"Make Me Wanna Rent a Room Up in This Chateau"

There's a short list of slept on producers in Hip Hop that I really wish would get the respect they deserve. Near the top of that list sits the Blended Babies who always seem to bring together top notch lyrical talent to chip in verses over their beats. The latest example of such is a solid crew of Hip Hop talent led by Asher Roth and Sir Michael Rocks. He may not be a household name as a solo artist, but Like of Pac Div always packs a quality verse when given the opportunity.

The most interesting aspect of Shadows (below) is the presence of Jon B. Whatever happened to Jon B? I remember back in the day when They Don't Know was slow jam of the year back in 1998. It's good to hear his smooth vocals on a track a whopping 17 years later! Smooth Hip Hop is hard to come by these days, so enjoy this hidden gem y'all...#Shadows

Blended Babies feat Sir Michael Rocks, Asher Roth, Like (of Pac Div) & Jon B - Shadows

Videos of the Week August 8th

If you haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy, you need to for a lot of reasons. I'm not a huge comic book guy, but I thoroughly appreciated the mix of humor and action, largely provided by Chris Pratt in the movie. Little did we all know he could also flow, dude killed that Forgot About Dre cover!

It's good to see Wu-Tang back together again and making new music. I'm glad they picked the Daily Show to let loose some new music. I'm also glad that Electric Zoo is taking on the Molly movement head on with their promo video. The whole "Be Present" is a little preachy, but I don't care if they straight up threatened kids, the deaths at festivals needs to stop. What doesn't need to stop is the antagonistic banter between T.I. and Jimmy Fallon. Slow down the video, Jimmy looks legitimately threatened. Rounding out the top five is a new Asher Roth cut that deserves extra love for the Flohicans reference...#Flohicans
Chris Pratt Covering Eminem's Forgot About Dre Verse

Electric Zoo 2014 Promo

Wu Tang Reunite and Perform on The Daily Show

Asher Roth feat Major Myjah - Last of the Flohicans (Video)

Will Arnett Starts a Beef Between T.I. and Jimmy Fallon

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week April 18th

The top 5 this week is a bit Hip Hop heavy with Alicia Keys, Pharrell, and Kendrick Lamar leading the way. In general, I appreciate it when movie companies mix footage from movies with videos from the soundtrack, so tip of the cap to Sony and Columbia Pictures for making that happen. In other news, Eminem and Rihanna stole the show at the VMAs this week with their performance of The Monster, Asher Roth's music always deserves a spot on this blog and despite my dislike for Future, I don't mind his new track with Kanye. The whipped cream of this week came in the form of Jon Favreau's new movie The Chef, which stars Robert Downey Jr. Favreau usually comes through with quality comedies (Elf, Iron Man, I Love You Man, The Break Up), so take note of the mid-May release...#TheChefMovie
Alicia Keys feat Kendrick Lamar - It's On Again (Video)

Eminem & Rihanna Perform The Monster Live at 2014 VMAs

Asher Roth - The World is Not Enough (Video)

Future feat Kanye West - I Won (Video)

The Chef Trailer

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week March 14th

Lots of variety to chew on for this week's top five videos. The best of which was BANKS video for Brain. The hauntingly seductive visuals matched the aura of the track perfectly. I really hope more people start catching on to her creativity as an artist.

Beyond that, Asher took a trip to the skating rink, showing a fun Indie side to his musical repertoire. Despite the terrible tragedy at SXSW this week, shows did go on and there was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding Kanye and Jay Z's performance. I'm a big fan of concert intros, which is why H.A.M. was my favorite of the amateur videos shot. If you're in the mood for a sexy workout video with plenty of hard bodies and washboard abs, you'll appreciate Trey Songz new one. Finally, I'm more than a little excited for James Brown's life story to be told on film. Mostly because Tate Taylor (director of The Help) is directing it, but also because James Brown is an interesting dude....#GetOnUp
BANKS - Brain (Video)

Asher Roth - Tangerine Girl (Video)

Kanye West & Jay Z Performing H.A.M. at SXSW

Trey Songz - Na Na (Video)

James Brown Biopic "Get On Up" (Trailer)


Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week December 20th

As I mentioned throughout the week, it was a Hip Hop dominated past seven days. The two standout videos of the week were Eminem/Rihanna's Monster video and Mike Posner/Big Sean's Detroit inspired Top of the World. I'll admit it was really cool to see the professional sports inspired Detroit theme. The scenery littered with Red Wings, Tigers and Lions stadiums from two of Detroit natives (Southfield, Detroit) did a good job of capturing the sentiment of the track.

