[Hip-Hop] Fabolous – The Soul Tape 3

Fabolous has struggled with consistency throughout his entire career. Anointed as a successor to Jay-Z in the New York hip-hop scene during his early days as an emcee, he’s never seemed to live up to the expectations allotted to him by fans, despite having plenty of commercial success. While we can’t get behind everything that Loso has released in recent times, there’s always one thing we can look forward to every year: The Soul Tape. Incepted in 2011, the series has reflected the qualities most appreciated in Fab as an emcee (his smooth demeanor, witty punchlines, etc.) as he rhymes over soulful instrumentals both old and new. This year’s edition comes gift wrapped in a giant bow, featuring artists like Jadakiss, Ryan Leslie, Young Jeezy, Meek Mill, and Jeremih as well as production from araabMUZIK, Boi-1da, ILLmind, and more. Check out a few highlights from the project below, and then follow the link to cop a free download of the tape.

DOWNLOAD: Fabolous – The Soul Tape 3

’Fabolous – The Get Back (Prod. The Superiors)’
’Fabolous – Everything Was The Same (Feat. Stacy Barthe)’
’Fabolous – Lay Down (Feat. Ryan Leslie) (Prod. By ILLmind & Ryan Leslie)’
’Fabolous – The Hope (Feat. Jadakiss) (Prod. By araabMUZIK)’
Related items:

[Hip-Hop] Rick Ross – Oil Money Gang (Feat. Jadakiss) (Prod. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)

Rick Ross
Oil Money Gang ft Jadakiss

It should be pretty evident by now that Maybach Music Group is determined to take over your Monday. As we mentioned earlier today, Rick Ross and company are set to drop the third edition of their Self Made series later this summer. After announcing the new album, Ross has been leaking music from the project throughout the day, with the latest offering being “Oil Money Gang” featuring Jadakiss. While “Poor Decisions” seemed to take Ross out of his comfort zone a bit, this new cut is right up his alley. It’s a silky smooth number that absolutely oozes decadence and luxury. Check out the latest single from Rozay above and be on the lookout for Self Made Vol. 3 when it drops on August 6th.

Related items:

The Hip-Hop Dojo [Vol. 11]

What up ninjas? Today we’re looking to start your June off the right way with a fresh edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo. We’ve stacked together one of the largest hauls we’ve ever had, making this quite the exciting week for new music. Given that this week’s playlist boasts a whopping 36 tracks, I won’t be detailing every track on here, but I’ll do my best to sum up the highlights.

We kick things off with the whimsical ode to everyone’s second favorite Peanuts character, “Charlie Brown.” Taking on the perspective of the beloved loner, ScienZe and Blu bring us a charming feel-good single complete with plenty of references to the cartoon. Our next selection focuses on Kel’s favorite subject, as Chicago’s Vic Mensa tells us exactly why he shares that same love for “Orange Soda.” We keep things local to Chitown with the homie Jahzel who hopes to clue us into what the next “Chapter” of his life will entail. One of the most impressive submissions of the week comes from Brooklyn’ King Jul who absolutely shreds apart a familiar sample of Kool & The Gang‘s classic “Summer Madness.”

Moving on, we welcome the return of Jadakiss with his brand new single, “Big Boy Dialogue” alongside The-Dream. While Kiss hasn’t had a hit in quite awhile unfortunately, he’s still out to prove that he’s Top 5, Dead or Alive, which happens to be the name of his upcoming album. Meanwhile, we bring back Al-Fatir for his second appearance in The Hip-Hop Dojo, this time to discuss his dream of finally making it big. Tito Lopez and Jon Connor are two other veterans of the Dojo who are really just “Tryna Get On” with their lives as they continue on their endless hustle. Joey Bada$$ upholds that “Word Is Bond” with the first single from his upcoming Summer Knights project, set to drop on June 12th.

