Prince Paul - It's Not the Size of Your Mix It's How You Use It Vol 2

The 2nd installment of Prince Paul's obscure series "Its Not the size of your Mix Its how you use it" dropped a week ago, so if this is the first you're hearing of it shame on you...

Unless of course you rely on longislandrap.com for all your Prince Paul updates and Long Island hip-hop enjoyment, in which case, thank you and please accept our sincerest apologies for the delay. The Long Island Rap Blog remains committed to delivering you the best of the best in terms of homegrown hip-hop. As evidence of our humble but appreciable growth (after all, it's not the size that counts, right?), we refer you to this Facebook comment, in which Prince Paul seems to acknowledge our existence, if only briefly.

And without further ado, we give to you "Its Not the size of your Mix Its how you use it" Vol 2.

Triple Optix - Triple Optix EP

Triple Optix, for those who don't know, was a Suffolk County group comprised of three Cop Shop vets: Huntington Station's Diabolic, and Smithtown's Coal (aka Coal Cash) and Taboo (aka Tabs), who together go by the name Double Negative. When originally released in 2000, the Triple Optix EP consisted of five songs. This, however, is not the version with which most are familiar, because in 2004 an unofficial fan-created version emerged with a different tracklist including two songs that weren't on the first edition: "Epiphany" (by iCON the Mic King ft. Diabolic & Taboo) and "God's Gift" (by DJ Black Panther ft. Diabolic and Lou Cipher). Diabolic and Coal have made clear that this later version, although possibly more widespread, is not the official release, as "Godz Gifts" (as it's officially titled) was actually taken from Black Panther's 2003 album, Darkest Night Ever, and "Epiphany" comes from a 2001 compilation called Freshchest Prose Presents Jabs and Cuts Volume 1; furthermore, neither of these songs feature the full group line-up of Diabolic, Coal and Taboo. Nevertheless, you can stream both versions below, along with "Norman Bates," a recent cut featuring a Triple Optix reunion of sorts.

Theravada - "^^^^^^"

Been falling into the modern-era trap of giving much more shine to rappers than DJs and producers, so here's the latest from Theravada. A bearded Buddhist beat dude from the Bellmore-Wantagh border zone, Theravada comprises one half of the duo Trilogy (the other half being DC-based Rob Chambers), which supposedly has a new beat tape coming soon.

Kenny Orlando - "Sometimes"

Originally from Great Neck, now residing in West Hempstead, Kenny Orlando has us seeing double with "Sometimes," the fourth video off his fourth release, The Bassment Tape, which was produced entirely by Jay 2K a.k.a. Misophonic who hails from Port Washington by way of Manhasset.

Black Gold Entertainment Presents Method Man & Redman at The Emporium

Thursday March 19: doors at 7, showtime 8:30; tickets are $25 in advance via ticketfly or $40 at the door.

Also on the bill are Long Island Rap Blog postees Reek Da Villian and Peter Leo, as well as Stumik, Major League Bop, Joolz Balla, Dufflebag Gal, Mr. Dopeflow, Jazzy Yowa, Tony Slippaz and Skriptkeeper.

This show will be something of a homecoming for Meth, who spent parts of his youth in Hempstead and Freeport.

Dress codes will be strictly enforced. The question is will tical codes be? And if so ... how high?

See what I did there?

Weed.

Prodigy - "Don't Be A Follower"

File under all-time favorite Prodigy song: "Don't Be A Follower," released in 2000 on the Black and White OST put out by Loud Records. No idea how the instrumental got out there, but thankfully it did.

The picture to the left was actually taken from the website of Freeport recording studio On3trackmind, so props to them.

Stoneface - "No Amateurs" (prod. by BP & DJ Stitches) / Diabolic - "Victim's Story RMX" (prod. by BP)

"No Amateurs" on this one, for sure. Though the rapping on this B.I.G. tribute is handled by Philly native Stoneface, Long Island manages the backbone, with North Amityville's DJ Stitches providing cuts and 11701 Productions head honcho BP laying the beat.

It just so happens this is the 7th installment of BP's 7 series, which sees the producer dropping an exclusive or unreleased track on the 7th of the month. Aside from Stitches (and BP, obviously) the last Long Islander to contribute to the series was Huntington Station's own Diabolic, whose Fightin' Words track "Victim's Story" was remixed for the January 7 drop. Stream both below.

Eternal Intellect - "God Rule da Galaxy" / "Subordinate 2 Da Law"

Eternal Intellect has been quietly killing shit for more than 20 years but only recently begun to get the exposure he deserves, thanks in part to Chopped Herring Records, which unearthed a few songs from the time E.I. was working with DJ Stitches. Over the past few weeks, though, Eternal's been especially active, flooding Soundcloud with dozens of new joints. The two most recently released songs, both of which were posted February 23, provide perfect examples of the effortlessly elevated vibes E.I. evokes every time he grabs the mic. True head-nod mind-flight material.

Sage Infinite - "It's Like Butta" (Prod. by SHOZAE)

SHOZAE just broke us off his latest production credit, another joint with frequent collaborator Sage Infinite. If you haven't already downloaded the two albums they've done together, do yourself a favor and get Dark Minded and Dark Minded 2, ideally before today's sunrise.

Dj Pr!nce - "Likkle Pinch" ft. Rayvon

Fresh off the 2014 release of his dancehall/roots-inspired Test My Sound LP and Shottas/Come Again 7", Dj Pr!nce returns with another chat-style project that blurs the line between reggae and rap. "Likkle Pinch," the first joint off the forthcoming Chop Fui project by this Central Islip-raised Mobile Kitchen Soundwave rapper/producer/selector, features some additional toasting by Rayvon over a beat by Viiatrice. Stream/download below.