If you’ve slept on these two, it’s time to get familiar. Odds are, at this point, you are unable to avoid hearing of them: their viral youtube videos, their performance at Coachella, and their recently-acquired hipster fame.

Die Antwoord is an Afrikaans duo (their name translates to “The Answer”) from just outside of Cape Town, and they’re pretty amusing. It’s “Zef Rave,” which basically means it’s trashy rap-rave music. But that’s the thing: it’s pretty damn self-aware. Family friends in Cape Town told me that when they met these two on the street they were two of the most normal, nice, people they’ve met. Would you ever know it from the videos or the music? Probably not. Turns out the MC “Ninja” has been involved in a number of other projects, most of which are much less outrageous (apparently – given my internet costs, I can’t really afford to verify that).

Their album $O$ should be available somewhere out there on the internet (and trust me, it’s pretty good). Check their website if you want to know more.

Oh, and a note on terminology. Bru = Bro. Dagga = Weed. Wat kyk jy = What are you looking at?

Listen, I used to love Pitbull. Culo? Hot. Toma? Badass. I remember when that awful show “South Beach” was on, those tracks had just come out and nothing conveyed Miami’s crazy nightlife better than those two songs. And then Oliver (aka Gucci Vuitton), co-owner of Bodega, had this fantastic blend of Toma over a drum-line. And then I used the “Culo” acappella over a house track to great effect.

And then Pitbull started to suck. It started with Krazy. The rhymes were terrible, I wasn’t totally in love with the drums, and the rhymes were terrible. And then Calle Ocho happened. And it was also a disappointment. The beat was so good, and the chorus was decent, but once again the verses were so, so, so terrible. I had just about given up on him. While Miami’s other hometown hero Rick Ross had gotten better (We Shinin’, for instance), Pitbull had totally regressed. Well, except for that remix of the Rick Ross/Avery Storm track “Here I am.” That one was okay. Whatever, not the point.

And then I heard “Hotel Room Service.” The beat, essentially a re-edit of Night Crawlers’ “Push The Feeling On,” was hot, and when I listened I didn’t hate the lyrics. That was a shocker.

And then I listened again. And I liked it more. This song is fantastic, and I can only hope he continues to push in this direction further. Because if I have to hear “Krazy” once more, I will cut off my ears. Or smash the iPod responsible.

Alright, so I’m still going on these track reviews. Slowly, I know. I honestly am wondering why I promised to do it. You know what, screw it. I am going to cover EVERY remaining track right now. You can stream them all here.

5 Minutes: This song is not great. End of story. Why does everyone like Skyzoo? I can’t stand him. And the original “Back in the Go Go” beat was better. Good line, though? “Mancini, flier than the rest of them.”

Life’s a Bitch: Hard to say no to this one, but Talib’s Michelle Obama line is questionable. Interesting, but not really tactful, especially coming after a line about Deep Throat.

Night Life: Awesome track, beat, chorus. Definitely one to keep around. This beat reminds me a little of “Drinks Up,” the one track I really can’t wait to hear leak. Youtube it for a taste.

Sweatin’ Out Weaves: Also awesome. I swear, though, they must sample the xylophone from “Grillz.” And who’s singing? Is that Beyonce? No, but it sure sounds like her for about half the track. And that UCB horn fade is sick.

Hot Shyt: Surely not Wale’s beat, but it’s a great track. Especially considering all the voices on here – I love Black Thought on nearly anything, this is no exception.

Wonder Why: Very likeable.

Pot of Gold: This one leaked LONG ago, the original beat was finished at least 3 or 4 years ago, appearing on Mark Ronson’s “Gettin’ Chai” mixtape but without the Wale verses. Regardless, this is hands down one of the best tracks on the tape. Hells yes.

Sharp: 9th Wonder is a beast. Those piano licks are beautiful. “I pull out when I’m commin’, I love to be redundant.”

Warwick Avenue: This is, hands down, THE best track on the tape. I can’t say more than that, and I’ve already written about it before.

The Sun: Great sample, great lines. “They threw me in the skinny-jeans crew, just cause I rap about shit people really do.” Hard to accuse someone of being a hipster when they’re killing a beat like this.