KRBL Rebel Radio reduce all other emcees to “Dust” when they step up to the mic. Need more proof? Check out their self-titled debut album here. One of this week’s most intelligent tracks comes in the form of “80-D” from St. Louis beat maestro Mvstermind. In case you missed the worldplay in the song’s title, “80-D” really stands for A.D.D. which also happens to be the title of Mvstermind’s latest project, A.D.D. (Artistically Day Dreaming); check it out here. If you’re in need of a relaxing number to start off your weekends this summer, look no further than Witty Rock‘s “Morning Breath,” one of many standout tracks from his recently released EP of the same name. One of this week’s most original pieces comes to us from indie rock outfit, The Neighbourhood. “West Coast” serves as a stark contrast to anything heard on the band’s much lauded debut, I Love You, yet it still fits perfectly within the realm of their musical sound. The laidback number hearkens back to West Coast hip-hop influences of the 90’s like The Pharcyde and Dr. Dre, with lead singer Jesse Rutherford trying his hand on the mic as an emcee.

Another artist making his second mark on The Hip-Hop Dojo this week is wordsmith Martin $ky with two exceptional new joints, “TRACK O1” and “critiCALI.” Both cuts serve as a reminder that Martin is clearly one of the top young emcees in the game. With his latest single, Odd Future’s Hodgy Beats invites us to take a crucial step back and envision where our lives will be “Years” from now. Given that today is the first of June, who better to help us ring in the start of the month than a man who derives his moniker from the name of the month itself? June brings us his latest joint straight from the “Gutta,” alongside his talented brother Teddy Walton who handles the production duties. Over the last few weeks we’ve been impressed with the output from J. Cole‘s Dreamvillain imprint, most notably from NYC’s Bas. Now Omen is primed to display his talents over the guitar-driven “Medusa.” If there’s one thing you take away from this song it’s that “Death to the duckface” should be an actual movement.

It’s not very often that you hear about emcees from Seattle, but once in awhile a special one will emerge from the underground depths of the Pacific Northwest. With his raspy, guttural voice and exasperating flow Raz Simone falls somewhere between Macklemore and Gorilla Zoe, though making such easy comparisons may seem a little lazy. “These Kids Throw Rocks” takes a little while to grow on you, but after a few listens, you’ll realize this one easily shines among the collection of singles we have today. We’d also like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Hayk, a 22 year old emcee hailing from Watertown, MA. An Armenian refugee, Hayks’ first two singles here serve as his comeback  to the rap game after being assaulted while promoting his mixtape in Boston three years ago. It’s a sad story that resulted in the young rapper having to get a metal plate inserted into his jaw, and he details his experiences in both “A Sad Song” and “Fly Away.”

Childish Major is proving to be one of the most gifted young producers out there, and he puts his raw talents on display once again with Nemo Achida‘s “Slave To The Wave.” Nemo is no slouch either, blessing the instrumental with his infectious, head-bopping flow. Last week we alluded to the possibility of Da YoungFellaz stretching their run in The Hip-Hop Dojo to three weeks straight. Well the duo heeded our calls by dropping “Welcome To NYC Part II,” which serves as a makeshift sequel to the Hov and Killa Cam classic. It would be fair to say they far exceeded our expectations with this one. With their latest collaboration, Sir Michael Rocks and Mac Miller look to introduce us to the “Madness” that accompanies life in the fast lane. Speaking of madness, Mac’s new single with Diplo is just about as crazy as it gets, as he spits over some blaring horns sampled from the song, “Bulgarian Chicks.” Diplo never ceases to amaze and perplex us. Our next piece comes from hard-hitting twosome Run The Jewels. Maybe it’s from all the Arrested Development I’ve been watching lately, but for some reason the title “Banana Clipper” instantly reminded me of this scene right here. THURZ provides a little fuel to all the Illuminati conspiracy buffs as he bodies the otherworldly beat on “ThirdEye.”

When Windy City representative Wonda says “Please Don’t Listen To This Song,” he’s being serious; he’d rather have you watch the music video instead. This certified banger’s visuals might be the most random you’ll witness all year, but that’s exactly why they add to the charm of the song, which doesn’t really take things too seriously. It’s almost freaky just how talented Wrekonize and Tech N9ne are as they absolutely eviscerate every instrumental they touch, this one included. We then take things over to The Kings Dead who seem to be settling in nicely to their new moniker bringing  us the cinematic cut, “Over Dinner.” Finally, we wrap things up with ScHoolboy who gets us ready for the party of a lifetime with “Hell Of A Night.” ScHoolboy’s upcoming major label debut, Oxymoron, is easily one of our most anticipated of the year.

