mixtape maestro (2.0)

On his Hockey-sampling and Chiddy Bang-assisted/ produced Finally Famous Vol. 3 mixtape highlight “Too Fake”, G.O.O.D. Music signee Big Sean checks off the increasingly requisite “re-tool an indie-pop fave” rap sub-genre box to relate the pleasures of living the good life. He’s rocking blinding bling, enjoying dinners made up of nothing but “lobster, shrimp and calamari” and “grabbing the fattest asses” with nary a complaint from their owners. Things couldn’t be any better right?

Maybe…if he didn’t have to deal with the constant street gab going round nailing him as some kind of sell-out just because he’s come up.

“He ain’t no hometown hero/ He on that LeBron James shit,” Sean hears them saying, heightening his own insecurities towards his newfound lifestyle (“I’m too real to be living this fake,” he moans early on). But even if their hateration cuts deep, he refuses to let them know it, shutting them up with a simple “Suck my dick then choke on a nut” before turning towards his reflection for a lil’ Stuart Smalley self-affirmation session: “The realest nigga I know is in the mirror, bro”.

Don’t let them get you down, Sean; keep doing what you do and eat your calamari proudly. We know we would.

Pick up the entire Finally Famous Vol. 3 set here. Sean’s official debut Finally Famous is slated for a September release.

Big Sean – Too Fake (feat. Chiddy Bang & Hockey)

Portland, Oregon’s Moxie Black (rapper/ vocalist iLLAJ and producer Dekk) aren’t re-writing any rules as far as their post-808s & Heartbreak/ Rebirth/ The E.N.D. indie electro-hip-pop sound goes, but if one is searching for something new to soundtrack their final days of summer to, they’ll have plenty of addictive gems to choose from in the group’s new mixtape How Did This Happen?, an eleven track collection of hipster-hued, ride-friendly feel-good.

Early leak “So Much Better” reigns at the project’s finest. Based on a blog-baiting pairing of driving, new wave guitars and Auto-Tuned rap-singing, the track is insanely catchy, and quite amusing in it’s detailing of iLLAJ struggles to cope after seeing his ex-girlfriend enter the same club as him with a new dude on his arm (“I’m downing all the bottle/ Raging like full throttle/ And I never want to see her again”).

Check out the jam, alongside their remix of Phoenix’ “1901″ (re-titled “2901″), below; pick up the entirety of How Did This Happen? over at DJBooth.net.

Moxie Black – So Much Better

Moxie Black – 2901 (feat. Phoenix)

After scoring some major blog world love with his early Summer joint “You Are Not A Robot” (probably far more than he imagined), New York up-and-comer Hoodie Allen has switched his game plan up a little, scrapping the (admittedly enticing) idea of his forthcoming mixtape (now titled Pep Rally) being based around nothing but Marina & The Diamonds samples for the far less ambitious task of him rapping over a variety of different acts’ tracks.

Latest pre-release teaser “Words of Wisdom” utilizes Two Door Cinema Club’s “Undercover Martyn” to great effect, achieving a nicely chilled summery vibe through it’s looping of the buzzy indie pop number’s ballad-y hook, while Allen seems to go after the world record for Most Punchlines In A Verse with all the simile-enhanced doses of wit he stuffs into his sixteens.

Interesting though that “Wisdom” hits it’s peak moment when Allen stops trying to impress with his rhymes and just lets his inner pop instincts take charge: the bridge, boasting a cool drum machine riddim and pleasant half-sung vocal melodies, proves quite lovely. More of that please, Hoodie.

Words Of Wisdom (feat. Two Door Cinema Club) by HoodieAllen

BONUS DL: Two Door Cinema Club “Undercover Martyn (Passion Pit Remix)” (alt)

Forget James Brown, George Clinton and disco.

These days, if you’re a new rapper looking to stand-out amongst an ever-growing crowd of up-and-comers, the trick to quickly make your way to the top of the heap is to pick a indie favorite to rhyme over. Past blogosphere successes of this practice have included Drake, Kid Cudi, Thelophilus London and Chiddy Bang, though in recent days, much attention has been placed upon Long Island newcomer Hoodie Allen and his flip on Marina & The Diamonds‘ self-encouragement anthem “I Am Not A Robot”.

