The Hip-Hop Dojo [Vol. 16]

It’s no secret now that The Hip-Hop Dojo hasn’t been the most consistent playlist here at TMN, and that’s due to a multitude of different factors. I’m not here to make excuses however, and the lack of hip-hop goodness lately is totally on me. It’s a new year though folks, and my resolution from here on out is to continue providing you with the dopest hip-hop content from across the net on a regular basis.

Let’s get the ball rolling quickly with this first edition of 2014, because it’s definitely one of our strongest playlists to date. Right off the bat you may notice that we’re starting things off with a Christmas anthem. We know the Holidays are over, but that Peanuts sample by producer J1K was way too good to pass up. Since we didn’t have a December edition anyway, just think of BIZ’s “Christmas Time Is Here” as a late present from all of us to you. Speaking of Christmas, we follow our first entry up with a laidback  single from Michael Christmas named after the Quentin Tarantino classic, “Jackie Brown.” Our next few items carry on the chill vibes, with many of them utilizing a throwback sound similar to the one employed by Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era. Of course Joey and his collective are featured here as well, spreading the love on the eclectic “Sol Luna.” While those dudes from Brooklyn keep with the sweet talking, Nemo Achida prefers to take a more “Hands On” approach, teaming up with 88-Keys and BJ The Chicago Kid for a smooth new cut.

Our next selection would’ve been a perfect one to start your day off with, as rapper Chris Morris opens with “Yo it’s like Sunday morning waking up,” over some supremely ill production from Nabeyin. Moving on, we’ve got the return of Dojo veteran and TDE signee, Isaiah Rashad, who brings us a sly tribute to “Brad Jordan,” better known to the rap community as Scarface. You should be familiar with two of our next collaborators, as Waldo and Sango have both been featured on this page multiple times before. This time around, they’re accompanying British femcee Little Simz on the juicy cut, “Mandarin Oranges.” Speaking of familiarity, hip-hop heads should definitely recognize the instrumental on GoldLink‘s “The Heart,” which is the same one used by Kendrick Lamar for “The Heart Pt. 2.” It’s always tough to beat an original from K Dot, but the West Virginia brings his A-game here, with a spastic delivery definitely that gives the track an edge of its own. Meanwhile, Azizi Gibson hops on some bluesy Flying Lotus production to ring in the New Year properly with “Libras Don’t Die.”

Things take a darker turn in our next suite of entries, with the always slick Rapsody leading this group off over some dope, downtempo 9th Wonder drums. Hefna Gwap is certainly not in a celebratory mode on “Happy Birthday (Fuck That)”, while Dillan Ponder brings us another ominous track with his latest single, “Hive.” While Alexander Spit‘s “Bitter Suite Symphony” sounds nothing like The Verve classic, it’s certainly a formidable number all its own. Sa-Roc shows us her “True Mastery”  of the English language on this fierce new cut, while Verbal Kent teams up with Khrysis to give us all a gritty lesson in “Raponomics.” If there ever were an expert in that subject though, it would be Raekwon, who brings along T.I. and the late Doe B to help him out on “I Wanna Know.”  Like most rappers, Truck North is out to prove he’s the number one “Chief Rocka,” hopping on a revamped version of the Lords of the Underground classic. Find out if he does that one any justice.

 Alexander Dreamer employs his “Freedom of Speech” on this dope tune that samples the intro to Coldplay‘s “Charlie Brown.” Julian Malone keeps things rather abrupt on the hard hitting “Bitche$,” but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t pack a mean punch. Bodega Bamz brings us a real banger on the Electric Bodega remix of his single, “Don Francisco,” featuring French Montana. Next in our lineup, we’ve got a few well known commodities, as Audio Push strive to prove they’re better than all these other “Juveniles,” hooking up with Logic and Jill Scott over a spectacular beat provided by Hit-Boy. Miami emcee Eskeerdo is out to fight the “Devil’s Work,” hopping on a sample of Miike Snow‘s single of the same name. Meanwhile, Topaz Jones questions whether he’s “Living A Lie,” on his recent introspective single. K.B. Starr is ready to plead his case for why he thinks “New England Girls” are the best over some incredibly fresh production from SevnthWonder. Our final pair of tracks comes in the form of two upbeat remixes, first with Yonas putting his own stamp on Lorde‘s “Team,” and then Zak Downtown closing things out with the addicting “City’s Ours,” which flips another remix, the Flume revision of Hermitude‘s “HyperParadise.”