We hope you guys enjoyed our eleventh 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

’ScienZe – Charlie Brown feat. Blu (prod. EOM)’
’Vic Mensa – Orange Soda’
’Jahzel – Chapters’
’Kahali Oden – 80 Proof Diaries (prod. by Willie Staxx)’
’King Jul – Whatever’
’Jadakiss – Big Boy Dialogue ft. The Dream’
’Al Fatir – One Man’s Dream’
’Tito Lopez – Tryna Get On (feat. Jon Connor)’
’Joey Bada$$ – Word Is Bond (Prod. Statik Selektah)’
’KRBL Rebel Radio – Dust’
’Mvstermind – 80D (Ft AtM,Lyrique, Ciej, Sixella Yoccum)’
’Witty Rock – Morning Breath’
’The Neighbourhood – West Coast’
’Martin $ky – TRACK 01 (Prod. by Knxledge)’
’Martin $ky – critiCALI (Prod. by Mndsgn)’
’Hodgy Beats – Years’
’June – Gutta (Prod. Teddy Walton)’
’Omen – Medusa’
’Raz Simone – These Kids Throw Rocks’
’Notes To Self – Recoil (Crimson)’
’Hayk x dFresh – A Sad Song (prod. EVO Productions)’
’Hayk – Fly Away (prod. EVO Productions)’
’Nemo Achida – Slave To The Wave (Intro)’
’Calliko – High Life (prod. by Luxury)’
’Tory Lanez – Fourteen & 40’s (Prod. The Mekanics x Tory Lanez)’
’Da YoungFellaz – Welcome To NYC Part II (feat. Crome)’
’Sir Michael Rocks – Madness Feat. Mac Miller (Prod Syk Sense)’
’Mac Miller x Diplo – Goosebumps’
’Run The Jewels – Banana Clipper feat Big Boi’
’THURZ  – ThirdEye (prod. by KHAN)’
’Olu – Nwanko’
’Wonda – Please Don’t Listen To This Song’
’Doley Bernays – Blessed’
’Wrekonize – Freak (Feat. Tech N9ne)’
’The Kings Dead – Over Dinner’
’ScHoolboy Q – Hell Of A Night (Prod. By DJ Dahi)’
Related items:

[Hip-Hop] DJ Khaled – They Ready Feat. J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T. & Kendrick Lamar (Prod. J. Cole)

While the last DJ Khaled song focused on hip-hop’s past and the careers of two of its most celebrated artists, this one’s premise is set squarely on the future.  The aptly named “They Ready” features arguably the three best up and coming names in hip-hop: J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., and Kendrick Lamar.  The song is produced by J. Cole himself and features all three of the young emcees stepping up to the mic and delivering their bars in double time, producing enough energy to power at least two small villages for weeks.  It’s safe to say this is pretty unique for a DJ Khaled track, and it actually had me excited for the direction of his latest album, Kiss The Ring.  Unfortunately though, this song is probably the exception, and not the rule.  Still, this has the potential to be one of his most potent compilations to date.

Look for Kiss The Ring in stores August 21st, and make sure to take a listen to two other recently released tracks from the album down below.

’DJ Khaled – They Ready (Ft. J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T. & Kendrick Lamar) (Tags)’

Bonus:

’DJ Khaled – I Did It for My Dawgz (Ft. Rick Ross, French Montana, Meek Mill & Jadakiss) (Tags)’
’DJ Khaled – Bitches & Bottles (Ft. Lil Wayne, T.I. & Future) (Tags)’
Related items:

Chief Keef Ft. Kanye West, Pusha T, Jadakiss & Big Sean – I Don’t Like (Remix)

Kanye West, Pusha T, Big Sean and Jadakiss have come together for a G.O.O.D. Music’s remix of Chicago rapper Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like,” but it seems that not everyone is happy with the result. Original producer Young Chop told radio host DJ Moom Dog this week:

“I’m mad as f*ck, for the simple fact that they did not ask me to change up sh*t in my beat. How the f*ck did they add another melody over the instrumental? These motherf*ckers is playing me and I don’t give two f*cks, I will sue the shit out of Kanye West… I made a f*cking sound, so you supposed to stay with my f*cking sound. The beat is fucking hard by itself. That shit don’t sound the same, it don’t got the same feel.”

As for now, the track is not for sale or profit which makes Young Chop threats to sue a mute point. Listen to it below:

’I Dont Like G.O.O.D. Music Remix’
Related items: