WE REQUIRE CERTAIN SKILLS

For those of you who think we’re just becoming a Chiddy Bang fanblog….well, you’re kind of right. But after Chiddy and Xaphoon keep dropping flawless remixes of Cee-Lo, Darwin Deez, Ellie Goulding, etc., can you really blame us? The latest gem is their reworking of The Naked & Famous’ “Young Blood,” which seamlessly works the original vocals and 8-bit sounding synths in with Chiddy’s trademark pop-culture riddled verses.

As an added bonus, check out Chiddy and Theodore Grams freestyle over the adorably hateful “Bad Day,” marking the third time Xaphoon Jones has remixed Darwin Deez.

MP3: The Naked & Famous – “Young Blood (Chiddy Bang Remix)”
MP3: Chiddy Bang – “Bad Day (ft. Darwin Deez)”

Love,
Zack

I GOT THE WORLD IN MY HANDS, THE MASTER PLAN

Kanye West is one of the most highly controversial musicians of our generation, with everyone and their mother having some sort of opinion on him. Some hate him for the “I’mma let you finish” fiasco (though you have to love the internet meme-fiesta it spawned). Others hate him for his autotune experimentation on 808s and Heartbreak. Others still hate him for just being all-around arrogant and self-important.

Count me out of the Kanye hate parade. I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely love the guy. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I bumped College Dropout exclusively for an entire Summer. Maybe it’s because his beats are hands down the most creative, potent, and intricate in popular music these days. Or maybe it’s because his swagger is so goddamn genuine that it’s just refreshing to see someone be honest. I think it’s all of those things, plus the fact that he called Franz Ferdinand “White Crunk” and worked with Bon Iver on his new album, (oh, and his flawless twitter game). Kanye has been leaking songs on what he calls G.O.O.D. Friday for the past few weeks, and nearly everything has been absolutely top notch, save for “Runaway.” “Monster” features the angriest verse I’ve ever heard from Nicki Minaj and the beat is out of control; “Devil in a New Dress” is vintage Kanye; “So Appalled” features great verses from hip-hop’s best; and “Lost in the World,” which features Bon Iver singing his epic, “The Woods,” is actually too awesome to post.

His latest track, “Christian Dior Denim Flow” is instrumentally creative and sonically abrasive, and the verses contributed by ‘Ye, Pusha T, Lloyd Banks, John Legend, Ryan Leslie, and KiD CuDi are just plain dirty, especially Pusha T’s. Brace yourself folks, the real Kanye West is back, and he’s fucking angry.

MP3: Kanye West – “Christian Dior Denim Flow (ft. John Legend, Pusha T, Lloyd Banks, KiD CuDi, & Ryan Leslie)”

Love,
Zack

IF I WAS RICHER, I’D STILL BE WITH YA

Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You” has been blasting on the stereos of every ATG writer for the past few weeks, and since you’d literally have to have never encountered this series of tubes we call the internets to miss it, we opted not to post it. We will, however, post the inevitable Chiddy Bang remix of said uber-mecha-saiyen-epic-barbrastresand jam, entitled “The Fuck You (Remix).” In typical fashion, Chiddy raps over a Xaphoon Jones crafted sample of a popular indie track (see: “Kids,” “All Things Go,” “Under the Sheets,” etc.). The result is, predictably, awesome.

MP3: Chiddy Bang – “The Fuck You (Remix)”

Love,
Zack

I’M A SPHERE THEY A SQUARE THEY CAN’T EVEN COME AROUND

Love him or hate him, Wale is basically the only hope D.C. hip hop has to make a mark on the national scene. So yeah, his debut LP was a big disappointment. Yeah, he’s somewhat unwilling to accept some blame for his album’s failure (you’d understand if you follow his twitter). Most of his mixtapes, though, have always allowed Wale to display his true colors. Unquestionable talent oozes from every clever turn of phrase and imaginative verse. No recent track demonstrates this better than his freestyle over Gyptian’s “Hold Yuh.” From cheeky pop culture references to confident bravado, it gets me excited to see Wale remember how he built a cult following, and play to that. Yeah, Wale’s always been egotistical, but on “Hold Yuh,” he’s the good kind, the rapper kind, not the ‘it’s not my fault my album was a flop’ kind.

MP3: Wale – “Hold Yuh (Freestyle)”

Love,
Zack

NOW THEY’RE PLACING IT ON THEIR TONGUES

Fool’s Gold is at it again, this time with an absurd remix of Local Natives’ “Wide Eyes,” featuring Atlanta-bred Aristotle Pop a Bottle. The verse isn’t that hot, but the synths are grimy and their take on the seemingly quiet and un-rap-like Local Natives ditty makes the song intriguing.

