"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

"No Matter What They Say, You're on to Something Great"

"If Stevie Wonder read braille,

Michael Jackson made thrill,

And Malcolm X-celled,

Like gettin' 5 mics on Double XL"

Seems everywhere I look these days I hear a new standout track produced by No I.D. And that's not to take away anything from @ITSPACDIV, who consistently bring relevant and creative lyrics every time they get on the mic. If @thecoolkids are my favorite Hip Hop group, there would be an absolute dog fight for second between Pac Div and @DaRealSlaughter. Pac Div always takes the rhymes over beats approach, which is admirable when you've got the skills to back it up and it makes for classic material when a top notch beat ends up on their plate. Even better, I couldn't name one of the members of Pac Div off the top of my head or tell you which member of the group I like best on the mic. They are all talented and the sound they produce is as consistent as it gets.

I wouldn't say this is the flashiest beat that No I.D. has ever done, but it's perfect in that it provides a basic canvas that allows Pac Div to do what they do by shining lyrically. I like that the complete hook doesn't even come out until after the second verse. I found the teaser hook between the first and second verse stylistically interesting because it gave a glimpse of what's to come, but they made you wait for the real thing. It's simple Hip Hop, but there will always be a collection of fans that can appreciate groups like Pac Div because they embody a lot of the qualities that were coveted during the genesis of what we can now appreciate as the Hip Hop movement.

(Climbs down off soap box...) Anyways, November 8th is date you'll be able to cop Pac Div's new album, The Div on iTunes. I know I got deep there, but if you're a reader of this blog and are plugged in to the RSS feed, you can appreciate my steez. It's gonna be a good week, I've got some solid new tracks to share and that's on top of what will eminently be coming the next month on November 15th...#TakeCare...keep it locked!

Pac Div - The Greatness (prod by No I.D.)

Videos of the Week

Lots of entertaining stuff this week including Bill O'Reilly defending Obama vs Lupe (in an extremely overly cut 5 min excerpt that was aired) and a whole lot of fun between Cudder and Matt/Kim's videos. Oh yea, what do you think about an all cello version of Welcome to the Jungle?
The Cud Life Tour V-Log #6

@mattandkim - Block After Block (video)...they really are the epitome of fun

@LUPEFIASCO takes on Bill O'Reilly on his show the @oreillyfactor

2 Cellos (Sulic & Hauser) - Welcome To The Jungle...pretty unique and awesome video

@ITSPACDIV's new video for Your F***ing Song

Free Hip Hop With a Bow On It

Tis the season for Mixtapes and what better way to start than a much anticipated release from Cleveland native @chip216. With the whole tape produced by 1/2 the @coolxkids with @chuckisdope behind the boards, the level of quality Hip Hop throughout is assumed. Every beat will have you nodding your head and admiring the *fresh* as you listen to Chip methodically flow with his his in your face, but cool as a summer breeze delivery.

Between as the Twitter chatter and blog and merchandise love Gift Raps is getting, it's no surprise this has over 26,000 downloads in datpiff in less than two weeks. As far as this week is concerned, it's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Mixtapes. You've got @ITSPACDIV - Mania (10K downloads), @macmiller - Best Day Ever (61K downloads), @dopeitsdom - Original Dom Kennedy (4K downloads, @BEIMAEJOR - Throwback (3K downloads) and to top it all off the other half of the Cool Kids (@sirmichaelrocks) is releasing The Rocks Report on Monday. Put it this way, plenty of homework to do for bloggers and Hip Hop heads alike when it comes to sifting through the heap of free music we've been provided this week.

Below are my two favorite tracks from Gift Raps, the first with co-prod credit from the Blended Babies. If you've been admiring the @charliesheen saga unfold, you'll get a chuckle out of the tweet below as it relates pretty well to the motto on Plural...

Chip Tha Ripper - Plural (Prod by Chuck Inglish & Blended Babies)

|Download

As far as best beat on the mixtape is concerned, easily the absolutely bangin' Everyday Chillin beat that has Chuck's paw prints all over it. Love the simplistic, heavy sound all over the track...

Chip Tha Ripper - Everyday Chillin (prod by Chuck Inglish)

|Download
Feel free to stream the whole tape below or download it here...

