A while back Trees For Breakfast put me on these early Aloe Blacc tracks..

“Before Aloe Blacc hopped on the Stones Throw roster,  he went simply by his given name Nathaniel and dropped this 12″.  It was around the time that the word “neo soul” was being thrown around like a dirty dish towel so it probably fell into that ill-fated category.  Doesn’t matter though because they are both cool joints. Somethin’ to kick back and relax to.” Both tracks produced by Ta’Raach.

Nathaniel – La La La

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Nathaniel – Ooh Wahh

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written by moovmnt \\ tags: aloe blacc, nathaniel, stonesthrow, ta'raach

Aha…finally some Fashawn on MOOVMNT. I heard about this cat a while back and he reminds me a lot of that cat from the Pharcyde on the joint we have for you. When someone told me Exile was producing his upcoming album - “Boy Meets World” – (which drops September 1st) I was sold. This cat has a great delivery, fresh wordplay and charisma. His brand new single – “Freedom” –  is now available on iTunes! On the b-side you can find “Our Way” featuring partner in rhyme Evidence. Last, but not least a bonus track…“The Outer City”.

Fashawn – The Outer City

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written by nilez \\ tags: boy meets world, evidence, exile, fashawn, freedom, itunes, los angeles, pharcyde, radio, the outer city

Introducing to you…Computer Jay from the always sunny Los Angeles. A moog freak by nature with a sound derived from dusty old synths but sounding oh so fresh. Greatness in the making I say! Big ups to our friends at HVW8 for some solid info and the footage from the Idyllwild Arts Academy celebrating Black History.

I just talked to Jay on AIM and here’s some additional info for ya’ll. Support good music and buy his single “Distance” with “Epiphany” on the flipside on iTunes!

Computer Jay – Epiphany

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Bill Evans – Wish Upon A Star (Computer Jay Edit)

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written by nilez \\ tags: arts academy, bill evans, computer jay, epiphany, hvw8, los angeles, moog, video footage, youtube

Jaspects is an Atlanta based group consisting of Morehouse College’s music department alumni T. Brown (Memphis, TN), Jon-Christopher Sowells (Dallas), drummer Henry “HC3” Conerway, III (Detroit), Dwayne “Spacey” Dugger (Queens, NY), Stagolee (Aniston, AL), and King James (Stamford, CT). Individually the members have worked on projects with high profile artists such as Big Boi, Wyclef Jean, Carlos Santana and Mary J. Blige, while collectively they have just released their fourth album “The Polkadotted Stripe” through their own independent imprint Jaspects Music Group, LLC. Their music is a blend of hip-hop, jazz and electronic music that seems to be predominating the current wave of Atlanta artists such as Holly Weerd, Brittany Bosco and Janelle Monae. The latter is also featured on the track “2012″ off “The Polkadotted Stripe”, which you can check out below. Make sure to check out the full album which you can purchase through CDBaby here.

Jaspects – 2012 (featuring Janelle Monae)

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written by Deluge \\ tags: atlanta, janelle monae, jaspects, the polkadotted stripe

TrueRadio’s BEAT SCIENTIST SESSION #9. A mix by FRONT 2 BLAQ of the best beats by Brainfeeder’s Charles Dickerson aka Mono/poly (Bakersfield) and Bradford Johnson Jr. aka Busy (Gathersburg). Both beatmakers were featured on Jay Scarlett & Circulations New Worlds Sampler. Be sure to check out Mono/Poly’s upcoming release on Faces Records..

01 – Monopoly – Analysis
02 – Monopoly – Forest Dark
03 – Busy – jellyfish
04 – Busy – Khnum’s Passage
05 – Monopoly – AquaSchism+The Gemini Mermaid
06 – Busy – minefield (lost city)
07 – MonoPoly – Oil Fields
08 – Busy – phase change
09 – Busy – toxic tide
10 – Monopoly – FatBss
11 – Monopoly – Ill Deal
12 – Busy – nebulous life forms
13 – Monopoly – Ground Beef
14 – Monopoly – Red & Yellow Toys
15 – Busy – witch hunt (hoodie rat)
16 – Busy – Avogadro
17 – Busy – starfish
18 – Monopoly – The Beatles
19 – Busy – Raid
20 – Busy – Quasar Trail
21 – Stevie E & Tha Show – Got It Locked (prod. by Monopoly) instrumental
22 – Monopoly – Search The Depths (unfinished version)

Busy Vs Mono/Poly

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written by nevill \\ tags: busy, front 2 blaq, mono poly, mono/poly, trueradio

Fat Freddy’s Drop last album – “Based on a True Story” – was a huge succes and went 8 times platinum. Not surprisingly their CD’s sold like hotcakes, because I can remember when it came out and I was blown away myself by their innovative sound. These New Zealand cats have such a unique sound which is best described by me as jazzy reggae with an occasional electronic twist. Thank god FFD is back with a brand new album called “Dr Boondigga And The Big BW” which will undoubtably be an equally great succes. The cherry on the cake is a song called “Big BW” which we made available for streaming. Nice artwork by Mr Otis Frizzell and don’t forget to buy the album HERE.

