Perhaps I’m simply a Married to the Mob hater, but these high tops have left me fairly unimpressed.  While the gold detailing within the metal snaps and grommets and stitching may work for some, it seems a bit gaudy and awkward… Plus, I fucking hate when companies turn their logo into the pattern without thinking their decision through.  Overall, boring.

De La Soul has easily been one of the most consistent pioneer hip hop groups to come out of the 80s.  As a matter of fact, most have either fallen off, retired, fallen into drug and alcohol abuse… but De La has always consistently pushed the envelope and has truly continued to set the stage for many up and coming hip hop acts.  A mixtape full of unreleased remixes, rare tracks, and b-sides?  Yes, please.

From Dj Low Key:

The homie Mikal Hameed aka M11X hit me up a while back to put together a mix for his contribution (pictured on the cd cover above & flyer below) to the now-in-limbo De La Soul – 3 Feet High & Rising Art Tour.  Mikal does “sound sculptures”, pieces of art that can play music from either ipods or turntables and needed something to play on his De La Soul chair.  De La is my favorite group ever, so I was happy to put together a mix of rarities, remixes, guest spots, bootlegs & b-sides that’d please the craziest of De La fanatics for him. Anyways, the De La art tour is still up in the air, but M11X is about to hit the road for some solo shows, so we decided to drop the tape with our homies from Illroots.com on New Year’s Eve as one last tribute to De La as they close out their 20th year in the rap.  The tracklist and links are below and last but least, if you’re in the Bay, make sure to check out M11X’s “Urban Audio Manifesto #2″ show in San Francisco on January 8th.

Download Dj Low Key :: De La Extras #2 here

Track list:

1. DJ Low Key “De La Extras #2 Intro”
2. Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul “Fallin (Remix)”
3. De La Soul “La La La”
4. Joel Turner feat Dave “You”
5. Big Pooh feat. Posdnuos “People (Remix)”
6. Eslam Jawaad feat. De La Soul “Rewind DJ”
7. Malcolm McLaren feat. De La Soul “Hey DJ”
8. De La Soul feat. Sean Paul “Shoomp”
9. De La Soul & Camp Lo “So Good”
10. De La Soul feat. Jazzy Jeff “Hold Tight” aka “Cobb Creek (Demo)”
11. De La Soul “Breakadawn (De La Soul Remix)”
12. Oh No feat. Posdnuos “Smile A Lil Bit”
13. J-Live feat. Posdnuos & Oddisee “The Upgrade”
14. DJ Jazzy Jeff feat. Posdnuos “Let Me Hear U Clap”
15. J Period feat. De La Soul “Excursions”
16. Adam F feat. De La Soul & DV Alias Khrist “Time 4 Da True”
17. Ty feat. De La Soul “The Idea”
18. Nat & Onda feat. De La Soul “It’s A New Thing”
19. Matt & Kim feat. De La Soul “Daylight (Troublemaker Remix)”
20. Jungle Brothers feat. De La Soul, Monie Love, A Tribe Called Quest & Queen Latifah  “Doin Our Own Dang (Richie Fermie Mix)”
21. Queen Latifah feat. De La Soul “Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children”
22. Mint Royale feat. Posdnuos “Show Me”
23. George Clinton feat. De La Soul “Do Fries Go With That Shake”
24. Last Emperor feat. Masta Ace & Trugoy “Clear Day”
25. Rob-O feat. De La Soul & Pete Rock “Stay Away”
26. Truth Enola feat. De La Soul “Voicestress”
27. Bush Babees feat. De La Soul & Mos Def “The Love Song (Remix)”

Whew…. what a fucking song.  It’s kind of creepy to have a chorus that repeats, “just don’t die… today,” over and over but holy fucking shit if this isn’t a super solid talent line-up (I mean, really.. production by Beatnick & K-Salaam, verses by Bun B, 88-Keys, Colin Munroe?).  Be sure to check out Beatnick & K-Salaam‘s mixtape, Where the Streets Have No Name (download here)which features Lil Wayne, U-N-I, Young Buck, and more.

Can I get a loud as hell, “fuck yes” in unison, please?  My fabulous poplemons are aware of my deep love for Jay-Z, but a more little known fact is that I haven’t seen him live, ever.  He just so happens to be coming to my hometown next year.  Is he coming to yours, too?  Oh, Young Jeezy is on the bill too.. but who really cares?

Tickets on sale November 13th through LiveNation

Feb 22 Houston, TX (Toyota Center)
Feb 23 Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center)
Feb 25 New Orleans, LA (New Orleans Arena)
Feb 27 Atlanta, GA (Philips Arena)
Feb 28 Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum Complex)
Mar 03 Washington, DC (Verizon Center)
Mar 07 Norfolk, VA (Scope Arena)
Mar 11 Boston, MA (TD Garden)
Mar 16 Pittsburgh, PA (Mellon Arena)
Mar 19 St. Louis, MO (Scottrade Center)
Mar 20 Indianapolis, IN (Conseco Fieldhouse)
Mar 22 Denver, CO (Pepsi Center)
Mar 24 San Jose, CA (HP Pavilion)
Mar 26 Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center)

*More cities and dates to be announced soon.

