I’m on the road till this thing drops. The truth is, no one raps about slinging coke like Clipse, and this has to be one of the most hotly and highly anticipated Hip Hop albums of the year. In a time when you can never be too sure what genre your favourite rapper’s new album is going to be (see: Wayne does Axl-meets-Alien or Kanye does Andre 3k meets Thom Yorke meets WTF), you can always count on the Clipse to continue rapping about cocaine, and street stuffs …

The new record will feature production by Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, The Hitmen, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Dame Grease, DJ Khalil, long time collaborators The Neptunes, and the legen (wait for it) dary, Rick Rubin.

This morning, the first cut from the album, called “Kinda Like a Big Deal” was released on their blog. It’s a very big deal. Featuring Kanye West, getting his College Dropout on (and by that I mean rapping very well), the beat is harder, and more filled-out than anything you would’ve heard the twins rap on in recent history – and while it’s not a gritty throwback to “Trill” or “Keys Open Doors”, it’s a banger which will definitely resonate in the places it’s meant to – bbq cookouts in Philly and basement parties at your baby mamazeses.

Clipse – Kinda Like a Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)

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San Cristobal De Las Casas, Mexico

I’ve been mind-numbingly bored with the mundane nature of working life recently. I’ve also come to the conclusion that countless others reach within months of getting their first ‘big kid job’: the only thing that helps the days pass is planning a vacation…. And so I planned, ferociously, day in and day out, with my two best friends. The plan was to go to Mexico City in search of our friend Luis Carlos Armando Manzanilla Priego Ramos (yes that’s one person). With Luis as a our spiritual (read: Mexican) guide, we would seek escape from our subfusc concrete realities back home.

Thank you Luis, you gave us tacos, jungles, lagoons, villages, ruins and lomas like we could have never dreamed of. Best 10 days of my post-post-academic-life.

As any good trip should have, this one has a soundtrack. So in this spirit, I bring you a mixtape full of happys and sads, mind-fucks and beauty, new and (really)old World Music and North-American trash: a pastiche of my life on April 4th to April 14th, 2k9.

Hope you enjoy. El gusto es mio.

Spring: From Here We Go Subfusc (zSHARE)

Tracklist after the break…

Read more…

So, last year the province of Ontario, in the modest nation of Canada, decided that the month of February would be graced annually with a brand-spankin’ new Holiday to celebrate the age-old institution of family. It’s pretty much the happiest day of the year.

To help you celebrate, whether you have the day off work/school or not, here are some songz:

TV on the Radio – Family Tree

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Feist – It’s Cool To Love Your Family

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Kanye West – Family Business

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Akron/Family – Gone Beyond

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The Great Lake Swimmers – I Am Part of a Large Family

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Belle and Sebastian – Family Tree

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