mixtape maestro (2.0)

Professor Penguin “Pilot”
Lupe Fiasco “American Terrorist III”
B.o.B featuring Spodee “Wrong”

Posted: 11 Dec 2011 07:13 PM PST

If London-based six-to-eleven-piece Professor Penguin‘s sole aim is to woo all listeners into a calming state of bliss, they’ve achieved that and more on the three-minute-long slice of indie-folk-tronica heaven that is their debut single “Pilot”.

“This is your first call and the start of your life/ As you reach into the clouds/ As you take off in flight,” sings Jonny Abraham, and while we have no idea what he’s going on about (Childbirth? A parent sending their teen off to college? Something to do with Amelia Earhart?), what we are pretty sure of is that the sound of his soothing croon amid all the other wondrous elements of this sonic delicacy (gentle guitar noodling; minimalist electronica skittering; the soft, romantic blare of muted trumpets; angelic “ooh-ooh” male harmonies) is all kinds of right, the entirety of song making you actually feel like you’re floating alongside the clouds in the vast sky he sings of.

Professor Penguin’s debut Planes is set for release sometime in early 2012, but you can download “Pilot” (and three of its remixes) for free via the widget below.

Pilot by Professor Penguin

Below, check out Professor Penguin taking on Bon Iver’s eponymous release gem “Calgary”:

Calgary (Bon Iver cover) by Professor Penguin

Lupe Fiasco “American Terrorist III”

Posted: 11 Dec 2011 04:09 PM PST

Lupe Fiasco let loose this freebie late last night via Twitter and while it seems to have sparked yet another round of the “old Lupe” vs. “new Lupe” on-line debate (something that will likely rise to a head every time Fiasco drops new material from here until forever), to our ears, it ranks as another remarkable entry from the emcee, funneling his well-publicized political frustrations into a compelling, suspense-filled storyline following a former Marine driven to extreme measures at the hands of a disappointing system.

As the sleek, “lonely drive at night” futuro-electro thump of Kavinsky‘s “Nightcall” sets a hauntingly tense foundation, Fiasco brilliantly relays the arc of the protagonist’s rising furor towards Washington D.C. through voice-mail recordings littered with paranoid-of-taps “opposite” speak (“I hate you so much, it’s such a compliment…”) and the outsider perspective of loved ones, tracking the man’s return home from a battle he wanted no part of (“Funny cause he really hated war/ But why we went to war is what he really hated more”) through PTSD troubles to the soul-crushing reality of a system that didn’t seem to care, either for the mental strife brought forth from his devotion to his country (“The VA is what really made him furious/ Told him his condition didn’t exist, period”) or his father’s lost pension (“To see our dad so hopeless/ That was the turning point that’s what really gave him focus”).

Speckled with thought-provoking one-liners (“Said it’s silly how that our schools make us stupid and our jobs make us poor”) and sobering lyrical detail that helps this masterful slab of storytelling unfold like a Hollywood script you can’t put down, “ATIII” may not lead the “Lupe Is Back!!” parade for all of his early-era fans, for us however, it definitely reinforces the belief that he remains one of the fiercest in today’s hip hop game.

“American Terrorist III” (DL):
Download audio file (Lupe-Fiasco-American-Terrorist-III.mp3)

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

B.o.B featuring Spodee “Wrong”

Posted: 11 Dec 2011 12:08 PM PST

As annoyingly omnipresent as the pop-flavored, chart-dominating singles stripped from B.o.B‘s debut The Adventures of Bobby Ray became, the Decatur-born emcee’s insta-successful transitioning from mixtape-to-mainstream stardom was such a root-worthy event, hating on dude’s Top 40 reign never once seemed like an option.

That’s what happens when everything he spits (be it on an official single, album track, or remix verse) not only feels so insanely catchy and impressively nimble on even the millionth listen, but is lifted to whole new plateaus of feel-good infectiousness due to the fact that Bobby always sounds like he’s having the time of his life doing what he does (Note to other rappers: sounding deathlessly hungry and inspired can go a long way).

The rapper’s new mixtape, the warm-up-to-Strange Clouds freebie/ latest showcase of multi-genre versatility E.P.I.C (Every Play Is Crucial) stands out as another full-length winner mostly because of this boundless charisma.

For second entry “Wrong”, B.o.B. bottles that energy for another addictive radio-pop high, he and guest star/ fellow Grand Hustle soldier Spodee‘s respective flows effortlessly bobbing about atop producer Ryan Tedder’s crunk-lite twist of Phoenix’ “1901″ for some against-all-odds, anti-hater inspirational rhymes. “I think it’s funny that they think they got us all beat and defeated/ I swear they must be dreaming ‘cuz they think that we’re retreating,” spits Bob, later offering a warning to all those “little boys with big toys” with smack to say against him: “We bring Hell like a red man with a black beard and a pitchfork”.

Listen hard enough and you can faintly hear a small “bling” at the end of each one of his lines, not even the hateration of the green-eyed sect being enough to take away this guy’s toothy grin exuberance.

Hear the song belong, alongside another E.P.I.C. favorite, the lush “Southern swag & soul sample” goodie (and “International Players Anthem” sequel-of-sorts) “5 On The Kush”, or simply pick up the entire tape here.

“Wrong” featuring Spodee (DL):
Download audio file (B.o.B.-Wrong-feat.-Spodee.mp3)

“5 On The Kush” featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Bun B (DL):
Download audio file (B.o.B-5-On-The-Kush-feat.-Big-K.R.I.T.-Bun-B.mp3)

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понедельник, 12 декабря 2011 г.