We hope you guys enjoyed our sixteenth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo as much as we did! As always, you can send all submissions/suggestions to baseer@themusicninja.com and ash@themusicninja.com.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE FREE TRACKS (ALT. LINK)

’BIZ
Christmas Time Is Here (Produced by J1K)’
’Michael Christmas – Jackie Brown ft. Manu Manzo (prod. Jasper Sheff)’
’SK The Greatest – Ounces (featuring Mad One, D.O.S. & Poppadop)’
’Dessy Hinds – Mo’Wetter Blues (Prod. 6thBoro)’
’Mike Melinoe – Steady Vibe (Pro. By Stereo Symphony)’
’A$hton – Knighty Knight’
’Termanology – Set It Off (Feat. Ransom)’
’Chris Faust – Black Manta Featuring Donwill (prod. Hannibal King)’
’Chox Mak And Henny Tha Brain – 40 Ounces (Prod. By Bunty Beats)’
’PRO ERA – SOL LUNA (Feat. Joey Bada$$, Dyemond Lewis & A La $ole) (Prod. Navie D.)’
’Nemo Achida – Hands On ft. BJ The Chicago Kid (Prod. 88 Keys)’
’Chris Morris
Morning Dew (Prod. Nabeyin)’
’Yo Dot – Never Shines (Produced By Regular Joe Productions)’
’Isaiah Rashad – Brad Jordan feat. Michael Da Vinci’
’Little Simz & Waldo – Mandarin Oranges (Prod. Sango)’
’GoldLink – The Heart’
’Azizi Gibson – Libras Dont Die (prod. Flying Lotus)’
’Rapsody – Illuminaughty (Chinchilla) Prod. by 9th Wonder’
’Hefna Gwap – Happy Birthday (FUCK THAT)’
’Dillan Ponders – Hive (p. DMNDBK)’
’Alexander Spit – Bitter Suite Symphony’
’SA ROC – True Mastery’
’Verbal Kent  – Raponomics (prod. Khrysis)’
’Raekwon – I Wanna Know (Feat. Doe B & T.I.)’
’Dag Savage (Johaz & Exile) – God Body ft. CO$$, Gonja Sufi & Blu’
’Truck North – The Man’
’P.Genz – Grandslam!’
’Lashaun Ellis – Whatever You Want’
’Alexander Dreamer – Freedom Of Speech (Soundcloud Bonus)’
’Julian Malone – Bitche$’
’Jourdan Jackson – Triple Crowned Ft. Marion Write & TR@bb (prod. by Bliss)’
’Bodega Bamz – Don Francisco (Remix) Feat. French Montana’
’Raz Fresco – Slang Rap (Prod. By Raz Fresco)’
’Audio Push – Juveniles ft. Logic & Jill Scott (prod. Hit Boy & Rey Reel)’
’Eskeerdo – Devils Work (feat. Miike Snow)’
’Topaz Jones – Livin’ A Lie’
’K.B. Starr – New England Girls (Prod. By SevnthWonder X Rilla Force)’
’Jered Sanders – Boys On the Radio’
’YONAS – Team (Lorde Remix) prod. sean ross’
’Zak Downtown – City’s Ours’
Related items:

The Hip-Hop Dojo [Vol. 12]

Things are running a bit off schedule this week with The Hip-Hop Dojo, so I want to apologize. However, I assure you that the extra wait will certainly be worth it. Given the long wait, I want to cut the clutter down as much as possible so you can get right to the music.

We start things off with Blame One who explores some existential themes, even delving into potential philosophical and religious differences between him and the outside world. Things liven up a bit as we switch over to IAMSU! who dedicates this title to all the “Hipster Girls” obsessed with their Instagram feeds and Tumblr pages. F.Stokes is quickly becoming one of my favorite emcees out of the Chi, as he seizes the beat on “Carpe Diem.” Kanye West has undoubtably had an immense influence on the young minds of Chicago hip-hop, so what better way to pay homage than by crafting a sequel to one of his absolute classics?” Alex Wiley and Chance The Rapper attempt to capture the essence of the original with their rendition of “Spaceship II,” even snagging a feature from GLC who appears on both versions. Bird‘s new single, “Still Shine” features the first sighting of Little Brother we’ve seen in quite awhile. Before you get ahead of yourselves about a potential reunion however, be careful to note that the verses were actually recorded a few years back. Nevertheless, some new Phonte is always welcome in the Dojo. In preparation for his upcoming album, Watching Movies With The Sound Off on June 18th, Mac Miller decided to share two of the album’s most anticipated tracks, neither of which disappoint. C’mon, new Jay Electronica is still good for something right?

