At the Speed of VV

I had the honor and privilege to catch British import VV Brown last week when she opened up for Little Dragon at Johnny Brenda's. She came out in a watermelon-print dashiki jumpsuit on top of a flourescent bodysuit, with a kente cloth church hat, a mini-megaphone, and a single drum mallet. (It sounds wrong, but trust me, it worked. All of it.) And oh, the girl can sang.

I'll admit, her live show is better than the album, and there are definitely songs that deserve more plays than others, but a few not-so-good apples don't spoil the bunch. Plus, it's not like you're paying for it, right? So get to clicking.

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Insert Signature

I'll admit, I didn't take Dom Kennedy seriously until I listened to Futurestreet/Drugsounds. 25th Hour didn't do it for me, plus my first memory of Dom is from my days back on NT when he was catching internet beefs over variant Jordans.

Needless to say, Dom's come a long way. Futurestreet/Drugsounds was easily one of the best and most complete rap releases of 2009 and it easily created anticipation and momentum for From the Westside, With Love, which dropped today. I never got around to posting FS/DS (or Best After Bobby for that matter--damn, ya boy been loafing), so I hope this will make up for that oversight. Get to clicking that album cover to download and disfruta.

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Ya Feel Me?

An appropriate song/video for a sunny weekend.

Less Is More

It's only 4 tracks, but sometimes that's all you need. "Like That" is like that, as is "Less is More." Click that album cover to download. Disfruta.

Don't Stop

One of the greatest R&B records of all time. #liquortothecurb for Static. Derby City stand tall.

Players Get Chosen

Dom Kennedy - Choose Up

New music from the black Kennedy. Disfruta.

Teedra, Teedra, Teedra

This brand new mixtape dropped on Valentine's Day at her website. In case you didn't pick it up between now and then, you're welcome. And if you don't know who Teedra Moses is by now, spoon your eyes out--but not before you download this mixtape and press play. Click the album cover to download. Disfruta.

Snowmageddon Cookies

Blizzards and mo' blizzards. Entertain yourself.

If this was '92?

Definitely my favorite track off Dom Kennedy's Futurestreet/Drugsounds. (My iTunes playcount for "Menace Beach" is at least double that of any other track off FutureStreet.) That beat and them verses is bananas and plátanos--respectively, of course. In my humble opinion, Dom quietly dropped one of the hottest (and most marketable) rap mixtapes of '09.


An old interview about the track:



dopeitsdom.com

Breathing Underwater

press play.

Real Niggas Light Candles

If you follow me on twitter, then you might've had this since last weekend. For the rest, I give you what is the culmination of a pretty busy year of RNLC mixtapes. First I'd like to thank all the people who've let me know how much they appreciate these joints. It's been infriggingcredible. Whether in person or over the internets, your support motivates me.

After rushing out 3 mixtapes between February and April of '09, I wanted to take some time with this one. Seven is a pretty important number to me, and for a while, I contemplated retiring the series after this edition. (Not gonna happen, RNLC8 is well on its way.) Still, this one is especially personal. 2009 hasn't been very kind to Mr. Garr--a lot has gone awry. (Why else do you think there've been so many of these emo-mixtapes? They're my therapy.) Accordingly, these songs speak to the emotional rollercoaster I've been riding for the past year. Hopefully you guys don't mind riding shotgun. Just make sure you buckle your safebelt.

Those of you who got the early leak off twitter were blessed with a single track mixtape with no tracklisting. Now you can finally know wtf you were listening to. As always, I tried to provide a healthy mix of tracks and artists you know and others I think are worth knowing, along with those you might know of, but may not really appreciate like I do.

