Side One Track One

It’s nearly the end of the month and it’s clear to us all now that April just plain sucked (unless you got married or whatever – congrats). But for the US as a whole, and Texas and Boston especially, kind of a shitty time. So let’s just all collectively exhale and try to start May off on a better note. I made this mix for you including new tracks from k-os, Das Racist, RZA, Shlohmo, The Hood Internet, Lakutis, and Zilla Rocca so you can start early. Love you guys.

:Dilated Peoples, Havoc, And Guru – Worst Comes To Worst (Remix):
:Diamond District – In The Ruff:
:Shlohmo – Bo Peep (Do U Right):
:The Hood Internet – Ignition (1901 Remix) (R Kelly x Phoenix):
:k-os – Spraying My Pen (Featuring Saukrates And Shad):
:Das Racist And A Tribe Called Red – Indians From All Directions:
:Lana Del Ray – National Anthem (Cashmere Cat Remix):
:K.Flay – Hail Mary (Featuring Danny Brown):
:Blackalicious – Deception:
:Zilla Rocca And The Shadoboxers – Blood On Blood Converse (Featuring Curly Castro):
:Space Camp Death Squad – Southern Hospitality:
:Lakutis – Death Shark:
:Mindz Of A Different Kind – I Will Find You:
:Salt N Pepa – None Of Your Business:
:James Blake – Take a Fall for Me (Featuring RZA):
:Handsome Boy Modeling School – I’ve Been Thinking:

I’m so happy we all survived SXSW. I made us a playlist because we’re such troopers, and there are some artists on there that I got to see live during SXSW, like Open Mike Eagle (amazing), Willie Green (phenomenal and has a new album out called We Live In The Future), Psalm One (awesome and with an album forthcoming this fall from Rhymesayers). But I’m just here to bring you a mix of some nice tracks for your Friday, maybe introduce you to some artists or tracks you haven’t heard before, and get you a pleasant soundtrack for your Friday. How’m I doing, John? Can I get a raise? Or, like, anything?

Please enjoy the mix below, and I’ll be at the Rollergirls bout tomorrow showing up for my girl Sarah St. John if you want to come and eat pizza and talk about hip hop.

:Open Mike Eagle – Cobra Commander (Featuring Danny Brown):
:Shlohmo – Bo Peep (Do U Right) (Featuring Jeremih):
:Big K.R.I.T. – Shine On (Featurting Bun B):
:More Or Les – Brunch Again:
:Chance The Rapper – Juice:
:DXT – Black Hole Universe:
:Zuzuka Poderosa – Seda (Jubilee Burt Fox Remix):
:Psalm One – Macaronu And Cheese (Featuring Ka Di):
:S.A. Smash – Devil In The Hole:
:Canibus – 2000 BC:
:Blue Scholars – Seijun Suzuki:
:Wes Felton – Queasy (Featuring The LB Fantastic 4):
:Greydon Square – War Porn (Featuring Canibus):
:Schooly D – It’s Krak:
:Milk – Blunted (Featuring SelphConscious):

Bonus Track:

Happy Friday! I don’t know if you’re excited that it’s nearly the end of February, or if you’re stressed that the beginning of the year seems to be going by so quickly because, well, I don’t know who you are. You seem cool, though.

However you’re feeling today, I hope you’re enjoying the moment right now, whether this mix provides you with a respite from work, or gives you a soundtrack for your day or weekend. In a too philosophical-for-me way this week, I’ve been contemplating the moment, and how important being present is.  I ain’t even sappy y’all, because all this has a secret point, and because it’s me, a hidden agenda:

So much of life is very fleeting: your drive to work today, you reading this blog post right now (so meta), etc. I work in an industry where the very essence of it is the passage of time. I’m talking about radio. It’s one of those intangible joys you can’t capture, quite literally. It’s here and then it’s gone; but it’s full of so much opportunity for discovery and self-expression, that even if you can’t hold it, it’s worth it.

My radio station, KOOP Community Radio 91.7FM in Austin is currently holding its Spring Membership Drive.  I hope you’ll take this opportunity to acknowledge the metaphysical impermanence of radio and make a financial donation to KOOP in support of the immateriality of existence.  The station can’t continue without people like you who love the music, the medium, and the discovery. You may be able to listen to this playlist over and over, but radio is singular, and without it, this playlist wouldn’t exist.

Alright, I’ll let you off the hook now. Go crazy this weekend, kids.

