"I Got a Hundred Thou' Then I Freaked It"

Continuing the trend of holding Hip Hop on his shoulders, Kendrick Lamar proved that he's just as capable of dishing assists to his TDE label mates. Jay Rock is well-known name in Hip Hop, but he hasn't released a lot of impact single lately like the one below. Capitalizing on a multi-faceted beat from Mike Will and some subtle vocal help from James Blake, Kings Dead is an attention grabbing track. Evidently a lot of the other Soundcloud commenters share my disdain for Future on this track, but his boat anchor verse wasn't enough to take away from the fire that everyone else brought. Ironically enough, this is the track #9 that I alluded to earlier in the week off the upcoming Black Panther Soundtrack. Similar to the way the Compton Soundtrack was basically a Dr. Dre album, this provides more hope that the Black Panther Soundtrack will be a side release of Kendrick's. The soundtrack is available to stream in full on Spotify and early indications are it's 🔥🔥🔥...#KingsDead

Jay Rock feat Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake - Kings Dead (prod by Mike Will)

Marshmello Takes Future to Jersey Club on Mask Off

Evidently Marshmello was tired of being predictable. Just when we'd all warmed up to his happy-go-lucky style, he goes and drops a bangin' Jersey Club remix of Future's Mask Off. What's Jersey Club you ask? Well...it's similar to a lot of the Baltimore Club tracks I posted waaaay back in 2010. If you're looking for a reference from back in the day, check out DJ Class's Party Crackin'.

I'm not sure which is more surprising, that Marshmello took a quick Hip Hop detour or that he dabbled in a style he's never touched before. Whatever the case, the mello man flipped the original like a pro. It's a perfect break beat style track to bang out in between tracks at a show. Admittedly, I'm not a big Future fan, but I can zone out to the mix below all day long. Tip of the cap to Marshmello as I'm going to have to re-evaluate what the breadth of music I thought you were capable of making...#MaskOff



Future - Mask Off (Marshmello Remix)

"My Wife Beyoncé, I Brag Different"

It would appear Jigga hasn't lost even a half step over the years when it comes to crafting legendary verses. Between his verse on Pusha's Drug Dealers Anonymous and his verse on DJ Khaled's new I Got the Keys, age clearly ain't nothin but a number to him skill wise. Judging by the ridiculous amount of cameos in the video below and Khaled's penchant for Snapchat mastery, there's little chance that this won't have staying power. It along with a whole lot of other fabulous cameos will be landing on Khaled's upcoming Major Key album. You know, that album where he's posing with a lion on the cover? Yep, that'd be the one. If you can get over Future's repetitive, autotune yelling, there's a bangin' beat cooked up by Southside underneath the madness that you can nod your head to...#IGotTheKeys

DJ Khaled feat Jay Z & Future - I Got the Keys (prod by Southside)

Videos of the Week March 11th

There are two clear cut favorites in this week's top five in my eyes. First, the live debut of Kygo's new single, Fragile, with Labrinth was more than a little awesome. What a cool ballad! I can't wait to hear the mastered version, which will probably be slightly more electronic. Second, Seal and Gallant's Weight in Gold duet in studio was worth a few looks. While Seal doesn't get near the credit he deserves, he more than held his own with Gallant on the mic. When they combined forces, the result was special.

Was it entertaining to watch Jonah Hill sing Drake's verse on Future's Jumpman? Yep, you bet it was. Glad they're getting more an more creative with the monologues on SNL. In other news, DJ Khaled is continuing his assault on pop culture through Snapchat. Now he's even landing on talk shows like Ellen to talk his motivational talk. Crazy how social media can be used as a tool to get so much notoriety. And last, but not least, Skrillex and Jauz released their new animated video for Squad Out with Fatman Scoop. Leave it to Adult Swim to put together something that trippy. Did I see Fatman Scoop with an elephant nose? Still trying to wrap my head around the plot of the video, but that's kinda of what Adult Swim does...#SquadOut
Kygo feat Labrinth - Fragile (Live)

