Listen: Penny Shaw - "Soul Food" Album

NY's own Penny Shaw recently dropped a dope little soulful EP entitled "Soul Food" with some throwback samples of soul and funk that compliment his flow and provide a nice backdrop to his stories. Some of the vibes on the album are an obvious nod to the Golden era of 90's hip hop and stand as a testament to the quality music and vibes from that era. If only more artists could make equally honest tunes, maybe the radio wouldn't sound like a nightclub 24-7.

FREE DOWNLOAD HERE
http://pennyforthought.com/album/soul-food

Fine Art Friday: Kelvin Okafor

UK based artist and illustrator Kelvin Okafor recently posted some "process drawings" of portraits he completed using only drawing pencils. As a proponent of the hyperreal movement within the arts, Kelvin is driven by the replication of extreme details and precision of portraiture. The end result is so much like a photograph, that it is hard to know what you are looking at and though I find the process drawings a bit more interesting, the results are fascinating at every stage. Check it out below and step your drawing game up! Check his videos for more proof on Youtube HERE.

Video: Green Tea - "Never Be The Blame" ft. Gods'illa

For a bit of a curveball from what I typically post, I wanted to share a nice little heat rock from vocalist Green Tea with a nice feature from rap group Gods'illa, who sound like a more positive version of Mobb Deep at times,  and produced by Kev Brown. It has a bit of a throwback, Mary J Blige 90's feel, but it's nice to see some "keepers of the hip hop flame" still making honest music in the days of techno, dub-step love songs.

Check out more work from Gods'illa on Bandcamp HERE

Download Green Tea's "Never Be the Blame" on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dosage-iii-the-time-to-b.e./id525731698

Video: Adrian Younge - "Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)"

The incredible team at Wax Poetics have linked up with LA "throwback soul" specialist Adrian Younge and Philly soul legend William Hart of The Delfonics for a full length collaborative album. They recently dropped this music video for the lead single entitled "Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)" and the results are a great mix of film and music.

If you aren't familiar with Adrian Younge, the bulk of his output sounds like "36 Chambers"-era Wu-Tang instrumentals only all original music with live instruments AKA dopeness! William Hart is the famed high note singer from The Delfonics and needs no introduction if you are into soul music.

If you don't like this, you need to change your life! Looking forward to more coming soon!

Listen: XO Uptown - "Colour de Grey" Album

DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) representative Uptown XO continues to grind and put out quality material. Sometimes tough talking street tales, sometimes reflective insights, and always willing to speak his mind to a good range of experimental beats from the Mello Music family. The new album "Colour de Grey"showcases his diverse flow and approach and helps continue the vibe he set with his many mixtapes in the past. Check out the new album on Bandcamp at the link below and absorb some talent from an insider's point-of-view of the Capital State(s).

BANDCAMP
http://mellomusicgroup.bandcamp.com/album/colour-de-grey

Video: Cut Chemist - Crate Diggers TV

Jurassic 5 alumni Cut Chemist sat down with Crate Diggers TV to share his monster vinyl collection, amazing library organization and "digging" war stories. Check it out here and learn about what drives DJ's to rock a record for the first time, his role in the "Big Dig" in Brazil, record buying in the early days of NYC digging and the power and influence that networking can get you from an early age.

Listen: weatherPROOF - "Dirty Naturals" Album

New Jersey underdogs weatherPROOF just dropped their latest album, featuring guest appearances from Ras Kass, Louis Logic, and more. The production on the album is diverse and balances between mellow reggae, throwback boom bap vibes and introspective lyrics all provided from the grimy, raspy voices of emcee's Remsa and Event.

The album sounds like a mix of Atmosphere and the Outsidaz with the voice of RA the Rugged Man at times, but with the more "grown man" content and self-aware subject matter. You can tell they don't try to ape the trends of the over-produced, current radio tracks and wanted to make a solid album from front to back that you can throw on and listen to all the way through. Stand out tracks to me are "Blue School" and "Inspiration".

Check it out and support some of the underdogs from "Dirty Jersey".

DOWNLOAD LINK 

Throwback: Lucha Libre - "Libertad" ft. David Muhammad

Lucha Libre's debut album "Plantando Bandera" was a hybrid mix of hip-hop and reggaeton , peppered with battle raps and Latino pride. All of the production was handled by Da Ricanstrukta and the rhyming and singing consisted of emcee/producer Da Ricanstrukta and emcee's NV1 and Mic Virus. 

The 2005 release had lots of vibes going, but the dedication to the Puerto Rican homeland and the wishful words of the track "Libertad" always stuck out to me. Regardless of whether you speak Spanish of not, the vibe of the song is apparent and one of the hidden gems on the album. The track even managed to land a guest appearance from Madison's well known party rocker DJ David Muhammad for a more serious verse on the state of the culture. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Lucha Libre - Plantando Bandera (2005) - DOWNLOAD LINK
http://www.mediafire.com/?tvuj5wz93e3233o