In other news, Kevin Hart and Conan are funny, I'm really digging Cash Cash's new single, and Chuck Inglish + Asher Roth continue to be a dynamic duo. That is all, have a good weekend y'all...#TopOfTheWorld
Mike Posner feat Big Sean - Top of the World (Video)

Eminem feat Rihanna - Monster (Video)

Kevin Hart & Ice Cube Ride Along with Conan

Cash Cash feat Bebe Rexha - Take Me Home (Video)

Chuck Inglish & Asher Roth Perform For the Love in Studio

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week November 29th

There's nothing better than Thanksgiving break, especially when you get to spend it eating way too many delicious calories and watching way to much TV. Now that it's over, it's back to business serving up the best of what the music world had to offer this week in form of videos. I'm betting most of you have seen the new Eminem Rap God video, but you may have missed the revolution inspiring visuals from Headhunterz and Krewella. If you haven't your missing out because it's got a great message. It's points a flashlight directly at those trolls and internet gangsters that are tough as nails behind a keyboard. They may not realize it, but what they say doesn't always fall on deaf ears, so it's cool to see how they brought it to the forefront in a positive way. Beyond that, The Killers and Blended Babies new videos were pretty fun to watch. Plus, what would Thanksgiving be without a Timeflies freestyle...#VideosOfTheWeek
Eminem - Rap God (Video)

Headhunterz feat Krewella - United Kids of the World (Video)

The Killers - Just Another Girl (Video)

Blended Babies feat Chuck Inglish & Asher Roth - See the World (Video)

Timeflies Tuesday Thanksgiving Edition


Photo Credit: YouTube

"Pack a Punch Like Spike Palm, I'm Tai Kwon"

Man, this right here is a smooth cut. It all starts with the beat cooked up by Blended Babies that was created to be a canvas for a compelling story. Asher Roth and Chuck Inglish were given a gift to go in on this beat, but to their credit, they also brought their A game. They both put on their b-boy stance and went bar after bar weaving their own well thought out narratives. Just a whole lotta Chi-town greatness on See the World, give the quick 2 and a half minute track a listen...#BlendedBabies

Blended Babies feat Chuck Inglish & Asher Roth - See the World

Videos of the Week June 7th

You might ask, why would I post an EDM video of scantily clad women playing dodge ball? Well...now that I've gotten the stupid question out of the way, feel free and also check out Asher Roth's Wayne's World "game on" spoof that he released to promote his upcoming Greenhouse Effect Vol. 2 mixtape. Also, I've said it a few times, I really enjoy the Decoded videos where artists are able to peel back the layers and tell the story about how a track came together and ended up sounding the way it did. Real cool to hear Fabolous share his thoughts on his classic Breathe. If you're in the mood for the more run of the mill music video, One Republic just released a new visual for their Counting Stars single and Kevin Cossom did his own take on Miguel's Power Trip. Overall, I'd like to think there is a solid mix that ranges from salacious to serious this week...#Asphyxiation
Autoerotique - Asphyxiation (Video)

Asher Roth - Game On! (Promo Video)

Fabolous Breaks Down His Hit Breathe on Decoded

One Republic - Counting Stars (Video)

Kevin Cossum - Power Trip (Freestyle) (Video)

Chuck Inglish Does it For the Love

Now that The Cool Kids have parted ways, I feel like a kid who is going through divorce. Now I need to get to know Chuck Inglish and Sir Michael Rocks on their own as individuals, which is a little strange because of how well they worked together. It's as if they're both fighting for the love of fans this week as they both released solo mixtapes. Sir Michael just let dropped his While You Wait mixtape, while Chuck released Droptops via Karmaloop.

Seeing how much I enjoy the production value that The Cool Kids brought to the table, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm posting a Chuck track first. His new one with Asher Roth is throwback as hell with the repetitive rolling beat clap that lays the foundation for some laid back verses from the dynamic duo. Now that I'm looking at the tracklist, I've already posted the majority of the tracks on Droptops, which speaks to how much of a gift it is to be able to cop it for free. It's heavy, well-produced Hip Hop that will take you back to the 1990s when folks were just starting to harness the power of an 808 drum machine. Go do yourself a favor and cop it...#Droptops

Dowload Mixtape

Chuck Inglish feat Asher Roth - For the Love

Videos of the Week March 1st

First off, the whole Harlem Shake revolution has officially jumped the shark. Near the end here, we've seen some fun ones like the Miami Heat one below, but nobody can top the YouTube Easter Egg Harlem Shake. Copycat dance crazy aside, the video below by @KeeganMKey and @JordanPeele of @KeyAndPeele wins for this week's most entertaining video. When it comes to fresstyling outlandish ideas, it doesn't get any better chemistry wise than the Comedy Central duo. For all the Hip Hop heads who were salivating over the many behind the scenes shots, the video finally arrives this week. The track is literally at the basement floor of what I'm able to tolerate when it comes to dumbed down, flashy, ignorant trap muzik, but between this and Ice Cream Paint Job I simply can't turn it off when it comes on...#TrapMuzik