MP3: Local Natives – “Eyes Wide (Fool’s Gold Remix ft. Aristotle Pop a Bottle)”

Love,
Zack

We Get Up Early Just to Start Cranking the Generator

A relatively new and positively refreshing relationship has been forged between hip hop and blog-buzz bands. The ever-growing list includes Kid CuDi (who has sampled everything from Vampire Weekend to Band of Horses), Chiddy Bang (MGMT, Sufjan Stevens, Hot Chip, etc.) and Theophilus London (Discovery, Ellie Goulding). Now it’s time to add a new name to that list; Gilbere Forte‘ (pronounced Jil-bear For-tay). The Flint, Michigan native has just released a new single, “1st Floor,” and is blowing up the blogosphere with his clever integration of Freelance Whales “Generator ^ 1st Floor.” The track was produced by Passion Pit’s Aislyn, so naturally it’s flawless. Grab “1st Floor” below, and pray for more hip hop/indie incest in the near future.

MP3: Gilbere Forte’ – “1st Floor (ft. Freelance Whales)”

Love,
Zack

Speakin of Positions, Just Witness How I Elevate it

Simple math:

J. Cole > Drake.

And I like Drake, so, yeah, J. Cole is legit. My friend Jacob would punch me if he read that I was finally on the Cole World bandwagon (good thing he doesn’t read ATG) since he’s been boosting him for almost a year now. Jermain Cole got his first break with a cameo on Jay-Z’s Blueprint III on “A Star is Born,” and his cunning lyricism shined through even then. This top notch flow is much more evident on his more recent leaked tracks, “Who Dat” and “Higher.” I suck at describing hip hop, so just listen for yourselves and get ready for J. Cole on the radio every day from here on out.

MP3: J. Cole – “Who Dat”
MP3: J. Cole – “Higher”

Cole is the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s new Roc Nation record label so, even if his release is lackluster, it’ll still sell a disgusting amount of copies.

Love,
Zack

Lemons in Their Face Watch ‘Em Freeze Up

There is no cooler rap song in the past year than Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade.” From the boasts about his “yellow living room set” to the minimalist piano hook courtesy of Bangladesh, the song just bleeds swagger. I mean, fuck, I feel comfortable blasting it in my gray Honda Accord, which is saying something. Now you may think I’m just gonna drop “Lemonade” on y’all below and get on with it.

FALSE. Instead, I bring Gucci up because his song is sampled pretty fantastically on the new Major Lazer/La Roux collabo mixtape, Major Lazer & La Roux Presents LazerProof. The song, a quasi-mashup of La Roux’s “I’m Not Your Toy” and a watered-down hook from “Lemonade,” is exactly what you’d expect: Gucci Mane Major Lazer-fied. So go pour yourself a codeine-infused lemonade and pop on this jam.

MP3: Major Lazer & La Roux – “I’m Not Your Lemonade (Heroes n Villains Remix) [ft. Gucci Mane]”

Check the awesome video for “Lemonade” after the jump:

No One Man Should Have All That Power

Kanye West is officially back, and nobody is more excited than yours truly. Call me whatever you want, but I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘Ye ever since bumping College Dropout every day during the summer of my sophomore year of high school. I loved Late Registration, liked Graduation, and loathed 808s and Heartbreak. While that career trajectory doesn’t necessarily spell success for his fifth output, Good Ass Job, “Power” does. The first single off his next release, aided by Dwele, represents Kanye’s return to what he does best; grandiose beats, catchy hooks, and egotistical lyrics. This is Dropout/Registration Kanye with more anger, swagger, and production skills. This is the Kanye I was waiting for after Graduation. It may have come an album too late, but at least it’s finally here.

MP3: Kanye West – “Power”

Rumor has it Good Ass Job relies heavily on production from Pete Rock & RZA, which is pretty exciting news.

Love,
Zack

From Block to Block We Snatchin’ Hearts and Jackin’ Marks

As if I could get any nerdier (see: Team Teamwork’s Ocarina of Rhyme post), I recently got an e-mail from a man by the name of Alex Kresovich (who apparently lists Team Teamwork as an influence) imploring me to listen to something called Gold N’ Fly: 007. Given that I played Goldeneye for N64 so much that I had memorized spawning points and would whoop up on unsuspecting friends, I was naturally curious. I downloaded the mixtape, which turned out to feature some of my favorite hip-hop songs mashed up with the soundtrack to each immeasurably awesome level of the game, from Dam to Cradle, and even Aztec and Temple (whatup norks!?). The songs work inexplicably well, and I have since tried to bump them at every party we’ve thrown since. The typical response from the girl is “who is this weirdo?” but the response from the bros is uncontrollable excitement and nostalgia for a simpler time. A time when James Bond dominated the scene, Natalya was the love interest, and Oddjob was off-limits for multiplayer cause he was so short and hard to shoot, no fair. Check out the two highlights, and grab yourself a copy of the mixtape here.

MP3: Alex Kresovich – “Rich Boy – Throw Some D’s (Frigate)”
MP3: Alex Kresovich – “2Pac – Holler if You Hear Me (Facility)”

For England, James? No, for me……..

Love,
Zack