Cougar Microbes

South Jamaica Queens rapper and producer K. Sparks has been on our radar for a while. Having self released a steady stream of accomplished releases it was only a matter of time before people sat up and took notice.

There is an admirable old school quality to his jams that makes them both hard hitting yet crucially they will have you coming back for repeat listens.

Looking forward to hearing more fresh tracks from the NYC man in 2012.

TRACKS:

Apple Jacks Feat Jarren Benton (Scratches By DJ Bobby Bob) by K. Sparks

Nostalgic Lights by K. Sparks

Renaissance by K. Sparks

While their buddies are content with having a good time and bragging about their resume two of hip-hops best lyrical pioneers, Common and Nas, bring us ‘Ghetto Dreams‘.

The raw and gritty No I.D. production takes the feeling of the tune back to the 90’s. This is the lead single off of Common‘s 9th studio release ‘The Dreamer, The Believer‘.

Masterful.

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TRACKS:

 ’Michael Jackson‘, the track,  is clearly Das Racist, yet with crushing fluency at a whole new level.

pulling in a Weezyish push and grind beat a la ‘6 foot 7‘ or  ’A Milli‘, yet injecting the lyrical curiosities we’ve all grown to love.

“Michael Jackson… hakuna matata… yeah I’m fucking great at rappppping”

“i’m dj Khaled, i’m a daikon radish, see me next to sushi sexually, i’ll sex your coochie”

Quoting their own lyrics I can pretty much sum up the feeling I get when listening, “watching parenthood on ketamine at the hotel“. Nauseatingly neurotic in a good way, and still managing to switch up and rearrange a stellarly sampled beat.

you feel me? holler!

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TRACKS:

A collaboration between Pusha T and Tyler, The Creator could have either been disastrous or brilliant. Fortunately the Neptunes-produced ‘Trouble On My Mind‘ steers strictly in the latter direction.

Whilst this is an impressive first taste of Pusha‘s upcoming release ‘Fear Of God Part 2: Let Us Pray‘ I’m particularly happy to see Tyler adopting the mainstream whilst simultaneously giving it a middle finger salute.

‘Fear Of God Part 2: Let Us Pray‘ is due out in August, the single is out now.

TRACKS:

I have been meaning to write about Tyler, The Creator and the whole Odd Future phenomenon for a while. Originally I was planning to feature ‘Yonkers‘ as part of our Weekend Videos feature but by the time I got to see the video it had already racked 6 million hits.

Surely there weren’t that many more people still left I thought and I was wrong because the video now stands at over double that somewhere in the region of 13 million hits. Not bad for an LA skater kid with a questionable attitude.

You may be familiar with Amp Live for his reworking of some of the best moments from Radiohead‘s ‘In Rainbows‘ album. Personally I completely loved him for the work done on Cougar favourites WHY? and their catalogue.

In any case he has gone and joined forces with Jazz Mafia to recreate these interesting re-runs from ‘Goblin‘. I had been wondering how long it would take before some decent remixes from would pop out, I just didn’t expect something like this to be made.

TRACKS:

And just like that Jeff Spec becomes the first artist to be featured twice on Weekend Videos and realistically we couldn’t miss this one.

With ‘Clyde Stubblefiled‘ the Vancouver native pays tribute to 80s idols like Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap. Check out the hot break dancing in the video from the Soul Felons crew.

Jeff Spec‘s latest album ‘Sneakerboxxx‘ is out now.

TRACKS:

Jeff Spec – Clyde Stubblefield

Big Boi‘s ‘Shutterbug’ has been one of the biggest hits of the past few months showcasing the rapper in impressive form. its is therefore no surprise that producers and djs worldwide are flocking to fiddle with it.

The legendary The Hood Internet give it a laid back vibe by mixing it with Foals’ Miami single to great effect.

Having just featured The White Panda taking on Duck Sauce last week it is awesome how prolific these guys are. This time they mixed Big Boi with Discovery achieving a similarly laid back feel though perhaps hinting more at the electro roots of the original.

Elsewhere Brooklyn‘s Sub Swara give it a much more eerie feel in their remix. This is a taster before the duo release their second album in November and is sure to get people talking.

Which treatment is your favourite? Let us know in the comments section

TRACKS:

Sub Swara vs Big Boi – Shutterbug (Sub Swara Remix)

For todays Weekend Videos here is some positive hip-hop courtesy of Jeff Spec & D-City. 

I think it is time to sit up and start paying attention to the Vancouver scene.

TRACKS:

Jeff Spec & D-City – Birds