Well, enough of the preliminaries. It's the seventh time around, you should know the routine by now. Turn off the lights and light a candle, cuz that's what real niggas do (just ask Teddy Penderazzdowngrass). Click the album cover above for the single mp3 version (I personally prefer that one), or scroll down below the tracklisting to get the single mp3 and the split-track version. And to my fellow bloggers and twitterati, feel free to repost and retweet for the masses. Your support is always appreciated. And don't forget to leave a comment or hit me on twitter with your thoughts--good, bad, or anything in between. Now get to clickin'. Disfruta.

Tracklisting:
1. "In My Room" - The Beach Boys
2. "James" - Camera Obscura
3. "Starting All Over" - Jeremih
4. "Giving Everything Away for Free" - Daniel Merriweather
5. "Terr et Tiwa dorment" - Alain Goraguer
6. "Dedicada a Ela" - Arthur Verocai
7. "A Forest" - Nouvelle Vague
8. "Too Long" - Yael Naim
9. "Penny's Confession" - Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program
10. "Auburn And Ivory" - Beach House
11. "The Artist" - Jagat Skad
12. "You Have Cum In Your Hair And Your Dick Is Hanging Out" - Palace
13. "Master Sigh" - Andrew Bird
14. "Human of the Year" - Regina Spektor
15. "Galvanize" - Cryptacize
16. "Doctor Blind" - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton
17. "The Strangers" - St. Vincent
18. "Fly" - Nikki Jean
19. "Visions" - Stevie Wonder

Real Niggas Light Candles 7 - single mp3 (twitter leak)

Real Niggas Light Candles 7 - split track

Pot of Gold

It's Stevie. It's live. It's 1970's Stevie. Actually, it's just a couple years before he released Songs In The Key Of Life, which means it's Stevie when he had so much mojo he didn't even need to see.

You're pretty much required to download this if you don't already have it. Odds are, you don't. I even found a better bitrate version than the one I have. For you guys. You're welcome. I love you too. Click that album cover. Happy Thanksgiving.

Hypnotize Minds

Who is Salem? What is Salem? I don't really feel like I could accurately answer that question, but I do know that this collective of white guys with a possible crystal-meth addiction make tripped-out screwed-up crunk music that is simultaneously accessible and impenetrable. It's definitely not for everyone--one of their EPs is entitled Yes I Smoke Crack-- and I'm sure that my affinity for music like this is prolly an indicator of my own fragile sanity, but hey, this joint rocks.

If you weren't scared away by the song (or that weird fan vid) then click the album covers below. Links are stolen cuz I don't feel like uploading. Don't sue me.

Yes I Smoke Crack EP

Water EP

Fantastic Planet

To celebrate Music Monday, I figured I'd continue my present audiophile series and blow the dust off another obscure cult-classic. Back in the day when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore but sometimes I sit and wish I was a kid again a "soundtrack" wasn't just some haphazard compilation of songs from a label's artist-roster. Soundtracks were albums that actually featured original music from a movie.

This soundtrack was produced entirely by the composer Alain Goraguer for the French film La Planete Sauvage. It's a perfect meld of 70's funk, hippy psychedelia, and French je ne sais quoi. The movie is a classic in its own right--even more so than the soundtrack--so if you've never seen it, find it. It's 1970's intellectual sci-fi. In other words, drugs were involved. (Don't believe me check out the trailer.) This notwithstanding--"accordingly" mighta made for better word choice than "notwithstanding"--, the soundtrack has inspired countless hip-hop producers. Quasimoto's Madlib-produced "Come On Feet" is probably one of the most notable--and drug-induced--examples. Check that one out after the trailer. Then head back up and click that album cover to download. Disfruta.

I Love Jews

God chose them for a reason. Hilarity has ensued.

I'm not willing to give a backstory, if you haven't heard about this yet, get to google or hit me on twittaaaaa...

In The Clouds

Shawn Sky - Laugh At 'Em Freestyle

A new(er) artist out the DMV, Shawn Sky's been doing his thing for a while now in and out the beltway. His next album is due soon and this is the first of 7 freestyles leading up to its release. Support inde-f*ckin-pendent hiphop! Get to clicking and lemme know what yall think.

