By now, everyone is up on Pandora. You can get it on your iPhone, blackberry, and of course, on the computer at the job. Pandora has been making my days working behind a computer more enjoyable for about 2 years now. It’s a great productivity tool in my opinion and it’s going 24/7 in the office over here.

So we want to give up some of our secrets, this is the TOP 5 Pandora Stations to get you through the day (just click the link to go to the station):

1. Brooklyn Go Hard Radio – Why? It’s Jay at his best. You get everything from Nas to The Game. It’s that 96 vibe, just a little bit updated. As I type it’s playing “Can’t Knock the Hustle” Unplugged w/ Mary J. How can you really get any better than that?
2. Termanology Radio – Why? Surprisingly, they don’t play much Termanology, but they do play a lot of underground stuff, 90’s music, and all around grimier music. This is for the underground heads that are vibing out on the train/bus/car ride home.
3. The Roots Radio - Why? An amazing variety of real hiphop. Not “soft” hiphop, but real stuff.  Everything from the expected Roots Classics, but also Common, Consequence, Mos Def, all quality songs, no junk. Even joints you’re sure to have not heard in a while, like Busta’s Lament from ATCQ.
4. Jerry Butler Radio – Why? Because Jerry Butler is simply the man, that’s why. One of the most underrated and undersampled soul artists of all time. When you want to get that true old school vibe going, look for some stuff to sample, or are just a huge soul fan, let Jerry Butler lead the way. You get the Dells thrown in, a lot of that BIG Philly sound. They just threw on the Moments track that was sampled for Jay-Z’s Empire State single.
5. Timbaland Radio – Why? Because every once in a while, you need to hear some commercial stuff, and if you’re gonna do that, make it the best. This is one of those stations you throw on if you’ve got a mixed office and want to keep the mood very light and upbeat. Maybe your girl or friends are tired of listening to your underground stuff. Get the best of both worlds with Timbo radio.

The best thing about all of this? You can add your own variety to each station, so start stacking them up. Timbaland, Beyonce, 50 cent radio is a pretty good one for the full scope of commercial urban music.

Got a great station you want to share? Leave it in the comments! We’ll definitely give it a try.

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This is a super hot track with a Philly – NYC connection. Access Immortal is a well known indie artist out of Brooklyn, the Saint of Queens has been around for years working with everyone from Shabaam Sahdeeq, Illseed and Uncle Murda.

Confucius is an Independent artist out of my own backyard, Philly. He’s been around for years, had ups and downs just like every other artist. Take a listen to this track, and provide some feedback!

LEAVE COMMENTS! If you’re feeling it, I’ll put the full album up for DL which is a pretty hot project. Show some support for local area hiphop.

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Looking for an album that actual delivers on the title? Well you found it! Skyzoo has been one of the up and comers in the game for years. This would be his breakout. The equivalent to Mario Manningham in Week 1 for the Giants. It’s like watching Mark Sanchez lead the Jets over the Patriots. (Gotta keep the NY theme). It’s ushering in a new generation, a new day, a rebirth of the real.

Yeah, it’s really that good at times. It’s the first real effort from Skyzoo and while not every track is a winner, the ones that are good, are REALLY good. I can’t say enough about this project.

Skyzoo has been coming up on the NY scene for a while and if you’ve never heard him, you’re really missing out. This album is really a breath of fresh air. The production is good for the most part, running from boring to outsanding as usual. There’s an impressive list of producers including Needlz, Just Blaze, Black Milk, 9th Wonder, Cyrus tha Great, Eric G, Nottz, and of course Illmind.

We’re talking total package here: Underground feel, mainstream appeal, exquisite flow, some of the hottest new producers peaking. Overall this could be a game changer. DON’T SLEEP.

This is definitely a MUST-COP. Don’t even think about just downloading, go to the store and pick it up or just grab it from iTunes.

Tracks of note:

Penmanship, Metal Hearts, Dear Whoever, and Return of the Real.

Best Track:

The Necessary Evils (Video Below)

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This is probably one of the most anticipated releases in hip-hop over the past 10 years aside from Dr. Dre’s Detox and Raekwon’s Only Built for Cuban Linx 2. With Jay’s always relevant nature and mass appeal, it may be more anticipated by the regular public. Either way, Jay-Z had a lot riding on this album in the eyes of real hiphop fans.

Jay prepped it very well with the release of D.O.A (Death of Autotune), but unfortunately, the Blueprint 3 as a whole couldn’t live up to they hype.