Key & Peele: Ballbusters (Dunk Contest) (Video)

Harlem Shake - Miami Heat Edition (Video)

Trinidad James feat T.I. Young Jeezy & 2 Chainz - All Gold Everything (Remix)(Video)

Cee-Lo Green feat Lauriana Mae - Only You (Video)

Asher Roth - Turnip the Beet (Video)

Videos of the Week February 15th

It's been a while since there has been a week where I had to make cuts because there were so many entertaining choices. I did my best to mix in some booty drums, @skullcandy and eye candy (@KateUpton) with some new well put together music videos. Not saying one bit that booty drums isn't music, but if you ask the lady second from the night whether or not it was music, I'm betting she'd give you a frosty gaze.

I wish there were more in studio collaborations like what @MikePosner, @chuckisdope, @asherroth, @ilovetmills, and @Chip216 did on the @drake inspired Started From the Bottom (Remix). Maybe I'm a nerd, but it's cool seeing artists behind closed doors when they're actually making music. It provides an added element of reality that most music can't convey through sound. In other news, the early indications are that @jtimberlake and @s_c_ might take over the world this summer...#2020Experience

Kate Upton in Take a Supermodel to Work With Big Boi & Stevie Johnson)Mike Posner feat Asher Roth, T.Mills, Chuck Inglish & King Chip – Started From The Bottom (Remix)(Video)

Justin Timberlake feat Jay-Z - Suit & Tie (Video)

Spanish Band Patax's Music Is Everywhere Campaign

Drake - Started From the Bottom (Video)

"Roof Behind the Grill, Barbeque Sauce"

You'd be hard pressed to find a more summer friendly jam than @asherroth's new one with @meltslovebuddy. I'll take it a step further and opine that if you don't feel like buying some charcoal and making some burger after listening to this track, then you must not be listenin' right. The bangin' beat put together by @hudmo sets the table with plush white linens, allowing both the lyricists to rap about anything and everything involving a cookout.

Ash Roth and Buddy work well together trading increasingly high octane bars as the track progresses. At the very least this track should have you chanting "Barbeque sauce, Buh-Barbeque sauce, barbeque sauce, buh-barbeque sauce" and thinking of your favorite BBQ saaawwwce. If KC Masterpiece or Hunt's doesn't make a commercial using the song below, then someone in marketing is sleeping on the job. Matter of fact, I'ma go and check the fridge to make sure I'm stocked up after thinking about all this time...#MolassesIsWhereItsAt

Asher Roth feat Buddy - Roof Behind the Grill(prod by Hudson Mohawke)

"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

Videos of the Week Feb 24th

Great mix of different content this week with a classic @nbcsnl skit, some top notch concert videos featuring @kanyewest and @drake, ending with a @jlin7 interview where he shouts out his favorite music types. It's probably a toss up for me for most noteworthy video on this post, but it'd have to be between seeing @chuckisdope and @asherroth in studio working on music together and seeing Drake in concert. It's been too long since I've seen him live and I still haven't gotten out post Thank Me Later, so there's a lot I have to still see. I'm still trying to see @THECOOLKIDS in concert five years later, but hope to catch them opening for your boy @macmiller this spring.

As a little spoiler alert, it's looking like my concert tour this spring is going to be heavy on the electronic/dubstep. Maybe a little @nerouk, possibly some @bassnectar and most likely some @skrillex...#StayTuned

SNL Sketch Jay-Z Beyonce Baby & Justin Timberlake Plays Bon Iver

Chuck Inglish in studio with Asher Roth

Drake Performing Yolo in Nashville

Drake Performing We'll Be Fine in Nashville

Drake Performing HYFR in Nashville

Kanye's 7 Min Say U Will Freestyle in Australia (Funny/Autotune)

Jeremy Lin Listens to Mellow Christian Rock

Videos of the Week

I can't remember a week that had this many high profile videos. From @drake to @thegame to @Rihanna, there were a lot of attention grabbing videos that found their way onto YouTube. Love the Bay Area setting for The Motto and Game's Martians vs Goblins was just as creepy and weird as you'd expect from the title. Nothing creepier that @fucktyler having a striped cat on his shoulder throughout his verse? Anybody else, that probably would be out of the ordinary. Like the @liltunchi image below...

Good luck reeling in those last minute gifts today and tomorrow y'all. Lord knows I'm gonna be busy like a bee no honeycomb...#DrakeQuote minus #TheMoneyTrees

Drake feat Lil Wayne & Tyga - The Motto (Video)

The Game feat Tyler, The Creator & Lil Wayne - Martians vs Goblins (Video)

Rihanna - You Da One (Video)

Asher Roth Performing G.R.I.N.D. in Chicago

David Guetta feat Sia - Titanium (Video)

Lloyd feat Trey Songz & Young Jeezy - Be The One (Video)

"I Like My Eggs Scrambled, I Like My Girls Easy"

With every new song @ITSPACDIV releases, I become a bigger fan of their music. Every track the trio does features high octane verses that are good enough to carry a track. Throw in a beat cooked up by the under-appreciated @richgains and an @asherroth verse...watch the f word out!

