Freshman Producer's of 2009 (So Far)

Here we have the two most impressive instrumental opuses of the new year.

First producer on deck is the highly slept on 14kt. Though he has been around for a long minute as a producer for the Athletic Mic League, his most recent magical album The Golden Hour is going to begin to turn heads immediately in his direction from this point on. Expect Jay Electronica and Big Pooh to have his beats sooner than later (source: Twitter). This entire album is a must have, with original sounds deeply influenced by Dilla himself and Flying Lotus.

14KT - REPRISE

14KT - LESS THAN ENOUGH

Secondly we have Exile, Blu's tour de force. This one off his new album Radio. You already know what it is Le Full Clipe, I will spare the plug.

EXILE - THE SOUND IS GOD

Blu Skies & Pearly Gates

Above: Blu's producer Exile flexes his skills on the MPC.

Below: Blu rocks over Exile's monstrous mainstream 2005 hit Pearly Gates, originally for Mobb Deep. Love this beat to death...

BLU - PEARLY GATES (PROD EXILE)

EDIT: In The Lab With The Alchemist

Edit: Kweli was eliminated from the official version of this for whatever reason, but here is the full version. This lineup was already crazy, but look at it now. DYNASTY.

It's good to see the old heads picking up new talent in the right places. Alchemist with the nice guitar loop, Cudi with the hook, Ev with the usual, Blu with the absolutely destroy everything in sight.

No preview available on this one, but you already know that this is a no brainer...

ALCHEMIST FT BLU, KID CUDI, EVIDENCE - THERAPY

ALCHEMIST FT BLU, KWELI, KID CUDI, EV - THERAPY

Tru Blu

After reading Brandon Soderburg's rambling yet precise criticism on the current state of lyricism, I began to wonder who still remains a true lyricist in 2008. Top of the list right here. Who else do you know who hangs out in abandoned parking lots freestyling at the wall?

Johnson & Jonson

Extraneous information in videos is played out. Who cares who you roll with, what you roll in, or how thick your rolls are. Just spit like you mean it, add a little type, and voila, you're done. If you add a line like this you are also given a free pass to do whatever you want for the rest of your career:

We the Robin Hoods of rap.
Jack, then give back to the culture.

If you missed picking up the J&J album, which dropped only three days ago, here's one good reason to drop a dime on it. Me and my cochlea co-sign this big time. [Note: this track is not the above one in the video]

JOHNSON & JONSON - LONG TIME GONE

On The Sene

We dropped a track from Blu & Sene many moons ago, and even alongside Blu (my vote for hip-hop Rookie of The Year) Sene shined. The two have a group together called Patch Adams and are preparing an album soon come. In the meantime every one of these jawns is worth your weight in gold.

SENE FT BLU - KING ME

SENE - LOVELY

SENE - ROBINHOOD

Wu Meets Blu

Blu is seeing a lot of shine on here lately, but when you're on fire someone has to gather the kindling to keep the blaze. Not only is Blu now on a track with Inspectah Deck, but he outshined him by a mile on this one. What's next, Blu on OB4CL2?

S1 FT BLU & INSPECTAH DECK - SUPAFLY

All The Kings Men

This guy cannot miss. Everything that Blu has put out in the last year has been more consistent than the Triple S every morning.

Meaningless side note: My vacation is the shit. I slid my way into a 50-person Obama fundraiser today ($500 a head) for free, ate and drank myself silly, and sat next to the love of my life. I never want to see NYC again.

BLU - ALL THE KINGS MEN

Presto! It's Blu

New jawn from Blu produced by Presto, with a super Tribe Called Quest 90s vibe. Presto's new album State of the Art features CL Smooth, FatLip, and Sadat X, amongst others, and is a must-pick-up.

PRESTO FT BLU - POUR ME ANOTHER

Wale x Blu x NYC

I usually post shows on the side but jesushchrist, this is like the 1997 Dreamteam. July 13th, S.O.B.s. Get em while they last.

Maintain

Rare Blu off of Exile's relatively unknown solo album. Smooth guitar licks and the copywrited thoughtful Blu flow.

Tired. Back with y'all tomorrow with some dope remixes & some new Immortal Technique bonus cuts which are better than the actual album.

BLU & EXILE - MAINTAIN

Blu in Megunica

A few weeks ago we posted one of the illest graffiti videos of all time by Italian artist Blu. He is blowing up right now, and is guaranteed to make it even bigger when this new documentary Megunica comes out in the next few months. The film documents Blu painting and living throughout Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Argentina. It is currently being shopped around for an official DVD release in December.

The Megunica crew has a fresh blog running on the making of the film and other adventures with Blu. You will see that he has a handful of projects in tow, including some extra large wall paintings at The Tate Modern.

Nu Blu

It's been a minute since resident Full Clip favorite Blu popped his head above water, which keeps us steady holding our breath while a bunch of other releases moderately impress us. If you are going to continue to fill Q-Tip's shoes as the modern mellow G.O.A.T, we need more son!

I'm a classy man, ma'am, ain't no regular playas in here.*

BLU - THE CLASSY MAN

Previously:
∆ Blu - My Boy Blu
∆ Blu - Crachouse
∆ Blu - Love Don't

* DUKES breaks from polishing his cufflinks & wingtips to bounce to the beat.

Art Beat: Blu

So I was writing a post on this last night after seeing a drop on Blu in Print Magazine and then browsing his website. Then on a few of my favorite hip-hop blogs today I see this video. Great minds think alike (no promo).

This is not the MC Blu, but in fact an Italian graffiti artist of the same name who has moved from huge wall murals to animated paintings in public spaces. As he says in the Print article: "Cities are the perfect museums: They have a large public, they have giant, unused spaces, and they don’t even have budget problems."

They also now have huge unfolding animations running rampant from the streets to the walls.

Run dont walk. Watch it.