Here in Vietnam, California the weather is unbelievably gorgeous for this time of year….Maybe it’s a sign that 2012 is going to be a standout year for Mr. Hip Hop Battlefield….

On days like this I try to find grooves that will put me in the right frame of mind…

This mix by Slim Jenkins (Me Gusta Como Bailas) made me instantly snap my fingers, nod my head, and all that other shit…If your looking for a little sunshine in your life – do the right thing homepiss…

TRACKLIST-

01. ricardo flores – pachanga ricardo (corona, california)
02. lucho y su conjunto – prende la vela (latin, colombia)
03. orquesta casino – el mosquito (dicesa, el salvador)
04. alfredo gutierrez – salsa mona (costeno, colombia)
05. mario allison – salvaje (sono radio, peru)
06. el caballo – me gusta como bailas (corona, california)
07. pedro miguel y sus maracaibos – descarga maracaibo (iempsa, peru)
08. rafael labasta – labasta llego (cbs, panama)
09. wuelfo – bueno y pico (inca, nyc)
10. joe quijano y conjunto cachana – mani tostao (fuentes 7” press)
11. edmundo arias – cumbia morena (sonolux, colombia)
12. hermanos cortez – apolo nueve (arcoiris, nicaragua)
13. los rumberos – sun sun babae (polydor, germany)
14. mulatu astatke – ebo la la (philips, ethiopia)
15. fajardo y sus estrellas – pa’ coco solo (panart, cuba)

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Gravy & Teddy King (Boundless NY) hooked up with for this mix that is flooded with all types of explosive dancehall joints….It’s somewhat in the vein of the “Every Posse Get Flat” project I dropped late last year (You can download that on the right side of the blog)…

“As you may (or may not) recall, in the ’90s it was fairly common practice for popular dancehall singles–especially ones by street-oriented artists like Bounty Killer, Supercat and Louie Rankin–to be remixed by replacing the original dancehall riddims with familiar hip-hop beats, theoretically enhancing the tunes’ crossover appeal in the States. In a few cases, such as Salaam Remi’s mix of Supercat’s “Ghetto Red Hot” and Lil Jon & Paul’s (yes, that Lil Jon) twist on Capleton’s “Tour,” these would go on to be the best known versions of these respective songs. More often, they simply became underground classics, encapsulating a time when there truly was a great exchange of ideas between hip-hop and dancehall”.

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Back In Time | DJ Teddy King & DJ Gravy by Teddy King

Public Enemy’s Minister of Information Professor Griff just completed his third book, “The Psychological Covert War On Hip Hop”….He stops by Tariq Nasheed’s radio show to chop it up about various topics – Agents within the music industry, the golden era of Hip Hop, Occupy Wall Street, mind control, secret societies, politics, etc…

If your a open mined individual, I highly suggest that you take the time to absorb what he is bringing to the table on this podcast..

PEEP…

Wow….

This song by L.A.’s Funky Town Pros (Just Another Toss Up) brings me all the way back to 1991 in a strange type of way……It’s hard to believe that it has been over twenty fucking years since I first caught the video on Rap City…..

Devastating and Boy Wonder only put out one album on 4th & Broadway entitled “Reaching A Level Of Assassination”…..The album is loaded with odd time signatures, stream of consciousness rhymes, and original stylings….There were talks of a follow up project, but for some reason or another it never saw the light of day……WHAT A SHAME..

“Just Another Toss Up” produced by Devastating….

Awhile back I heard another Funky Town Pros song after the Assassination sessions called “Fake Ass Hip Hoppers” on Kevin Beachum’s His-Story mixtape……..CHECK IN TROOP..

TRACKLIST-

Intro (instrumentals used: KC Work-Rickety Rackety, Oh No-Cassette, Madlib-Tape Hiss)
Madlib-My Style Is Different… ‘95
The Distortionists-Retaliation ‘96
Kemest-One For Dah Mental ‘95
Stedy Serv-Lyrical Graffiti ‘99
Definite Vacation 4 Suckas-Perfection ‘97
Dirte & Ope-Ski (T.S.P)-I’m Only 19 ‘99
PRZM & Illogic-How We Do ??
Headshots-Look Into Our Wilderness
Kool Keith-You Know The Game ‘95
The LO’s featuring Erick Sermon-New Haven Connect
Raw Elements-Blauw ! ‘97
Of Mexican Descent-242 ‘94
K Borne-The Qwest [JEL Remix] ‘97
Funkytown Pros-Fake Ass Hip Hoppas ‘95
Brain Leakage-Brain Leakage ‘92
S.P.O-Puttin’ Heads To Bed ‘92
Savage Intellect-Technique Of Fury ‘90
Masai Bey-The Untitled ‘93
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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It’s been awhile since I posted up a beat tape type joint, so it’s only right that I splash ya’ll with a little instrumental vibes to nod your head to….