Viva Brasil

Click the album cover to download

You'll be happy you clicked the cover. Arthur Verocai's self-titled album is a classic that should be in the library of any person claiming to be an audiophile. And I don't mean "classic" the way niggas just throw that word around nowadays. The album is almost 40 years old--37 to be exact--but it stands the test of time. Consider this my gift for being away for so long. Don't sleep, or else I'll be the one to say I told you so months later when you get it from somebody else tryna get their brazilian music game up before the World Cup.

You're welcome.

Alarm Clock

Click the album cover to download

Tied for top spot with Feist on my "White Women Who Can Singer-Songwrite For That Ass" list is none other than this curly-haired Ruso-American Jewess. Chick's got range, and her lyrics can go from saucy humor to vulnerable shame after one delicately enjambed word. This album came out over the summer but I'm sure most of you slept on it so wake up and get to clickin'. Word to Larry Fishburne.

For you skeptics, I'll offer one of my personal faves.

Regina Spektor - "Human Of The Year"

Back By Popular Demaaaaand

Click the album cover to download

Your eyes do not deceive you. It's a new post, and Folarin's debut no less. Considering the fact that my Wale-peonage carried YouHype! SikeNah... through its early years, it's in some ways appropriate. It's the webrip, so digital purists forgive me.

Where are you Greazy?

We are more likely to fail as craftsmen, I argue, due to our inability to organize obsession, than because of lack of ability.

-Richard Sennet

So obviously, I've been neglecting the blog. There are a number of reasons why, I'll give you just a few:

First and foremost, the main gig, i.e. teaching, has taken its rightful position as top priority. Any and all other things (and people) are accordingly placed on the back burner, fridge, or even the freezer--yeah, that was a corny extended metaphor, so what?

Secondly, there's this place called the real world, and in it, ppl talk with their mouths and not with keyboards. It's a kinda cool place. You get to see the ppl you talk to and have conversations in real time. It can be difficult to live in the real world and the internet. To be honest, I don't fully understand how some of you are capable of doing both. It's a feat I've yet to accomplish.

While in the real world, I've been able to shake hands with the new school of industry movers and shakers, ppl who could quite possibly be the gatekeepers of the next generation. It's personally humbling to be connected to the connected, and to know that I'm a voice that gets heard among the infinite internet chatter. I forever plan to be the outsider's insider and the insider's outsider but it's a tight rope to walk, especially as you begin to meet the artists whose music ur giving out for free.

Lastly, my trusty old desktop, Roberto Miguel de Dell, or "Bobby Michael" as I was sometimes fond of calling him, has officially kicked the bucket, leaving me with only my macbook. While on one hand, that may seem like a boon rather than a loss, the majority of my bootlegging activities were made possible thanks to the limitless nooks and crannies of the Windows operating system. (Ironically, those same nooks and crannies allowed the Russians to hijack my computer and kill it from the inside, but that's another story.) I've since been left having to figure out how to reproduce said feats on a new platform, and, given reasons 1 and 2 above, I haven't had proper time to dedicate to such endeavors.

Accordingly, I've chilled, but from the looks of things, not much has suffered. The internet is still up and running and music seems to still find its way onto your hard drives and ipods one way or another. But still, I know that there are artists out there that still need little guys like me to cosign them so that the big guys can take notice, and no matter how many bloggers throw their hat into the mixtape game, few can match what You Hype! Sike Nah... does. (Had to throw some blogger bravado in there for old times' sake lol)

So with that said, stay tuned. RNLC 7 is in the works, as is a whole new mixtape, tentatively titled "The Grown Up," which might result in a few of yall getting pregnant or impregnating somebody, depending on the type of anatomical plumbing you have. Keep a box of Trojans on deck, cuz I plan on heating things up come winter time.

(This may or may not be the cover... It's an open call to any and all graphic designers...)