"My Rollie so Racist, All Black Faces"

After making a big splash with his debut album Camp, @donaldglover is back for round two in the form of a new mixtape. The yet to be titled mixtape is supposed to drop next week and will feature the previously released track Unnecessary with @SCHOOLBOYQ and his new one below featuring a verse from @nipseyhussle and production from one of Canada's finest, @Boi1da. Also, it's the first feature I've seen from Boi-1da proteges The Maven Brothers (@zalezy and @BretRyan).

Luckily for us, Donald was nice enough to post the track for download on his website along with an interesting commentary by Big Ghost aka Childish Gambino/Donald Glover imitating Ghostface Killah while providing commentary on new songs...

The lyrics on Black Faces of American Chariot (according to @samspratt the artist who provided the cover art) go hard and send a clear message that the new kids on the block are on some new shit. They're about gaining and keeping wealth instead of spending wealth so their family and future generations can come up. It's an interesting, enlightened message that is clearly aimed at a new school train of thought. I say more power to them, there's a lot of intelligence in that message.

Keep an eye out for that new mixtape next week and if you're like me, you've already signed on to see Childish live this summer on his Camp Tour...#SummerConcerts

Childish Gambino feat Nipsey Hussle - Black Faces (American Chariot) (prod by Boi-1da and The Maven Boys)

Diplo - "I Wanna Set it Off!"

I've always had a healthy respect for Diplo, mostly because of all the artists he'd help make relevant. From @_m_i_a_ to @MAJORLAZER, he's always been known for making upbeat, electronic music that doesn't sound like anything you've heard. And that didn't change one bit on his newest single Set it Off. From the back and forth electo rhythms to the high pitched sample and dancehall percussion, this song is the real deal. Around the 2:15 mark it even sounded like a there was a @knifepartyinc sample in there? When considering the song as a whole, I wouldn't dare ever try to keyhole it into any specific genre, all I know is that it has the propensity to make you wanna dance.

I'm not sure where exactly @LAZERDISK factored into the creation of this track, but in my mind, the good news is they're now associated with a track I really like. That's enough to get you on my radar because I already know @diplo is one of the most intriguing, creative DJs in the game and collaborating with proven vets like him is key in becoming relevant to a blogger like me.

Diplo's upcoming Express Yourself EP is due out June 12th. It'll be considered his "first foray into the maddening beats and booty-popping sound of New Orleans Bounce" or NOLA Bounce. Call it whatever you want, it's booty shaking greatness that's got a permanent home on my party playlists...#HandsArentTheOnlyBodyPartThatClaps

Diplo feat Lazerdisk Party Sex - Set it Off

|Pre-Order

Videos of the Week May 25th

Two heavyweight videos hit the internet this week with @realwizkhalifa's Work Hard, Play Hard and @official_FLO's Whistle. Most interesting to me was hearing @ryanleslie talk about his new album and how he's transitioning to more of a Hip Hop sound on his new album. I like his well thought out plan of how he's planning on making money touring rather than with his music. Trying to make his music into advertisements is smart because it's a reacting to current market conditions that a lot of rappers ignore. Similarly, banking on the "live concert experience that you can't download" is a smart business model for the type of music he creates. He's one of maybe a handful of people in the industry who get it and are trying to blaze their own trail because the old way of making money doesn't work anymore. Hey man more power to your creative vision R Les, keep doing what you're doing, enough people will catch on to a point where you're on real TV rather than just R Les TV...#BetOnIt

Wiz Khalifa - Work Hard, Play Hard (Video)

Flo Rida - Whistle (Video)

Jay Sean feat Pitbull - I'm All Yours (Video)

B.O.B - Next 48 Hours (Part 2)

R Les Talks New Album and Plans on Releasing New Music

"Please Pick Me, Love's a Team Sport"

When I first posted the original version of @JustinBieber's latest single Boyfriend, I commented that the track sounded a lot like Ying Yang Twins' Whisper Song. So what does Biebs do? He goes and recruits @yingyangtwins on the Boyfriend (Remix). I'd say it's safe to say Ying Yang sounded at home on the remix and added a needed level of subtle sleaziness to the track.

