As Wordlush said, as much as we here at LxNxM wish we could be in London (or Cape Town, or Tokyo, or Lima), our home and heart is in the Great Northwest. Sometimes you’ve gotta rep your own, so here are a couple local projects you should keep on your radar.

OCnotes – What’s Your Sign?

Firstly, there’s a new drop from everyone’s favorite beatmaker/visionary/soothsayer, OCnotes. Of late, OC has been ridiculously prolific, with a number of releases out free to the world, plus an ongoing gusher of creative output, from live performance to visual art.

OC/Otis has been a longtime favorite in these parts, and we’ll keep pushing him until the rest of the world catches up. Yes, we do feel that way.

Download his latest, What’s Your Sign, and spend some time browsing through the rest of the world of OCnotes.

Darwin – The Very Best mixtape

Another Seattle staple is Darwin – DJ, cumbia king, and all around mover and shaker. This is actually a slightly-too-late posting, as the mix is one part promotion for a show that recently occurred (oops – sorry!). That said, it’s still a high quality mix, and worth getting into your life.

The mix takes a stroll through some of quality selections bubbling up out of the many musical hotbeds across Africa. Despite being the inspiration, no tracks appear from London/Malawi crew The Very Best.

It’s always interesting to hear how different DJs approach constructing mixes that have such specific focuses. Darwin brings a good spread of taste and selection, and The Very Best packs a healthy amount of bounce into its twenty-ish minutes.

Download The Very Best mixtape right herrrrre.

Def Dee – Take That (Mase remixes)

This one is just plain fun. Boom bappish producer Def Dee goes into the crucial Bad Boy vaults and reimagines Mase through an entirely different sonic fabric.

I never though Welcome Back could become a wistful rumination, but that’s where Def Dee takes it, and it’s that sort of script flipping that makes these remixes so highly enjoyable.

Plus, any excuse to listen to some Mase should be taken, especially midsummer.

This is where the whole squadron would be chilling next Monday. Rodigan, Major Lazer, Sean Paul and the solid duo of Dre Skull and Trinidad’s Machel Montano. Yup. Picture us scrolling. Listening to jams like this:


Just saying…

top dawg entertainment dropped new tracks from LA’s black hippy crew over the past week as part of #TDEFamAppreciationWeek. consider us gratified. all these tracks are pretty great, but the kendrick lamar cut really takes the cake.

kendrick lamar, ft. young jeezy – “westside, right on time”

schoolboy q – “party”

ab-soul – “nibiru”

jay rock – “YOLA”

This is the realest rap song out right now.  Shouts out to the North Community YMCA’s Beats & Rhymes Program out of Minnesota and to all the little geniuses featured in this video. SNACK! SNACK! SNACK!

This tune was by far the best song included on the Blue Scholars 2011 release, Cinemetropolis. It’s an ode to Seattle basketball legend Slick Watts (hence the name) but really just consists of Saba AKA DJ Sabzi rolling around the city stuffing his face. Not only does he stuff his face, his friends all stuff their faces too, but the point is, every five and dime that Saba visits in this video is actually worth visiting in real life. I sure hope the business at these restaurants increases now that the video is released.

Big shout out to Blue Scholars for creating yet another music video that highlights as many aspects of Seattle culture as possible…including the musicians, the food spots, the personalities and the subtle humor.

This song is running the U.K. right now and has been since it first dropped in April. A video is now out and it helps put a face to the darling lyricist who dreamed up one of the best British rap songs of 2012.

If you’re not already hip, meet Roxxxane. She’s part Aaliyah, part Left Eye, part Ms. Dynamite and she’s comfortable in her own skin. Leave it to a woman from Birmingham to really deliver the goods. Check the video below. If you play it twice, consider yourself addicted.

i can’t believe i forgot to include this big jam in yesterday’s post. it’s off teengirl fantasy’s (shout out oberlin!) forthcoming tracer, which you can stream in its entirety over at NPR right now.

it’s been a minute since i just posted some random jams i’m feeling. here goes:

armeria – “while i’ve got it together” (download)

jeremih (ft. marcus french) – “keep it movin” (download the mixtape)

two inch punch – “rooster in my rari (caught in a lovetrap rework)”

chrome sparks – “marijuna” (download)

you should know this by now: SOUNDSYSTEM is this THURSDAY (8/14). 10pm at MOE BAR for FREE as usual. Toast and tang doing there thing. we got a special guest for you next month, so stay on the lookout for that. in the meantime, see you THURSDAY!