Rather Be With You: Reminds me of a beat, I can’t quite place it. Maybe Common? Yeah, maybe that “Testify” beat, but I still think I’m thinking of something else. Whatever. Good beat. And J. Cole is sick. I saw him in concert once, thought he was some minor Syracuse rapper and then he started going. He was neither minor, nor from Syracuse. Check his mixtape “The Warmup,” the second best tape I’ve heard all year.

Goodbye: Doesn’t grab me right now, but I certainly don’t dislike it.

Say It Again: “I ain’t hear you clear, stuntin’ in my rarest pair.” Like the repeated lines when the sample cues him up to “say it again.” Oh, and Royce Da 5’9 is a sick, sick, man. Who on earth says “I look at the beaver [and by beaver he means a girl's... ] up ‘n down like I’m Wally-watchin”? Insane. And yet? Fantastic.

Talkin Shyt: Just doesn’t do it for me. End of story.

Nothin’ To Worry About: Great track, but honestly I love the “Party and Bullshit” mashup a little more.

Rhyme N Reason: Mmm, that beat is tasty. And Wale just floats over the beat like cream. Fly, fly, cream. Mmmmmmm and that hook is so damn right. Hell yes.

Um Ricka: Love K’Naan, I dig Mark Ronson, what’s not to love?

New Soul: Honestly, I wish he hadn’t pitched that sample down (see AC’s track and video). Lyrics amazing, this is such a good wrap-up track for this tape. The shout-outs to the other XXL Freshman Class, the tight lines about reviews, and twitter. Mm, yeah.

Alright, so that’s the mixtape. All tracks can be found right here, and you should listen to them.

Big Krit – The South [mp3]

Download audio file (the-south.mp3)

It’s finally here, ladies and gentlemen. I know I’ve been Wale-in’ you guys for a while with a mixtape some of you thought might never drop (or even exist!). But it’s here. Right here. For download. For those of you who aren’t very computer savvy, you can stream with with the “play” button, or right click the link above it and ‘Save’ it. Crazy, right? Whatever, here’s the tape ‘n’ tracklist.

Ezra Mechaber – Show Me What You Got (Demo 2009) [mp3 download]

Download audio file (ezra%20mechaber%20-%20show%20me%20what%20you%20got.mp3)

1.) Jay Z – Show Me What You Got
2.) Jagged Edge – Where The Party At?
3.) Clipse – When The Last Time
4.) Beck – Hell Yes
5.) BoomKat – The Wreckoning
6.) Notorious BIG – Party & Bullshit (Ratatat remix)
7.) 50 Cent x Naughty by Nature (ezra.mechaber blend)
8.) Naughty by Nature – O.P.P.
9.) Jackson 5 (RIP Mike) – I Want You Back (Roger72 & The Walk remix)
10.) Lady Gaga – Summerboy
11.) Mark Ronson feat. Nate Dogg, Ghostface, etc. – Ooh Wee
12.) Kevin Rudolf feat. Nas – NYC
13.) Lomaticc feat. Kardinal Offishall & Sunny Brown – Tonite
14.) The Roots – The Seed 2.0
15.) ABX – Shawty Got Looks (mashup)
16.) Seidah Garrett – Do You Want It Right Now?
17.) Donnis – Party Works
18.) T-Pain feat. Ludacris – Chopped and Screwed (ezra.mechaber blend)
19.) Miguel Migs feat. LT – So Far
20.) Empire of the Sun – We Are The People (Jimmy2Sox remix)
21.) Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling (Barletta edit)
22.) Agent Stereo – Keep On Groovin’
23.) Master Shortie – Dead End (Chew Fu Ghettohouse re-work)
23.) MSTRKRFT feat. NORE – Bounce (A-trak remix)
24.) The Rolling Stones – Satisfaction (DiscoTech remix)
25.) Katy Perry – Waking Up In Vegas (Calvin Harris remix)
26.) The Streets – Weak Become Heroes

Leave a comment, much appreciated.

Track two off of Back to the Feature.

The beat is go-go, for sure, minus the congas perhaps. It’s the got the bubbly bassline and horn section. That said, I’m really not in love with it – it’s essentially the same two bars endlessly repeated. But the horns are sick, I will concede that.