Seal and Gallant Sing Weight in Gold as a Duet

Future feat Jonah Hill – Jumpman on SNL

More Getting to Know DJ Khaled on Ellen

Skrillex & Jauz - Squad Out (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

"Cause I'm Always Repping for That Low Life"

Generally speaking, this internet property is a Future free zone. It usually takes a substantial effort from another artist to push a track to listenable status when they have to make up for his lack of talent. In this case, The Weeknd and Metro Boomin stepped their game up to make up the otherwise garbage filled, sing-songy verses. The gentle thunder brought by the rolling bass line combined with The Weeknd's feathery soft vocals that pack a punch are what make Low Life worth the listen. It's yet another bit of evidence as to why The Weeknd has us all eating out of the palm of his hand right now...#LowLife

Future & The Weeknd - Low Life (prod by Metro Boomin & Ben Billions)

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 July 12th

Hip Hop dominated this week's videos with Flo Rida and B.O.B. releasing visuals for their new singles. The more I listen to Bobby Ray's Headband, the more the whistling embeds itself into my brain. Dap is in order for the up and coming DJ Mustard for cookin' up that beat.

In other news, I'm putting it on my bucket list to attend Electric Zoo in NYC at some point. All you really need to know is Avicii is headlining with Benni Benassi and Knife Party. Oh and if you don't get pumped up hearing John Harrison's monologue from Star Trek: Into The Darkness over Derrick Rose highlights, then something is wrong with you...#Vengeance
Flo Rida feat Future - Tell Me When You're Ready (Video)

B.O.B. feat 2 Chainz - Headband (Video)

Justin Timberlake - Tunnel Vision (Video)

Electric Zoo Trailer

Derrick Rose Vengeance

"Tattoo Angels, Ain't Gotta Worry About a Thing"

I've always been a sucker for Flo Rida's consistently upbeat and catchy Pop-Hop singles. As much as I'm predisposed to be critical of any sort of lyrically simple Hip Hop music, I can't hate on Flo Rida one bit because he has a distinct sound that is so uplifting it's beyond reproach.

Case in point his lead single below off his upcoming yet-to-be-titled album Tell Me When You Ready. Call him a one trick pony if you want, but he does that one trick better than anyone in the game and he's got the commas in his bank account to prove it. I haven't been bashful in bashing Future, but I don't mind his contribution to the hook because it fits well with the sound of the track. Even more credit is due to Flo because he always manages to churn out tracks that have his sound despite having different producers laying down his beats. Shout out to Detail for the strip club worthy, booty shake inducing beat...#TellMeWhenYouReady

Flo Rida feat Future - Tell Me When You Ready (prod by Detail)

"I'm On That Good Kush and Alcohol"

When @liltunchi releases a new single, the blogosphere momentarily stops what it's doing to post it, no matter how good it is. That includes an initial tagged version of a track, which leaves the internet unsatisfied as a whole and very eager for the CDQ. Luckily for us, that whole cycle happened in one day, so we weren't left with a badly tagged taste in our mouths.

Once the CDQ drops, the real question then becomes whether the track is likeable or not. Keepin' it 100, I don't like the track at all. I know I'm going against my mantra of only posting tracks that I like, but exceptions are made when it has the buzz of a new Wayne single. Maybe it's because the made for strip club beats by @MikeWiLLMadeIt are getting a little tired, maybe it's because I still have no clue why @1future keeps getting features, maybe it's because @drake and @liltunchi bring absolutely no one liners. Tracks like this make me wonder if Hip Hop will ever evolve into a culture that doesn't need to refer to women as b*tches and hoes to be "cool." Sadly, it's still a big part of the culture and probably will be as long as people keep buying the records, going to the strip clubs and perpetuating the misogyny.

On the bring side, Wayne's new album I Am Not a Human Being II is set to drop on February 19th. I'm betting hoping that this will end up being a filler track amid stacked tracklist...#IANAHBII

Lil Wayne feat Drake, Future - Good Kush & Alcohol (prod by Mike Will)

"Drama Bout to Make it Rain on Mary Poppins and Her Friends"

Call it a remix or version 1.5 of We in This Bitch, either way it's got the same instrumental from @KANEBEATZ, so don't expect much different than the original. What you can look forward to are new verses from @drake and @1future who are both running a train on FM radio at the moment. It's been a minute since Drake dropped a new verse, so his 16 was a welcome addition to the track. There weren't the usual amount of quoteables that he usually comes through with, but his jubilant tone was a good sign.

