Getting Up-to-Date on Indy Hip Hop Music

In my effort to sort of get up-to-date on indy hip hop music, I've been quickly perusing several sites. Of course, I've been reviewing email messages along w/tweets to @IndyHipHopWorld.

Here are the sites that I've checked out:
Audible Treats
Terrorbird

But I also bounced over to (using the Pulse app on the iPad):
SoulBounce
OkayPlayer
Word Is Bond
Wax Poetics
We've Got Jazz
Indie Hip Hop Blog
The Couch Sessions

Finally, the college kids are really good at spotting good, new music, so I popped over to see the CMJ (College Music Journal) hip hop chart. Here's the CMJ Hip Hop Top 10:

Shabazz Palaces (image borrowed from analoggiant.blogspot.com)

      ARTIST "Title" (label)
1.   SHABAZZ PALACES "Black Up" (Sub Pop)
2.   GRIEVES "Together/Apart" (Rhymesayers)
3.   ANIMAL FARM "Culture Shock" (Focused Noise)
4.   WILEY "100 Percent Publishing" (Big Dada)
5.   WUGAZI "13 Chambers" (Self Released)
6.   PLAYDOUGH "Hotdoggin'" (Writer Dye)
7.   THEOPHILUS LONDON "Timez Are Weird These Days" (Reprise)
8.   SOLE AND THE SKYRIDER BAND "Hello Cruel World" (Fake Four)
9.   HAIL MARY MALLON "Are You Gonna Eat That?" (Rhymesayers)
10. POTLUCK "Rhymes And Resin: (Suburban Noize)


Alright hip hoppers, there's homework to do, so get to gettin. kfox.

CMJ Year End Hip Hop Chart :: 2010

I kinda like the year end charts to give me a chance to know exactly what kind of a slug I am. I mean, who can keep up w/all of the entertainment that's available these days? Why would you even try?

On any given day, I know that I'm missing out on a ton of good music, movies, books and a shitload of really good articles.

Nevermind all of that though and back to how behind I am on consuming hip hop. Notice how I did not say purchasing anything? Who does that? Okay, so, we all have to buy something every now and again ... but, my point is that my music consumption is all digital these days and it's usually a free download somewhere (and, I should add, legal). I'm thinking you're nearly in the same boat as me, huh?

So s/o to CMJ for compling the year end list for 2010. I have at least 3 of the top 15 on the Hip Hop Chart. And I'm feelin good about that. Because those three are:

• Murs and Ninth Wonder "Fornever"
• The Roots "How I Got Over"
• Wu-Tang Klan "Return of the Wu and Friends"

So here's part of the list (see below). Get the full CMJ Year End Hip Hop Chart for 2010 along w/all of their other charts.

It's no competition, but how much of a slug are you hip hoppers? Slackin, schemin and dreamin. kfox.

Top Indy Hip Hop World Blog Posts :: 2010

Top Indy Hip Hop World Blog Posts :: 2010 (according to Google Analytics)

Another year and another set of Indy Hip Hop World blog posts. I've never pulled up the annual stats from Google Analytics. But it's not too late to do that, right? So I'm on it.

Here's the Top 3 Indy Hip Hop World blog posts from 2010:

John Legend & The Roots "Wake Up Everybody"

Originally posted on July 29, 2010

What's Hot in Indie Hip Hop - CMJ Style

Originally posted on April 7, 2008

2007 03 01 archive

Originally posted in March, 2007

So hip hoppers, here's to another year. Let's do this. kfox.

CMJ Style Indie Hip Hop

It's been a while since I've check the CMJ Hip Hop Charts. Seems there are a few things there that are not on my radar. The artists in bold are the ones that got by me ... but not for long.

What about you hip hoppers,what's on your radar? k-fox.

1 BROTHER ALI

Us Rhymesayers

2 BK-ONE WITH BENZILLA

Radio Do Canibal Rhymesayers

3 DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN AND TAME ONE

Parallel Uni-Verse Gold Dust

4 ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM

Fluorescent Black Big Dada

5 SOULICO

Exotic On The Speakers JDub

6 CROWN CITY ROCKERS

The Day After Forever Gold Dust

7 BIG PUN

The Legacy: The Best Of Big Pun Sony Legacy

8 BC

Time Pieces Pt. 1: Time Capsule [EP] Peripheral

9 BREAKESTRA

Dusk 'til Dawn Strut

10 KID CUDI

Man On The Moon: The End Of Day Universal Motown-Motown

11 SWOLLEN MEMBERS

Armed To The Teeth Suburban Noize

12 JAY-Z

The Blueprint 3 Atlantic

13 RITA J

Artist Workshop All Natural

14 WAX TAILOR

In The Mood For Life Le Plan

15 MOS DEF

The Ecstatic Downtown

16 BLUE SCHOLARS

Oof [EP] Duck Down

17 ILL MONDO AND NEAL RAMES

Ill Mondo And Neal Rames Ill Mondo

18 KAM MOYE

Splitting Image Myx

19 US3

Stop. Think. Run Self-Released

20 SHAFIQ HUSAYN

Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka Plug Research

Hip Hop at CMJ

Check out this New York Times article about the recent CMJ (College Music Journal) Music Marathon held in NYC.