For some reason, this week featured a vast array of songs that incorporated incredibly dark tones and heavy content. Guys like Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire, Danny Brown, Flatbush Zombies, Ibn Inglor, Denzel Curry, Sir Michael Rocks, and A$AP Rocky all got in on the action, but there’s one artist I’d like to focus on in particular: Dillan Ponders. While little is known about the young Toronto native, one thing is clear: he has an extremely unique sound–so unique in fact, that I just had to share two of his singles with you all this week. If you’re feeling the material we’ve posted so far, I highly suggest checking out his full Overdose project as soon as possible. Additionally, I’d like to highlight another artist who coincidentally also hails from Toronto, P. Reign, who seems to have big plans for 2013 with his Dear America mixtape, set to drop later this year with features from the likes of Drake, French Montana, and Waka Flocka Flame. As he nears the one year anniversary of his signing with MMG, Rockie Fresh praises God for all the blessings  he’s received since.

If there’s one thing you take away from Action Bronson‘s “Strictly 4 My Jeeps” remix, it’s that LL Cool J can still rip beats with the best of them. Seriously, why can’t hear verses like this from him more often? It’s definitely a major upgrade over “Accidental Racist.” Smoke DZA and Harry Fraud prove they’re still winning as they bring us a triumphant anthem that sounds unlike anything we’ve heard from either of them before. With three straight hits under his belt now, I’m convinced that Hayk truly represents the “The Future” of hip-hop. Check out his latest track which features a fiery hot dubbed out sample of Boy Crisis‘ “Dressed To Digress.” Following in the same vein is West Coaster Jez Dior, who rips apart another dubbed out sample, this time Lana Del Rey’s Dark Paradise.” We’re really excited about what we’ve heard from Jez Dior this year, and are eager to hear what he has in store for us when his new project, Scarlett Sage, drops tomorrow. Make sure to check out the the trippy visuals for “Move On” as well. Angel Haze might be the hottest female emcee in the game right now. She’s murdered just about every instrumental she’s stepped on during the last few months, which now include the phenomenal remix to WoodkidsI Love You” and her latest single, “No Bueno.” Finally, we wrap things up with two Brits, who bring us a few feel good singles to jam out to all summer. The first of the pair features Amplify Dot (sounds like the name of a Kendrick song) flexing her skills alongside well-known veteran Busta Rhymes on “I’m Good.” Meanwhile, Londoners Rizzle Kicks attempt to resurrect the classic sound of the Roaring 20s on their upcoming album, which is available for pre-order now.

We hope you guys enjoyed our twelfth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo as much as we did! As always, you can send all submissions/suggestions to baseer@themusicninja.com.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE FREE TRACKS

’Blame One & J57 – They Don’t Know (feat. Akie Bermiss)’
’IAMSU! – Hipster Girls’
’Warm Brew – Congregate ft. OxyXMoron’
’Chase N. Cashe – Me & Mine (feat. Casey Veggies)’
’F.Stokes – Carpe Diem’
’Frank Leone – Don’t Fight The Rain (Produced by Pigeon DO)’
’J.Nolan – For You (prod. zuCYDE)’
’Alex Wiley – Spaceship II feat. Chance The Rapper & GLC’
’Bird – Still Shine (Feat. Little Brother & Notes To Self)’
’Nipsey Hussle – All Get Right ft. J Stone’
’Mac Miller – Suplexes Inside Of Complexes And Duplexes (feat. Jay Electronica)’
’Mac Miller – Geez (feat. Schoolboy Q) (Prod. Chuck Inglish)’
’Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – Tomorrow’s Gone ft. Danny Brown, Nacho Picasso & Flatbush Zombies (prod. by DJ SicksentZ)’
’Ibn Inglor – Track 6’
’Dillan Ponders – Empty Pool (p. Portishead)’
’Dillan Ponders – Just Drive’
’Denzel Curry x Nell – Shepherd ft. Sir Michael Rocks’
’P. Reign – We Them Niggas ft. A$AP Rocky (Prod. Pro Logic)’
’The KickDrums & OnCue – Machines’
’Rockie Fresh – God Is Great’
’Action Bronson – Strictly 4 My Jeeps (Remix) f. LL Cool J x Lloyd Banks’
’Winners Circle – Runner Up ft. Nipsey Hussle (produced by DJ Pain1)’
’Harry Fraud & Smoke DZA – Win’
’Irv Da Phenom – Y.B.W. REMIX (ft Dizzy Wright & Jarren Benton)’
’Hayk – The Future (prod. EVO Productions)’
’Jez Dior – Move On’
’Woodkid – I Love You feat. Angel Haze’
’Angel Haze – No Bueno’
’Amplify Dot – I’m Good (Feat. Busta Rhymes)’

’Rizzle Kicks – That’s Classic’

Related items: