As late career renaissances go, Ski Beatz’ has to be one of the most unexpected. Nevertheless, the man behind “Dead Presidents” rise from the ashes has nothing to do with luck, but rather an ability to consistently craft pristine tracks for young MCs like Curren$y and Jay Electronica. Having gotten his mojo back, Beatz steps out of the background and into the spotlight with his own album, 24 Hour Karate School. The result is easily one of best exhibitions of the year. Read the rest of this entry »

The level of anticipation for Ski’s 24 Hour School has wavered from a butterflies-in-stomach effect to “believe it when I see it,” but as of right now, all skeptics should bow to the sensei because September 21st is the day the dojo will be opened. Read the rest of this entry »

Mr. Thanksgiving and the producers who do it better the 2nd time, Cookin Soul, come through with another freebie on this glorious Tuesday to make your iPod smile. When is the last time you heard a compilation mixtape that was worthy of constant spins? More than likely it was a CS presentation. And with Drama giving his Gangsta Grillz stamp, it seems like they could be invincible. Read the rest of this entry »

Black Sheep’s From the Black Pool of Genius is starting to sound better and better with each song that pops up. It doesn’t hurt that Dres pulled in his Native Tongue brethren for the last track we posted (“Birds Of A Feather”), but now he’s gone and gotten Jean Grae for “Party Tonight.” It’s not a battle of the sexes, but more of a little playful back & forth with both sides sharing their POV of a packed club. Read the rest of this entry »

You pronounce the name (Kweli) while DJ Critical Hype & EscapeMTL mix up some of that good-good Reflection Eternal for the soul. Talib Kweli has classics for days, and the lot of them get mixed, mashed and dashed with paprika to continue the many appetizers until RPM is on the table. Read the rest of this entry »

Every couple of years, we ponder who will emerge as the next great hope to represent for the ladies on the mic.  While Nicki continues to garner all the attention on the mainstream level, Jean Grae plays the role of Slim Charles.   Always in the mix and capable of handling more responsibilities, she’s content to shine just outside the spotlight.  Stopping by Toca Tuesday’s this week, Jeanie dropped off a new exclusive.  Flanked by Styles P. & Talib Kweli, the trio wreck havoc over one of the ever busy Ski Beatz’ tracks. Read the rest of this entry »

I caught the Cavs vs. Pistons game Sunday night & I hate to say it (sorry LC & Beware), but the Pistons are done. They’re gonna be a non-factor come playoff time. They appeared to be about their business during warm-ups, but as soon as the ball was tipped they were listless as Clay Aiken at a strip club. On the other hand, Lebron and Co. were stanky leggin’ to their hearts content, probably taking a total of 3 ½ shots before the tip. My only Pistons highlight was seeing Rasheed Wallace out early taking 3’s looking like a straight bum with some cut up sweat pants and Carolina blue Sheed Force Ones on. He didn’t disappoint at all: getting a tech within five minutes and not scoring until the 3rd quarter. So with the Cavs up by 15 only ten minutes into the game, my mind naturally started to wander. Read the rest of this entry »

But instead of us as fans wishing her well, she’s given us this new joint as a gift instead. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, in an interesting turn of events (not really) in recessionary news, Jean Grae is going the Bizarre route in pursuit of the dollar. She’s selling 16′s via Craigslist. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the fact that we now sit by our keyboards eagerly awaiting the next leak, we sometimes lose sight as to how detrimental a leak used to be. Jay-Z allegedly stabbed Lance “Un” Rivera over Vol.3… The Life And Times Of Shawn Carter. Nas had to re-record I Am… after extensive bootlegging scared Columbia. And who can forget Lupe Fiasco’s near meltdown when Food And Liquor found its way to the public ahead of schedule. In an ever-changing “industry,” the leak lies in that grey area between approval and disapproval from both artists and labels, few artists ever see their careers stalled due to one.

Enter Jean Grae and her oft-delayed collaboration with 9th Wonder: Jeanius. Back in the summer of 2004, I remember going to different message boards and going through posts about a rumored album between the two, only to have it leak a few months later. Jean was obviously devastated. Being signed to indie label Babygrande, there was no guarantee that Jeanius would ever release since she and 9th had recorded this outside of a label. I was in a mad dash to find it because a) the message board I frequented didn’t allow music to be posted and b) having a leaked album was seen as status that few refused to share. After a few weeks of Google searching, I finally found it on SoundClick and was in for a treat. Read the rest of this entry »

Ms. Grae sure has been busy since announcing her retirement a few weeks ago. I’ve always believed that rappers’ retiring was akin to weathermen correctly forecasting the weather.

It doesn’t happen.

And when it does happen it’s the exception and not the rule. So I can’t say I was totally surprised when the remix for “Love Thirst” featuring Busta Rhymes has leaked and a video for the original surfaced. A little happy, but not surprised.

See, I’m a Jean Grae fan (Stan maybe, depending on who you talk too.) So I remember the buzz back in ’04 when Jeanius, her collab album with 9th Wonder leaked Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not a member of the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club, but I’ve never gone buckwild for many female emcees. Don’t ask me why; it’s just one of those things with my personal preferences.

However, I’ve always been of the line of thought that women, believe it or not, could be the ones to help bring about a change in the current content of Hip-Hop. I figure they’ll be the ones bold enough to say “This ain’t workin’ anymore. The babies need mental food again & we need new styles.” Yep, I female would be the one to lead & it would be on us as fans to follow.

So while I’m not rah-rah over many, I was for Jean Grae because she was slowly, but surely, helping to navigate that next range of music with elements that have been missing for so long. She didn’t just break the cliche of what & who a female rapper should be; she stood out a little further than even her male counterparts. When explaining her to others while trying to hip them to her, I’d often say “she’s like a female Joe Budden.” She bore her soul, success & struggles all on wax for the world to see. Read the rest of this entry »