Maybe I'm a little late to the bus stop, but I have yet to hear a verse or song from Future that's really stood out. I know he's being touted as one of the big new up and comers (I see you XXL). Maybe similar to newly minted G.O.O.D. Music signee @2chainz, his style will grow on me because he's rubbing shoulders with a lot of my favorite artists. For now feel free to get with his Twitter sweepstakes by tracking this...#SameDamnTime

DJ Drama feat Drake & Future - We in This Bitch 1.5 (prod by Kane Beatz)

Some New Kane is in the Building

If you've read my blog before you know that a lot of the music that I enjoy and end up writing about has more to do with who produced the track rather than who performed it. That may seem backwards to a lot of you who don't attribute the success of your favorite artist to the producer or engineer who put in time behind the boards to craft the instrumental, but you probably already subconsciously think the way I do without knowing it. I say that because obviously the suits who invest a lot of money into artists want them to succeed and they attribute success to selling albums and making music that will appeal to a wide demographic, so that lots of people will buy it. You could argue that train of thought is also what is diluting the hell out of popular music like 40 proof CVS vodka, but that's a whole can of worms I'm not about to get into today.

What I can tell you is that @KANEBEATZ is one of the few producers in the game today that I will ride out with. When I say ride out, I mean that no matter who he works with, there's a pretty damn good chance I'm going to like the finished product. Again, I can say that because I have a lot of respect for the work that producers do in a thankless profession whose job is to make the "talent" look good.

I grouped all these tracks together on one post for two reasons. First, to provide perspective on why I feel like it's more worthwhile to follow the music that your favorite producer is responsible rather than your favorite artist. Second, to give some exposure to two other artists you may not have heard of but may end up liking with the help of a Kane beat. In other words, you may not have heard of @mrdontrip or @LAZEANDROYAL, but you damn sure have heard of @tip, @ludacris, @djdrama and @youngjeezy. Call the first one, We In This Bitch, the gateway drug that gets you hooked on my theory and open to expanding your Hip Hop interests.

Sidebar: smh to Luda for his, "Altoid can of blue pills that's my X-box" line. No matter what anybody says about Luda, nobody can take away his on-some-other-shit type creativity on the mic...#WittyIsAnUnderstatement

DJ Drama ft. Young Jeezy, T.I., Ludacris & Future - We In This Bitch (prod by Kane Beatz)

Don Trip - Lawyer (prod by Kane Beatz)

Laze & Royal - Winner (prod by Kane Beatz)

Videos of the Week Jan 20

Definitely went wide on my scope for videos this week as I managed to encompass a few videos that may have fallen beneath the radar this past week. Pretty cool watching @Yelawolf's journey with his Tide to the National Championship, as well as the in studio video of some of the quickest lyricists on the mic with @RealDjKayslay. If you haven't gotten a formal introduction to @Drake's right hand producer, I found it interesting hearing @OVO40 talk about how the Buried Alive (Interlude) with @kendricklamar came about. Lastly, if you haven't caught wind of the firestorm that is @lanadelrey, feel free to give her SNL performance a quick watch and see if you disliked it as much as Brian Williams. I'm only beginning to listen to her and she isn't half bad...or at least half as bad as you made her seem. I know we all love sarcasm via email, but in the world we live in, it's never safe to admit that emails are private. To everybody else throwing darts at Lana...#StopHatin

Lana Del Rey Performs Video Games on SNL

Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe (Video)

Yelawolf LSU vs Alabama Webisode

DJ Kay Slay f. Busta Rhymes, Layzie Bone, Twista & Jaz-O -- 60 Second Assassins (Video)

Bei Maejor - Mesmerized (Video)

B.O.B. feat Future & Trae Da Truth - How Bout Dat (Video) 

Drake's Right Hand Man 40 Talks Kendrick Lamar's Buried Alive Interlude