The Chuckness

Sol, a key ingredient in the newfound Seattle hip-hop movement, has released his third and final mixtape in the Dear Friends series. I’m a late-comer with this guy, as my first impression of Sol was with “This Shit”, but I was beyond impressed. Do yourself a favor, download the 6-track mixtape below, and let me know what you think.

In the words of Sol:

“I am proud to present: Dear Friends, Vol. III! This project is the final installment to my free EP trilogy and the prelude to my full-length album Yours Truly scheduled for a fall release. DFIII, an eclectic collection of six songs, is the continuation of my evolution as well as an introduction for all those who have only recently tuned in or who will hear my music for the first time via this project. With a little bit of classic hip-hop, a little bit of genre-bending, and a little bit of baby-making music… no matter who you are I think you will like this EP!”

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Download: Sol – Dear Friends, Vol. III (Mixtape)

Jay-Z and Kanye West not only have the most anticipated album of the year in Watch The Throne, but now they have the most anticipated national tour as well.

When the album goes on sale on August 8th through iTunes (pushed back a week), tickets will go on sale for the Watch The Throne tour, covering the biggest venues across 24 U.S. cities. Starting July 28th, their LiveNation site will unleash a pre-sale for tickets, which includes a copy of the album.

The tour kicks off on Sept. 22 in Detroit, and ends Nov. 3 in Boston.

Oh, and according to the press release, the duo should now be officially referred to as “The Throne”.

Hit the jump for the tour dates.

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Yesterday was 100 degrees in Boston. Today is 100 degrees in Boston. People sweating from every pore on their body. Ice cream melting all over the place.  Christ. It’s a heatwave. It’s time for a new mixtape.

I’ve been holding out on you for this one. We have 13 tracks of various genres, very few of which have been posted on the site. Additionally, you get to take in some of the best album artwork you’ve ever seen in your life. It’s a win-win for everybody. Do yourself a favor, download the tape, bring it to the beach, play it while you’re on the Slip-N-Slide, and let it serve as your soundtrack.

Tracklisting and download link after the jump.

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I love shit like this. With the exception of Kanye, Jay and co. sitting around the dining room table sharing absurdly priced jewelry, it’s always enticing to see a little behind the scenes footage. I’m always fascinated with how people find inspiration; in this case, by locking themselves in a mansion on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia.

Shout out to Russel Crowe.

Watch The Throne due out August 1st, but you already knew that.

I’ve received a fair amount of shit from my roommate for continuously posting the photo of me and Ellie whenever I do a post of one of her tracks, and although it’s difficult, I’m opting for another picture here.

“Lights” has been one of the most remixed songs of the year, to the point where I really struggle to listen to any version of the song whatsoever now. What used to be a clear-cut favorite of mine has now been remixed and sampled and remixed again, to the point where I had no choice but to move on. That is until RAC came around and injected the track with their token magic.

The success rate of RAC’s remixes is absolutely insane; there’s no one else even remotely close to this crew in the remix genre.  I’ve heard their live concert is just a straight dance party; so naturally they’ve skyrocketed to the top of my list of must-see shows.

Check out how they revamped “Lights” to make it their own.

The Yonkers, NY native, Outasight, just hit 10,000 likes on Facebook and sent over a new track to celebrate. After really getting into his most recent mixtape Figure 8, I’ve been looking forward to some new material from the guy. On “Setting Sun”, he sticks to the formula that’s working for him; walking the fine line of easy-listening hip-hop. According to the man himself, his album under Warner Bros. is soon to be a wrap, so keep your eyes open for that down the line.

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Download: Outasight – Setting Sun

This is the kind of thing that has led to Mac Miller’s unbelievably huge following. The creativity behind this video is second to none, and it’s awesome to see people still putting thought into the visuals of their music. You really can’t go wrong with the home video route. On top of that, it fits perfectly with arguably my favorite track off of his last mixtape.

It’s fitting that on Friday morning, I come across arguably my favorite track I’ve heard this week. That’s saying a lot, cause this has been a huge week for jams.

The Knocks’ mini-label, HeavyRoc Music, recently signed St. Lucia to their family, and while the world has only heard two of his tracks, I can certifiably say that he’s got something special. I previously posted his first song “This Old House”, which was a hell of a debut. With all due respect to his first song, “All Eyes On You” absolutely blows it out of the water. These 4:39 seconds will bury themselves in your head from the get-go, to the point where you have no choice but to hold down the repeat button. There’s even a saxophone solo, which the dude has managed to fit in perfectly amongst the spacey synths and addictive chorus.

Can’t say enough about this one…check it out for yourself.

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Download: St. Lucia – All Eyes On You

[via Neon Gold]

Forgot to share this one with you last night. Skizzy Mars takes Foster The People’s engaging “Houdini”, and adds in a couple fireflame verses on top. Not really sure why this one works out so well; because by all logic it shouldn’t; but I’m really into this. Apparently the kid is only 17 too.

I posted Skizzy Mars’ “Profound” a few weeks back; which completely took over my iTunes at the time. If you’re not up on Skizzy Mars, get involved.

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Download: Skizzy Mars – Houdini

[via Pigeons & Planes]

Alex Winston, who works closely with The Knocks and their mini label Heavy Roc Music, has just released a new single off of her upcoming EP, due out on 9/12. The NYC native actually recently signed to Island Records, and after the EP, she’s slated to release her debut full-length album in early 2012.

I immediately noticed her overwhelming talent when I first got my ears on “Sister Wife”, and “Velvet Elvis” has a similar, infectious pop sound. She’s clearly coming into her own, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see her name around the music biz for a while.