Bonus video :: Jay-Z :: Empire State of Mind (NY Yankees Parade)

Stalley‘s mixtape, MadStalley: The Autobiography, hasn’t left my play list since it dropped earlier this summer… A classic case of listening to someone for mad long, having no idea what they look like… I was pleasantly surprised to check out this super fresh video featuring Stalley – and even more impressed with his sweet beard.

Side note:  I’m loving this new trend of artists making videos for mixtape tracks.  Perhaps it’s just another classic example of how releasing a full-length, feature album in 2009 is borderline useless.

Ya’ll know I’m a huge Mickey Factz fan, and be sure to check out the rest of the goodness that is coming from GFCnewyork.

What can I say?  I have damn good taste in music, although I am rather surprised to see Drake on the top of the list as he hasn’t released anything new in a few months.  I think this is the first year ever that another artist has consistently knocked Jay out of the most listened to spot.  Love to the freshman holding it down, namely H.O.P.E., U-N-I, and Hollyweerd.

Feel free to friend me on last.fm here.

More via PopularLemonade about:

Drake

Jay-Z

J. Dilla

U-N-I

Wale

H.O.P.E.

Blu

Exile

I had the pleasure of meeting Just the Tip (please, don’t blame me for his dj name, I tried for months to have him change it, but apparently, he just doesn’t give a fuck) earlier this year, and he’s been one of my most favorite life additions.  Along with always looking so fresh & so clean, this dude has been a source of inspiration musically and has kept me pushing the envelope with new releases, news, whatever.  In other words, he’s pretty fucking fantastic and I’m very pleased to bring you the first (of hopefully many) collaborations between Popular Lemonade & JTT.  You can catch the elusive Just the Tip monster on the random djing events @ Family Affair.

Download here.

Track listing:

1. Donnis ft. Marsha Ambrosius – Here To Stay
2.XV ft. Really Doe – G.O.O.D.
3.CurT@!n$ ft. Gucci Mane – I’m Aiit
4. Slum Village ft. Marsha Ambrosius – Cloud 9
5. Drake – Do It Now
6. Truthlive – 80′s Baby
7. Rashid Hadee – The Wrong Thangs
8. Raheem DeVaughn ft. Phil Ade – Talk $h@# to You
9. Goapele – Milk & Honey
10. Pac Div – No No
11. Warren G ft. Raekwon and Nate Dogg – 100 Miles and Runnin
12. Hawthorne Headhunters x Dam Funk – PCH
13. Samiyam – Rounded
14. Ruckazoid ft. Jesse Boykins III – Shine(Megawave Remix)
15. Big Sean – Million Dollars
16. U-N-I and Ro Blvd. – Lauren London
17. Hi-Res – Yahhhh
18. Phil Ade – it’s Love
19. Mykestro – 60 Barz
20. Ruckazoid – Another World

I love Che Grand as a friend and also as someone who makes some pretty amazing music, but even more so, I love his story.  Born in London to Nigerian parents, Che’s been repping NYC for years now and can be spotted on numerous projects, working with folks like Tanya Morgan, Jay Electronica, Donnie Goines, Colin Munroe, and more.  We’ve been waiting for a full length album from Che for a few years now, and time the has finally come.  Through doing nothing but putting in work, Che’s built an entire fan base.. without a formal album.

I had the pleasure of hearing the album in its entirety a few months ago and was overly surprised – the beats are on point, Che’s on point.  After months of me trying to hustle Che, I finally have the album in my pretty hands and have been a dedicated listener since the moment that Everything’s Good Ugly was loaded into my iTunes.  While the whole album maintains a consistent flow and Che doesn’t seem to tire easily, there are a few stand out tracks in my opinion.  Be sure to check out Gold Chains (Part Duex), City on Fire (seriously, I can’t listen to this track at work because my head starts to nod all crazy and I kinda wanna start dancing on my desk), and Too Much Too Soon feat. Colin Munroe.  A touching song to his daughter, Soraya’s Jam (feat. Benny Sings) is probably one of the best father-daughter tribute rap songs out there.

Everything’s Good Ugly is set to release tomorrow, August 18^th, via iTunes.  Until then, you can download the promo sampler here (which, by the way, was supposed to include a Miss Rachel drop but apparently it was just too sexy for the dj, hater).

Che’s last mixtape, Breakfast @ Wimbledon can be downloaded here.

For more information, check Che’s blog.

