Tyler, The Creator, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis & Earl Sweatshirt - "Look"

I'll stop writing about them when they stop rapping like this. On three, everyone say who they think has the best verse.

Act like you ain't know it's Earl.



Schoolboy Q - "Banger (MOSHPIT)"

I wish Sample Clearance Issues was an actual person so someone could run a drive-by on this dude. He'd be smugly strolling out of some rich asshole restaurant with a three million dollar wine cellar like he owned the whole block. And you just know he ordered his steak well-done. The valet would be all, "Here's your Maybach, Mr. Issues," and then Q (or Q's homie, more likely) would roll up in a late-model Cadillac (like they did Pac) and just light that whole shit up.

Confident the job was done, Schoolboy would come over to my house with a factory sealed copy of Oxymoron and we would take drugs and stay up all night listening to it while he slept with my girlfriend and I listened to it alone with no drugs at all.

Oxymoron still has no release date. Have this instead.



Pusha T ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Nosetalgia"

Apt title for a track by a dude who absolutely can't stop talking about selling that powder. But here we have entered the dangerous waters of Best New Music territory. We've got two emcees on top of their shit reminiscing about the way their lives were touched by drugs in extremely different ways. It's just goddamn fantastic to see Pusha's glamorization of the life juxtaposed with Kendrick watching his family members sink into addiction.

The music video itself is a hell of a thing, a minimalist evening stroll through a black and white Compton. If you pick one track to put on your playlist today, this is the one.

And, hey, Kendrick Lamar! Every song he's featured on since "Control" has felt like the next leg of his victory parade which I expect to continue all the way up until Thanksgiving Day when he hijacks the Sesame Street float and goes in on Big Bird for being soft as hell.

Eminem ft. Liz Rodrigues - "Survival"

Eminem is back with a new anthem to listen to while kicking open your ex-wife's front door. This is not the best song you'll hear all year, but believe me when I say that you will hear it. This has sporting event playoff banger written all over it. Even when Em is dropping irrelevant "ain't never gonna' stop me" radio hits, the man still has flow. Give it a listen but skip the hook.




The next time you think about putting off writing the next great American novel or finally learning how to play the guitar, recall that Earl Sweatshirt is only 19 years old.

And Kendrick Lamar is watching you.

Pittsburgh born rapper Mac Miller has certainly come a long way since releasing his K.I.D.S mixtape on Rostrum Records back in 2010. The last few years have seen the 21 year old MC take a turn stylistically towards a more west coast, eclectic sound working with respected artists like Schoolboy Q, Ab-soul, Jay Electronica, Earl Sweatshirt, and Tyler, The Creator. His latest album, Watching Movies With the Sound Off, features the Flying Lotus produced single "S.D.S.," which has the rapper sounding comfortable delivering lines over the dizzying experimental beat.

Tonight, Los Angeles hip hop collective Odd Future will join Mac headlining an absolutely packed bill of emerging talent at Buffalo's Outer Harbor Concert site with support from Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, Chance The Rapper, and The Internet.

After returning from boarding school in Samoa last year, Earl Sweatshirt picked up right where he left off, making an appearance on "Super Rich Kids" from Frank Ocean's sublime Channel Orange and dropping a characteristically poetic verse on Captain Murphy's "Between Friends." His debut LP, Doris, is expected out August 20th on Columbia and features collaborations with RZA, BadBadNotGood, and Pharrell.

Chicago MC Chance The Rapper has been riding a wave of much deserved success after self releasing the year's most vibrant hip hop album, Acid rap, which effortlessly combined soulful hip hop and R&B to serve as the 20 year old's opening statement to the rap world. Along with Earl and Brooklyn's Joey Bada$$, Chance is part of the next wave of young rappers that are beginning to redefine the genre with their strong cultural identity that radiates from their tracks.

Gates for tonight's show open at 6pm, tickets are $40 and can be purchased at the gate or online at Ticketmaster.com.

Well friends, it appears that the cold weather is quickly descending and everything released this week seems to be a response to that. All 5 songs are  downtempo, introspective, spooky, or some mix of all three. Needless to say, I have begun preparations to deal with the 6 month dark night of the soul we call Winter. I have  bought enough canned food to sustain myself until April, wrapped my naked body in aluminum foil and turned my heat up to 82 degrees. Until Spring, I will sit in this well insulated room and absorb new music, as well as various canned vegetables. I am completely certain that I will emerge sane and rested by April and perhaps more capable of creative jokes.

Earl Sweatshirt - "Chum:" Reappearing earlier this year, the much discussed missing member of the Odd Future camp released a new song on Thursday. "Chum" is lyrically introspective and features  basic  snare and piano loop. Earl appears to have moved beyond the violent adolescent posturing of his early work, which pretty much had him sent away in the first place. An interesting, albeit low key, track.


Broadcast - "The Equestrian Vortex:"  While Broadcast works on a new album, which will posthumously feature Trish Keenan's vocals (recorded just before she suddenly died last year), they will be releasing the soundtrack  for Warp's pastiche of Italian horror movies, Berberian Sound Studio. "The Equestrian Vortex is the title track to the movie's film within a film. On it, Broadcast recreates 70's style movie music to tense effect through crashing minor key heavy pianos and percussion.

Atoms for Peace - "What the Eyeballs Did:" Earlier this Fall, Mac posted the haunting "Default," the new single from Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich's supergroup side project. "What the Eyeballs Did," is the b-side to that single and has a similar haunting groove to "Default." However, this song is structurally tighter and quicker paced, suggesting that the tension building in "Default"  bled over onto the b-side. A great song, just don't mind the excited DJ talking over it at the end.


Crystal Castles - "Affection:" Crystal Castles have come a long way from their abrasive chip tunes. On "Affection," Alice Glass's icy vocals  float over the melancholy/gothy synth and drums. This is the third song released off the long teased upcoming full length, set to be released later this month.


Prince Rama - "Welcome to the Now Age:" Another track from Prince Rama's upcoming exploration of persona, Top 10 Hits of the End of the World. This time, the band "channels" Hyparxia (a fictitious popular band from the apocalypse) to create a downtempo sex anthem for any upcoming party you have in a space station.


What, were you not invited to the last space station party? It was great! Still not sure how I got back. Oh wait, now I remember.