Is it me or is Pac Div's trademark "whooo!" one of the collest signature ad libs ever in Hip Hop? Something about it gives their music a tough, intimidating feel that goes well with their aggressive lyrical deliveries. You might say the beat is too simple, but simple works when your group as a whole has the ability to hold everyone's attention by rapping acapella. You'll be able to find their new album The DiV on iTunes November 8th. That about a week and a half for all you slow kids, so make a mental note to cop it and support one of the more entertaining and original Hip Hop groups in the game...#Truth

Pac Div feat Asher Roth - Useless (prod by Blended Babies) | iTunes

Videos of the Week

High powered week as far as videos are concerned, with Drake, Coldplay, Rihanna, Ash Roth, B.O.B. and Wale all releasing new ones. Not gonna lie, I'm a little disturbed at both Coldplay and Rihanna's videos. A person in an elephant costume riding a unicycle down the highway to meet up with his other elephant band friends? Who knows, it's buzzworthy, weird and low budget, maybe it works. As far as Rihanna, I get the track is all about finding love in the most hopeless places, but good god, drugs much? Little too trippy and downward spiral-ly for my taste, but maybe that's why there's successful. The more people talk about them, the more free publicity they get I guess. Whatever works I guess, have a good weekend y'all...

Coldplay - Paradise (Video)

Drake - Take Care Album (Trailer)

Rihanna feat Calvin Harris - We Found Love (Video)

Asher Roth feat Chuck Inglish - In the Kitchen (Video)

B.O.B. feat Playboy Tre & Meek Mill - Epic (Video)

Wale - Bait (Video)

Videos of the Week

Lots of Kanye this week on the videos, including him bringing out his whole G.O.O.D. Music crew out to perform All of the Lights. Pretty cool to see Cudi and Big Sean join him on stage...

Kanye West & G.O.O.D. Music Perform All Of The Lights (Heineken Red Star Access)

J.Cole feat. Trey Songz -Can’t Get Enough (Video)

Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Nervo - The Way We See (Video)

Big Sean – Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay Feat. Kanye West & Roscoe Dash (Video)

B.O.B Performs New Track Strange Clouds at Syracuse

Behind the Scenes on Rhymefest feat Kanye West - Alligator Boots (Video) with Kim Kardashian 

Behind The Scenes on Tinie Tempah feat. Wiz Khalifa - Till I'm Gone (Video)

Asher Roth feat. Akon - Last Man Standing (Video)

Proof That 808s Belong in the Kitchen

Seeing that @asherroth and @thecoolkids both represent a similar organic, old school Hip Hop sound, it's not a huge surprise to see that they're starting to collaborate more often. They've performed live a couple times together at SXSW, but it seems like their worlds have only collided on a few occasions in the form of surprise cameos at concerts and a features here or there.

That might change soon, evidenced by the video below of The Cool Kids performing in Asher Roth's hometown of West Chester, PA at The Note. What's most notable is that they didn't just perform Roll Call off When Fish Ride Bicycles, they also debuted the track below, In the Kitchen. Sofa king dope...fast forward to the 5:21 mark for the new track...

Anybody else feel like @chuckisdope is one of the most slept on producers out right now? I feel like a lot of the beats Kanye puts out have that same heavy, old school, 808 feel that Chuck brings on damn near every beat. Maybe it'll be a Wiz Khalifa style come up where the fourth or fifth album is where he starts makin' waves? Even if that day never comes, you'll never have to go any further than this blog to heard any and every dope beat he puts out.

Keep an eye out for those Cool Kids/Asher Roth tour dates to be announced too. I've seen Asher in concert and am pumped that he's from near Philly, so the liklihood of him dragging The Cool Kids out east is highly probably. Still not sure how I missed the West Chester show, but you better believe it's not gonna happen again. As far as the song below, don't half step, play the damn track with some sort of subwoofer...it's got the 808 Check stamp of approval, don't feed this Mercedes of a track that 87 octane...#StopTrippin

Asher Roth - In the Kitchen (prod by Chuck Inglish)

Videos of the Week

Man I can't wait til that new Weezy single drops with Drake. Carter IV, coming in two weeks...
Redband Trailer of Jonah Hill's New Movie The Sitter

Karmin Music Performs I Need a Doctor with Skylar Grey

Lil Wayne Working on New Single She Will feat Drake

Jay-Z and Kanye West - Otis (Video)

Wiz Khalifa - No Sleep (Video)

The Cool Kids Perform Roll Call With Asher Roth (Live)