:Signif – Soul Clap:
:Aesop Rock, C Rayz Walz, And Vast Aire – Karma Killerz:
:Illmind – Deloach (Featuring Bavu Blakes And Poison):
:Prince Paul – You Made Me (A.K.C.):
:DJ Vadim – Your Revolution (Featuring Sarah Jones):
:Illmind – Strange Fruit Project (Featuring Little Brother):
:Copperpot – Blow (Featuring Psalm One):
:African Underground – Abass:
:MIA – 10$:
:Eternia And Moss – Any Man:
:Jean Grae – Killing Em (Featuring Pharoahe Monch):
:Ill Breed Militia – What’s An I-Eleven:
:Macklemore – White Privilege:
:The Blueprint – 1988:
:DJ Magic Mike And MC Madness – 16 Slow Draggin:

Did you guys hear about Lupe Fiasco getting escorted off the stage by security at a pre-inaugural concert for performing a thirty minute song railing against Obama? This is the kind of thing I can get behind, and I LIKE Obama. Don’t be afraid to be loud, y’all. This little story has nothing to do with this month’s mix though. I just wanted to mention it because it’s one of my favorite stories this week, and you should check out Lupe’s new album Food & Liquor II because it’s pretty good. I really appreciate the fact that he pretty much had commercial success in the palm of his hands and basically went, “Y’know what? I’m just gonna say what I believe about the state of the world, even if it’s controversial, and even if a lot of people don’t like it, AND EVEN IF my corporate overlords are trying to prove definitively that the only thing that sells records are hyper-racist depictions of black life that glamorize guns, drugs, crime and misogyny.” Yeah, I like that he did that.

I also made you a sweet January mix of other stuff I like, and I hope you like it too.

There’s a sweet hip hop show tonight at Hotel Vegas featuring Fat Tony, Space Camp Death Squad (previously on a mix here), Ditch Witch, Norman Base, and P-Tek. You should come out and say hi and support some Texas hip hop.

:Common Market – Black Patch War:
:Pillowfight – Get Your Shit Together:
:Rick Ross – 100 Black Coffins:
:Lupe Fiasco – Strange Fruition (Featuring Casey Benjamin):
:Common – A Dream (Featuring Will.I.Am):
:The Coup – Wavip (Featuring Das Racist And Killer Mike):
:Mad One And Ruler Why – Mhhmmm Mhmmm:
:Talib Kweli And Z-Trip – Congregation (Featuring Black Thought And Ab-soul):
:Big Jus – Empire Is A Bitch (Fake Arab Spring Mix):
:Roc Marciano – Peru:
:Akala – Where I’m From:
:Mister RP – Diamonds Aren’t Enough:
:Azeem -Going Dumb VS Going To Brazil:
:Guru – Lift Your Fist (Featuring The Roots):

Happy holidays, everyone! If there’s anything we can truly be grateful for this year, make it novelty hip hop.

Tune in Sunday to KOOP 91.7FM to hear this mix live on the radio!

:Sweet Tee – Let The Jingle Bells Rock:
:Dirty Boyz – All I Want For Christmas (Dirty):
:Random – Wishlist:
:Quad City DJs, The 69 Boyz, and K-Nock – What You Want For Christmas:
:The Grand Rapmasters – O Come All Ye Faithful:
:Audio Two – A Christmas Rhyme:
:RUN DMC – Christmas Is:
:King Sun-D Moet – Christmas In The City:
:M Smith – Ebony’s A Scrooge:
:Blackilicious – Toy Jackpot:
:Christmas On Death Row – Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto:
:Derek B – Chillin With Santa:
:B-Fast And G-Slow – Lil’ Bass Boi:
:Cut Master DC – The Night Before Christmas:
:Tracy Morgan – A Jordan Xmas:
:Spyder D – Ghetto Santa:

1. Killer Mike – R.A.P Music

In perhaps the most flawless and listenable album of this year, Killer Mike and El-P team up to make R.A.P. Music, a combination of ferocious lyrics and dirty, hard beats. The tracks tell the story of a young Killer Mike growing up in the south and seeing the world around him change with drugs and the evolution of rap music. It’s emotional without being manipulative, and it’s banging without being trendy. Also, I hate Reagan.

:Killer Mike – Reagan:

2.  P.O.S. – We Don’t Even Live Here

This album is just ridiculous in the best way possible.  Mixing live instrumentation with electro drops and pulses, P.O.S. has produced the most original-sounding hip-hop album I’ve heard in a number of years.  Pair that with exceptional and cutting lyricism and you have yourself a top five album.

:POS – Bumper:

3. Plan B – Ill Manors

Ill Manors, which was written in response to the London riots of March (and effectively putting Plan B on the map), fits so well on this dark album that you’d think the album was built around it.  It likely was.  I love its escalating bitterness, its political bent, and especially its concert violin interaction with the spare and then converging beat.

:Plan B – Ill Manors:

4. El-P – Cancer For Cure

I’ve always loved El-P slightly more as a producer than an MC, but on Cancer For Cure, I think he really steps up his lyrical game to match his amazing shifts in time and rhythm signatures.

:El-P – Drones Over BKLN:

5. Brother Ali – Mourning In America And Dreaming in Color

Honestly, I’m so against the corporate game in hip hop, which I feel censors provocative or anti-establishment MCs, that virtually any truth-telling lyricism is likely to raise an album’s rating in my eyes.  Brother Ali has a long history of railing against the government, and he does a good job of it on this album.  So, while it might not be as sonically pleasing as other albums I listened to this year (i.e. Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, Roc Marciano’s Reloaded, Action Bronson and Alchemist’s Rare Chandeliers, etc), the fact that Brother Ali is willing to say the stuff he is makes it worth it to me to elevate the album to top five status in order to support and reinforce the idea that hip hop is about communication, revolution, and community at its essence.

