Late last night I sat down and gave Large Pro’s new album “Professor @ Large” a thorough listen….

Sixteen solid cuts of bare bones Hip Hop without all the extra preservatives and artificial flavorings….If I could pick three singles for him to press up on vinyl – these would be my choices…

“Professor @ Large”….Produced by Marco Polo….These two have developed a good chemistry over the years…Go pick up that “Under The Radar Remix” for further proof…….This beat is out of control by the way.

“Kick The Habit”……Two thumbs up..

“Focused Up” Featuring Tragedy Khadafi & Cormega…..I’m digging this one, but something about the chorus is off in my opinion…Fresh regardless.

* “Key To The City” is already pressed up on wax so I didn’t include that one in my picks..

Just got back from the “Battle Of The Skillest” B-Boy jam….

FRESH IS THE WORD….I even brought my 19 month old son JAHMEL along so he could get a taste of what his father is dealing with….Salute to everyone that made it happen, too many of ya’ll to name but you know what time it is…

Ran into Zulu Gremlin and copped one of his DVD’s, “Street Dance Fundamentals”…

If you want to add a little fire power to your performance I highly suggest that you swoop this one up trooper…

PEEP…

A mixtape paying homage to writing ?

SAY WORD….

There are plenty songs out there that go into detail about graff besides “Wrong Side Of The Tracks”….I will always salute that joint, but there are other cuts that deserve some shine time as well..

DJ Elmattic (Spraycan Diaries) might just give you some inspiration to catch wreck this weekend folks..

Tracklist (Spotted at DU)

Subway Theme – DJ Grand Wizard Theodore & Grandmaster Caz
Out To Tag – Serve 1 & Sue Works
Platform Rapform – The Chemist
Graff Time – Chali 2na
Out For Fame – KRS-One
Ambush in the Night – Looptroop
Tagz, Throw Ups & Pieces – Da Nuthouse (feat. El Da Sensei & Sak One)
End To End Burners – Company Flow
Wholecar – Roger Rekless
Slow Burna – Akrobatik
Getting Up Anthem: Part 1 – Talib Kweli (feat. Rakim)
Wrong Side Of Da Tracks – Artifacts
4 My Writers – MC Juice
Got The Fever (Lewis Parker Remix) – Meyhem Lauren
Graff Life – Literates
Bombing (Snippet) – L.I.F.E.long & Shamalex
The Escapades of Futura 2000 – Futura 2000 & The Clash
Pump Me Up (All City Mix) – Trouble Funk
Telemundo (Bombing Theme) – El-P

DOWNLOAD…

How can you go wrong with an all MC Eight mix ?

Nevermind, I take that back…There was a period when he switched up his sample based sound and chose to rock over synth-heavy joints (that’s when I tuned out for a minute, HAHA)….Luckily for us Rob Pursey picks the sure shot selections from Eight’s catalogue to feature on this session..

Ghhheeeaaa !!

* On another note, where is that MC Eight album that was supposed to drop on Year Round Records ?

DOWNLOAD…

Here is the latest edition of RIOC with JS-1 filling in for Eclipse….I haven’t spotted a link for this show in a long time so this is a nice surprise…

TRACKLIST-

1-Eclipse Rap is Outta Control Intro – Kool G Rap n AG
2-Comin’ 4 U (solar diss) – Big Shug
3-Occupy All Streets – Sean Price
4-4 Finger Ring – Trez
5-Golden State (of mind) – Copywrite feat Casual, Evidence n Roc Marciano
6-Walk Hard – Gangrene
7-I do Whatever I want – Homeboy Sandman
8-Fuck Rappers – Planet Asia feat Fashawn
9-Early 90’s – Double AB, Karniege, Torae
10-Just Rhymin’ w Skizz – Dj Skillz n Problems
11-Rise n Shoot – D Strong feat Prince Po
12-New York City – Punchline n SoulClap feat Torae, Ruste Juxx
13-All or Nothing – Asylum Lifetime
14-Times Up – Mike Flo
15-People’s Champ – OC n Apollo Brown
16-That Nigga Crazy – Show n AG
17-Power of Rhyme – Craig G n Marco Polo
18-Nautica – OC n Apollo Brown
19-Berri Love – Show n AG
20-Takin’ Over – Illa Ghee
21-UndagroundGoOn – Dj Premier n Bumpy Knuckles
22-No Apologies – Planet Asia n Raekwon
23-Hardest from the Underground – Ruste Juxx
24-All Day – KRS-One
25-Knock on my Door – Wordsworth
26-Dead Pool – Rah BoomBap
27-Easter – Artifacts & Dj Dutchmaster
28-Biters – Dj Soko feat Guilty Simpson
29-Get the City – Neek the Exotic n Bumpy Knuckles
30-Wolves – Show n AG feat OC
31-Gregory Heinz – Soul Khan n J57
32-Effortless – Craig G feat Chaundon n Big Pooh
33-Pushin’ Aside Pushin’ Along – De La’s Plug 1 n 2
34-I’m good – Erick Sermon
35-Today – Jay Love
36-Kaboom – Punchline n SoulClap feat Stricklin, Masta Ace & Wordsworth
37-Takeit2theTop – Dj Premier n Bumpy Knuckles
38-Thug Poets – 1982 feat Roc Marciano n Havoc
39-Miles White – Gee Dubs
40-Greatest Force – Truth
41-When You Sleep – Dj Numark feat Large Pro
42-Elite Status – J57 feat Rasheed Chappell
43-Holy Smokes – Mr. Complex
44-Freak Rock – Pep Love

DOWNLOAD…

Al Fingers will be releasing his book “Clarks in Jamaica” in October of this year….It’s about time someone paid homage to all my west indian brothers who know what time it is…

“Through current and historic photographs, interviews, and previously unseen archival material, and with particular focus on the Jamaican musicians who have worn and sung about Clarks Originals shoes for years, this book explores how footwear made by a Quaker firm in the small, quiet, English village of Street, Somerset, came to be the »baddest« shoes in Jamaica”.

