I’m a firm believer that music has the power to inspire people to go out and pursue their lifelong dreams. All it takes is a soulful song with compelling lyrics.
A perfect example of that is Aloe Blacc’s powerful new single “I Need a Dollar.” You might be familiar with the track as its the theme song to HBO’s new series How to Make It in America. The song is a soulful anthem for those struggling to make a dollar out of 15 cents. Blacc, a California rapper-turned-crooner, is working on his new LP Good Times, which is due to drop later this year.
Check out this interesting collaboration: Legendary reggae crooner Barrington Levy has teamed up with Snoop Dogg and Mims for the hardcore track “Watch Dem (Murder).” Obviously, the track is an updated version of Levy’s classic reggae song “Murderer,” which still holds up today.
Barrington Levy (F/ Snoop Dogg & Mims) – Watch Dem Murder
Meanwhile, hip-hop producer Madlib will release a proper mixtape called Madlib Medicine Show No. 4: 420 Chalice All-Stars, aka Son of Super Ape. The 79-minute collection will feature Jamaican sounds of dub, reggae and roots. The disc hits stores on April 20 to commemorate “420,” an annual gathering in which “weed”-minded people will come together to smoke marijuana at 4:20 pm. The CD also has a 12-page booklet with a listing of every medicinal marijuana dispensary in Madlib’s native city of Los Angeles.
Speaking of mixtapes, there are so many mixtapes hitting the Internet, I can’t even keep up. Here are several that caught my ears.
Rapper-actor Common’s drops his mixtape Just Wright Mixtape Vol. 1, which boasts 16 soulful tracks inspired by his upcoming basketball romantic-comedy, Just Wright (in theaters May 14).
DOWNLOAD: Common Presents: Just Wright Mixtape Vol. 1
Meanwhile, for his next mixtape, rapper Fashawn is doing something that’s considered audacious to the hip-hop purists. The young whipper-snapper will remixed Nas’ classic 1994 debut album Illmatic. The Fresno, Calif. emcee is bringing his west-coast perspective to such tracks as “Memory Lane” and “Life’s a Bitch” (featuring Talib Kweli).
Fashawn – Life’s a Bitch (F/ Talib Kweli)
After several delays, Rhymefest will finally release his long-awaited second LP, El Che, on May 18. To get his fans prepare for the onslaught, he dropped Dangerous: 5-18 mixtape, which was mixed DJ RTC. Check out the funky song “I Can’t Help It” from Fest’s Dangerous mixtape.
OutKast member Big Boi is bringing the funk with his latest single, “Shutterbugg” from upcoming solo debut Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (due July 6). The most surprising thing about this song is that it was produced by Scott Storch, a once-prominent hitmaker, who became a drug addict and lost his entire multimillion-dollar fortune. Storch, who is now clean and sober, maybe on his way back to chart-topping stardom with this track. Seriously, “Shutterbug” is one helluva funky jam! It has a lot of stank on it! Plus, it makes me yearn for another OutKast album.
And fellow ATLien B.o.B. released this rock-tinged single from his upcoming disc The Adventures of Bobby Ray (due April 27).
We are now going to head to the midwest and check out Minneapolis rhyme-spitter Muja Messiah who is on the grind with his song “Bobby’s Angels.” The track is from Mr. Peter Parker’s mixtape Grind Season Go Getters Vol. 1 (hosted by J. Cole). To hear more hot joints from Muja, check out his 2008 album Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy. My favorite track from the collection is “Growing Pains.”
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are among the 80 billion-trillion people who have seen Erykah Badu’s booty-ful video for “Window Seat.” But how many of you have seen the parody clips that soon followed? Funnyman Donnell Rawlings (aka “Ashy Larry”) filmed this hilarious spoof of “Window Seat.” You may want to hide the kids before pressing play on this one.
Finally, I’m going leave you with two videos from Nardwuar the Human Serviette or whom I like to call the “idiot” savant. I’m not hating on the guy, but his “schtick” for doing extensive research on his interviewing subjects shouldn’t be played up as comedy. Believe it or not, it’s actually called journalism. But I digress . . .
The clips feature two interviews with Atlanta rhyme-slayer Killer Mike and Bay Area rap linguist Mister Fab. These two rappers talk at length about their regional history in hip-hop as it relates to Willie Hutch’s classic 1973 album The Mack. Watch and learn some mack hip-hop lessons.
