We all loved her and will miss her dearly. One thing that’s for certain is that her music will live on forever…and the remixes are only getting started. Rest easy, Whitney. The producers and blogs can take it from here.

Never count out Sizzla. The man was king of one-drop reggae for a period of time earlier last decade and, when he feels up to it, shows listeners that he could be king of one-drop reggae all by himself again. Kalonji recently linked up with Brasiliero producers, Eduardo “Bid” Bidlovski and Gustah Sola to put out a missile of a song for the soon to be released Bambas Dois project.

The video is nice, the riddim is beyond nice, and vocally, Sizzla is on his A+ game. Check it below, then head to Largeup for the backstory behind all of this.

It’s almost Friday night and anybody going out this evening (or any evening) probably wants to have a good warmup mix on hand to get them in the mood. If you’re like me and would rather let someone take care of your music selections are you’re in the process of getting nice before you step out, peep this new mix from the homie DJ Eleven and his partner, DJ Ayres. We’ve posted their gems before here on the blog and this new slow-roaster, Heavy Warmup Vol. 2 definitely gets the LxNxM approval.

You’ll hear some straight ahead ’90s jams, smashups, and cuts that might make you start doing the wop and two stepping in the mirror as you get ready to night. Nobody is suggesting that you don’t already have songs by Soul For Real, The Dream, Ashanti, D’Angelo, and Big Pun at your fingertips — but if you need someone to blend them for you effortlessly, enjoy what’s below.

DJ Eleven – Heavy Warmup Vol 2 by T&ARecords

Full tracklist below the hopper.
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Brooklyn mogul Jay-Z is no stranger to dressing sharp and creating music that’s enjoyed by folks in tailored suits and bow-ties. Hip-hop has grown all the way up and its apparel and taste is no longer merely for those rocking hoodies and shelltoes. Yuppies like hip-hop too, or at least, they’re finding space to identify with it. Most of Jay-Z’s fans already know about his classic MTV Unplugged set several years ago when he had (in addition to the Roots backing him up) jazz musicians and a string session on stage helping him to keep his sound pristine. That was most likely the impetus that encouraged Seattle jazz ensemble, the Jason Parker Quartet, to release a creative new project called Smoke ‘em if You Got ‘em a couple of days ago.

The way it works is, fellow Seattle artist Spekulation took a bunch of Hov’s best verses and laid them over fresh jazz sounds from JPQ’s recently released new album, Five Leaves Left: A Tribute to Nick Drake. Spek had the ear to match pieces of an album honoring an entirely different musician and match it all to Jay-Z’s voice. Now that’s production. Everything from “Roc Boys” to “December 4th” to “Can’t Knock the Hustle” gets covered. Checkout the jazzyhiphop mashup below, and then be sure to actually listen to Five Leaves Left as well. We don’t get nearly enough jazz up on this site but this one is worth it.