Not All Great Instrumentals Are Worthy of Verses

It's incredible to think that one of the most legendary Hip Hop producers of my generation was able to produce a stellar beat that never got to see the light of day. Why didn't it ever get released? Well, in the words of Just Blaze himself:

“Jay asked me to hold this for him and Jeezy. Ross did something with it. Chris Brown wanted it badly but couldn’t find the right vocal flow for it once we got in studio. Canei wanted to pass it to Cole, but it was held up by someone else who actually cut me a check for it. Then it ended up just sitting, and I was weird about playing it for folks. Everyone who heard it thought it was amazing but couldn’t come up with a song to it lol. Understandable though. There’s a LOT going on."

Wait a minute, so you're telling me that Jay Z, Jeezy, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, and J Cole all hand their hands on this beat and never fully harnessed it's capabilities? The beat has Just Blaze's style written all over it with a live band feel that is accentuated by vibrant piano and a heavy dose of strings for good measure. It's a testament to great instrumentals being able to tell a story without words. In my mind, the sun is shining on a windy day walking through the streets of Manhattan with this playing. Even if the Megatron Don is turning more toward the electronic/trap realm, it's little morsels like Miracles that make you appreciate his greatness at whatever he produces...#Miracles

Just Blaze - Miracles

araabMUZIK Goes Motion Picture On It

When it comes to experimenting with sounds and samples, you won't find more of a chef than @araabMUZIK. If you told him his music sounded like anybody else's, my guess is he'd kick you in the face for spitting such blasphemy. Personally, I appreciate that he's starting to venture into the synth heavy EDM material with a lot of the beats he's been putting out recently. I'm still digging his I Remember remix @deadmau5 and @kaskade's collabo together from his Electronic Dream mixtape.

If you're a movie buff, you'll appreciate the intro to the track below, which actually samples the opening Dolby Digital sound effect. Real talk, araab deserves some love for all the music he's been puttin' out lately. In case you missed it, he just released his For Professional Use Only mixtape last month and it's full of audio goodies like Runaway Bass...#MotionPicture

araabMUZIK - Motion Picture

R U Ready TNGHT?

So I'm sitting here trying to figure out how exactly trap music fits into the spectrum of Hip Hop and EDM. It's almost like the 808 bass meets house music the way the genres blend together in trap. The track below is @TNGHT track that needed to be dusted off the shelf since it's almost been out a full year. The reason why it's all the sudden noteworthy again is because someone went back and followed the trail of breadcrumbs that led to @kanyewest and @HudMo's formal commitment to one another this past week.

As the story goes, Kanye purchased the beat below from HudMo and used it as an instrumental for the Victoria Secret fashion show last spring...queue the video...

If I've learned one thing about HudMo in the past week, he's not afraid to go big on his sounds, which clearly resonates with the Louis Vuitton don. R U Ready is about as Hip Hop instrumental as you can get, but that's cool with me because it #BANGS...

TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke & Lunice) - R U Ready

Assist to Nah Right

Just Blaze Presents: Exhibit J

It's rare that I ever come across a Hip Hop instrumental worth posting, but then again, I'm pretty sure the track falls somewhere outside of the realm of Hip Hop. Sure, @JustBlaze has gained most of his notoriety from producing Hip Hop tracks, but those who have witnessed his wide array of skills know he's far from a one-trick pony.

Ladies and gentleman of the jury, Behold: Exhibit J. It's tough trying to pigeonhole the sound of the track, but if I were asked to take a shot, I'd characterize it as trendy, upbeat elevator music. You know, kinda like the stuff you hear in lobbies of five star clubs or trendy restaurants. Y'all know what I'm talkin' bout...

If your memory hasn't escaped you and you remember back to 2009 when MTV first released Jersey Shore, the Megatron Don was busy making the guidos fist pump with Exhibit G F & P (Guido Fist Pump). Not the biggest Jersey Shore fan or anything Jersey for that matter, which is why I'm appreciative of how his newest exhibit is more house worthy and classy...#HouseMusicAllNightLong

Just Blaze - Exhibit J

Star Slingin' on a Sunday Night

When I think of @StarSlingerUK, I'm somehow always reminded of this dude (@mrdanfogler for all of you who don't recognize him from Fanboys or Balls of Fury). To catch you up on the comparison, below is a picture if you want to judge how far off I am on the comparison...

You can't tell me they don't look really alike? Either way, he always comes correct by weaving together a great mix of Hip Hop sounding break beats and a little bit of EDM. Take This Up is no exception, as he managed to keep it simple, yet produce something really catchy.

My guess is that most of you won't have the attention span for the track below, but I'm encouraging y'all to give it a shot...#NotAllSongsNeedLyrics

Star Slinger - Take This Up

Avicii Always Gets the Last Dance

Evidently @avicii dropped a teaser of this track back in March on BBC Radio 1. Fast forward to the present over a half year later and we get the full instrumental mix. It's everything you'd expect in an Avicii single, the only notable difference is the whistling throughout, which is a unique touch. The build ups and high energy synth-driven crescendo's are definitely there, though.

I hope the "American" love story with EDM morphs into a more mature enjoyment of the enjoyment of the genre. What I mean by that is I hope an electronic track like the one below can get by without lyrics because it seems like more often than not, it's only the vocal versions that make it on the radio in the US. Maybe it's the DJ in me, but all I know is when people get in the club, lyrics don't mean a damn thing...#BassOverLyrics

Avicii - Last Dance (Instrumental Mix)
|Beatport

A Fresh Plate of Hot Beats

It's pretty rare nowadays for an artist/producer to release a strictly beat or instrumental only mixtape. It's ever more rare that the same beat tape is widely disseminated and recognized by the online Hip Hop community as something that you should universally give a listen to. The aforementioned statements are just a few reasons why anything Chuck Inglish produces is dope.

Maybe dope isn't the right word, unique is a more fitting description for what he provides the game of Hip Hop. Sure everybody loves 808 bass and it's been a staple of American R&B/Hip Hop since Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing. But the beats @chuckisdope puts together goes way beyond just bass. Don't get me wrong my favorite beats of his are the ones that make it seems like a caged gorilla is trying to escape the trunk, but there's something innately throw back about his sound that makes everything he creates so fresh.

The beat below is an example of why simple can be perfect if done right. XXL has a heavy, grimy simplicity to it that will find a way to make your head nod. There aren't a lot of crazy bells and whistles like what you'd normally hear on the radio, but therein lies the appeal. Sometimes less is more and in Chuck's case, less with get the job done by #WRKING...

Chuck Inglish - XXL
|Mixtape