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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So the first hints of spring are starting to sneak out from underneath the blanket of winter and with it comes eternal optimism, a sense of accomplishment for surviving another winter and the chance of finding new love…

Actually right now I’m in Australia, which means that it’s fall, the weather is changing from a beautiful 30 degrees and sunny to days that hover around 15 with a sprinkle of rain and a cool wind from Antarctica blowing in off the ocean. The winter is looming like some sort of shadowy figure in the corner of your eye that you know is there but you cannot quite see yet. But even with winter around the corner there is still the chance for new relationships to form in the most unusual or average of situations, as these next two songs will show.

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Illinoize: a remixtape imagining a hip hop world where Sufjan Stevens is the sought-out producer. Where he has the magic formula to let Brother Ali talk his shit funkier and make the dress look nice on Gift of Gab. Yet Montreal-based producer Tor is the true Socrates behind Illinoize, marrying Sufjan with the kings of hip hop to create a rich and surprisingly natural mix, and available for free download at Illinoize, we’re all richer for it.

1. Star of Wonder/None Shall Pass (ft. Aesop Rock)
2. Dumb I Sound/ATLiens (ft. Outkast)
3. John Wayne Gacy Jr./Specialize (ft. Pete Rock & C L Smooth)
4. The Tallest Man/I Like It (ft. Grand Puba)
5. Kill/Any Type of Way (ft. Big Daddy Kane & DJ Premier) 
6. Night Zombies/Talking My Shit (ft. Brother Ali)
7. The Dress Looks Nice On You/Make You Feel That Way (ft. Gift of Gab)

UrbanDictionary.com:

Hyphie-West Coast/Bay Area’s way of being crunk

usage: “this party is hyphie.”

There are certain places where music just sounds different. It’s intangible, but there’s something in the air that sound and light travel through better. After spending a week in the highest of places (that would be California), you can’t help but think about the interaction between music and illicit substances, music and nature, and music and your brain. And whether you’re climbing Mushroom Trees in Santa Cruz or cruising down an East Bay freeway with a Golden State native throwing blunts and forties at you (occupational hazard), shouting about spreading the gospel of hyphie to colder climes, Northern California is a place where music sounds really, really good. And if there’s anything California’s taught me, it’s that life is about two things: getting stoned and going stupid.

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Baltimore:

18-year-old tiny rap spitfire Rye Rye dances like a maniac and rhymes just as fast. M.I.A. protegee and tour-mate, she’s garnered as much attention for a Youtube video of her schooling a crowd at a Harlem dance party as for her collab with DJ Blaqstarr, Shake It To The Ground.  Her album is set to be released on M.I.A’s N.E.E.T label (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) this March. Her verse on a Paper Planes remix, with M.I.A. and Afrikan Boy, proves she lives up to the hype.

Rye Rye w/ DJ Blaqstarr – Shake It To The Ground

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M.I.A. feat. Rye Rye & Afrikan Boy – Paper Planes

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Diplo f. Rye Rye – Wassup (Crookers Remix)

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Bay Area:

Local hero, Zion I, has released a new album called The Takeover, with a round-up of notable guests like K-Flay, Brother Ali, and Devin the Dude. The album weaves between soft, meditative tracks and high energy club anthems, like the electronica-heavy ‘DJ DJ.’

www.myspace.com/zioni

Brooklyn:

5-piece Brooklyn band Apache Beat’s post-punk gets taken up a notch (and brought to most people’s attention) thanks to remixes and recommendations, and these Neu!-bies count Crystal Castles and Deerhunter among their a-list fans. They continue to keep excellent company, touring the UK with School of Seven Bells to promote their new 13-track album, Last Chants (which was recorded with the help of Martin Bisi, who has worked with Sonic Youth and Afrikaa Bambataa). The album comes out in April on Summer Lovers Unlimited (Crystal Castles, The Teenagers).

Apache Beat – Tropics

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