FREE MP3 DL: “An Adventure To Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space”

If you read the title and know what Pepperland refers to, then you know it most likely has to do with The Beatles, and it does. Now you look at the graphic and are saying “but wait, I see Ol’ Dirty Bastard here. What’s going on?” In this case, it’s a remix project where Beatles samples were used to create new instrumentals for hip-hop songs. Look at all of the people who are on it, it’s insane. Here’s the track listing:
Part 1
Intro
Hello Hello – Edan
Mr Mustard – Big Daddy Kane
Second To None – Rakim
Taxman – The Notorius B.I.G.
Gentle Thief – Nas
Where I’m From – Large Professor
Country Grammar – Talib Kweli & Bun B
Parlay – J-Live
Twist – Salt-N-Pepper
Birthday Dedication – Busta Rhymes
Open Mic Session pt. 1 – Masta Ace, Percee P, Lord Finesse, Frankie Cutlass, Easy Mo Bee & KRS-One
Number Nine – YZ
Self Titled – Heltah Skeltah
Bang Bang – MOP
Pepper – Kool G Rap
Bring Your Friends – Public Enemy
Interlude / Bridge – MC Shan
Last Forever – Artifacts
For The Children – Freddie Foxxx
Ringo’s Big Beat Theme – Spoonie Gee
Hold Poppa’s Large Hand – Ultramagnetic MC’s
Open Mic Session pt. 2 – Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane & Rakim
The End – Run DMC & Afrika Bambaataa
Circles – Wu-Tang Clan
Brooklyn Walrus – Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Buckshot , Masta Ace & Special Ed
Part 2
Intro
Secrets – Slick Rick
Beneath The Diamond Sky – The Genius/GZA
Within Tomorrow – Busta Rhymes
The Beginning – Sunz Of Man
Gentle Drama – The RZA & Rugged Monk
Becausizm – KRS-One & Channel Live
Mary Jane – Tha Alkaholiks
Bong Water – Viktor Vaughn
Hold On
Love In Summertime – Ghostface Killah & Beyonce
And I Lover Her Crazy – Jay-Z & Beyonce
Ruffneck Soldier – MC Lyte
Hey! – Beastie Boys
Get Back To The City – Large Professor
Hard To Leave Home – Nas
The Flyest – AZ
And Who? – Heiroglyphics
Lonely Thoughts – The Notorious B.I.G.
Can You Dig It? – Gravediggaz
How To Smile – 2Pac & Scarface
A Day In New York – AZ, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah

Stream it in full above or if you just want to download it and carry it with you on your travels, head to MonkeyBoxing.com.

RECORD CRACK: “Do They Know It’s Christmas” covered fucked up by Fucked Up

You may have seen them on the Current TV show Embedded:
http://current.com/e/91808250/en_US

The Canadian band Fucked Up recorded a cover version of 1984’s charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, originally released as being performed by Band Aid (Sir Bob Geldog, Sting, Bono, etc.). Originally intended as a single on Matador, the band decided to release it on their own and true to the spirit of the original, this one is a charity record as well. In this case, all proceeds of this record are going to three organizations:

Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Montreal
DTES Power of Women Group in Vancouver, and
Sisters in Spirit in Ottawa

The charities are serious, but the group still wanted to have fun when they created this, so they were able to get help from The Genius/GZA (yes, the Wu-Tang Clan GZA), Tegan & Sara, Andrew W.K., Bob Mould, and comedian David Cross among others.

Insound.com are the exclusive North American sellers of this 7″ single, which you can pre-order by clicking here. While the price tag for the 7″ is higher than the norm, all proceeds are going to charity, so please keep that in mind. Release date for the record is February 23rd. If you are digitally minded, you are able to purchase the song via iTunes by clicking here (all proceeds from sales of the MP3 go to charity as well).

REVIEW: U-God’s “Dopium”

When the cameos on your own album outshine you, it’s best that you move to a new field. So is the case of U-God, who could’ve been one of the unpolished jewels of the Wu-Tang Clan if it wasn’t for the fact that his lyrics aren’t that impressive. His debut solo album was a waste of energy and electricity, and did he really think this would be a good idea? Pfftt.

Dopium (Babygrande) is an album that features a lot of special guests, including Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Method Man, The Genius, Cappadonna, Killah Priest, Large Professor, Mike Ladd, and Jim Jones among others, and these guys totally rip U-God a number of anuses to the point where he looks like a block of cheddar cheese. If this album was released as… well, if U-God‘s vocal tracks were removed and released as Wu Shtyles, Bufo Frog Logs, or even Douchebag Rebels, it would have been considered an incredible project. U-God was known as the 4-bar killer so when he goes past four lines, he’s boring. Remove him, and this album would have jaded heads going “this shit is nice”. If U-God was a factor with the Wu-Tang behind the scenes, then I hope he continues working behind the scenes. But as a front man in charge, he doesn’t have the power to impress. Hell, if this was released as an instrumental, people would mistake this as something by The Alchemist.

In truth, the tone of his voice as always been nice and mellow in that Chali 2na-sort of way, but if he still writes his own lyrics, he needs to improve on them. If others are doing the writing, U-God needs to select better lyrics. Imagine if U-God did some tracks with Pharrell Williams? Now that might be good (keyword: might).