JVC Force, Mikey D, T-Money - WBAU Promo (1988/9)

This. Is. IN-SANE. Mikey D, then of L.A. Posse, later of Main Source; B-Luv and AJ Rok of JVC Force; and T-Money of Original Concept in the background. Ever wanted to hear what B-Luv's verse from "Force Field" or AJ's verse from "Tear the Show Up" would sound like acappella? Now you know, thanks to Oxygen, who taped this and held on to it for damn near 20 years, and DJ Wildman Steve, who posted it to Soundcloud. Download here.

AM The Meister - "To The Bank"

Here's a new one from Eight Immortals member AM The Meister, who says, "Since our lives had gotten busier we needed to take a short break from releasing music. Now that things are picking back up again we are constantly working on improving our craft. I am working on a new project set to release sometime in the spring of 2017." The song above, "To The Bank" is taken from that project and produced by AM's Eight Immortals partner Akari (fka Illucid), whose "Bad and Boujee" Remix is also not to be missed.

Theravada - "Speedboat"

pic.twitter.com/c5946PwUgZ

— XEN (@thrvd) February 9, 2017

Big Breakfast - "Sade Joint" & AMH Show

Big Breakfast will be performing live at Amityville Music Hall, Friday, February 24, with support from Karma Kids and co.

Just a few hours ago, he shined the first light on his next tape, rapping:

"Rappers yapping about the latest Baco's soy beef substitute / Boy what's up with you? / Put the tool to your noodle like a cup of soup / I'm a fool when I doodle with the number two pencil / You just doodle like a number two, mental / But maintain my cucumber cool / Got my hand on my balls like bumper pool."

Bars below...

ADUM⁷ - 光: Let There Be... / ERROARS 3.3: 起死回生

The Freeport-based student of the universe formerly known as MeccaGodZilla and Ryu Black is back with a new moniker and two, yes two, new instrumental albums. Both deal with the loss of loved ones (the first, a death; the second, a breakup), so this marks a very serious turn for the artist now identified as A Dream Universally Manifested to the God Power (ADUM⁷).

Speaking on the first release, ADUM⁷ says, "This album is dedicated to my little brother Daniel "Majesty" Sanchez. From music to activism we worked together for years and he was the roughest loss I have experienced in my entire lifetime. For me when it comes to losing (people), solitude, self reflecting and continuing to create art are so important. These self reflections lead to rediscovery of love and light… and I just want to share that energy as much as possible. The world definitely needs it. Just a reminder of how simple things can be. No drama. Just bliss. It sounds sappy but… this world at times is crazy af and seeking out love vibrations is key to keeping the shine going."

If 光: Let There Be... is a blissful tribute to a fallen friend, ERROARS 3.3: 起死回生 is a painful exorcism of love lost. ADUM⁷ explains: "I remember not eating for 5 days… I literally had to force myself to eat and get sun. I started working out more and meditating but pain truly changed me. The only way I could regain my footing was to start creating. I found a week long crash course online and taught myself how to play chords on piano in order to be fully self expressed with my music production. I didn’t want to simply sample records or lean on listening to previous works find inspiration. Digging for sounds is great don’t get me wrong…but the sounds were all inside of me and I needed to create and hadouken it all 'instantly.' Jeez…speaking about this up until last fall was slightly difficult… I didn’t want to write songs because of where my head was at…instrumentals were the way to go. It was my way to share energy that didn’t violate the choices of my ex you know? Break ups are wild, regardless of why they happen…I didn’t want to go so low frequency to the point I started losing myself…so instrumentals were the better choice. I thank the universe for artists like Björk, Beck and Taku. I leaned on them heavy during this time.”

Stream below courtesy of Manafest Vision Media and show your support by downloading 光: Let There Be... and ERROARS 3.3: 起死回生 via your preferred music service.

Grandmilly & SHOZAE - Advertureland (Grand Opening)

Adventureland, the followup to Grandmilly and Shozae's 2 Stoopid Dogz EP, is slated to open February 10, one week from today. In anticipation of it, the team has dropped a video for the album's opening track, the aptly titled "Adventureland (Grand Opening)." In other news, Milly has been added to the bill for a March 5 show at Amityville Music Hall. Video, album cover, tracklist and show flyer are all below.

Josh Alias - "Casablanca" / "Fortune Off"

Coming from the Floral Park/Elmont area (less than one mile from the current Long Island Rap headquarters actually), Josh Alias is a force to be reckoned with, whether off the top or on the page. Case in point: "When I need that bread financial aids like FASFAs / I've been held back with no captors / Pondering white boys go ghost like Kasper / Like most rappers I grilled and killed, their soul don't know where to go after." Body bag bars ... like if this were Karate Kid, there'd be somebody in the background cackling, "Get him a body bag, yeaaaah!" right about now. Josh Alias' debut project should be out "in 3 months or so depending," according to the MC. Look out for that, as well as the debut project from his collective, which includes Blaq Kush, who's featured on the 2nd video below along with Yung K. That one should be released "in a month or two."

Elucid - Valley Of Grace

translated from the dutch word genadendal, valley of grace was a haven for runaway slaves in present cape town, za

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

i wrote and produced vog in joburg & capetown during their own controversial presidential elections

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

the white supremacist/colonialist paralells in za were immediately evident and arguably more violent than whats experienced in the us

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

being in a place 23 yrs removed from apartheid its impossible to not be acutely aware of race

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

watching america burn from distant shores/i learned to walk hot coals before i left the east coast

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

i knew what it was gonna be when i touched back in america and making vog synthesized alot of emotions for me

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

every song was born from conversations with za born black folk in bars cabs airports markets squares restaurants

— E L U C I D (@elucidwho) January 30, 2017

The Paid In Full Posse

Flix sniped from AlbeeSquare87 IG and The Coli.

Rakim Interviewed by Canibus for The Source

The February 1998 issue of The Source included a cover feature on Rakim titled "Lyrics of Fury: The Sequel," with photography by Chris Buck and an interview by none other than Germaine "Canibus" Williams. The respect was clearly mutual between the two, as in one highlight, Canibus says, "You know, like if another planet is battling Earth, if you say, 'Yo, niggas is battling another planet with alien MCs and this is for the pot of gold. They gonna wipe us out as a species if you can't bring it.' Your name is right there. They gonnna say Rakim." To which Ra replies, "Don't be surprised if they say Canibus." Read the full interview here, via Ghetto.ru, and stream Bus & Ra's 1999 single "I'll Buss 'Em U Punish 'Em" below.