Cunnin/Lynguists

The best part about Cunninlynguists (other than their name) is their diamond-in-the-rough producer Kno, possibly the best producer in the game period. Though the MC side to the crew is more than respectable, Kno is the core of this operation, especially on their new album Strange Journey Volume One. This one just as consistently great as when we first were feeling their shit in '03 through and through...tough to decide which joints to premier:

CUNNINLYNGUISTS - DIE FOR YOU (INSTRUMENTAL)

CUNNINLYNGUISTS - HYPNOTIZED

Bumbatrain!

Dallas Penn once again turns shit into diamonds. AKA the hellhole of NYC into a humorous paradise.

This episode includes German smut filmmakers, broken ass subways, doo doo detective, and Dead Wrong Entertainment. Wait for around 4:30 in the subway. Dude sometimes has me dry heaving with laughter.

Why you charge me more money for no train, trainclot!

A Brief History of Kid Cudi

• Sings in 88 Keys studio on TFC one year ago.
• Releases Day N Nite.
• Blows up.
• Drops one damn fine mixtape.
• Retires. Seriously.
• Unretires 2 days later. Seriously.
• Releases some of his best material to date today:

KID CUDI - SHE CAME ALONG

Side note: Does this sample remind anyone else of the intro to Twin Peaks sped up?

Night Of The Living Dope

All you need to be a hip-hop star these days is an ALIFE wardrobe, a YouTube account, a few jacked Dilla beats, and an undying love for spamming bloggers your new "mixtape."

I always assumed CurT@!n$ was one of these annoying cats ... dopey name, uber-hip, not much buzz. But then this hard as nails Night Of The Living Dope video dropped and the kid jumped out in the first 5 seconds like Kardinal Offishall on steroids. I'm already running around my apartment looking for shit to break.

We pop pills like Mor-phe-us
More bank roll than Carlton does.

CURT@!N$ - NIGHT OF THE LIVING DOPE

Kanye Gets Complex

Complex is one of the few large hip-hop magazine's/blogs that is still doing it right. Especially in the most recent issue featuring Kanye.

Yeez has a number of guest spots throughout, including a very dope cover from photographer and CGI artist Chris Milk. (When I first peeped this, even as a designer myself, I couldn't figure out how they had possibly accomplished it.) Apparently Milk scanned Kanye's face and body seperately, and rendered him in the computer for rare visual effect. The above film documents their photo shoot and process.
Inside the same issue is a breakdown of Kanye's new shoe, heavily influenced by Marty McFly, which will finally be available on April 4th due to customer request. Grab your American Express Black Card, these joints are steeply priced at $215. Complex has about 20 images up of the creation of these shoes, from prototypes to sketches and logos. Dont forget to catch the detail of the 3-prong lace loop on the tongue, which is shaped like a "Y".

These are hands down the most inspired and eclectic kicks since the original creation of Tinker's Air Jordans.

KANYE WEST - A MILLION WAYS

Mos ♥ Doom

Who knew Mos was such a big MF Doom stan? From what my boy Roc says (his sister is engaged to Mos) Mos is pretty far behind on the times when it comes to current hip-hop. But...god damn...he knows every lyric by heart, as if it's been the only thing on the iPod for years.

Now all we need is the Mos Def / DOOM collabo album, which is bound to happen before we see the light of day with any Black Star or GhostDOOM album anyway. No f that, we need Mos to rhyme crazy like DOOM on his new album if he has the balls to make it happen.

He rhymes like I feel. - Mos

An oldy but goody:
GORILLAZ FT MF DOOM - NOVEMBER HAS COME

Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are, the best children's book of all time, is now not only a movie, it is a Spike Jonze movie. There is no one better to do something this strangely beautiful.

Peep the trailer, with the accompanying on-point Arcade Fire theme song, realistic costumes (not easy to pull off with 35 ft tall wooly mammoth-like monsters), and predictably unusual Spike cinematography. The script is co-written by Full Clip favorite David Eggers, and the cast will include Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), and Mark Ruffalo.

Due for highly anticipated release October 16.

I Get Toe Up

What a three-headed monster. Banging beat, Bun B goes in, and Red even hops on the vocoder to stay with the times.

REDMAN & METHOD MAN FT UGK - CITY LIGHTS

Heaven x Spike Jones

British trip-hop group U.N.K.L.E. (formerly including DJ Shadow) get the forever-unique Spike Jones treatment for their new video Heaven. Spike takes footage from the best skateboarding flick of the decade Fully Flared--which he originally directed--re-edits it, and adds a crazy twist.

Surprisingly no CGI was used and no one was injured. Don't be fooled by the first half being a bit slow...

Wale x Curren$y x 9th Wonder

Off Wale Falorin's new potentially magical album with 9th Wonder Back To The Feature, which will feature Talib Kweli, Bun B, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and others.

9th lends his hand to a beat that breaks out of his usual slow horns for some tablas with a bit of that Waleezy Go-Go, and Curren$y comes correct yet again. If you don't remember Curren$y, here's TFC pitch.

WALE FT CURREN$Y - WORDPLAY

Doom Starks

Rumors of the Ghostface & MF Doom collabo album Swift & Changeable have been circulating for nearly three years now, but we haven't heard peep since the first single Angeles dropped years ago.

But the masked avengers have struck again. Here's a new one off the Chinatown Wars soundtrack, featuring Oh No on the boards with some traditional Chinese sounds, plus a real fresh remix which might even be better than the originale.

Crack ya skull like a fortune cookie:

GHOSTFACE & MF DOOM - CHINATOWN WARS

GHOSTFACE & DOOM - CHINATOWN WARS REMIX

You're Welcome America

Tomorrow on HBO at 9, you should be on your couch uncomfortably excited for Will Ferrell to destroy the legacy of George Bush.

Not that there is a legacy to be destroyed.


And while we're at it, Andrew Bernard from The Office is in movies now? With Mike Tyson? Directed by the Old School guys? Yessizurp.

Shots to Michael.

Ali Boom Ba Yay!

Brand new Ali off his new EP The Truth Is Here, which just dropped today. Another crazy ANT beat, another ridiculously smooth track from the kid...

BROTHER ALI - REAL AS CAN BE

Goings On About Town

• Hip-hop's most notorious New York project houses.
• Inside NYC's Sneakerhead Convention.
• Reflection Eternal reunite at The Blue Note.
• When seagulls get gully.
• Full cast of Seinfeld to appear on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
• Not the same cast as Cam'ron's version.
• Wu-Tang in Japan. The beginning of the end.
• 20 of the weirdest album covers ever.
• Beat Finale's Super Mario and get a free new track.

Solid Gold

^Now you know where the tape goes.

14KT is straight out of the future. Or at least the future that I hope for. You know the one I'm talking about: there is no recession, no war, all women rock rare colorways of Air Max 90s with black tights, I drive an Audi A4 turbo, everyone listens to real soulful hip-hop...

Heavy rotation in the lab this afternoon. As the lady is fond of saying these days: mmmmhmmmm:

14KT - THE NIGHT

Brandy of the Damned

Guitarist and songwriter for the acclaimed group The Strokes gets the Mark Ronson treatment...with a little Wale thrown in for good measure. Definitely the kind of unusual matchup we would like to see more regularly.

And The Marathon Man is coming at the end of the week. It needs a test run. Literally.

NICKEL EYE FT WALE - BRANDY OF THE DAMNED