Im rappin for real, you MFs rappin for play

New Marco Polo & Torae album on top of Dilla in one day? The hip-hop gods have been making their sacrifices.

Listen to this one close, it applies to all of us self-proclaimed real hip-hop heads who don't buy albums and then complain about the state of hip-hop when the Lil Wayne's get paid. Just look at the picture above, that's Marco's house and recording studio (for real). Let's help him get paid.

TORAE & MARCO POLO - CRASHING DOWN

And a bonus leak off Marco's new upcoming "blend" project, featuring one of his best older beats from Port Authority (Copywrite originally killed this one). This time he blends the new Rae and Ghost track. Cross your fingers OB4CL2 beats sound this naturally perfect for the Wu affiliates.

GHOSTFACE & RAEKWON - MY PIANO (MARCO BLEND)

$tay Paid

Just copped the new Dilla album, and it is fire on wax. Keep the record spinning, and it might damn near melt.

Even though there are some serious options to post—tracks featuring M.O.P., Blu, MF Doom—we're going with the real gem featuring someone you probably have never heard of. Diz Gibran, out of the left coast, goes in over the best beat on the album. After listening to this, I'm 110% on this kid...if you want to delve a bit Crooks & Castles just released Dizzy's latest project Soon You'll Understand.

Real track starts at 1:25.

J DILLA FT DIZ GIBRAN - MAKE IT FAST

Cru's Pop

Rick's verse ain't funny, so don't you dare laugh.

CRU FT SLICK RICK - JUST ANOTHER CASE

Oh Hell Oh

Cage is preparing to drop his new LP Away From Me this summer, which will most likely be his furthest departure from his old thugged-out morbid sound that initially built his career pre-Def Jux. For a taste of what we have in store in the new clean-cut, more indie, and matured Cage, we have a new one from the EP released for free on Twitter last night. Since then this track has been on steady repeat:

CAGE - HELL OH (PROD BY EL-P)

Actor Shia LaBeouf has taken an almost obsessive interest in Cage the last few years, going so far as to work on a documentary about him. Needless to say, it will probably be the most interesting and convoluted hip-hop documentary ever. As a teaser to that project, Shia directed the most recent video for Cage from his track I Never Knew You, which is a more than impressive directorial debut.

And if you're feeling the video and song...

CAGE - I NEVER KNEW YOU

Dilla x Raekwon x Mobb Deep

Look at the title. This is oh so serious.

J DILLA FT MOBB DEEP & RAEKWON - 24K RAP

You Could Never Hang With Me, Even If Your Name Was Mr Cooper

This one is a rare unreleased bonus cut off Company Flow's classic album Funcrusher Plus. Unique to the 2009 reissue.

This was back when El-P's style was gritty New York City without the whole depressed intellectual shtick. Back when being the one white kid in the strongest underground crew meant you had to step in the cypher with bullets. Super fresh throwback, especially for the 80s babies who grew up on this sound.

COMPANY FLOW - HIT ME WITH THAT SHIT (RARE)

More rare bonus material:

COMPANY FLOW - STRETCH & BOBBITO FREESTYLE

Same Old Song & Dance

Off Em's new album Relapse, produced by the (still) talented Dr. Dre and Dawaun Parker. If you have the stomach for the auditory equivalent of Silence of the Lambs, enjoy. Otherwise puruse the rest of the site for something a little less, um, completely fucked.

EMINEM - SAME SONG & DANCE

Switch To Southpaw, Split Your Right Jaw

^ They don't make em like they used to. - Old fogey praverb.

When Yo! MTV Raps was the only blog in town, real cats like Rakim actually ran the scene, Tupac was putting in stellar acting performaces, and hip-hop movies were about actually about turntablism, the art of MCing, and depicting a reality of street life in big cities (read: not Get Rich Or Die Trying)...this is what was defining the culture.

Can you imagine a song like this coming out in 2009? Your head would explode. It would make all of this garbage floating around the internet look like a complete waste of your precious zShare ad click time. This just doesn't happen anymore, even from the potential legends, and I'm not quite sure why.

I need answers.

ERIC B & RAKIM - KNOW THE LEDGE

All Up Under The Covers Day

The Dick In A Box boys are back with more fire, this time celebrating Mother's Day.

It Never Entered My Mind

I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning ... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.

Perfect inspiration for a rainy day.

MILES DAVIS - IT NEVER ENTERED MY MIND

Props to Jaker.

Forever

Another crunchy joint off the De La Soul x Nike run project, chopped and packaged from the 45-minute mp3 by yours truly, for truly yours.

De La in our hearts & souls forever.

DE LA SOUL - FOREVER

Wu-Tang Redesigns

Though the scope of hip-hop graphic design is far too wide to generalize, it is for sure that it is a field that has not grown or taken the chances it needs to. Cheesy Photoshop techniques, graffiti themes, and braggadocio images have almost always taken the lead to real imagination, smart typography, and design that references classic techniques.

For the last few years my dream has been to bring a whole new flavor to hip-hop design. I was thinking: Why not step out of the box? Create a new vernacular that has nothing to do with the themes that have ruled hip-hop design?

But it looks like designer Logan Walters beat me to it with his new series of Wu-Tang design remixes (almost exactly what I imagine hip-hop design should be doing). Based on the old Blue Note album designs, these are smart, elegant, and straight out of left field, at least when it comes to hip-hop.