Time To Put On Your House Shoes [Video]

It is somewhat hard to define who House Shoes really is. If there were such a thing as cult characters in hip hop, he’d definitely be on the list. Yes, you could call him a DJ, and yes he certainly has ample production credits under his belt, however his passion for his hometown Detroit coupled with his dedication to hip hop, make him more an ambassador than anything else. A righteous and informed ambassador he is, having worked with the likes of  J Dilla and Big Proof, to Black Milk, Danny Brown, Invincible, Finale, Big Tone,Bugz, Marv Won, The Fat Killahz, and Now On. He has also DJ’d for such names as Guilty Simpson, Illa J, Exile, Aloe Blacc, Percee P, Phat Kat, Slum Village and Elzhi. His pedigree is as concrete as the pavements he once meandered around on in his hometown of Detroit, having lived in Los Angeles for some time now, it’s been a pleasure to make his acquaintance. He dropped his new album Let It Go and this is the first video off of it, a humble start, expect future videos to include tracks from youthful avengers Danny Brown and Quelle Chris.

Friday Free Joints

Adam Warrock – Chew Harder (Produced by T/\KST/\R)

4th Pyramid – Simmy Auto

Georgia Ann Muldrow – Wind

Slum Village - The Hard Way (Feat. Focus… & Joe Scudda)

J-Dilla, A Birth To Remember

The great J Dilla would have turned a meager 37 years old today.

Too many hip hop, music fans in general are unaware of Dilla. Way too many! Rather than rush through a written tribute, I will briefly share my first experience with Dilla music.

It all started with my fascination with the Velvet Rope album, yes, that’s Janet Jackson circa 1997. There was a Grammy winning track with Q-Tip on there called ‘Got Till It’s Gone’, and I played that at least 1200 times on my Japanese roommates Mini Disc boom-box, which at the time, was the bomb diggity of music formats. That track was produced by J Dilla, but credit was given to a couple of other cats (including Q-Tip I believe). That was a fact that a close friend and part-time rapper informed me about one time when I was playing the track in my room (dude was like a walking Google search). It was the first time I had heard of Dilla, but it set into place an expectation of greatness, one which was met when he dropped SV’s Fantastic Vol. 2 in 2000. I was on the Dilla train…

The Roots Smoke Dilla Joints

Click image to download album

No secret in the world of hip hop that the best artists are in its past, sadly, most have actually passed away. Jay Dilla aka Jay Dee seems to have firmly secured the spot as the most prolific producer in hip hop, ever. Dilla joints have been sampled, remixed, and covered by a myriad of respectable and not so respectable acts. It is with great pleasure that I share with you a valiant exploration into the musical genius of Jay Dilla, this time, by the legendary hip hop band, The Roots. Questlove has been covering Dilla tracks for a minute, especially in live sets. This compilation is newly recorded material, of some Dilla material, which is clearly fire. Time to appreciate the past, in the present.

World Of Sadness

She Said

Wicked Ways

Look Into Her Eyes

MPFREE: The Weekend Round-Up

-Wale & 9th Wonder’s Back to the Feature mixtape dropped, and it features Talib Kweli, Freeway, Black Thought, Young Chris, Joell Ortiz, Bun B, Torae, Joe Budden, and Curren$y.  Sounds pretty dope, but I can’t help be feel that Wale is o-ver-rat-ed.  Grab it here.

-Not sure what project this is supposed to be off of, but Nas’ newest Swizz Beatz-produced track is kind of nice.  This is probably the first Swizz Beatz joint that I’ve ever enjoyed.  Still, he’s firmly cemented himself as the 21st Century DJ Clue and needs to shut the fuck up.

-A second track, “Car Service,” has leaked from Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y’s upcoming, collaborative mixtape How Fly.  Looking forward to this one.

-Jamie Foxx has a new track out with The-Dream, Kanye, and Drake.  Is anyone downloading this track to hear Jamie Foxx?  Didn’t think so.

-The Wu continues to make noise, leaking tracks off of their live band-backed Chamber Music.  Peep “Kill Too Hard” with Masta Ace, U-God, and Inspectah Deck.

-In case there was any doubt that Slaughterhouse (Royce Da 5’9, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I)  is going to be raw as shit already, the first leak off of their album features M.O.P.  Check it.

-After what seems like 2 decades, Chali 2na is getting set to drop his debut solo album.  If anything, “When Will I See You Again” has reminded me how dope Elzhi of Slum Village is.

-You can’t sample The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.”  Kweli already tried.  But J Dilla could interpolate the melody and throw Guilty Simpson on the track.  Yeah, that could work…

-I’ve been a bit disappointed by Torae and Marco Polo’s collabo, Double Barrel, but I’m really feeling the last track.

-BONUS:  The sample to Jay-Z’s “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune),” produced by No I.D.  Ill, but pretty standard issue.

A Dilla 4 Your Black Thoughts?

One is resting in peace, integrity intact. The other one can’t find peace at night due to the fact that Jimmy Fallon owns his soul. Reality TV is right, Free Black Thought!

MPFREE: J Dilla ft Black Thought – Reality TV