Check out this article by Jesse Serwer in the UK Guardian that most likely inspired the writing of “C.I.J”…HAHA..

PEEP…

Pay close attention as the live guy with glasses “Large Pro” drops heavy jewelry detailing the stories behind twenty five of his classic records with Complex..Everything from Breaking Atoms, In The Ghetto, etc..

Be on the lookout for his upcoming album “Professor At Large” dropping June 26th…Dont sleep.

TUNE IN…

The Bronx crew People Without Shoes put out their only album “Thoughts Of An Optimist” on Rage Records in 1996…Eleven cuts deep, but their is one song that truly stands out in my opinion..

TAKE A LISTEN..

“Ghettonetics”.

The man behind such tunes as “Old School”, “Do You Like That Funky Beat”, “It’s Rocking Time” – the Bronx Bomber Kool Kyle – “The Original Starchild” is the special guest on the Old School Radio Hour with TG The Master of Disaster…

He talks about his days running with Grandmaster Flash, Enjoy Records, block parties, and all types of other shit..

If your a dedicated Hip Hop student you will do the right thing and check in with a quickness…

DOWNLOAD….

The good folks over at BCC 4 Life assembled this collection of Sean Price joints recently…

I wish they would have taken the time to mix these (most of the BPM’s are in the same range), but I can’t complain to much because this is a nice batch of non album tracks, unreleased shit, B-Sides, guest appearances, etc …

Be on the lookout for Mic Tyson sometime in the near future…

DOWNLOAD….

Andy Noble & Frank Straka take us on a journey into boogie wonderland with heavy selections on “I’m Just A Dreamer”..

Some of my regular BATTLEFIELD readers might not dig this type of steez, but these type of cuts put me in some type of backyard BBQ, 1983, fresh Fila suit flashback trance…

YA HEARD ME…

CATCH A MOTHERFUCKING GROOVE..

The Don Dada, The Wild Apache, Mr. Supercat had the dancehall on smash in the early to mid 90’s…He had a nice string of hits with “Ghetto Red Hot”, “Dolly My Baby”, “Boops”, “Cabin Stabbing, “Scalp Dem”, “Don Dada”, “Dem No Worry We” and many others..

Here are a couple facts about the “DON” that you might not be aware of..

1..Supercat was the chief suspect in the shooting death of rival toaster, “Nitty Gritty”….He was eventually cleared of all charges after a jury ruled that he acted in self defense…

2..He was once signed to Colombia Records..

3..On Nas’s newest release “The Don”, they rocked a Supercat vocal sample for the chorus….

Anyway, Innovative Sounds gives us a comprehensive Supercat mix that is loaded with head nodders…YOU KNOW THE DRILL.

Tracklist:

01.DANCE INNA NEW YORK CITY
02.A CLASS RUB-A-DUB
03.CRAZY LOVE
04.BIG & READY
05.PERMIT FI GUN
06.TELL ME HOW
07.TOO GREEDY
08.WALKATON
09.HISTORY
10.BOOPS
11.PEROGATIVE
12.POPS
13.A.B.C
14.BUBBLE & WINE
15.DON DADA
16.MUD UP
17.NUFF MAN AH DEAD
18.WE NUH STOP CRY
19.GHETTO RED HOT
20.AWA DO THEM
21.OLD VETERAN
22.CHALICE A LICK
23.SANDOKAN
24.READY BACK
25.SETTLEMENT

DOWNLOAD…

Masai Bey lets loose on this ode to beat making (Beat Root)…

“Sampling is an art not a crime / when I manipulate a sound, the sound becomes mine”…

SAY WORD!

While most most M.C’s these days flock to the latest trend, Bey rocks a unorthodox style that is all his own..Matter of fact, I can’t even name anyone that sounds remotely familiar..

* Taken from the “Vitamin” EP.

Three questions came to mind after listening to Will C’s latest instrumental project (Adieu or Die)…

1..What type of equipment did he use making this ?..

2..How long did it take him to make it ?..

3..Who mixed this down for him, or did he do it himself ?

Will took the time to put this all together rocking strictly “Beach Boys” samples….I usually bypass this type of shit, but for some reason I decided to give it a chance…

There were a couple joints that definitely caught my attention.

Here are HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD’S top picks..

“In A Ocean”…..This is a straight up B-Boy explosion right here…Heavy layers and unpredictable sequences, I wish he would of made the whole project like this..

“Dilation”…..The drums are real nice, floating chord changes, well thought out arrangements…..Some cats might consider this corny, but this reminds me of some fresh Yo Gabba Gabba type shit…HAHA.

If your built like Mr. HIP HOP BATTLEFIELD you go to bed with your headphones on every night, blasting loud, angry ass music before you go to sleep (my son and my girl must think I’m crazy, HAHA)…

With the recent addition of this flavorful MPC pillow by Acrylick, my nights just got a little more grizzly…

COP HERE…