The Chuckness

K’NAAN’s been a favorite of mine for a bit now — and it was pretty obvious that he was well on his way to success with the release of his last album Troubador. Once he landed “Wavin’ Flag” as the official theme song of the 2010 World Cup, it was a wrap. Since then, he’s been quietly working on more material, and our first look at what he’s got up his sleeve comes in the form of “Nothing To Lose”. He has a little 5-track EP coming out next Tuesday (1/24) titled More Beautiful Than Silence, and this is our … Continue reading →

Skizzy Mars randomly let this track go tonight, and apparently it’s a little re-work of one of the first songs he ever recorded. If this is true, then he came out of the gate with flames from the get-go. The dude’s been beyond consistent quality-wise, and “Sirens” maintains his authenticity. Big 2012 on the horizon. Stream/download via Soundcloud below. Tweet

Here we have another cut off of Mansions On The Moon’s upcoming, debut album Light Years. Pharrell Williams had his hands on the majority of this record, including “Athens”. I’m still sensing a mini Simon & Garfunkel style here, although not as strong as on “Rest Of Your Days”. Just a very out-of-body, spacey sound perfect for otherworldly activities. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download: Mansions On The Moon – Athens [premiered on RCRDLBL] Tweet

My introduction to Oberhofer came in the form of “Gotta Go” back in August, and I was a little quick to jump on their seemingly out of control hipsterdom back then (all in good fun). The band is gearing up to release their new album on March 27th (under Glassnote Records), and “HEART” has just been released as the first single. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that these dudes are in the midst of building a significant fanbase — and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them grow exponentially in the next year or so. The music business is generally a … Continue reading →

This one slipped right under my radar last week. G.O.O.D. Music signee Tony Williams just released his new mixtape, Some Of My Best Rappers Are Friends, and “Blazin High” is the first cut I’ve heard so far. When you recruit Wale, NYC-native Emilio Rojas, and Seattle’s ever-popular, buzzworthy Macklemore — all on ONE track, it’s gonna receive some attention. I dig what they’ve done here — head over to The Smoking Section to pick up the project in it’s entirety, and let me know how it is. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download: Tony Williams (feat. Wale, Emilio Rojas … Continue reading →

This one lit shit on fire on Holy Ship — everything was ablaze. It’s still weird to me that The Doors hopped on board with this. Gotta love illogical collaborations though. Tweet

Master Of My Make Believe, Santigold’s follow-up to her highly successful debut album, is due out this spring. With it, comes this awkwardly bizarre, somewhat animated music video for the first single off the LP, “Big Mouth”. On her first record, she set the world ablaze with her strange appeal, and she’s looking to take full advantage with this follow up album. Not so sure if this one is for me, but I’ll definitely be checking out the project when it hits shelves. Grab the free download over at Santigold’s site. Tweet

Yesterday saw my Twitter feed exploding with news of a hip-hop group out of Brooklyn called Phony Ppl. Actually, I take that back. “Hip-hop group” doesn’t do them justice. Rather, they are a 9-piece hip-hop ensemble. They rap, they play the saxophone, they play the bass, they play the keyboard — they do everything. They’re a hip-hop infused musical collective. With yesterday came the release of Phonyland, their (free) album that’s been three years in the making. It’s different, it’s new, and it’s refreshing as hell. Give it a listen below, download it for free from their website, and check … Continue reading →

This new, previously unreleased A$AP Rocky track made it’s way onto the internet machine over the weekend, and it’s been stirring up some waves. If you somehow managed to not pick up his universally well-received mixtape LiveLoveA$AP, then get on that. It’s always wild to grasp how he went from nothing to a multi-million dollar deal, and that project is the primary reason. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download: A$AP Rocky – Celebration [via Earmilk] Tweet

Sol just dropped over his newest single off of his upcoming album Yours Truly, due out everywhere this Friday, 1/20. Featuring vocals from Ray Dalton (last heard on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us”), “Need Your Love” is one of the more emotional tracks we’ve heard from the Seattle native. I dig. Check the stream/download below, and be on the lookout come Friday for his album. Tweet