BlakRoc: Garage Hop

The Blakroc Project hits stores today. With so much emphasis on The Black Keys collaboration with distinguished MCs, its easy for one to take the lyrics for granted. MCs showed up to the studio and responded to The Black Keys raw guitar and drum sound with free-spirited verses. Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys on Raekwon's from the hip lyrical creation:

He was sorta what I imagined watching Bob Dylan work in his prime would be like. Raekwon came in, heard the music, got inspired and just sat down and started writing. He wrote like 20 verses, just like that, in 45 minutes. And everything that he says is so visual, such a story. His rhyme schemes are just insane.

I posted Raekwon's BlakRoc track "Stay off the Fucking Flowers" a while ago. That and Pharoach Monch and RZA's "Dollaz and Sense" are standout tracks .

I Do Too!

K-os's Yes! album finally hit the States yesterday, though its been in rotation for months.

Freestyle Friday: Mos Def, Black Thought and Eminem

Chiddy Bang: From Chinatown Bus to Jet Setting

Under Black Thought's wings, fellow Philly natives Chiddy Bang ( Chidera Anamege & Xaphoon Jones) are poised to show up on your hip hop radar. Their Swelly Express mixtape embodys their hip hop aspirations, telling the story of several Chinatown bus trips from Philly to NYC to meet with record execs. The mixtape samples Sufjan Stevens, Mary Poppins, Passion Pit, Belle and Sebastien and MGMT Chiddy's witty upbeat shoot for the stars electro-hip hop sound is a more radio friendly version of Supreeme's. Alongside the amazing Kids remix (spotlighted on HiphoPolitico back in the summertime) other standout tracks include Dream Chasin', Decline, Truth, Slow Down(feat. Black Thought) and Never...the list goes on. They're all great plays on a Friday.


Dream Chasin'



Decline (Belle and Sebastien)



Truth (Passion Pit)



All Things Go (Sufjan Stevens)

Black Keys and Raekwon Link Up

Raekwon's OB4CL2 is widely recognized as 09's best hip hop album to date. His callabo with The Black Keys "Stay off the F'n Flowers" off Dame Dash's BlakRoc project may be the best hip hop/rock track to date, period.