Culled from his ‘Travelling Man’ album, here’s Diamond District cat Oddisee’s NYC-imagined remix of ‘yU Travellin”, featuring yU. Click here to check it – and cross your fingers that it includes sampled footage of the crazy guy who stands on a street corner in the Lower East Side yelling out, “Lesbian vampire bitches are out to get us all!”

Hailing from South Florida, Dynas has managed to unearth a J Dilla production for the title track to his album, ‘The Apartment’. Click here to check it.

HHC Digital’s rap round-up…
By Richard Watson

Boot Camp is for the children! Sean Price this week revealed that he’ll simultaneously be entertaining his fans and stockpiling swag for his unborn daughter when he throws a hip-hop’s first baby shower slash live performance. You’ll need a gift for the soon-come sprog to get in, but don’t even think about rolling up with a Timberland booties and hat set – HHC Digital’s already on it.

Swizz Beats demanded a little recognition for his CV, while his old pal Eve requested a little less recognition for her alleged “cameo” role in a giant money laundering operation. Eve’s fellow femme-cee Foxy Brown (pictured) feigned disappointment at the ‘leaking’ of a track on which she disses Lil Kim and recalls knocking boots with Jay-Z, but Jigga himself was busy being the latest hip-hopper to co-sign Susan Boyle’s talent, his vote of confidence taking SuBo into second place behind Natalie Portman on the list of Rappers’ Favourite White Women.
Continue reading All The Hip-Hop News That’s Fit To Link…

Donwill’s debut solo album, Don Cusack In High Fidelity, sees the Tanya Morgan man offering up a concept project based around the John Cusack-starring High Fidelity. Listening to it, you come away feeling that it’s not exactly a failure of execution, but something that should have stayed a fleeting idea in his head, an in-studio in-joke, or, as explained on the press release, simply his favourite movie.

Ostensibly a case of him “narrating his missteps and misadventures in love” and a chick named Laura, it comes off like a poor man’s version of a budget Little Brother (a tag some might unkindly slap on the Tanya Morgan crew anyway). “Laura’s Song” starts out setting the scope, with Don explaining, “See this about you, it’s no names though/The song title Laura just to help me play it off.” It’s not long though before you’ve drifted off into Astronote’s dreamy beat, with the emcee failing to nail his point in four and a half minutes. And this anonymity continues as the album progresses, with the low-slung funk of “Top 5 Breakups” making you wish Too $hort was the one running through a back-cat of broads, and the synth-heavy and sung-chorus “Love Junkie” leaving you unsure whether it’s meant to be taken earnestly, tongue-in-cheek, or as a homage. For someone from a crew so often touted as the ‘new De La Soul,’ there’s little evidence of having learned anything from the economical clarity of expression that Pos has mastered: in half a verse on “Trying People” or “Pony Ride” he relates more than Don does over 15 tracks and a monologue.

Concept albums are incessantly hard to pull off. When you add in the issue of rap songs about love and emotions being rarely effective, the idea of a broadly love-themed concept album based around a movie based on a book is a conceit doomed from the start. A group as lofty as Tribe ditched the idea of making their final group goodbye, The Love Movement, a musing on matters of the heart halfway through recording, leaving it an unsatisfying mix of as-planned songs (the tender lament “Find A Way”) and, er, “His Name Is Mutty Ranks.” There’s probably a lesson to be learned there, but it’s one that more and more artists are failing to heed.
Continue reading Donwill & The Problem Of Concept

New from one of the finest spitters on the UK scene, here’s a couple of fresh Dubbledge downloads: ‘Choices Choices’ (produced by Ghosttown) and ‘The Trilogy’ (produced by DJ IQ and hosted by Asaviour). Enjoy!

HHC Digital’s rap round-up…
By Richard Watson

Never one to avoid either the spotlight or the caps lock button, Kanye West blogged against critics of the pelt-centric ensembles he and his lass have been flossing lately, and insisted that, post-Obama, black folks are denying their love of fur coats, fried chicken and red leather. “I CAN HEAR YOU SCREAMING ‘COLOR INSIDE THE LINES!!!’” railed Kanye. Trust us, Yeezy, that’s not even in the top million things people are screaming at you.

The Game chastised LA radio stations for incessantly bumping Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’, then dropped by TMZ HQ to deny claims by pint-sized reality TV tart Tila Tequila that he’s knocked her up. Knock-Turn’nal did his part to keep Jayceon’s name in the news by claiming that 50 Cent rescued the boy Taylor from the Aftermath axe, while 50 himself was busy contemplating a sales-stoking beef with Susan Boyle.
Continue reading All The Hip-Hop News That’s Fit To Link…

Come April, Memphis men 8Ball & MJG will be releasing their ‘Ten Toes Down’ album through TI’s Grand Hustle enterprise. With input from Snoop, Bun B, David Banner, Drumma Boy and Mo B Dick, they’ve dropped a pre-release behind-the-scenes video teaser, plus the tracks ‘Ten Toes Down’ and ‘Bring It Back’. Speaking about the project, 8Ball unsurprisingly says, “‘Ten Toes Down’, in my opinion, is one of the best 8Ball & MJG albums ever… 8Ball & MJG sounds and feels like 8Ball & MJG on this album for sure.”

Another does-what-it-says-it-does-on-the-tin release from the Duck Down clique, Marco Polo and Ruste Juxx have teamed up for the terribly-named ‘Set The eXXecution’ album. Out in March, the usual suspects are featured. Oh, and possibly not in an attempt to tap into iPad hysteria, you can check out their, er, ‘freestyle visual MP3′ by clicking here.

A new UK hip-hop show will be broadcasting on the third Friday of every month, thanks to the Break Thru Radio network. Hosted by Children Of A Dying Breed member TJ ‘Sinista’ Cheetham, the first show profiles legendary UK group Gunshot and features Akala (pictured) as a guest. Click here to check the archive of it – and don’t forget to tune in every month.

One of the better proponents of the modern underground NY scene, check out Sav Killz doing his thing in a freestyle cipher with Pack FM and the ridiculously-named Niles Davis by clicking here. And as a bonus, also cop his ‘Scratchin’ The Surface’ tape (hosted by Superstar Jay and J-Ronin and mixed by DJ Snips) and ‘We Don’t Look To The Skies’ (produced by Beat Butcha).