Track list for Everything’s Good Ugly:

01. Bless’d ft. Jacob Soul – prod. by Big Neeze
02. Gift Wrap – prod. by Brian Brizzo
03. Swing – prod. by Brian Brizzo
04. Walking Under Ladders ft. Elucid & Spec Boogie – prod. by Illmind
05. Gold Chains Part Deux – prod. by PB
06. Too Much Too Soon ft. Colin Munroe – prod. by Colin Munroe
07. City On Fire – prod. by Big Neeze & PB
08. R E S T A R T (Original) – prod. by PB)
09. Celebrate We – prod. by Wale Oyejide)
10. People Bowling ft Tanya Morgan – prod. by Brian Brizzo
11. Crash – prod by Von Pea of Tanya Morgan
12. Girls Talk feat DbM – prod. by Aeon
13. I Know You Still Want Me – prod. by Aeon
14. Life’s Grand ft. N.icky (of Heavy) – prod. by Aeon
15. Large Hadron Collider – prod. by Suhburb
16. Chateau Gold – prod. by Brian Brizzo
17. Soraya’s Jam ft. Benny Sings – prod. by Benny Sings
18. Across The Sky – prod. by Suhburb

Big ups to Dj Low Key for the introduction earlier this year, who was also responsible for mixing Che’s limited edition Fixtape project.

Weezy sports tattoos on his eyelids which read, “fear” on his right eyelid, an ‘&’ sign on the middle of his forehead, and “god” tattooed on his left eyelid.    “M.O.B.’ adorns his chest, which means “Money over Bitches,” he has “Hot Boy” tattooed between both of his hands.  Above his eyebrow it reads, “I am music” in red ink.  Right around his hairline he has “Misunderstood” printed in jail-type ball point pen & a needle script.  I can’t leave out the played out, gang related tears on his cheek either.  While most of his body is tattooed, my favorite is the AK-7 he has tattooed on his palm.  That has to be kind of awesome when bitch slapping some hoes.

Just like his raps, The Game’s tattoos pay homage to West Coast legends including NWA (on his chest),   Tupac appearing as an angel (upper arm),  Eazy E (right forearm), and a G-Unot (yes, U-not) on his forearm.  Perhaps most well known by the huge LA tattoo on his face, it’s clear to me that jocking past rappers to the point of complete annoyance by his listeners has caused dude to lose his mind on some Mike Tyson shit.  Maybe that’s just me.

Pharrell dons tattoos of angels on his neck and forearm.  I got word last year that he’s trying some new scientific tattoo removal which involved growing his skin cells and replanting them over his tattoos.  Dude must be too diva to handle laser tattoo removal.  Isn’t there something weird about removing angel tattoos anyway?

50 Cent is definitely no stranger to the needle either (funny how ironic that is, really).  With a big ass back piece carrying his name, as well as tattoos of Jesus (neck), the head of the devil, his mother’s name with the text “Ghetto Angel” (arm), the name “Beau” (neck) and a posse of angel images adorning most of his upper body, he’s sure to regret some of that shit when he’s 80.

My favorite asshole pretty boy, Kanye West is locked in for life on his left forearm with a Maya Angelo poem.  All I can really say is how very ‘Kanye’ of him.  He also rocks a dragon tattoo, which I’m sure he got when the whole tribal / dragon shit was actually popular.

It seems to me that Eminem had like, 3 tattoos and then the next time I saw dude, he had multiplied that number by 90.  2006devistated Em the death of D-12 group member, Proof so much that he dedicated his whole arm to him (pictured).  Other tattoos include “D / 12″ spread across both arms (I bet you’re regretting that one, eh, Em?), the infamous “Rot in Peace” tattoo above his belly button (in dedication to his ex wife, how romantic), a portrait of his daughter, and the words, “Slit me” on his wrist.

HONORABLE MENTIONS :: Paul Wall, Eve

Bonus video :: Nas ruins Brandon Bond plans with an Ak-47 / Malcom X tattoo:

ENOUGH WITH THE LAME ASS INTROS AND SKITS.

It was questionably okay when i was 16, now it’s just kind of weird.  If you want to act so bad, make ’8 Mile Two.’  Also, quit rapping about your mom.  Understandable when you’re 25 and angry, not so much when you’re 35.

Awful :: My Mom, We Made You

3.5-star :: Hello, Old Times Sake, Deja Vu

Quite frankly, I spent a whole five minutes skipping through this whole album and found little to be stoked about whatsoever.  This album would have been fantastic if I was still 16… maybe.  Regardless, if Em pulls this album off and it’s well received, I got nothin’ but respect for a dude who’s managed to have a successful career the entire way through.

I can;t hate on Em too much, I was totally enamored with Eminem enough to do some research. My dude Adam from Detroit used to send me hella Detroit mixtapes back in the day and I remember hi sending me Infinite and I chucked it into the bin and never thought twice about it… until the dude got famous.  I remember seeing the video for his first single and thinking… what… the… fuck….?

From there, I was a fan.  In the last 5 years, dude brought this lackluster shit to me that I had a hard time even listening to.

It is what it is, I suppose.