The track features two members of rap group State Property (Beanie Siegel was famous for releasing that solo album whilst incarcerated, and Freeway is a badass) and Young Chris.

There are some truly great lines in here:

“You niggas is John Q/You don’t have the heart for it” – Wale

“Me too, I’m sayin, bringin the banger right here/I be hip-hop gamin’ dropin’ bangers all year/Freezer’ll bang that thing and end your singin’ career” – Freeway. The way the words fit around the beat here speaks way more than the lyrics themselves.

Honestly I’m not even sure how I feel about half of the other lyrics but they mold to the beat SO well. That goes for Freeway and Wale’s lines especially. Beanie Siegel’s verse is really a little awkward, not sure why, both in content and delivery. Honestly, this isn’t a track I’d really listen to more than twice, though the lines from Freeway and the “st-st-stutter” from Wale definitely make it worth that second time around.

Wale (feat. Young Chris, Freeway, & Beanie Siegel) – Cyphr [mp3]

Download audio file (02-cyphr-feat-young-chris-freeway-beanie-sigel.mp3)

I am going through this mixtape track by track, posting all the mp3s with my comments. Does ever song really deserve this much attention? Probably not. Does the mixtape really deserve this kind of attention? Duh.

This is the intro track off of “Back to the Feature,” and it opens with an explanation for the delay. Whatever, all water under the bridge. Let’s just get this started already.

When I first heard this song, I thought the beat was an old Numark/Cut Chemist joint, it would fit PERFECTLY on a Jurassic 5 album. Funky samples, an unconventional chorus, and a bassline that is laidback yet still manages to bang. This definitely isn’t my favorite track, but it’s solid.

Favorite line? “Ya’ll riddles don’t tickle a bit/Ya’ll similes is literal shit”

Wale (feat. Currensy & Tre) – Wordplay [mp3 link]

Download audio file (01-wordplay-feat-currensy-tre.mp3)

The wait is over? Oh hot damn, this 75-minutes of music is absolutely my jam. But more about that in a minute. First, the backstory.

The backstory: Wale’s “Back to the Featre” mixtape (a followup to “100 Miles & Running,” and the critically acclaimed “Mixtape About Nothin’”) was due out for release in April. April 29th, actually. How do I remember? I had an iCal appointment to sit down and listen to it. Sadly, April 29th came and went, and there was nary a tweet about it on the hyperactive WaleDC twitter account. So, like an obedient little fan, I sent him a tweet: “@WaleDC Hey man, any word on that mixtape?” No response.

A week later, word surfaced that a May release date was possible, though he didn’t say much on Twitter. Weeks passed, and more release dates came and went without a mixtape. I was discouraged, worried that this mixtape might never come out (Was he having MC-block? If it did come out, would it disappoint?), when a glimmer of hope surfaced. Wale announced that it would be out by June 13th or bust.

Bust.

It wasn’t out, there was no word last weekend about progress, and I was ready to give up. Some way to treat your fans, right? Early this week there was an announcement on his Twitter, simple and to the point: the mixtape is done, putting the final touches on, out this Friday. On Friday, he missed the deadline for getting it online. Damn, right? But then it came out.

IT CAME OUT. Now, back to the future (now). Or rather, Back to the Feature. Straight to my iPod with my obscenely expensive headphones, and when I drove into Boston it went straight into the car stereo. I could. Not. Turn. It. Off.

Over the next week I’ll run through reviews of some of my favorite tracks, but for expediency’s sake, here’s a few good ones: Pot of Gold, Rhyme N Reason, Um Ricka.

Cop it here: http://www.zshare.net/download/61605401574105cb/

It’s odd, really. This is a Busta Rhymes track, but it’s not Busta I remember when I think of the song, it’s that laid-back piano beat (almost certainly John Legend, who is featured on this track) and Legend’s cool voice singing the hook (even though Mary J Blige AND Jamie Foxx sing before him).

But then I listen to it, and I realize how good his verses are. He’s a beastly MC, even if I don’t like most of his work, and it’s an interesting change to hear him rapping low-key. I mean, even in other tracks with slow-ya-roll beats, there’s a certain aggressiveness to the way Busta approaches it. But not here, here you can really here the way Busta accents each and every word and there isn’t any snarl to it (don’t get me wrong, Busta’s snarl is one of Hip Hop’s best, right up there with Ludacris and a few other choice MCs). Some of the change in tone may be the actual volume of the vocals: they’re a little quieter in “Decision” than some of his other tracks.

