The Hip-Hop Dojo [Vol. 10]

This week hasn’t been very kind to me folks. From nagging injuries to a nasty lingering cold, I’ve spent most of my week resigned indoors as I try to recover. Despite all of those hurdles though, I’ve managed to push through to bring you all the tenth edition of the Hip-Hop Dojo. Last week was all about introducing you guys to new artists, and while we do have a few fresh names around here again, you should be familiar with a majority of the lot. I won’t be able to elaborate on every track today, but I would like to point out some of the standout material from this week’s collection. We just hope this playlist can serve as a nice break from the Arrested Development marathon we all know you’re currently having.

We start things of with New Jersey native MoRuf, a recent college graduate who decided to celebrate by crafting a song about it. Looking forward to the road ahead, Mo hopes to dodge some stormy weather as he seeks the clear path towards success. Next up to the plate is Devine Carama who hopes to enlighten his listeners through his lyrics and his flow. Da YoungFellaz hope to take us on a trip to “New Rich City” with their latest effort. This marks the second straight week that the duo has been featured in the Dojo, and we hope that streak continues going forward. Our fourth selection reminds us of a lesson Bay Area emcee A-1  taught us a few weeks back. On “Funeral Season” Statik and crew provide us with a few more details about the spike in violence that occurs during the hot summer months. Bun B and Hit-Boy in particular come through with some surprisingly stellar verses.

A good chunk of this week’s compilation comes to us from Chicago. In fact, two of the best works lyrically are featured back to back: the first one being F.Stokes‘ “1954” and the second being Psalm One‘s “Queen Until.” We also can’t ignore our newest piece from the SAVEMONEY clique. The ensemble provides us with bars for days as they absolutely tear through the seven minute remix of Giftz’s “Nino.” Another phenomenal number comes to us from Waldo who “Finally” makes his Hip-Hop Dojo premiere. The Michigan emcee certainly impresses on the mic as he spits over a lush, atmospheric instrumental from Sango. Our final offering from Chitown comes courtesy of Julian Malone, who preps us for the release of his upcoming Diff.Rnt mixtape with the first single, “Tokyo.” 

Tate Tucker‘s “Fire” wins the title of smoothest track of the week, but Bas‘ “Lit” might be a close second. Featuring a sample of Miguel‘s “Do You” and an excellent guest verse from J. Cole, “Lit” definitely stands out as one of the top tracks to drop this week (seriously, I can’t emphasize enough how clutch that Cole feature is). Interpolating the chorus of the Fresh Prince classic, Blu wants to remind us exactly what time it is (even if it might not feel that way in certain parts of the country) on “Summer Time.”

Now I don’t normally feature freestyles on here, but there’s something about Drake‘s “5 AM In Toronto” that brings the best out of every emcee that touches it. A few weeks ago we shared Joell Ortiz‘s rendition of “5 AM In Brooklyn,” and today we bring you Voli‘s “5 AM.” The Jersey representative definitely brings his A-game as he steps up to the mic on this one. When you first press play on Lecrae‘s “Round of Applause” it might sound like your average trap banger, but if you pay close attention to the lyrics, you’ll realize the true message behind the song. The track is all about emerging from the stereotypes that many of these rappers fall victim to, and proving that it’s possible to be successful through hard work and education. That provides a perfect segue to our next selection, as Goodie Mob attempts to provide us with “Special Education” of their own. Featuring the vocal stylings of Janelle Monáe, the newest single from the legendary quartet is sure to make your headphones explode with its whirring, hard-hitting instrumental. The track also proves that Cee Lo can still rap his ass off, as he completely demolishes the beat with his tremendous wordplay.

Snow Tha Product is the only artist to be featured twice this week, and for good reason. If you don’t know about Snow yet, it’s still not too late to jump on her bandwagon. The Mexican-American emcee absolutely bodies tracks with her rapid-fire flow, proving she can hold her own on both “On. Now” featuring Trae Tha Truth and “Cali Luv,” a record produced by The Cataracs that includes a sample of Tupac‘s classic “California Love.” The next selection I’d like to highlight is from Travi$ Scott. Kanye’s latest protégé recently released his Owl Pharoah mixtape, and this particular track was too good to pass up. “Dance on the Moon” has a very Kid Cudi-esque vibe to it, mostly thanks to Theophilus London‘s vocals on the chorus. The final track on our playlist might be the most upbeat (and the most random) of them all. Featuring the unlikely pairing of 2 Chainz and Macklemore, Clinton Sparks brings us an energetic number all about chasing paper and having a generally good time.All in all, it’s a perfect way to wrap things up.