Chopping, dicing and “chipmunk-ing” Marina’s voice to fit the re-imagining’s light upbeat shuffle, Hoodie’s “Robot” (from the upcoming, all-Marina-sampling mixtape, The Diamond Cuts) doesn’t really offer anything too profound lyrically, but it’s a likable enough “let me introduce myself”-type-of ditty that not only nails the “fun rap” niche acts like B.o.B and the aforementioned Chiddy are currently winning with, but ultimately accomplishes it’s duty in piquing interest into what else Allen will be dishing out down the road.

Catch the track below or here, then peep Hoodie’s excellent updating of the Pharcyde classic “Passin’ Me By” (from last year’s Making Waves release).

You Are Not A Robot (feat. Marina & The Diamonds) by HoodieAllen

BONUS DL: Hoodie Allen featuring Illustrate “Passin’ Me By In ’09 (Pharcyde Cover)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Marina & The Diamonds “I Am Not A Robot (Passion Pit Remix)” (alt)

Following weeks of heavy blog/ Twitter buzz in anticipation of his newest mixtape I Want You, Brooklyn rapper/ singer Theophilus London has further solidified his promise of being the next hipster hip hop sensation to likely break big (a la Kid Cudi and B.o.B) with the unleashing of the doper-than-dope full project on Thursday.

In line with previous heralded collections JAM! and This Charming Mixtape (the latter of which housed one of our favorite overall cuts from 2009, an infectious electro-rap re-haul of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”), I Want You‘s display of slick, non-gangsta rhymes atop blog-baiting samples (musical references here include Ellie Goulding, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Tweet, Discovery and Vampire Weekend) offers an endlessly fascinating (and quite groovalicious) ride that should easily keep people satisfied well into next year.

Grab the entire set here (if only so you can boast of being a fan before London was enjoying multiple entries on the Hot 100, a future that seems to be a given), or simply check out some of our highlights below: the “Giving Up The Gun”-bootleg “Give It Up Dad” and the new wave-ish delight “Sorry To Interrupt”.

DL: “Give It Up Dad” (alt)

DL: “Sorry To Interrupt” (alt)

Ten months after being honored with a Pitchfork BNM tag for their contagious semi-politi-dance-rap juke anthem “Chi Don’t Dance” (memorable for it’s brow-arching line “MTV gave me ADD/ BET taught me to hate me” and a rowdy, Goodie Mob-referencing hook), Chicago trio BBU (Bin Laden Blowin’ Up) try to prove that they’re no one (blog-)hit wonders with the release of their cleverly-titled mixtape, Fear of a Clear Channel Planet.

Out of it’s thirteen-cut tracklisting, the one that’s sure to earn them even more Web-hype in the coming months is set highlight “Black n’ Plastic”, a dishing of occasionally cutting “What’s happening to us?” cultural commentary (“Do you really love yourself?”, they ask to all the “GQ magazine, coke fiend cover girls/ And all them other girls that wanna look like other girls”) and potentially beef-starting digs at LMFAO, Asher Roth and Lil’ Wayne, served atop a surprisingly winning mix of sparse-ish Dirty South production tricks blended with an endlessly looped sample of Aqua’s ’90′s hit “Barbie Girl”.

Yeah…you read that right, they’ve sampled “BARBIE GIRL”…and the beat rocks (or, in their case, we guess jukes) somethin’ tough.

DL: “Black n’ Plastic” (alt)

Usually we can expect R&B remix kings R. Kelly or Trey Songz to answer back “kick him to the curb” ladies anthems, but on this neat flip-side perspective of Chrisette Michele’s sublime “Epiphany”, we get a refreshing new entry in the oft-entertaining “battle of the sexes” mixtape game via newcomer Canadian emcee Erik Flowchild who’s found here pointing the finger back Michele’s way as the true blame for their romance’s deterioration.

“Every time I’m home you be steadily accusing me/ Verbally abusing me/ But you don’t even know the half,” Flowchild opens, kicking off a slightly Auto-Tuned annoyed rant about how he’s up to here with all of her on-going paranoia concerning what he’s up to when he’s not around (“It’s not necessary for you to be on my cell phone/ Baby what the hell for…?”).

And while it’s not easy to completely take Erik’s side when his best defense is that she should stop listening to the “lies” of a not-so-best friend who’s only jealous because she can’t have him for herself, the cold-ish way he threatens to send her back to single-dom (“So don’t be my girl then,” he simply shrugs) definitely has us hoping that Michele is hitting the studio right this minute to cook up a sassy-classy response.

From Flowchild’s forthcoming mixtape, Delivery Boy.

