I’ve got to admit: I trust 9th Wonder’s production so highly (yes, I love those solid gold soul samples) that whenever I see a project with his name attached, I’m inclined to look at it positively, even if I haven’t actually heard it yet. So when the long-simmering “The Free EP” by Raleigh/Durham trio Actual Proof dropped today, seeing the 9th cosign helped lift it into view.

Interesting fact: Actual Proof kicked off as a production team, and the raps side grew from there. The producer to emcee transition can be problematic (Timbo…cough…Timberland), but when it shines, it shines – just check out Black Milk in the post below this. The good news is that when it works, producers tend to work the rhythmic angle of the raps in a way that deepens the whole project, and “The Free EP” fits in that category.

The production, by both the Actual Proof in-house team and 9th, is crisp and loping, and it’s worth a listening.

Download: Actual Proof – The Free EP

Check the tracklisting after the jump.

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I honestly have been holding back on my emotions/opinions about Little Brother’s upcoming “last album” and the whole concept that 9th and Phonte are beefing right now and that one of my favorite hip-hop groups of all time is calling it quits.

Considering that this past weekend, Soundgarden just reunited here in Seattle after not playing a show together since 1997, a huge part of me knows that if all three of these hip-hop geniuses live long enough, they WILL do a reunion tour 8-10 years from now and try to collect bank. It’s a fact of the music industry…so I will call this a temporary separation. Between the love that Big Dho, the Justice League, Chaundon, and all of the LB affiliates have for one another, it’s impossible that we won’t be hearing anything less than 3-4 releases per year from these cats for the next few years. Not as Little Brother, but as a conglomerate.

STILL…CAN I GRIEVE? Goddamn. It’s just hitting me that LB is really trying to call it quits. What type of bullshit is that? I get that life moves forward at all times…but yo. Read the rest of this entry »

Not too long ago, I hit y’all up with the Adult Swim ATL RMX album.  You might remember that there was supposed to be a 17th track on there that was nowhere to be found.  That mysterious track, Dam-Funk’s remix of Hollyweerd’s “Have you Ever Made Love to a Weirdo,” popped up the other day on a remix suite EP.  It’s a nice collection of remixes of the same song by some noteworthy producers, including 9th Wonder.

I would post a lot more about Hollyweerd, cuz they’re dope and they definitely deserve the shine, but I’ve been slackin on my bloggin.  I got some catching up to do, so I’ll let the music speak for itself.  I will say this, though, they’re on some ATLien next shit.  Oh yeah, check the album artwork out too – it’s also dope.

Peep the remix EP and a couple Hollyweerd mixtapes after the jump.      Read the rest of this entry »