VIDEO: Aasim "Save my Soul" f/Cee Lo Green

VIDEO: Aasim "Save my Soul" f/Cee Lo Green

Aasim is at it again ... this time bringing in the strength of Cee Lo to set his game apart from others. Cee Lo has  anice hook on this track. But Aasim goes in deep w/his lyrics.

This one you need to check out hip hoppers ... and save your own soul. kfox.

VIDEO: Pep Love "Hip Hop My Friend"

VIDEO: Pep Love "Hip Hop My Friend"

Aaaw, baby, this is my jam of the day/week/month! So in love w/this track. Love, love, love the beats ... and Pep just kills it on the lyrics! I mean, comes correct. And to suck me in even more there's this rare soul riff throughout the track. Yeah, this is my kinda vibe.

Oh, and the vid will sit you on yo ass! Nicely produced and complimentary to the track. Btw, Pep's a co-founder of Hieroglyphics, so you should already know.

• Check out this blog post from Prefix on Pep Love's latest release.

Hip hoppers, my friends ... this is for us! kfox.

Marvin Downing "Sunday"

Marvin Downing "Sunday"

The discovery of music is so cool; at least it is for me.

This track is about as simple as they get. For me that was a quick lesson in 'less is more.'

The drum beat is uber basic; there's nothing extraordinary about the hook. The lyrics have some pop, but there's this gospel undertone that is also simple, but effective.

You gotta listen to this one hip hoppers. It's worth the effort. kfox.

DOWNLOAD: I Self Devine "Reports From The Field: In The Trenches (Free Mixtape)"

I Self Devine "Reports From The Field: In The Trenches (Free Mixtape)"

Image borrowed from I Self Devine's Newsletter

Whew, this is nice. And that is such an understatement. I Self Devine brings his seemingly effortless A-game to this project.

I started playing this while I was multitasking, but it didn't take me long to focus my attention and say, who's that again? Then I went back to see the name of the track; several tracks actually.

You must listen to "Flat Black"

• interesting intro material
• great lyrics
• confident, but not egotistical delivery
• hype music
• dj antics (i.e. cuttin and scratchin)

The mellower beats also work for this guy; the flow is easy to understand and it just all fits together nicely. The tracks are a bit short, but they're complimentary as a project. That's cool.

And what't not to love about a free download: no pain, all gain hip hoppers. kfox.

VIDEO: Lil E513

VIDEO: Lil E513

This still makes me laugh and smile and reminisce. Lil E513 is my friend's son. Lil E513's dad is the legendary Butch Gibson from Cincinnati. We don't hang out and haven't since I moved away from Cincy long, long ago. But Gibson knows how to rock a party. He's part nerdy guy; part business man; part crazy dude and all around cool. I could go on and on w/my stories about dj Butch Gibson - no, seriously, I could write a series of chapbooks on this character. Good times indeed.

However, apparently some of the elder's skills/talent has transferred this younger version, Lil E513. There's so much I like about this track and vid:

• Crafty lyrics
• Solid beats
• Somewhat quirkily entertaining 
• Takes advantage of limited resources (i.e. low or no budget for the vid)

He's still young and that's what I like ... oh, the possibilities hip hoppers. kfox.

Mumbls "Spellbound"

Mumbls "Spellbound"

I'm in a bit of a dilemma as it relates to Mumbls' "Spellbound." I digs mostly everything that comes to my inbox from Audible Treats. But this Mumbls was and is a bit of good and bad thing, in my opinion. So instead to brushing it off, I thought, why not say what rubbed me the wrong way about this track.

But first let me say, that the tempo of the track is nice; laidback. His flow works for the track too: he sounds comfortable and experienced. In some ways he's crafty; in some ways he's immature.

The lyrics, though, caught my attention. Interestingly, I don't consider myself a prude - or maybe I am - but there's some language on the song that just jumped out at me. Immediately reminded me of the early days of Too Short; who, mind you, I listened to w/out cringing. So why did I cringe when Mumbls says the raw version of breasts? Who knows? I just ask myself: what does he gain by using those words? Does it make him appear to be more of a man. Again,who knows? And it should be noted that I can and do use my fair share of profanity at any given moment, so again, why did his lyrics strike me on this track?

At the end of the day, I'll give Mumbls "Spellbound" a pass simply because it's a good track. There's more that I like about it than what I don't like about it.

• Go directly to Mumbls "Spellbound"
• Check out Mumbls on Twitter too

Go ahead hip hoppers, get "Spellbound." kfox.