On the very fresh Crates Of AG blog I scoped out a project from these cats named “Tru Comers”….

Decent stuff popping off on this one….Booming drums, moody soundscapes, and a nice ear for EQ’ing coming out of the speakers….Nothing too crazy, just a straight forward approach without all the extras….

* I prefer the first half over the second side…

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Remember when FREESTYLE meant going off the top of the dome ?

There has always been some controversy regarding what a authentic freestyle is…….Some dudes will say that it’s just a 16 that didn’t get included on the album, others will say that freestyling is a impromptu session full of spontaneous bars…

These days I will settle for some thought provoking lyrics in any shape, form, or fashion (YA HEARD ME)….

Tony Touch hits us with the “Best” of 2011 Freestyles on Shade 45….

After giving this a thorough listen I gotta give Black Thought the trophy for spazzing out the most on the mic…He literally tears the mic to shreds and makes ALMOST every M.C. on here sound miniscule…

If you think I’m joking take a listen for yourself…

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90 % of the time I listen to a whole project before posting it up on the BATTLEFIELD…….

This time I’m going to throw caution to the wind because I have a feeling there will be a few bangers on this new Timeless Truth project (Brugal & Presidentes)…..

TRACKLIST-

01. “Cicra” (prod. by R8DER)
02. “Can’t Handle It’ (prod. by Benny Ill)
03. “Smoove” (prod. by DJ Woof)
04. “Leave It Alone (prod. by Roc Marciano)*
05. “Memorex Massacre (prod. by R8DER)
06. “Based On A True Story” (prod. by R8DER)
07. “Irene” feat. Roc Marciano (prod. by R8DER)
08. “True Grit” feat. Sean Price (prod. by Roc Marciano)

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* Peace to Culpa Onerz, I see you in the photo duke….HA.

The good people over at Light In The Attic Records just released a compilation of obscure Thai funk tunes to wax…..

Yeah I don’t speak the language either, but I can definitely understand funk when I hear it….BLAM.

“Over two years ago, Bangkok crate digger Maft Sai from ZudRangMa Records Thailand complied the now legendary Thai Funk: ZudRangMa Vol. 1 CD, showcasing 18 forgotten Thai pop, garage rock, funk, and disco tracks by a cross-section of local 1960s-70s artists unknown outside of Southeast Asia. The limited set came housed in a stunning hand-stitched soft cloth sleeve and was culled and created from the used record bins and bustling street markets of the region. Distributed worldwide by Light In The Attic Records, our dreams of seeing this archival project reissued on loud and proud vinyl has finally come to fruition”.

PICK UP A COPY HERE…..

Haven’t heard anything from those Money Boss Player / Boss Money cats in a minute….

Luckily I stumbled onto this somewhat recent example of mic slaying by the always thorough Minnesota for DJ 250 (Stash Radio)…Hopefully we will hear more material from the BX crew in 2012….

Peep…

And while your at it you might as well scoop up this mixtape that features a gang of Money Boss shit (Bronx Meets Brooklyn)….

TRACKLIST-

Pistol Pete – Intro
Minnesota & Mos Def – Grown Man Business
Boss Money Gangsta’s – The Rosary
Mos Def – It’s Brooklyn
Boss Money Gangsta’s – Bronx Nigga
Mos Def – Summer Time
Mos Def – Beef
Boss Money Gangsta’s – The Boss Is Back
Boss Money Gangsta’s – River Nigga
Boss Money Gangsta’s – Ghetto
Boss Money Gangsta’s feat. Kurupt – From Your Side From My Side
Boss Money Gangsta’s – Treybag Freestyle
Boss Money Gangsta’s – If U Thuggin
Boss Money Gangsta’s feat. Sadat X – Kick A Paystyle
Boss Money Gangsta’s – Gun Play
Boss Money Gangsta’s feat. Medina Green – I Just Wanna Cum
Minnesota – Outro
Mos Def – Bonus Track.

