Kanye West - Wow

This is the song that Kanye talked about on the fantastic College Dropout track "Last Call". It's mediocre at best, but the hook is kinda nice...and it's a must for any Ye fan. Enjoy.


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Gangstarr - Mass Appeal (Instrumental)

One of my favorite Premo beats ever. I haven't posted many instrumentals, but I'll start posting a few that I really, really love.


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Jay-Z - Nigerian Gangster

Probably the best Jay-Z remix album I've heard (The Gray Album is nice and all, but once you get past the novelty, there's really only about 3 or 4 great tracks on there). This is the American Gangster acapellas over nothing but Fela Kuti songs and samples...and it is fantastic. I don't typically ride for these remix albums, especially given the market becomes saturated with these Jay ones...but this is a keeper. Check it out.


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Royce the 5'9 - Renegades (ft. Eminem)

Before this track was on The Blueprint, it was Royce's. Oftentimes, the Jay-Z version is the definition of "Murdered You On Your Own Shit"...but Royce is nice. While I'm not a fan of Eminem's production, it works here.


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George Clinton - Erotic City

A Prince cover.

I really don't know the story behind this, and I'm too lazy to look it up. It's bizarre, but it seems...sort of natural, I guess. Check it out.



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?uestlove - The Lesson Sample Mix

I believe this mix was done for BBC Radio One, but I'm not 100%. Anyway...it's Questlove mixing famously sampled songs, from Common to Biggie and everything in between. This is a great one to just chill to. Enjoy.


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Madlib - Motown Mix

This is just a great, great piece of work. Madlib constructed a fantastic mixtape of Motown songs, interviews, news clips, and highly recognizable sampled songs. You'll hear so many great artists and clips with Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, etc. It's great. Just download it.


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*** NEW LINK**

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique Demos (1989)

I've been waiting to break this one out for a minute. This, in my opinion, is the Beasties best album...and, as such, I'm obsessed with it. So when I stumbled across demos, I was amped. You'll notice not every song is on here, of course....but a few versions of Johnny Ryall, Car Thief, and some great banter at the beginning of the Shake Your Rump (which is also fairly different). It's a great listen for sure.


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Alicia Keys - Love It Or Leave It Alone (ft. Common and Mos Def) - LIVE

This is live, and it seems to be a snippet...but regardless, it's just so dope. It's only about 2 minutes, but it's one of the last times I heard Common and Mos sound like they were in their prime. Plus, I'm more a fan of the hip hop infused Alicia Keys. Check it out.


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The Roots - The Pros (Demo)

This, I believe, is from the Game Theory sessions. It may have even been an iTunes release...I'm not 100%. Regardless, it didn't make the album, and that just shows how strong Game Theory was...because this track is ridiculous. It's your typical Roots fare, and those who were going to their shows back in '03 or so can see they took the beginning from The Roots Is Takin' Over. Good track.


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Wu Tang Clan - Live on XM Radio (November '05)

Despite this being an abbreviated performance (it's less than 12 minutes...and like 3 of that is intro), it's still great to hear the Wu with a live band. As they harp on at the beginning, they don't normally do that. I love Wu Tang and all...but this performance just shows that if these dudes could focus, they really could recapture the magic of the early days and just do amazing shows. I'm a sucker for hip hop with a live band though. Enjoy.


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Power 106 - '91 Techno

I wish I had more of a description for this one...but all I have to go off sometimes is ID3 tags and filenames. Unfortunately, this one has very little info. It's 25 minutes of early 1990's techno recorded off of LA radio station Power 106. From what I gather from sources...it's from the end of 1991, recorded off of Saturday Night Street Party. I love this stuff...I really do. I remember hearing LA Style - James Brown is Dead on LA radio so many years ago...and of course, stuff like Seseme's Treat. Old school techno/breakbeat/hardcore is some of my favorite music, and it doesn't get enough shine, in my opinion. So with that said....check out a trip down memory lane.


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Also, if anyone has any other info about this mix - please comment. I'd love to know more about it. Thanks!

DJ J-Rocc - Thank You Jay Dee Mixtape

When the late, great J. Dilla passed away a few years ago...you saw just how many people in hip hop loved him. Having been so prolific, we are still seeing unreleased Jay Dee beats come out to this day, and that's not likely to end anytime soon. Shortly after his death, Stones Throw put this mixtape out. It's fitting that J-Rocc, a highly influential, highly imitated DJ would construct a mixtape for a producer with all the same qualities. This one is great to just kind of chill to. A lot of instrumentals, a lot of classics, and all J Dilla aka Jay Dee - one of the greatest to ever do it.


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Lauryn Hill - Live at Meyer Amphitheater

I really do miss L-Boogie. I'm hopeful one of these days she'll get...not crazy and will realize she is far and away the best female MC (and one of the best MCs) of all time. Nonetheless, this is a great live show.


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Thoughts on the blog.

First and foremost...sorry for the lack of updates. I have a great deal of stuff that I'm going to be uploading as soon as possible. I have a great deal going on right now (including shuffling files all around between several computers), and I will be uploading stuff soon.

That being said...I'd really appreciate it if you guys could comment this post to let me know what you think of the stuff I've thrown up so far. What you'd like to see, what you like, all that. It'd help. Thanks.

A Tribe Called Quest - Georgie Porgie (Demo ft. Brand Nubian)

I really struggled as to whether or not I should post this...because it's really, really offensive. It's a Tribe demo from 1991 that is completely a sign of the times. I'd like to think Tip and Phife are a bit more mature now, but who knows. As for just how offensive it is, it's worlds beyond the gay jokes in Eddie Murphy's Raw or the "All the homies who got AIDS..." line in Live at Union Square by Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Listen at your own risk, I guess.



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Rage Against The Machine - Know Your Enemy (Live ft. Maynard James Keenan)

This is from the very first Coachella (1999), which was headlined by Rage and Tool. Maynard from Tool came out to do his part on one of my favorite Rage tracks, Know Your Enemy. They were rarely able to do this song together, so here is one of the only recordings I know of.


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Big L - '98 Freestyle (Part 2)

Biggie and 2Pac hit huge heights and were in their primes when they passed away. Big L wasn't even close. And whenever I listen to him, it's always a reminder of how he was never able to blossom as an artist. I truly believe he would have been huge. His famed '98 freestyle (which can be found on his posthumous LP The Big Picture) had another part that didn't make the cut - and here it is.


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Pharrell & The Yessirs - Out of My Mind

It's really a shame this was never released. This is the reworking of Pharrell's album In My Mind by ?uestlove of The Roots...and it's so amazingly good. Unfortunately, the original album didn't sell very well, and thus a re-release was squashed by the record label. Fortunately though, the tracks were leaked - and we now get to enjoy them. In my opinion, these will be one of those classic bootlegs years from now.



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Common - Come Close (Remix ft. Pharrell, Q-Tip, & Erykah Badu)

Common caught a LOT of flack for the original version of this song, but he redeemed himself in the eyes of many with the remix. Pharrell comes especially nice on this...and hearing Common and Q-Tip together just seems natural.


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