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’
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The Hip-Hop Dojo [Vol. 2]

Welcome back to the Hip-Hop Dojo! It seems just like yesterday we put up the first edition of this humble playlist, but we have all this awesome music to remind of us the time that’s passed. This week’s lineup features some true lyrical wordsmiths, from veterans like Talib Kweli and Ras Kass, to youngsters like Kendrick Lamar and Joey Purp. Although we’re only in our second week, a few artists are already making reappearances like the aforementioned Joey Purp, as well as STSSahtyre, King Chip, and Termanology. Since last week’s post ran a little lengthy, we’ve tried to shorten things by highlighting some of the standout material.

We start things off this week with a more conscious vibe. While up-and-comer Eddy B sheds light on some of his harsh realities growing up, Talib and R.A. The Rugged Man take us for a tour around the globe, exploring atrocities many of us may not have been aware of. Meanwhile, ¡Mayday! frontman Wrekonize also provides us with some insight to personal struggles of his own, and the reasons for his “Anxiety Attacks.”

Toning things down in the next section, we’ve assembled a nice collection of songs to share with your other half. One of the most notable items is “Natural Spring Water” from 2AM Club, who flaunt their roots in multiple genres alongside Wichita native, XV. We also have a few recognizable faces in here too. With Tyga & Chris Brown‘s “Fuck For The Road” comes a story of redemption and renewal, while The World Famous Tony Williams and his (arguably more famous) crew of Kanye WestKing Chip, and Freddie Gibbs, assemble together for a remix of his ode to that special someone. Lastly, we have a new cut from some TMN favorites, THEBLKHANDS, who utilize a brilliant sample of The xx‘s “Angels” to introduce us to the darker side of love.

The next section just features some good old-fashioned trash talking, a language that’s clearly spoken worldwide as evidenced by our inclusion of London-based ItsNate on the remix of his hit record, “WSLTA” which stands for “Where She Learnt That At.” We also get some outstanding verses from the likes of Joey Purp, GQ, Rapsody, Rocki Evans, Blu, and Smoke DZA along with his new R.F.C. crew. Old-fashioned wasn’t just a figure of speech either, as just about all of these tracks have some ill, old-school vibes to them.

As always, we also have a few cuts ideal for listening between 4:19 and 4:21. B.I.C.‘s spaced-out “DOPM” is definitely a standout in that category. Credit is definitely due to Chuk Le Garcon, who creates a trippy, ethereal beat for the boys to spit on. We can’t forget to give props to Ras Kass for coming up with the possible line of the week on Termanology’s “We Stay High,” spitting, “I’ll put a rapper in a wheelchair like Degrassi.” Sahtyre‘s got a real banger for the second week in a row, with his powerful new single, “Gettin High.”

Speaking of bangers, we’ve got a real treat for you with our next two songs, both featuring prominent samples. While STS definitely does his thing over Kavinsky‘s “Odd Look,” Zak Downtown and Murda Mook absolutely tear apart TNGHT‘s “Higher Ground.” Finally, we decided we’d wrap things up with some uplifting music. “Jordan vs Bird” is a triumphant song from Puck, a unique rapper, who proves he won’t let being resigned to a wheelchair prevent him from taking the court.

I hope you guys enjoyed our second edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo. As always, if you have any suggestions or submissions, feel free to send them over to baseer@themusicninja.com.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE FREE TRACKS

’Eddy B – Hope’
’Gee Watts – Watts R.I.O.T. Ft. Kendrick Lamar (Prod. by Sounwave)’
’R.A. The Rugged Man – Learn Truth (ft. Talib Kweli)’
’Wrekonize – Anxiety Attacks’
’2AM Club – Natural Spring Water feat. XV’
’Tyga – Fuck For The Road ft. Chris Brown’
’Tony Williams – Another You (Remix) ft. Kanye West, King Chip & Freddie Gibbs’
’THEBLKHANDS – In Love (Feat. Kembe X)’
’Joey Purp – Don’t Stop (Prod. Thelonious Martin)’
’GQ – I Know Feat. Rapsody & Rocki Evans (Produced by Khrysis)’
’Smoke DZA – Ghost Of Dipset (Prod. Thelonious Martin)’
’R.F.C. (NYMLo, Den10 & Smoke DZA) – Slave To The Wave (Prod. By 183rd)’
’ItsNate – WSLTA (Remix) Feat. G FrSH, Catch’Em x Phaze One’
’Blu & Bombay – Dre Day’
’Termanology – We Stay High (Feat. Ras Kass & Wais P) (Prod. Statik Selektah)’
’B.I.C. – DOPM (Prod. By Chuk Le Garcon)’
’Sahtyre – Gettin’ High’
’Zak Downtown – Don’t Blow My High ft. Murda Mook’
’STS – Odd Look’
’Puck – Jordan Vs Bird’
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