"Nikon, Polo-roid, I Should Take a Photo Boy, Cause I Be on that A** Like that Man Who Ride the Polo Horse"

Like many others who have been a big fan of just about everything Pac Div puts out, I've been frustrated as a mug waitin' for their studio debut, Grown Kid Syndrome. Instead, we've gotta settle for yet another (presumably high quality) mixtape titled Mania!, which is *supposed* to be their last tune up before the get their real album out.

What's cool about @ITSPACDIV, if you haven't heard their music, is that it doesn't sound like anything else in Hip Hop. That unique sound is most notable to me because of their ability to incorporate heavy, room shaking bass into their beats, similar to the way Chuck Inglish does for the Cool Kids, without having it take over the focal point of the track. In other words it's easy to make a bass beat that you play loudly to drown out the vocals, but not so much with Pac Div, who consistently spit coherent verses with more than a few good metaphors/pop culture references (like the one in the title). Between the Cool Kids and Pac Div, you have the Live Starting Five who are truly on some other shit and represent a very small faction of Hip Hop that doesn't really care what everyone else sounds like because they're gonna make their music the way they know it since their brand of music is original and great in it's own right.

If you can't tell I'm a big fan, and you should be too because you're not going to be fed their music in the mainstream. But that's why you bookmarked this page in the first place and my recommendation to download is something that can go unsaid. Heads up though, 2011 is the year you'll get Grown Kid Syndrome and be the year When Fish Ride Bicycles...#UndergroundNoMore

Pac Div - Your F*cking Song

|Download

Mixtape Review: Pac Div - Don't Mention it Mixtape

Alright it's time to start legitimately talking about Pac Div is one of the best Hip Hop groups in the game. In case you missed their first Mixtape, Church League Champions do yourself a favor and click that link and read my review on it. The quality of their past Church League mixtape combined with their close affiliation to my favorite Hip Hop group, The Cool Kids .

If you're familiar with any of The Cool Kids material, you can see why I'd be so fond of Pac Div. There's a reason why they're called the "West Coast Cool Kids", with their sound mirroring Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish's style with the same measured, deliberate flow and lead heavy bass. If you don't know what I'm talking about, give The Cool Kids track Knocked Down a listen and compare it to the two songs below Waves at the Prom and Birds.

Both these tracks below go H-A-R-Mothafuckin'-D in the trunk, make no mistake you will piss people off by listening to this loudly if you what you have installed is > factory. Took me one listen of Waves at the Prom to decide it was my favorite track of the Mixtape. The slow, steady bassline is hypnotic and mixes smoother than a Belvedere and Tonic with the laid back verses by Gabe "Like" Stevenson, Mike "Mibbs" Stevenson and Bryan "BeYoung" Young. Yea the beat and samples are dumbed down and simple, but there's somethin' about it stylistically that is throwback and fresh at the same time. They may not be talkin' about all that much lyrically, storytelling about a prom experience, but those background WHOO!'s (especially at the 41 sec mark) solidify the rock hard sound of the track. Give it a listen...volume clockwise...don't half step...

Pac Div - Waves at the Prom Mixtape Favorite!!!


Second favorite track features an artist I'm trying to pick up more material, Pill. Sidebar: I did a google search for Pill and his myspace was listed in the top 5, that's pretty crazy considering all the pill searches that are probably made each day. Anyways, this one is more in your face with the rawkusness of the beat and in your face, lowered voice sample. More or less this calls out all ladies that are "run through more than finish lines"...catch my drift? No holds barred here with the chirping all over the track to go with the deck beatin' 808 bass. Ladies...if you get called a bird...not a good thing #justsayin'. Check it...

Pac Div feat Pill - Birds Goes HARD!!!


This Mixtape makes me think of a recent Drake interview where he explained how important Mixtapes are in Hip Hop right now and how you can't just stash your throwaway album tracks on mixtapes anymore. They can potentially make a career (Drake) and as a result artist are putting a lot more into these tapes because they can sell just the same on iTunes and gain respect just as easily since they are circulated as much as full scale studio albums are. See below...

My third favorite track shows a much different sound from Pac Div, giving more of less intense, relaxed, jazzy/R&B feel to the track. Had to post one that gave some contrast to all the other bangers that sound like Cool Kids tracks. Press...play...

Pac Div feat Ty$ - Rollin' Smooth Track!!!


