Okay, this feels right. Following up on the heelarious Chillin Island, Das Racist’s Dapwell and journalist/cultural soothsayer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd have combined forces to create Chittu Chattu, a podcast of insight, humor, wit, and, in this case, Seapunk – or rather, #seapunk. Just listen to the damn thing.

CHITTU CHATTU EPISODE ONE: LIL INTERNET 1/6/2012 by jawnita

Since Sole parted ways with Anticon last year, he’s been fiercely expanding his medium and message. In addition to altering hip hops genetic code with the Skyrider crew, Sole has ferociously subverted top 40/EDM cliches to exorcise deeply personal and political narratives – riding the hell out of the beats while doing so. Below is a heart/brain wrenching audio-visual collabo with UK sci-fi artist Lando (Decadence Comics), off the album Hello Cruel World, out now on Fake Four Inc.

Conversely Serengeti’s Family and Friends is his first release on Anticon. Dude a.k.a. David Cohn has been getting some love in various blogalaxies – I think deservedly so. The space and raw tenderness of the beats supplied by WHY? frontman Yoni Wolf and ex-Casiotone for the Painfully Alone mastermind Owen Ashworth leave an inviting canvass for Serengeti to paint introspective and inventive cuts like “The Whip.” Not sure who gets credit for the animated sketches in the video, but they definitely give the song an emotive heft. Props to both of these artists for having the personal inspiration and audience push to do what they are doing.

There comes a time in every person’s life when you need music that will motivate the following: a) dancefloor mayhem, b) extreme sweat, or  c) a seriously no funny business house cleaning sesh. Luckily for you (assuming, as I do, that the time for the above is now), Sazon Booya exists, and is here to make all your  dreams come true.

The mildly disreputable offspring of electro producer Mr. Vega and producer/musical documentarian DJ Sav, Sazon Booya is wildly, unapologetically all about “the moombahton”, as the kids say.

And not just any old moombahton, which is – already(!) – seeing the inevitable fracturing as sub-genres crop up. Rather, the Booya boys mercilessly ensure the moombahton formula finds its footing squarely on the dancefloor and never dreams of leaving.

In a game of musical gamesmanship, Sazon Booya creations, both original and remixish, live in a space where one step further would be too far, and one step less would be too little. It’s the sweet spot, and it’s a space they inhabit with panache.

Listen to their debut ep, La Bomba, below, and check the soundcloud for a plethora of tracks, many free for you to download and love to your heart’s content. C’est bon.

Sazon Booya – La Bomba EP by Sazon Booya

I came across this joint almost a month ago, and it definitely left an impression. The synth heavy, haunting effects and palpitating bass- come courtesy of producers Musiq Korner. The triumph in Nipsey’s grown-man prose is supported well by June Summers‘ soulful hooks, and I feel something in the music that makes the difference between a good rapper and a great emcee – heart.

The song adds a new dimension to the hood-hop hydraulic sound and rhymes that dominate most of Nipseys mixtapes, convincing me that this South Central LA ambassador is an artist that might be marathon material, as opposed to the sprint characterized by most mixtape phenoms.

Download Nipsey’s recently released (Dec.21st) and quite crackin mixtape Marathon here.

It’s only fitting that LxNxM pay homage to the cultural phenomenon and rituals that originated our namesake. It’s pretty amazing listening to Nas kick knowledge and narrative around the creativity and community people built around the mixtape. It’s a trip thinking that those of us in our late 20′s have seen the music we love evolve in mediums from vinyl-tape-CD-mp3.

“What more could I say? I wouldn’t be here today if the old school didn’t pave the way” – [Grand Puba].

One Love.

If you’re like most Americans, you’re probably gonna have some serious downtime in the next couple of days.  So, to help you pass the time, here’s a mini-documentary on the history of the boombox courtesy of NPR.  

As always, Fab 5 Freddy comes through with the hip hop history.  But, really, I’m surprised that there’s no mention of or clips from “Do The Right Thing” featured in this video.  If anyone is the quintessential representative of the late 80s boombox culture (as far as fictitous characters go), it’s Radio Raheem, no doubt.

good morning everybody. sleep well? either way, start your day by pumping this synth-heavy jam from new york musician/spoken word artist kesed. once you’ve grabbed the bandcamp download (for free!), check out kesed’s other material here. (via one of the best-looking blogs on the internet.)

A lot of folks are starting to come around and appreciate the hood genius of Detroit rapper Danny Brown. He’s got a rap voice only a mother could love, and totally comes off as a thug nerd, but his subject matter makes people’s eardrums percolate with nearly every song he’s released. He’s like the train wreck that you can’t look away from. A train wreck that can rap his ass off. As House Shoes stated in his interview with us last week:

“He’s a one of a kind artist. He fits right in the middle. The grimy cats appreciate it, and the poppy kids appreciate it. Everyone likes all of Danny Brown. He strikes some type of nerve in people.”

He also likes to feature people in the act of stealing copper wiring in his music videos. He’s probably the first to ever do that. Between the offensive lyrics and bare knuckle budgets for his videos, I’d say Danny Brown is the best hood rapper out right now.