Wanna know how I can usually tell it’s nearly summer? Well, the weather is usually a good clue (maybe not this year though), but my main barometer typically comes in the form of DJ Khaled spewing at me to listen to another one of his obligatory street anthems. Despite how you feel about his persona or talents, it’s hard to argue that Khaled’s been a mainstay on summer radio for the last eight years or so.
Ever the man of many words (but a limited vocabulary), Khaled recently expressed his excitement at finally landing Jay Z on the lead single for his upcoming album. Also featuring the star studded lineup of MeekMill, RickRoss and FrenchMontana, “They Don’t Love You No More” is something of a banger, and outside of the rather dreadful auto-tuned chorus, a hard hitting number with some incredibly slick verses. While Meek Mill opens the track with unbounded energy, his MMG boss sweeps in with some mean bars of his own, with Hov handling clean up duties (and possibly firing some shots back at Drake in the process).
There’s no word yet on a release date for Khaled’s next album, but if there’s one thing that we’re certain of, it’s that we’ve got a very interesting summer ahead of us.
June was definitely a monumental month for hip-hop. With album releases from the likes of Kanye West, J. Cole, Wale, and even more, it’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed from the wide influx of new music. While we were all preoccupied with the heavy hitters, it may have been easy to sleep on some of the other hustlers out there trying to push the music game forward. I admit I fell behind myself, hence why this edition of the Hip-Hop Dojo has been sitting in my drafts for weeks now. Lucky for you guys though, we here at The Music Ninja are here to fill you in on what you might’ve missed over the last month or so.
As I mentioned earlier, this post is long overdue, which is exactly why it’s bursting at the seams with 40+(!)new tracks for a hearty heaping helping of hip-hop goodness (try saying that 5 times fast). I’ve been on my grind over the last couple of days to finally get this playlist in your hands, and there’s a reason why I carefully selected this date to finally unleash it to the world. Today just so happens to be my birthday (yes, this is a shameless attempt at getting more birthday wishes), so as my present to all of you loyal ninjas, I bequeath unto you the thirteenth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo. Now I’m not quite crazy enough to do a summary of all the songs on this list, so this time around I’ll just give you a rundown of my favorites. Although picking out of a list of roughly 45 songs is no easy task, I’d probably have to say my favorites are (in no particular order): Curren$y’s “Killer$,” Vic Mensa‘s “Hollywood LA,” Fabolous‘ “Young OG,” MeLo-X‘s “The Truth,” Jon Connor‘s “When I Was Young,” Dillon Cooper‘s “Kung Fu” Action Bronson‘s “Heel Toe,” Produktive‘s “Show Me Love,” and finally the knxwledge remix of Denitia & Sene‘s “Casanova.” With that being said, I’d like to think each and every song in this collection brings something unique to the table. Given the length of the playlist, I suggest taking the weekend to sift through it all. Maybe you could even give it a go during your Independence Day cookouts.
We hope you guys enjoyed our thirteenth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo as much as we did! As always, you can send all submissions/suggestions to baseer@themusicninja.com.
P.S. As an added bonus, I’ve included some of the best material from those stellar June releases I alluded to earlier as another “mini-playlist” after the jump. Definitely check them out if you haven’t gotten a chance to get through all the albums yet.
This week hasn’t been very kind to me folks. From nagging injuries to a nasty lingering cold, I’ve spent most of my week resigned indoors as I try to recover. Despite all of those hurdles though, I’ve managed to push through to bring you all the tenth edition of the Hip-Hop Dojo. Last week was all about introducing you guys to new artists, and while we do have a few fresh names around here again, you should be familiar with a majority of the lot. I won’t be able to elaborate on every track today, but I would like to point out some of the standout material from this week’s collection. We just hope this playlist can serve as a nice break from the Arrested Development marathon we all know you’re currently having.
We start things of with New Jersey native MoRuf, a recent college graduate who decided to celebrate by crafting a song about it. Looking forward to the road ahead, Mo hopes to dodge some stormy weather as he seeks the clear path towards success. Next up to the plate is DevineCarama who hopes to enlighten his listeners through his lyrics and his flow. Da YoungFellaz hope to take us on a trip to “New Rich City” with their latest effort. This marks the second straight week that the duo has been featured in the Dojo, and we hope that streak continues going forward. Our fourth selection reminds us of a lesson Bay Area emcee A-1 taught us a few weeks back. On “Funeral Season” Statik and crew provide us with a few more details about the spike in violence that occurs during the hot summer months. BunB and Hit-Boy in particular come through with some surprisingly stellar verses.
A good chunk of this week’s compilation comes to us from Chicago. In fact, two of the best works lyrically are featured back to back: the first one being F.Stokes‘ “1954” and the second being Psalm One‘s “Queen Until.” We also can’t ignore our newest piece from the SAVEMONEY clique. The ensemble provides us with bars for days as they absolutely tear through the seven minute remix of Giftz’s “Nino.” Another phenomenal number comes to us from Waldo who “Finally” makes his Hip-Hop Dojo premiere. The Michigan emcee certainly impresses on the mic as he spits over a lush, atmospheric instrumental from Sango. Our final offering from Chitown comes courtesy of Julian Malone, who preps us for the release of his upcoming Diff.Rnt mixtape with the first single, “Tokyo.”
Tate Tucker‘s “Fire” wins the title of smoothest track of the week, but Bas‘ “Lit” might be a close second. Featuring a sample of Miguel‘s “Do You” and an excellent guest verse from J. Cole, “Lit” definitely stands out as one of the top tracks to drop this week (seriously, I can’t emphasize enough how clutch that Cole feature is). Interpolating the chorus of the Fresh Princeclassic, Blu wants to remind us exactly what time it is (even if it might not feel that way in certain parts of the country) on “Summer Time.”