Jay-Z – The BluePrint 3 – Album Rating 7/10

Overall: Jay-Z and The Blueprint 3 comes close to living up to it’s billing as a return to classic Jay-Z. Unfortunately though, it just lacks the gusto in both production and content. Jay-Z is too complacent, there’s nothing left to prove. The Blueprint 1 was in the height of the Nas / Prodigy feud, and the Blueprint 2 was competing with other classic albums. The Blueprint 3 is too much like Kingdom Come on the beats.  There are a lot of REALLY GOOD tracks, but then some REALLY BAD ones. I think spending some more time would have been good, but it’s definitely worth picking up, the good songs make it as close to a classic you can get these days.

Highlights: Empire State of Mind, A Star Is Born, Young Forever, and of course DOA and Run This Town.

Lowlights: So Ambitious, On To the Next One, Hate

Track by track review.

1. The intro track, ‘What We Talkin About’ is good,  staying relevant while keeping some classic Jay appeal.
2. The boring, and disappointing ‘Thank You’ is almost like a waste of a track, reminds of me ‘Can I Kick It’ from reasonable doubt, which was the only skippable track…skip this one too’.
3. ‘D.O.A.’ – Classic, ’nuff said.
4. By now we’ve all heard ‘Run This Town‘. This could’ve been another classic track if not for Kanye’s nonsensical verse at the end. Still worth listening to as it fits it’s spot on the album. This is a great track to examine for production purposes which we’ll be doing in a future post.
5. Empire State of Mind – One of the best tracks on the album, especially if you’re a new yorker, ever have been, or want to be. Jay shows major NYC love, vivid pictures of the city from his words.
6. Jay gets some help from Young Jeezy on ‘Real As It Gets’. The problem here isn’t Young Jeezy, it’s the boring synth beat with the stock Fantom sounding drums. Just an all around boring track. Skip it.
7. ‘On To The Next One’ - Really Jay? Why? Swizz Beats? Dude has done the same song on every album for the past 10 years, and they’ve all sucked.  Definitely the worst track on the whole album.
8. Drake and Timbaland join Jay on ‘Off That’, and surprisingly, it almost works. Too “pop” for my tastes, but it’s well put together.
9. Now this is Jay! ‘A Star is Born’ has Jay giving tribute to hiphop history. Everything from Wu to Mobb Deep and Outkast get shouted out in this one. This is definitely Jay-Z at his best. Up there with the best on the album.
10. ‘Venus vs Mars’ is a very different track that doesn’t really fit in the rest of the album. Almost the standard “chick track” that Jay has been doing his whole career, not my cup of tea, but definitely not as bad as things like ‘On to the Next One’. I’d skip it.
11. The next one is a pretty good beat where Jay kills it, but for whatever reason they thought it would be a good idea to have the horrible voiced Kid Cudi attempt to sing on the hook, and repeat the hook a lot. If you can get past the hook, it’s okay, but that’s a lot of torture to go through. Jay is great on it, I see a remix in the future.
12. Kanye, Kanye, Kanye…save it for your albums. ‘Hate’ is one of those tracks that makes you wonder what the fuck Kanye is on and why Jay would agree to it. They both sound bad on this track. Maybe it’ll grow on me, but on first listen…SKIP.
13. One of the strangest tracks on the Blueprint 3 has got to be this one. ‘Reminder’ sounds more reminiscent of Moment of Clarity than anything else, just as boring, just as awkward. Some good lines, but a bad hook, and bad beat selection…I’ll be skipping.
14. Pharrell…please go back to wherever you’ve been hiding, the game has not missed you. This track just sucks, no matter what Jay-Z says can’t save it. Skip it…it’s called ‘So Ambitious’.
15. After a string of must skip songs, Jay-Z brings a little bit of comedy with ‘Young Forever’. The superhit by one hit wonder German group Alphaville provides the inspiration. Yeah, that same ‘Forever Young’ song. I couldn’t help but start laughing while first listening to this on the train. Jay pulls it off though, it’s kind of strange, but it works. Jay has that swagger that a lot of the album was missing. The guy always knows how to end a project.

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So lately I’ve been very discouraged with hiphop, the summer is always a rough time for real hiphop. All the junk on the radio gets worse and summer just drags on. Once the fall is in sight, the hiphop starts moving again!

The first free release this September on BeatStatus comes from world famous MAGr. This is a FREE TO YOU LP. Not a mixtape, not a street-tape, a full blown LP. You NEED to download this if you’re the REAL HIP-HOP type. This is all real shit, no filler, no soft stuff, just pure hiphop. What else would you expect? Put this in your iPod and just bump it. This is that walking music, on the train music, driving music, on the bus music. Just put it on and relax.