We hope you guys enjoyed our tenth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo as much as we did! As always, you can send all of your submissions/suggestions to baseer@themusicninja.com.

(As a bonus, I wanted to direction your attention to a fun little video I’ve included below. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will always have a special place in the hearts of all hip-hop fans, so I feel it’s my duty to alert you of any mini-reunions of the show’s cast.)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE FREE TRACKS

’MoRuf – Dodging.Dark.Clouds.’
’Devine Carama – Light Switch Flow’
’Da YoungFellaz – New Rich City (feat. Sal Capone)’
’Statik Selektah – Funeral Season (feat. Styles P, Bun B, & Hit Boy)’
’Giftz – Nino (Remix) Feat. Tree, Joey Purp, Kami de Chukwu, Dally Auston, Brian Fresco & Caleb James’
’Julian Malone – Tokyo’
’Waldo – Finally (Prod. by Sango)’
’F. Stokes – 1954’
’Psalm One – Queen Until (Prod. By Panik)’
’Tate Tucker – Fire’
’Bas – Lit feat. J. Cole and KQuick (Prod. by Ced)’
’MeLo X – Mojitos and Little Dragon’
’Blu & Bombay – “Summer Time” feat. Arima Ederra’
’Spose – I’m Starving’
’Chuck Inglish – For The Love (Feat. Asher Roth)’
’Sir Michael Rocks – In a Minute feat. Ab Soul & Dash (Prod. Larry Fisherman)’
’Earl Sweatshirt – Guild (feat. Mac Miller)’
’Kid Ink – Bossin’ Up  ft A$AP Ferg & French Montana’
’Voli – 5AM’
’Lecrae – Round Of Applause ft. B.o.B’
’Goodie Mob – Special Education f. Janelle Monae’
’Machine Gun Kelly – Peso ft. Pusha T & Meek Mill’
’Snow Tha Product – On. Now ft. Trae Tha Truth (Prod. by Cardo)’
’Snow Tha Product – Cali Luv (Prod. by The Cataracs)’
’Travi$ Scott – Dance On The Moon Feat. Theophilus London & Paul Wall’
’YONAS – Pocket Full of Dreams’
’Clinton Sparks – Gold Rush feat 2 Chainz, Macklemore & D.A.’
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The Hip-Hop Dojo [Vol. 5]

You know what time it is, folks. The Hip-Hop Dojo is back for its fifth installment. Typically, we try to separate the playlist based on certain themes or sounds, but this week’s crop is our largest and most unique ever, making it tough to group everything together, but we tried our best. There is one pervasive idea that seems to shine throughout a majority of this playlist though, which is “keeping it real.”

This week’s edition is a revival of sorts, featuring plenty of industry veterans, and a few names you probably haven’t heard in quite awhile. We start things off with De La Soul, fresh off a 10 year hiatus to provide the game with some toughness once again. Channeling the “Spirit of the Wu,” the trio show us they haven’t lost a step as they go in over a sample of the “Intro” from Wu-Tang Forever. While De La Soul represents the Wu in spirit, Raekwon represents them for real on Statik Selektah‘s new single, “Bird’s Eye View.” Along with fast-rising youngster Joey Bada$$, and the criminally underrated Black Thought, the Chef and crew absolutely merk the soulful instrumental as they give us an idea of the view from above. Next up, we listen as another holdover from the 90’s, DJ Premier, pays homage to his Gang Starr running mate, Guru, alongside the great Talib Kweli and producer Marco Polo. Our next few songs carry on with the 90’s vibes. Honestly, the only way you can tell these piano-backed tracks are from 2013 is by their pop culture references.

Now, our next track might seem a bit controversial to some of you out there. I don’t normally endorse rappers spitting over classic instrumentals, but XXL Freshman, Logic, shows us he’s more than worthy of his new title over Outkast‘s “Ms. Jackson.” I’m still having a hard time trying to resist belting out the chorus whenever I listen to it though. Moving on, we have a previously unreleased joint from the late, great J Dilla, set to be featured on his posthumous album, The Diary. Dilla takes a sample of 80’s record cars “Cars” by Gary Numan, and completely flips on its head, glorifying “big ass trucks and big ass rims.”