:Brother Ali – Mourning In America:

Those that know me know that I have an enormous amount of respect for hip hop – that’s why I listen to it, do a radio show about it, and love it with a fire to rival the summer heat in Austin. However, having a great respect for an art form does not preclude me from reveling in said form when it just gets totally silly.  Because of that, I am a total sucker for novelty hip hop and I sure hope you are too because this month’s mix is all Halloween novelty hip hop curated by yours truly. Enjoy and be safe on Halloween, you crazy kids!

:DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince – A Nightmare On My Street:
:Aesop Rock – Homemade Mummy:
:Binary Star – Wolf Man Jack:
:MC Chris – Halloween:
:Onyileatron5000 – The Crazy Organistinator:
:Ill Gill And TG – Halloween Costume:
:Run DMC – Ghostbusters:
:Doug E Fresh And The Get Fresh Crew – Spirit:
:Braille – Frankenstein:
:FELT – Ghost Dance Deluxe:
:Man Mantis – Come Into My Parlor:
:Something Anything – Monster Rock:
:People Under the Stairs – Creepshow:
:MC Esoteric – Zombie:
:Mac Miller -  Born On Halloween (Featuring Ghosty):
:Dr Dre – Murder Ink (Instrumental):

Just in case you didn’t know, 1989 was a pretty amazing year.  For one, the USSR pulled out of Afghanistan after a nine-year occupation (man, they had the right idea there).  Also, apartheid in South Africa begins to be dismantled by the new Prime Minister.  The Velvet Revolution in Prague and the Cultural Revolution in China start up. And Ronald Goddamn Reagan finally leaves the White House. In case you weren’t aware, there was also some significant and incredible hip hop made that year amid some serious international turmoil.  Today I’ve compiled a brief sample to begin your research.

Also, if you’ve been on the fence about coming out to the Austin Mic Exchange on Sundays from 8-10PM at the 29th Street Ballroom, you should get off that fence, dude. You could hurt yourself.  It’s been just an awesome experience so far and a great way to spend a Sunday evening.  I’ll even buy you a beer if you mention this blog post! Locals Space Camp Death Squad and P-Tek from last month’s mix are always there and entertaining.

:Public Enemy – Fight The Power:
:Ice-T – Shut Up, Be Happy:
:Ice-T – This One’s for Me:
:Boogie Down Productions – You Must Learn:
:De La Soul – Plug Tunin’:
:Jungle Brothers – Doin’ Our Own Dang:
:Special Ed – I Got It Made:
:Beastie Boys – 3-Minute Rule:
:Eric B And Rakim – Microphone Fiend (Album Version):
:MC Lyte – Stop, Look, Listen:
:Queen Latifah – Wrath Of My Madness:
:Neneh Cherry – So Here I Come:
:JVC Force – Strong Island ’89:
:Def Jef – Downtown:
:Gangstarr – Manifest:

Alright guys, the game is up. The students are back from summer travels and we have to rescind our bar stools and parking spaces to their butts and their cars and retreat to our comfort zones in east and southside bars.  We have to give back their dance music and act all adult and shit.  Here’s your adult mix.  Not too adult though, because who really wants to grow up??

KOOP 91.7FM, the radio station where Hip Hop Hooray lives, and the reason for its existence, is currently holding a fund drive to stay on the air.  I hope if you appreciate the mixes I bring you every month, and ever listen to the show itself, you’ll consider making a pledge to KOOP here.  If you put “SOTO” in the comments, I’ll include a very special gift in return for your donation!

Also, side note: Hip Hop Hooray is sponsoring a hip hop open mic on Sunday, September 9th at 29th Street Ballroom from 8-10 PM and every Sunday thereafter. You should come out and see the birth of new rap, which is way less gross than regular birth.  All the details are here.  I’ll be the lady in the Hip Hop Hooray shirt. Say hi!

:Dark Time Sunshine – ANX (Featuring Mendee Ichikawa):
:Kam Moye – MK-Ultra (Featuring Baba Zumbi):
:Bizarre Tribe – Runnin’:
:Ana Tijoux – La Nueva Condena:
:DJ Kentaro – Lapis Lazuli:
:P-Tek – This Bridge Is Burning For You (Featuring Dessa):
:Kool Keith – Plastic World:
:J-Live – It Don’t Stop:
:Space Camp Death Squad -  Kiss From A Rose (Featuring Sabrina Ellis):
:Schoolboy Q – There He Go:
:Aceyalone, Bionik, Chali 2na – Eazy:
:Danny Brown – Grown Up:
:Babbletron – The Clock Song:
:Rick Ross – Ashamed:
:A-rif – Brief Moments Of Profound Self Importance:
:Why – Sod In The Seed:

Catch Miss Manners when she hosts KOOP 91.7FM’s Hip Hop Hooray on Sunday’s from 2-3PM. Also, feel free to email or tweet her anytime.