Hip Hop at CMJ, All Cities and Types

It's all in the music hip hoppers. kfox.

How About Checkin the Charts ... ?

It's been a minute since I posted the CMJ (College Music Journal) Hip Hip Chart. They are usually just a bit behind; meaning they lag a bit in terms of what is currently hot. Never mind that though because the newbies are what you want to spot. For the full Top 20, check out the link above.

1. NAS
Untitled

2. Lil Sci and Carlos Nino Present: What's the Science?
Elevation

3. Common Market
Tobacco Road

4. High Decibels
HD

5. Brooklyn Academy
Bored of Education

6. Doomtree
Doomtree

7. Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Angles

8. Cool Kids
Bake Sale

9. Factor
Chandelier

10. Atmosphere
When Life Gives You Lemons ...

I'm listening to the new Roots Manuva and Common Market. It's da bomb, baby! Just like you hip hoppers. Keep doin it ... kfox.

What's Hot in Indie Hip Hop - CMJ style

So I've been trying to freshen up my hip hop playlist. I'm just a bit behind, but every so often I peek in on the CMJ list to see how they are shaking things up.

This week they've got Akrobatik on top, followed by Del tha Funky Homosapien, then Cadence Weapon. I've heard that the Del project is a hot one. Who's missing out here?

There's alot of interesting artists on the CMJ Hip Hop Top 20. But mostly I was checkin out the labels:

• NatAural Records
• Embedded Music
  
• Definitive Jux

Oh, and there's a new Guru - you can't go wrong w/Guru!

Crate diggin...

There's a lot going on. It's crazy how situations have peaks and valleys - one minute I have no new hip hop music, the next, I'm saturated w/more than I can handle.

I previously mentioned something about Bunny Rabbit. Well watch out, she is on a rampage! The unedited version was filled w/profanity and questionable content - potty mouth for sure! The edit version is just that - a bleep-bleep-bleep fest. The disk is called "Lover's and Crypts". I'm not endorsing or denying, just confirming that it exists. It's in my 'need to listen to again' pile.

I still have not gotten all the way through BusDriver's "RoadKillOvercoat". Out of the 12 tracks on the disk, we could only play three tracks on the radio due to profanity and questionable content. But time has permitted an edit on a few tracks. I like the first track "Casting Agent and Cowgirls". It's upbeat w/catchy beats and his lyricism is quick and quirky.

I do like Sentence. Good beats and lyrics. How simple is that. "There and Back" gets on my good side right away w/an intro by DJ Thought. Just a 60 second or so clip w/the dj mixing up a nice and mellow track. I did listen all the way through and settled on "Warning Shots" as a fav.

I'm trying to get my hands on what I've been told are two above average disks, they are Dalek's "Abandoned Language" and X-Clan's "Return from Mecca". X-Clan's rep speaks for itself. They've been off the block, but if they do what they've done in the past, they have a place in my music player. Dalek graces the most recent cover of CMJ, the College Music Journal, and the article gives them much props. But I'd like to hear for myself.

I could go on, but since it seems the dry spell is over, I'll save some for the next time ... stay healthy hip hoppers, kfox

2006 ... a brief recap

Well ... this seems a bit premature, but CMJ's deadline for the best of 2006 was this past Friday.

I primarily culled this off the top of my head, but I thought it would be best to revisit the archives and not soley employ my selective memory.

Generally speaking, 2006 was a fine year for hip hop. I'll elaborate in another post closer to the end of the year.

Here is the WMCO Top 10 Hip Hop albums/cds for 2006:

#1 THE ROOTS "Game Theory"
#2 GHOSTFACE KILLAH "Fish Scale"
#3 PSYCHE ORIGAMI "The Standard"
#4 OH NO "Exodus into Unheard Rhythms"
#5 PIGEON JOHN "...And the Summertime Pool Party"
#6 P.O.S. "Audition"
#7 J DILLA "The Shining"
#8 SERGIO MENDES "Timeless"
#9 COLLECTIVE EFFORTS "Medicine"
#10 WAX TAILOR "Tales of the Forgotten Melodies"

Let me know what you think ... stay true, kfox