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I’m not going to even try to front, I haven’t picked up a pair of Pumas in over ten years…..

Well it looks like my sabbatical is officially coming to a close with the release of these extra fresh Puma State Gortex jump off’s (Shadow Society + Foot Patrol London)…..Yeah homepiss these are no joke…

COP A PAIR HERE…..

Straight from the Windy City comes the latest offering from that dude Rashid Hadee…

Hip Hop Battlefield Top Picks- Don’t Sleep, The Meeting, The Small Things, and Land Of Opportunity….

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Lean Rock, DJ Shame (Yeah the one from Vinyl Reanimators trooper), Jus Jones & Kogataroo let off a full clip of pure B-Boy action on this explosive session of head nodders (Year Of The Horse Volume.1) Plenty of under the radar breaks to get you in the right frame of mind….

Doubles, cuts, and all that other fly shit….DO NOT SLEEP JACK !!!!

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Remember when RZA used to talk about a solo album that he was working on called “The Cure”….Around that time I had high hopes for the project and I hoped it would eventually see the light of day…..Instead what we got was “Bobby Digital” with a keyboard driven sound that fell way below my expectations…

Regardless I am still a RZA fan to this day……It’s impossible to front a dude that changed the definition of hardcore Hip Hop production…..Right ?

Anyway, back in 2004 the “Formula Of The Cure” hit the web and I finally got around to listening to it yesterday……There are definitely a few surprises on this joint that caught me off guard…..Via-KC.

Tracklist-

01 – Intro Ft. Bach, Mozart & Beethoven
02 – Sunshower
03 – A Day To God Is 1000 Years
04 – Twelve Jewels
05 – RZA Verse 1
06 – Tragedy
07 – Head Rush Ft. GZA
08 – RZA Building On The Cure (Interlude)
09 – See The Joy
10 – Wicked Society
11 – The Birth
12 – God Realization (Ruler Zig Zag Zig) Ft. Isaac Hayes
13 – Flight Of The Killer Beez Ft. Beethoven
14 – The W
15 – RZA Verse 2
16 – Message To Wu-Tang Clan Fans (Interlude)
17 – Wind Pipe Ft. Ol Dirty Bastard & Ghostface Killah
18 – Slang Fabrics Ft. Ol Dirty Bastard
19 – 3rd World (Remix) Ft. GZA
20 – Youll Never Know Ft. Cilvaringz
21 – Black Mamba Ft. Ol Dirty Bastard & Masta Killa
22 – Stevie Wonder (Interlude)
23 – Ode 2 Oren Ishii
24 – Raise Your Swordz (Samurai Showdown)
25 – Alone Against Him
26 – RZA Live (Interlude)
27 – Keyboard Concerto
28 – Do You Hear The Bells

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Just like I predicted your boy Skills returns with another wrap up joint for all you sentimental brothers out there…..Can’t even front he covers a lot of ground in a short period of time, my only complaint is his beat selection…..

Take a listen and prepare for a few chuckles…

One of the hardest working M.C.’s in Hip Hop is back with a new mixtape to help jump start your 2012….

Raekwon drops the Unexpected Victory mixtape today and I hear he is working on Cuban Links 3….Damn…..I haven’t had a chance to listen to this yet, but on general principle I had to post it up….

TRACKLIST-

01. (Intro) Unexpected Victory
02. Just A Toast (feat. JD Era)
03. The Brewery (feat. Ceazer-N-Reason)
04. A Pinebox Story
05. Goodfellas (feat. JD Era & Camoflauge)
06. Silk (feat. CL Smooth, Sauce Money & Big B)
07. That Good Good (feat. Altrina Renee)
08. Luxury Rap (feat. Fred The Godson)
09. Chinese Marines (feat. Mobb Deep)
10. This Shit Hard (feat. Dion Premo & LEP Bogus Boys)
11. Soldier Story (feat. JD Era)
12. MTV Cribs (feat. Busta Rhymes)
13. A Few Good Men (feat. Vado & Tommy Nova)
14. Chupa Cabra (feat. Capone-N-Noreaga)
15. Facetime (feat. Atrina Renee)
16. Gangsta Cazals (feat. JD Era, Camoflauge & Styles P)
17. Black Dust (feat. Tommy Nova & Mean Doe Green)

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