Now I don’t normally feature freestyles on here, but there’s something about Drake‘s “5 AM In Toronto” that brings the best out of every emcee that touches it. A few weeks ago we shared JoellOrtiz‘s rendition of “5 AM In Brooklyn,” and today we bring you Voli‘s “5 AM.” The Jersey representative definitely brings his A-game as he steps up to the mic on this one. When you first press play on Lecrae‘s “Round of Applause” it might sound like your average trap banger, but if you pay close attention to the lyrics, you’ll realize the true message behind the song. The track is all about emerging from the stereotypes that many of these rappers fall victim to, and proving that it’s possible to be successful through hard work and education. That provides a perfect segue to our next selection, as Goodie Mob attempts to provide us with “Special Education” of their own. Featuring the vocal stylings of Janelle Monáe, the newest single from the legendary quartet is sure to make your headphones explode with its whirring, hard-hitting instrumental. The track also proves that Cee Lo can still rap his ass off, as he completely demolishes the beat with his tremendous wordplay.
Snow Tha Product is the only artist to be featured twice this week, and for good reason. If you don’t know about Snow yet, it’s still not too late to jump on her bandwagon. The Mexican-American emcee absolutely bodies tracks with her rapid-fire flow, proving she can hold her own on both “On. Now” featuring Trae Tha Truth and “Cali Luv,” a record produced by The Cataracs that includes a sample of Tupac‘s classic “California Love.” The next selection I’d like to highlight is from Travi$ Scott. Kanye’s latest protégé recently released his Owl Pharoahmixtape, and this particular track was too good to pass up. “Dance on the Moon” has a very KidCudi-esque vibe to it, mostly thanks to TheophilusLondon‘s vocals on the chorus. The final track on our playlist might be the most upbeat (and the most random) of them all. Featuring the unlikely pairing of 2 Chainz and Macklemore, Clinton Sparks brings us an energetic number all about chasing paper and having a generally good time.All in all, it’s a perfect way to wrap things up.
We hope you guys enjoyed our tenth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo as much as we did! As always, you can send all of your submissions/suggestions to baseer@themusicninja.com.
(As a bonus, I wanted to direction your attention to a fun little video I’ve included below. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will always have a special place in the hearts of all hip-hop fans, so I feel it’s my duty to alert you of any mini-reunions of the show’s cast.)
Have you ever had one of those mornings where you wake up and have trouble remembering the events that transpired the night before? Then, as you examine your surroundings, you realize you’re sitting in a brand new Bugatti? Yeah, good times. If you haven’t ever had the pleasure of such an experience (and if that’s the case, what’s wrong with you?), we’ve got a few fellas here who’d love to describe what it feels like. Featuring the likes of MeekMill, T.I., WizKhalifa, Birdman, FrenchMontana, 2Chainz, Future and of course, DJKhaled, the star studded remix to AceHood‘s hit single “Bugatti” goes even harder than the original. The first half of the song is particularly strong, with energetic verses from Ace, Meek and Tip, while the second half starts to fall flat. In the end though, we’re left with a new heater from Ace Hood, and that’s all that matters. Grab the free download for yourself above, and stay tuned for Ace’s upcoming album, Trials & Tribulations which is set for release on July 16th.
With both members of Watch The Throne dropping some new music today, you know it was only a matter of time before Lil Wayne got in on the action too. Although this new heater is really just a leftover from I Am Not A Human Being II, it definitely deserved to at least be a bonus track. It’s better than about the half the material that actually made it to the album. Also, Meek Mill‘s verse may be recycled, but it still fits over the frenetic and energetic beat. Now, the only way this crazy release day would be fully complete is if we got something new from Drake too. Your move, Drizzy.
Although the name Kid Ink is relatively unknown to the mainstream music, he is a rising star in the indie rap scene. Mixing together all the elements highly popularized in the genre of sex, drugs, and money, this Cali rapper has been steady on his grind. After releasing his mixtape RocketShipShawty and independent album Up&Away, there has been a heavy bidding war for Ink’s signature on a major label deal. Finally signing with RCA records this new year, he celebrates by dropping his major-label debut track titled “Bad Ass”. This Devin Cruise-produced single brings in some heavy lyricists in Meek Mill and Wale for a street-influenced banger.
With Meek Mill‘s debut album, Dreams & Nightmares, set to drop at the end of the month, we’re finally getting a preview of what to expect from the young MMG representative. “Maybach Curtains” fits more into the vein of what you might find on one of his boss’ records, but the talented musician is able to adapt seamlessly while crafting a fitting verse of his own. Of course smooth, exuberant tracks like these are Rick Ross‘ bread and butter (actually bread and butter are his real bread and butter, but you get the point), so you know he had to squeeze in a verse himself (I just shuddered at the thought of Ross squeezing into anything), while bringing longtime collaborators John Legend and Nas along for the ride. As stated earlier, Meek Mill is able to break out of his shell a bit on this one, toning himself down slightly, while Legend appropriately belts out “Look how far we came” and “Through these Maybach curtain I see how life has changed” during the chorus. This was definitely one of the most anticipated track off of the album, but I’m sure it’s not the last big single from Meek. Make sure to check out his Dreams & Nightmares album when it drops on October 30th.
’Meek Mill ft. Nas, John Legend & Rick Ross – Maybach Curtains’