DL: “Epiphany (Freestyle Cover)” (alt)

Summer vacations/ distractions have brought things around here to a near-standstill, but in an effort to play a bit of catch-up, check out some of these noteworthy tunes below pulled from the ever-packed in-box and various other sites we’ve been digging lately from around the Inter-Webs:

JDP featuring Chester French “She Loves Everybody (Part Deux)”

This up-and-coming Chicago indie-hopper latches onto CF’s most well-known track, the shoulda-been-bigger slut ode “She Loves Everybody”, using it to support his own adventure with a promiscous groupie who has foolishly mistaken him for being a more high profile rap star (“I suppose someone told her we rich,” he sing-song quips at one point).

A bit Flo-Rida-ish, which-at least in this case-isn’t at all a bad thing.

From his new mixtape Air Raid.

DL: “She Loves Everybody (Part Deux)”

The Honey Brothers “Demonstration”

The Honey Brothers are a quintet from New York who call their sound “new wave folk”, and while most talk of them will surely be centered on their superstar drummer (Entourage lead Adrian Grenier), the music found on their recently released Demonstration EP definitely deserves it’s own hype as it’s some of the most feel-good stuff to touch our ears in recent weeks.

Check out the title track, a groovy lil’ indie-rock number that’ll likely have you tapping your toes to it’s summer-ready shuffle within seconds of it hitting the speakers.

DL: “Demonstration”

?uestlove, The Foreign Exchange, Zo! and Carlitta Durand “Purple Flip”

Don’t let the title confuse you, this is essentially a cover of Prince’s “Take Me With You”, and boy does it hit the soul in all the right ways.

Too bad SPIN Magazine couldn’t have employed THIS crew to handle the entirety of that mostly disappointing Purple Rain tribute cover album they had to nerve to drop last month.

DL: “Purple Flip”

Golau Glau “Summer Games”

On first listen to the output from this mysterious UK-born collective, you’ll probably end up with your head cocked to the side and a confused look pasted across your face.

But give these songs some time, as repeated doses of the spell-binding ambiance of “Summer Games”, “Soft Silver Young” and the rest of the band’s uniquely weaved creations reveal a trippy charm that’s quite the soothing aural experience.

DL: “Summer Games”

Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo “Knock You Down (Chew Fu GhettoClub Fix)”

Even after hearing this billions of times (*thanks radio*), we still find this hit single oddly put together (anybody else left cold by the fact that the three headliners barely seem to recognize the efforts of one another?), but the Chew Fu crew help calm that sense of underwhelmingness a bit with this dancefloor-targeting rehaul which nicely gives a repeated spotlighting to Kanye’s “Michael Jackson” line.

DL: “Knock You Down (Chew Fu GhettoClub Fix)”

Beyonce “Ego (DJ Unique’s I Love Her Remix)”

Sasha Fierce’s newest single given a smoother R&B treatment courtesy of YouTube mash-up king DJ Unique. Kanye-free sadly, but we can still dig it.

DL: “Ego (DJ Unique’s I Love Her Remix)”

Flooded with references to such ’90′s-teen fads/ treasures as overalls with “one shoulder strap swingin’”, Nickelodeon’s Doug, head-to-toe Tommy Hilfiger sportage and high-top fades, “Walmart”, from Akron, Ohio rapper (slash-blogger) Shawn Collins (aka “The Batman of Rap”), offers plenty of “I REMEMBER THAT”-inducing nostalgia for anyone who took the time to memorize all the words to Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” during it’s seemingly eternal radio reign.

Over a backing track that swings from minimalist boom-bap on the verses to sing-songy bubblegum for the hook, Collins’ every-man flow indulges in the “golden” days’ of his youth. Some of the recalled memories might be a little sad (back then, the ladies gave him no play) and some are just downright embarrassing (at one point, he admits to having a bowl-cut), but you couldn’t tell him he wasn’t fly, with his paint-chipped No Limit chain, beloved Tamagotchi pet and Space Jam soundtrack-backed hoop-shooting sessions.

Part “I Love The 90″‘s in rap form, part diss to that one hater chick who “said I wasn’t quite her type” (“Now she works at a Walmart,” he sneer-chimes in the hook), the chuckles-worthy “Walmart” will surely be appreciated by anyone who spent their post-school day afternoons faithfully tuned in to what alien creature those heroic Power Rangers would have to face next.

DL: “Walmart” (alt)