I’m not positive as to how I found Mickey Factz, but either way, it was meant to happen.  I haven’t heard any of his earlier work, just his most recent mixtape titled Dark Phoenix #ALPHA, which I found to be as intellectually tactful as it was pleasantly surprising.  He’s definitely got a story to tell, [...]

I wasn’t lying when I said to watch out for Donnis back in October last year.  Since then, he’s locked down consistent radio play, a national tour, and not to mention, just recently signed with Atlantic Records.  Like many others, I’m excited to see what he’s got in store for us now that the hustle’s [...]

So, the weather’s been str8 crzy in NY as of late so I haven’t been doing much walking around, buuuut, in hopes that the sun will be shining soon I’m gonna share with you my current favorite “walking/skating around NY song”.  Dan Black’s an awesome new indie artist and this song Symphonies feat. Kid Cudi [...]

Dash Speaks has been a prominent player in New York underground hip-hop scene for a while now, releasing albums in 2005, 2006, 2007 and performing with the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Kid Cudi, Talib Kweli, Mickey Factz, Mike Posner, and Das Racist. Fast forward to current, he just released his new album titled Geography (which [...]

Kid Daytona just released his new EP called Come Fly With Me, which is packed with great beats and dope flows.  I especially like the tactful remix of Chromeo’s Bonafied Lovin’ produced by Jet Audio.  Download the whole thing here and hit up his Myspace for some additional tracks and other EP downloads.

Hly shiz, this guy is good.  Got the heads up from my boy Garrett on this Colorado based guitarist/DJ/Producer and immediately was getting down to his complex and progressive beats.  I loved his 11-track EP Before I Sing and just recently downloaded his 4 song preview of an upcoming dual-volume release called Beyond the Looking [...]

It wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve never heard of Bajah + The Dry Eye Crew, but head over to Sierra Leone and you’ll find a completely different story.  There, they’ve released ten albums since 2000, are superstars, and pack stadiums with fans looking up to them as musical leaders of humanitarianism and social awareness.  Currently [...]

Having recently started attending yoga regularly, I was reminded of an artist my boy Samwise referred me to named MC Yogi back in the summer.  When I heard his fresh blend of hip-hop and spiritual chanting for the first time, I was immediately addicted.  He grew up on Hip-Hop, but at 18 began studying meditation, [...]

Thanks to a tip from the homie NSR, I ventured down to Ella this last Thursday to catch a set by an R&B artist out of Austin, Texas named James Kinney.  Having never heard his music before, I was happily surprised to walk into a packed room full of people bouncing to his soulful sounds.  [...]

NSR already came out swinging with his LP, The Darling Limited, which, if you haven’t heard yet, is 100% worth the download.  Now, he’s back, joined by fellow MC, Nickname.  Together, they just dropped their joint project, Memory Laine, with a six track album, called The Spotlight EP.  As expected, the lyrics are just as [...]

Eliot Lipp is a beat-smith.  When I found Beamrider, I had just finished burning all the copies of my 2008 christmas mix.  If I’d found it a week earlier, it would have definitely been on there.  Such a dope airy synth, and with that infectious bass line, ahh, this track’s a banger.  If you’re into [...]

Alcyon Massive is a dynamic new artist on Righteous Sound Productions out of Southern Oregon.  His debut album, Dreaming the World Awake is a seriously solid blend of hip-hop, reggae, and what he likes to refer to as tribalonika.  Lyrics packed with positivity & soul-enlightenment mixed with clean & catchy production spell out a strong [...]

I’m gonna throw it back a second for an artist I still feel is seriously under-appreciated for his talent and originality.  K-os, out of Toronto, caught my attention when he released Joyful Rebellion in 2004.  Immediately,  one thing was quite obvious; he was doing things differently than other hip hop artists at that time.  I [...]

Diggin this new hip hop artist, Skewby.  Also not gonna hate on the Classixx Cold & Ill sample.  I gotta say, the south hasn’t really impressed me in a while, but with new artists like Skewby & Donnis, my faith might just get restored.  So check out his site and click this link to download [...]

I wrote a while ago about Drake’s hit Forever and I just heard this remix of it that’s a serious killer.  Docta Dawe does a fantastic job mashing it with Massive Attack, adding an ambient vibe yet still maintaining the hardness of the track.  This shit’s dope…..dot com.  **As a bonus, since I like the [...]

My new mix, Nowism, is a produced compilation of dancy sounds I’ve gathered over the last 3 months with the goal of keeping you up on what’s now in indie and electronic music. There is only now, so be here. listen.

Download the mix at Mediafire or listen to it below.

Nowism features the work of [...]

Worked on this mix all summer long, entitled When Passion Meets Intention, which points towards the incredible things that seem to happen when you give conscious focus to something you’re passionate about.  It seems for me, the more I focus on things that I truly enjoy, the more opportunistic doors open.  In fact, a large [...]

I heard and immediately loved Aether’s song Makeshift Sanctuary way back in January and searched for months to get his full album, Artifacts, which I finally found in May.  Can’t find much info on the artist, other than he’s from Texas, he’s on Exponential Records, and drops great tracks.

Uh OHHH!!  It’s that new Lil Wayne.  Straight off the news that he’ll be spending a year in prison, Weezy just dropped his new mixtape, No Ceilings (download full torrent here)…and as expected, it’s fire.  Packed with some familiar beats, some new, and those irresistibly quotable lyrics he’s become huge for, Weezy doesn’t dissapoint.  Go [...]

I gotta be honest.  I had some trouble getting through Hudson Mohawke’s album, Butter.  He’s super progressive, that’s quite obvious.  Formally known as DJ itchy, Hudson Mo, or Hud Mo, he was the youngest UK DMC finalist in history, at age 15.  Pretty much a UK version of A-trak…but boy is his music different.  Most [...]