Even though the first remix was solid, I'd favor remix number two featuring the fresh new lyricists. Maybe, just maybe @2chainz is starting to grow on me a little with his unapologetic southern rhymes. @macmiller and @asherroth did some work on their verses by adding their own quick witted playalistic bars. All things considered, Asher's verse wins in this remix competition. From the 7 minutes in heaven reference, to the talk of sliding his hands to second base, and finally finishing with the most universal truism that everyone wants to be like Selena and Biebs, Ash simply slayed it. It's the type of lyricism that was needed from the start, causing me to give an emphatic stamp of approval...#CountIt

Justin Bieber feat 2 Chainz, Asher Roth & Mac Miller - Boyfriend (Remix)
|iTunes

Ghost Recon - "I Guess War is My Love"

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest gamer. Sure I've dabbled in a few addicting PC games like the Command and Conquer series and I've been known to play more than a few iPhone games, but a couple Halo free for alls is about as far as I've gone on the first person shooter games. I preface this post with the qualifiers above for two reasons. First, many of my work friends are absolutely addicted to the newly released Diablo 3, which has sold 6.3 million copies in the first week of sales. Yep, that makes it unofficially the fastest selling PC game ever. Second (and more importantly), the folks over at Ubisoft made a wise decision by employing @KENDRICKLAMAR for their new game. IF you're wondering what the game is all about, below is the trailer for the newest version of the Ghost Recon series...

Yea, it's probably about what you expected with a really in depth story line, above average graphics and advanced game play. Along the same lines, War is My Love does a solid job of exuding the quiet intensity of the game. Kendrick fits in an many war/battle references as he can on the track and delivers his message at a steady march that is bound to get at least a few teenagers pumped. It's about as Quiet Storm as you can get, which isn't too over the top and should resonate well with the gamer types.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier out in stores now and Kendrick Lamar is coming to a city near you with his friends @macmiller and @realwizkhalifa ...#TheInfluenceTour

Kendrick Lamar - War is My Love

Goodie Mob is Back With Southern Soul

Ecstatic is a good word to describe my initial reaction when I heard Goodie Mob was coming out with a comeback album. I use the phrase comeback album because it's been since 2005 (7 years!) since they last released an album. To be fair though, I was guilty of tuning their last album, One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, completely out. Keepin' it 100, it was because that album just wasn't good at all...at least compared to their first two albums, which were really solid.

A lot has changed since the group first got together around 1995. For starters, @ceelogreen is now a universal pop icon, which wasn't the case when the group first started releasing music. It will be interesting to see how that changes their music because on first glance, the first two songs that have surfaced off their upcoming album Age Against the Machine are heavy on the vocals and light on the verses. Speaking of which, they just performed their lead single titled Fight to Win on NBC's The Voice this week (below)...

Julius Ceasar and his band of glowing grilled trojan fighters? That's what came to mind when watching that video. Very inspirational and radio friendly, which is a 180 from the music they used to create. Not hating one bit, just stating the facts and noticing the change in style.

If I had to pick I'd choose their other new song Is That You God? over their lead single. I'd choose it because the amount of soul they're able to pack into one track is incredible. Sure Cee-Lo's vocals really help, but the general mood of the track reminds me exactly why I'm such a big fan of Goodie Mob. They always manage to hammer home a positive, spiritual message through their verses while imparting soul on the hook. If you haven't heard of Goodie Mob and only enjoy Cee-Lo's music, then this is the perfect track to introduce you to their sound. Southern soul with a Hip Hop twist has never sounded so right...#GoodieMobbIsBack

Goodie Mob - Is That You God?

"Cause Freedom Ain't Free, Especially 'round My Way"

I know it's going to come as a complete shock, but @LUPEFIASCO's lead single off Food and Liquor: The Great American Rap Album is filled with politically charged lyrics! (GASP!) Ok, so what if it's not a surprise at all that Around My Way has lines like:

"Straight hair, high heels and a handbag
Crucifixes, racism and a land grab
Katrina FEMA trailers human body sandbags"

Politics and propaganda aside, the sample is just as politically charged as the lyrics. I say the because the beat put together by Simonsayz and B-Side has drawn some serious criticism from the @therealpeterock who originally put the beat together on the original classic Hip Hop track T.R.O.Y.

I understand the soul of Hip Hop is wreckless sampling on anything and everything. It's been written into the DNA of Hip Hop since it's inception. But in my mind, there is such a thing as respecting a classic. In other words, I think it would have been a classy common courtesy to ask permission to borrow the beat since it's widely regarded as a timeless Hip Hop track. Especially since it's going to be the lead single off your album that you self titled The Great American Rap Album.

I get that it's easy for me to judge, but the last thing I'd want if I were Lupe is for critics to focus on the sampling of the beat rather than the message I'm trying to convey with my controversial lyrics. Who knows though, sometimes no publicity is bad publicity and it could help in the long run. Either way, it's an interesting start to a widely looked forward to album that I've got circled on my 2012 notable Hip Hop releases calendar. Word has it the album is set to drop on September 25th, stay tuned for much more to drop between now and then...#FNL2

Lupe Fiasco - Around My Way (Freedom Aint Free)
|iTunes