Overall, this is a great mixtape, with at least six tracks out of 12 that I consistently listen to right now. Along with the three tracks above, I'd also check out Shine, Brocoli and the track with Dom Kennedy titled Don't Forget the Swishers. Do yourself a favor and download the whole Mixtape and show these three cats from the left coast some love...

Click Here to Download the whole Don't Mention It Mixtape - Credit 2dopeboyz

The Live Starting Five...Pac Div feat The Cool Kids - Shut Up

Pac Div (aka Pacific Division) and Cool Kids make up The Live Starting Five (as referenced by Chuck Inglish on the track Knocked Down).


The Cool Kids are from Chicago and Pac Div are from Southern Cali, hence "our other three members run the West Coast triangle" in the snippet. The five members blend well together since they share the same throwback style with the in your face but simple beats and lyrical diction that commands respect. This track doesn't deviate from that last sentence as this beat goes pretty hard and the deliberate flow of each of the respective rappers.

What can you take away from this track? Well...you're not gonna get blown away by any crazy creative lyrics, but you will be impressed with how well the verses are executed. This song doesn't even need a hook, in fact I would have much rather had a verse from Chuck on the track rather than listen to the chorus. Take it for what it's worth, both these groups (Pac Div and Cool Kids) are two of my favorite groups in the game because they truly don't sound like anything else in Hip Hop. They are delicacies stylistically in a Hip Hop game that has become increasingly vanilla.

Have a bite of this watermelon sundae of a track and peep the video below....

Pac Div feat The Cool Kids - Shut Up HOTTT!!!

New Artist Spotlight: Pacific Division

Pacific Division, aka Pac Div, consists of brothers, Like and Mibbs, along with longtime friend BeYoung. The three came together in high school and have been slowly gaining legitimacy underneath the Hip Hop radar. Hailing from north Los Angeles, you could compare their style to a modern day Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul in the way their music has undeniable raw energy and consistent flow to it. If you are familiar with The Cool Kids, their production is very similar in that it is very heavy on bass and features simple, dulled down, old school percussion.

They have sort of a throw-back sound that sounds original amidst all of the overly synthesized beats that mainstream Hip Hop has become accustomed to. As a result, like The Cool Kids, their originality will always put them a step ahead of the competition and promise limitless potential in the years to come. You could say their future has started now with the release of the Church League Champions mixtape.

Last month, I hit you guys off with a video sample of what they have to offer over a DJ Khaled beat on their upcoming track Doom:



After watching that a few times, here are my observations:
1) There is no weakest link in the group, they all bring 100 all the time lyrically
2) They all have the ability to up their game on a great beat (I got you Khalil)
3) How big might they become if they got top shelf production?

And that's not to demean the sound they have now, I'm a big fan of them keepin' up with the originality and not following the crowd production wise...but that Khalil beat is disgusting and they went after it bar after bar showcasing why they are so underrated.

Which leads me to the review of their Chruch League Champions Mixtape...



The highlight of this mixtape for me was their track Knuckleheadz, which sounds like a Mikey Rocks production with the rolling trap laced percussive bounce beat that gives way to a slowed down bass infused beat at the 1:48 mark. Like I alluded to earlier, very organic production, not too over cooked you could say and very very likable due to its originality.

Pac Div - Knuckleheadz

Add to that, their track Whiplash with its dark, grimy beat that sticks to you with the catchy "I used to drive a Honda til it ran outta gas, now I'ma push this E til it run outta class" hook. If you're a fan of quality Hip Hop verses I'd encourage you to give Whiplash a listen.

Pac Div - Whiplash

Finally, they take it up a notch with the sampling of Duke/Carolina fans with the background imitating their student sections during basketball games. All in all pretty creative and I like how they incorporate a little drumline in there for good measure. Pretty cool how they just jump into the track and hit the ground running on the first verse, setting the tone for a hype track.
"Your girl jock me like I'm in school with the letterman..."....Solid effort...

Pac Div - We The Champs (Duke vs. Carolina)

No headphone rankings needed, let this spotlight review be a warning...Pac Div is no joke and like those ominous black clouds on the horizon, they're whats coming and they're about to "Katrina" on the Rap game as Kanye would say. Get some rest tonight so you don't keep sleepin on these cats....