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Big BW

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written by nilez \\ tags: dr boondigga and the big bw, fat freddy's drop

Big homie Kenny Fresh just hooked us up with some brand new Hawthorne Headhunters music and you gotta love it. For those who don’t know HH…the trio exists of Black Spade, I, CED (or Ced No) and Proh Mic.

The possitively sounding “Never Give Up” – which co-stars vocals from Coultrain - is an unreleased outtake from the same 2007 sessions that the group’s forthcoming debut EP was pulled from. This will be their very first release being put out by HVW8 on June 20th.

The soulful “Get Up!” has been in my top ten ‘on repeat’ tracks for a while now and “PCM” with Dam Funk is epic! Keep your ears out for a Fresh Selects mixtape from the Hunters before their EP drops. This should keep you satisfied untill then.

Hawthorne Headhunters – Never Give Up Feat. Coultrain

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written by nevill \\ tags: black spade, ced no, coultrain, dam funk, fresh selects, get up!, hawthorne headhunters, hvw8, i. ced, kenny fresh, never give up, pcm, platinum pied pipers, PPP, proh mic, waajeed

I was on The Sole Dojo where I read about these Little Brother remixes by Nefarious. Now normally I’m not a remix kinda guy, but this “Life of The Party” remix just sounds too nice. Here’s what Nefarious had to say:

written by nilez \\ tags: anthology ep, carlitta durand, little brother, nefarious, phonte, rapper big pooh, the sole dojo

Tokyo Beat Science brings you the complete future beats based from TOKYO/JAPAN. This Project mainly features undiscovered, fresh producers/DJ’s/designers who are about to blow up worldwide. Our buddy Kazzzz sent us some ill music from Japan last month, but we had to let it simmer for a while. A lot of artists and designers are down with these cats so be sure to keep an eye out for each and every one of them! My favorites are..

Nitta
HEADZ
The Astronotes
Toi73

I heard The Astronotes‘ ”Space Water Babies” featuring Kissey Asplund and Rep Life last year and kinda forgot to do anything with it.

The Astronotes – Space Water Babies Feat. Kissey Asplund & Rep Life

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Now I’ve been watching Nitta for a while too. “Bring The Light” is down right dirty, electronic space funk with a twist of nastyness. This got me very curious about upcoming future releases.

Nitta – Bring The Light

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written by nilez \\ tags: headz, japan, kazzzz, kissey asplund, nitta, rep life, tbs, the astronotes, toi73, tokyo, tokyo beat science

Here we are again on this crazy, lazy sunday afternoon with a giganticly slept on joint for you to spark. This week it was our buddies from BamaLoveSoul that made us realize we’ve been sleeping on – ex-Jamiroquai bassist Stuart Zender‘s side project - AZUR (pronounced Az U R) like sleeping beauty. The project was to show off the men’s writing skills and Stu’s own producing talents on the Virgin Records label. The group was to feature a horn section from Cuba, Pino Palladino, and D’Angelo. A single was planned (major worldwide release) for Spring 2000. So what went wrong? It seems Tyrese did. Virgin’s decision to release and promote the Tyrese album seemed to upset Stu. I don’t know why or how fully this is true but we know the result. Virgin Records kept sending money to Stuart & Donny for the AZUR project, but AZUR kept sending back no word. Virgin decided to call it quits and so the album disappeared.

“Love is So Cold” (featuring D’Angelo) was originally slated as “My Baby’s Eyes” for D’Angelo’s Voodoo album, but I guess he cut it. Smooth delivery, subtle bassline and light percussion. I didn’t realize before, but this is on Yoda II release too. So I guess I overslept on this one right here…

The track was also brilliantly sampled by Exile on his latest “Radio” album…Stay Tunes (Stay Here).

Azur – Love Is So Cold Feat. D’Angelo

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written by nilez \\ tags: azur, d'angelo, exile, muhsinah, radio, stuart zender