’ve been dying for Norah to do more hip-hop since her work with Wax Poetic.

Madlib’s production is flawless on this track, and early listens of Eardrum have been positive. What do y’all think?

And yes, I know that I deserve a late pass on this one.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, New Music, UK Sounds

New Dizzee Rascal - Wanna Be

http://www.myspace.com/dizzeerascal

Dizzee Rascal - Wanna Be (feat Lily Allen)

The Internets are graced latest track from Dizzie Rascal, my uncle’s new favorite (favourite) rapper. (Seriously!) “Wanna Be” is the latest UK single from the London rapper’s album Maths and English, and definitely more vintage Dizzee, compared with the first single “Sirens,” that we heard a couple of months ago. I was about to cringe when I heard that its a collabo with Lily Allen, but its actually a nice touch. I haven’t gotten my hands on the leaked copy, but the songs on his MySpace page are solid. I’m really hoping that this dude can make a real play for the US this time around (collaborating with UGK might help), but his last two albums have met with its fair share of haters in the hip-hop community. (via Scattermish)

Anyway, I’m out for the weekend. There is a slight chance I might head up to New York. I’ll let you know. False alarm . Can’t make it up this weekend.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, Mixtapes, New Music

First Impressions: Kanye West - Can’t Tell Me Nothing Mixtape

Kanye West - Can’t Tell Me Nothing Mixtape (zip file)

So after getting multiple error messages from Rapdishare AND Megaupload (wtf?), I finally got my hands on the Kanye West Can’t Tell Me Nothing Mixtape. I’m providing a link from a contact on Myspace. I’m providing the link as a public service, but who knows how long it will be up there.

Anyway, first impressions are that Kanye and company are trying too hard to court the hipster crowd, which is funny cause ‘Ye was all up in arms when French hipsters Justice beat him out for a MTV Europe award. While groups like Clipse and Spank Rock can rock the Pabst Blue Ribbon crowd with ease, Kanye and company seem to be straining themselves to rap over tracks from Thom Yorke and hipster faves Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks,” which left me scratching my head. “Us Placers,” sampling Yorke’s Eraser track is sorta fly, however, if the new “supergroup” of Kanye, Pharrell, and Lupe put a little bit more effort into it, it could be a crossover hit. “Young Folks” is just bad, not because of the concept of rapping over a Sweedish hipster track, but because West can’t do freestyles to save his life. “Stronger,” the second single off of Graduation and would be revolutionary if Busta’s “Touch it” never came out.

All in all, though, this is a solid effort, but not because of Kanye’s rapping. The Talib/Kanye collabo “In The Mood,” is a tight track that hasn’t made the official tracklist of Graduation. Chicago phenom Kid Sister (remember where you heard her first people) gets some love when Kanye raps a verse over “Pro Nails,” (complete with a shoutout to Concrete Loop) , and included in the package are the stellar “Don’t Forget’ Em” (Consequence), as well as Common’s “The Game,” and new artists like GLC and Chi rapper Really Doe (”Magnetic Power”) with your girl Jennifer Hudson.

In the traditional sense, this ain’t a mixtape, just a collection of songs that most blog readers and Okayplayer members already have (for example Ye’s “Throw Some D’s Remix” and Common’s “The People”). Still, even with its pitfalls, the Cant’ Tell Me Nothing Mixtape really shows that Mr. West really knows what he’s doing when it comes to the rap game. If he stayed humble, he might have been mentioned in the same breath with Dilla.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop

More New Common: Black Maybe and Misunderstood

Common - Misunderstood
Common - Black Maybe

I wasn’t going to post about these new Common tracks, but that’s before I heard them mainly because I’ve posted some stuff from Finding Forever before. However, these tracks are the best hip-hop songs I’ve heard this year. Period.

Black Maybe is being produced by your friend Kanye West who is looking to have yet another banner year with this album as well as his own, while Misunderstood ( was produced by G.O.O.D music’s in-house producer Devo Springsteen. I like the former more than the latter but either way, Finding Forever is shaping up to be the album of the year for 2007.

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