Can’t say enough about it. Just download it, even the cover art is super dope.

Download MAGr – No News Is Good News now, FOR FREE!

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Rakim – Holy Are You (Produced by Kid Capri)

After 9 years on hiatus, Rakim is back with a new track. Listing as being produced by DJ Kid Capri, one of hiphop’s legends. Drop what you think in the comments.

(Go to the 12 most slept-on DJ Premier tracks to hear one of Rakim’s last tracks to drop)

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This one is amazing right here. Everyone knows Illmind is crazy on the beats, but the lineup for this project is insane. Common, Scarface, Ed OG, Youg Buck and many many more. Enough talk, just get it and listen.

From Illmind’s site: (Go there for more)

The Blaps, Rhymes & Life compilation series continues, as the blapmaster Illmind and Dub MD bring you Volume 3 as yet another exclusive free download. Blaps, Rhymes & Life Vol. 3 is jam packed full of more classic !llmind production as he showcases his music with a mix of mainstream and underground artists, in this volume he collaborates with mainstream artists like 50 Cent, Scarface, Young Buck, and Marsha from Floetry, and keeps the balance with underground artists and rising stars such as Termanology, Wale, D-Black, Skyzoo and Torae to name a few. Also included is an official remake of 88 Keys’ single “Stay Up!” featuring Alchemist, Evidence and 88 Keys himself on the rhymes. Master Shake from Adult Swim’s hit TV show Aqua Teen Hunger Force also makes an appearance!

Download it here: Illmind and Dub MD – Blaps, Rhymes, and Life Vol 3 Mixtape

Check out Illmind’s site for more

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Wale is one of the best newcomers to the game. He more or less made his major debut on the most recent project from The Roots, and quickly become an underground favorite. For this free mixtape he teams up with another underground legend in the form of super-producer 9th Wonder. This combo is any backpackers dream combo, but the idea of the project “FEATURES” makes it something worth checking out for even the most hardcore street music fans.

Features include everyone from Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Royce da 5′9″, Skyzoo, Joe Budden, Talib Kweli and more.

Just go get it, probably one of the better free mixtapes you’ll ever find…or paid mixtapes for that matter.

Go download it from Zshare

If the link goes down, check out Wale’s Site for new link and for more Wale music (including a lot more free downloads!)

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Need to get your Kanye Fix? Whether it’s the goofy dancing, the ego, or just the hot beats, we all want to see him. You can’t deny that he’s a great entertainer. Maybe he took the Auto-Tune overboard, but hey, even Nas put out Nastradamus so I guess we can give everyone a pass. Anyway, onto the videos…

1. Kanye West & Timbaland remake “Stronger” (apparently it was re-mixed about a dozen times)

2. Kanye West making a beat on “60 Minutes”

3. Kanye West Making “Good Life”

4. Kanye West – Unknown Beat (Older Video)

5. Kanye Making some flute beat – (from “Stripped”)

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Dj Premier is more than a legend to us hip-hop fans, producers, and artists. If there was a movie about the “Golden Age” of Hip-Hop, Primo would definitely be doing the score. His contributions to the game can be seen with every great artist of our time. From Jay-Z’s ‘D’Evils’ and ‘So Ghetto’ to the Illmatic classics, then the Gang Starr stuff, and the list goes on and on.

One thing though, is that some of Premiers best work slipped through the cracks. Whether it was because of an outshining “commercial” single, or a lack of promotion. While the beats may have definitely peaked at a point in the early 2000’s, Premier stays relevant today as evidenced in the list below as well as with the new Ludacris – MVP track.

Even some tracks with great artists just never really got the shine they deserved. Now we change that!

NOTE: To all the hardcore Primo fans (like myself) these tracks won’t be new to you, but there may be a few gems you completely forgot about.

1. Ras Kass – Goldyn Child

2. Jaz-O – The Love is Gone

3. Royce da 5′9″ – BOOM!

4. Brand Nubian – The Return

5. CNN – Invincible

6. Rakim – Waiting for the World to End

7. Fat Joe – That White

8. All City – The Actual

9. Sauce Money – Against The Grain

10. Group Home – The Legacy

11. Craig G – Ready, Set, Begin

12. Big L – Intro (The Big Picture)

Get a copy of Dj Premier – Slept On Classics Vol 1 for your iTunes

DOWNLOAD

Look out for part 2 coming soon! Any suggestions? Drop them in the comments!

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