Our next three tracks feature pairs of emcees trading bars back and forth. While The MyNORS kick it old school, MMG’s Rockie Fresh and Rick Ross give us a little taste for “Panera Bread” over some stellar production from Lunice of TNGHT. Following those acts up are MAHD and JD Era, two emcees who absolutely shred the beats given to them. Linking up on our next number are two former G-Unit labelmates, Havoc and Lloyd Banks, who give us some insight on the life they chose for themselves.

Coming to you for his second appearance in the Dojo is Texan spitter, M.I who brings along a new friend you may already be familiar with, Chamillionaire. Although the Houston native hasn’t been entirely relevant in recent years, he reminds us all why we fell in love with his music years ago, delivering a killer verse on what may be the standout track on this playlist. We then shift things over to Dade County to visit talented young emcee, Denzel Curry. While the title “N64” makes it sound like it should be a fun track, Curry is doing anything but playing around here. Over some dusky, ominous production, Denzel “Aquarius’Killa” Curry tackles the issue of gun violence, and sheds the spotlight back on the tragic death of Trayvon Martin. On a related note, Doley Bernays also dedicates his newest single to the subject of violence, but chooses to enlighten us from a different perspective. Sampling the Deadmau5 single of the same name, Bernays and running mate Denzil Porter discuss the difficulties of choosing between a life on the streets and pursuing their dreams as emcees. Check out the recently released visuals for the track to garner the full effect.

As we approach the finish line, we decided to cool things down a bit. While none of these are quite 4/20 worthy material, they’ll definitely help you mellow out after some of those more serious numbers. The first joint comes to us from across the “Ocean,” as UK spitter Paper Plates shows that he certainly can hold his own against the American boys. The next track I’d like to highlight is Sound FX‘s “Apathy,” a song which is guaranteed to lift all your worries away as the California natives spit over a light, airy backdrop. Now, before you Charles Hamilton fans get too excited about a comeback (I know there’s still some of you lingering out there), I’d like to warn you that this final track is actually an unreleased collaboration from a few years back. XV recently decided to remaster and re-release his previous four mixtapes, including four new unheard tracks from each recording session. If you’re a fan of Vizzy and want to polish up your library, it’s definitely worth at least a look.

We hope you guys enjoyed our fifth edition of The Hip-Hop Dojo as much as we did. As always, send all submissions/suggestions to baseer@themusicninja.com.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ALL THE FREE TRACKS

’De La Soul – Get Away (feat. The Spirit Of The Wu)’
’Statik Selektah – Bird’s Eye View (feat. Raekwon, Joey Bada$$ & Black Thought)’
’Marco Polo – G.U.R.U. f/ Talib Kweli & DJ Premier’
’Raiza Biza – 7th Floor (Prod By SoulChef)’
’JusThoughtZ – I’m Okay’
’Reks – Caged Bird ft. Ezdread’
’Co$$ – Blasphemy in Babylon (prod. by DJ Mentos)’
’Joey Purp & Tokyo Shawn – World Turning (prod. Caleb James)’
’Jon Connor – All 4 U’
’Logic – Roll Call’
’J Dilla – Trucks’
’The MyNORS – Mr Mista feat Nottz Raw ( prod by DP)’
’Kourvioisier – Write Brothers (Feat. Thee Tom Hardy) (Produced By K
Hill)’
’Rockie Fresh – Panera Bread (Feat. Rick Ross & Lunice)’
’MAHD – “Doors Up”‘
’JD Era
Marz Barz (Freestyle)’
’Havoc – Life We Chose Feat. Lloyd Banks’
’Ti’Jean – Fast/Slow feat. Pusha T’
’M.I – Nothing You Can Do (ft. Chamillionaire & Corbett) (prod by Tyler Keyes)’
’Denzel Aquarius’Killa Curry – N64 (Prod. By N/P)’
’Doley Bernays – Raise Your Weapon Feat. Denzil Porter’
’Paper Plates – Ocean (Prod. Juna Cosmos)’
’Bas – Stronger (Prod. by Jii Amadehuss)’
’Kevin Abstract – Ian Mad’
’Sound FX – Apathy’
’XV – Nevermind (Remix) ft. Charles Hamilton’
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