This realization led me to another, a ‘decision,’ if you will: this track isn’t his. Sure, this is his track in the literal sense, perhaps most of it was even done under his direction, but this track no longer belongs to him. Why? Because there are so many voices here that this track ceases to be about any one of them.

Normally, I hate these sorts of tracks (with two exceptions: “Yes We Can” that featured Hollywood as a whole, and rap tracks that have more than 5 rappers – any less and it’s just someone trying to capitalize on big names). That this track no longer belongs to him is only an issue until you really understand what this track is all about, and the chorus is pretty clear about it: 

“I made a decision, despite all the things that we go through, 
I’m going to take more time with you, and be a friend indeed 
I made a decision, that everything will be alright 
Going to stay strong and keep it tight, I’ll be there indeed.”

I’m not going to go into the deeper meaning of this track, because I’m not really sure it has one and I don’t want to take a pompous misstep. I don’t often keep up with Hip Hop’s beef, much less it’s close friendships, so it’s hard to tell if Busta really feels this way about all the people he brought in on the track. My guess is that he does about some but not all. 

Honestly, from a production standpoint, I would take both Blige and Foxx off the track. To me it would feel much more authentic with just Busta, Common, and Legend on the track. Blige and Foxx have the unfortunate side-effect of somehow making this song sound a little less sincere. Maybe I’m wrong; maybe they’re all great friends, in which case this preponderance of voices is understandable.

Despite it, “Decision” is a track that feels better and better with every listen. Take special note of Common’s verse.

Busta Rhymes – Decision [mp3]

Download audio file (decision-feat-jamie-foxx-mary-j-blige-john-legend-common.mp3)

I promised you I’d make a recording of the set, and here it is. It was an absolute blast to play up on that stage, and Eve6′s performance was doubly cool. It may have just been background music for the booze, but I’m okay with that. What’s a party without some decent music? I’m not sure if you heard, but there’s another Saturday coming up. I suggest you throw a party, and then throw this on. That’s that party & bullshit. Run-time of an hour and a half.

Ezra Mechaber – D Day 2009 live set [mp3 download]

Download audio file (ezra%20mechaber%20-%20dday09.mp3)

Tracklist:

Notorious BIG vs. Peter Bjorn & John – Party & Bullshit (Dave Wrangler Mash-up)
Lexicon – Rock to the Rhythm
MGMT – Electric Feel
50 Cent – Hate It Or Love It (acappella)
Nappy Roots – Good Day
Notorious BIG – Juicy
Asher Roth – I Love College (ezra.mechaber’s re-edit)
Oasis – Wonderwall
Young Berg – Sexy Can I
50 Cent & The Game – How We Do
MIA – Paper Planes (DFA remix)
Blue Scholars – Morning of America
Chiddy Bang – On Our Way
Colin Munroe feat. Young Buck – I’m Fine
Blue Scholars – Still Got Love
Born Jamericans – Yardcore
Cam’ron & Kanye West – Down & Out
The Game & Lil Wayne – Red Magic
Colin Munroe feat. Joell Ortiz – Piano Lessons
MGMT – Time To Pretend
Kid Sister – Family Reunion
X & Hell, Shazam – My Fkn Hat
Kevin Rudolf feat. Nas – NYC
Lomaticc & Kardinal Offishall – Tonite
Fatboy Slim – Praise You (mash up vs. Madonna’s 4 minutes)
3rd Eye Blind – Never Let You Go
Alaine – Make Me Weak
Donnis – Party Works
Lady GaGa – Money Honey
Empire of the Sun – We Are The People (Jimmy 2sox remix)
Veronica Maggio – Stevie Tech Nicks
Schmoov x Pitbull – Swirl vs. Culo (ezra.mechaber blend)

edit: Tracklist when I feel like writing it, photos will go up soon. Oh, and the new banner is a picture of myself from ArtAwake, taken by Andrew Slominski.

edit 2: Tracklist is up.