Kmplx Vzn - "Optimist (Kool Aid)"

Would you rather be confused or contented? Your answer says a lot. For those who enjoy the challenge of figuring things out, focus your attention on Kmplx Vzn, the Huntington Station MC at the forefront of the 456 Movement. His 2016 debut, Silken Web, recalls at least one time-honored LI hip-hop tradition, the skit. Don't get it twisted, though; Kmplx Vzn sees things his own way. See for yourself.

DJ Pr!nce - American Beauty Mix

Not entirely sure what this is but a new mix from DJ Pr!nce is always welcome. The Original Selector aka Roach Killa aka WiFi OG aka Steven A. Spliff has been getting around a lot lately, so American Beauty is probably a reference to the NYC club of that name.

As a matter of fact, if you're not already in for the evening, you might could catch DJ Pr!nce spinning some Brazilian Samba, Afro Funk, Soul and Disco at Ode to Babel, 772 Dean St. in BK. Bump this on the way.

De La Soul Live from London

Do you have a Tidal? (Tidal!)

De La Soul, they have a Tidal. (Tidal!)

and the Anonymous Nobody, he has a Tidal. (Tidal!)

Well, if you do have a Tidal (Tidal!), then you can stream De La Soul's upcoming London concert at the Roundhouse, this Friday at 4 p.m. Those who've seen De La Soul in concert know their live show's one of hip-hop's best, the result of decades of practice. For some perspective, revisit De La Soul live in Philly circa 1989, and below check out a G.O.O.D. Music party cipher from 2008 featuring De La along with Will I Am, Mos Def, Nas and Kanye West.

ALLAN - "DK" (prod. by Manny McPlanes)

ALLAN of TrueFreedom flew through to drop off a new video directed by the inimitable Kenneth Callier for a track produced by Freeport's Manny McPlanes.

"With (Self-entitled Bullshit) dropping tomorrow it only seemed fitting," he writes.

This one was filmed guerrilla style on location at the parking garage of The Source Mall in Westbury during the early morning hours, presumably to get those sweet 360 shots with nary a vehicle in sight.

D.A. The Future - Da Illa Tape

J. Dilla was born and died in the month of February. Thus, every year around this time, hip-hop becomes even more saturated with JD tributes than usual. (Don't act like half the beatmakers out right now aren't essentially Dilla tribute acts to begin with.) One project, however, that actually feels like a fitting homage comes from Amitvyille's own D.A. The Future, who manages to honor the frameworks of Dilla's original compositions without sacrificing the spontaneity that made his music so magical. Stream above and download here.

Midnite Society - "ReddWithTheOx"

"ReddWithTheOx" is the tentative title of this second leak off Midnite Society's upcoming project, The Morning Can Wait  (following "Butterfly Dreams," which we posted last October), It's also the name of one of the three MCs on this track, the others being Petey Max and ShoDaFloMan (aka Shozae, who delivers the 1st verse; Redd's on the hook and P.E.T.E. has the 2nd verse). Can't wait for The Morning? Well, you're going to have to. Producer of this track, Shozae says, "We working on that album right now. We got some ill shit coming." So just sit tight.

Black Teenager - The "Death Boy" Tape

This is Black Teenager. Black Teenager is from Brownsville, not LI, but he goes/went to SUNY Farmingdale and is/was at least loosely affiliated with the RADICAL$ crew, which is how I was introduced to his music.

Black Teenager has a new album out on Soundcloud and iTunes, called The "Death Boy" Tape, which has a macabre audio-aesthetic concept I won't give away, but dig the early procession progression.

Stream below. Download here.

Roc Marciano - Rosebudd's Revenge Part 1 (LP OUT!)

The wait is over. Rosebudd's Revenge, the fourth official album by Roc Marciano, is out now via rocmarci.com, having arrived in the dead of night like a streetwalker.

There are 15 songs, 7 produced by Roc himself, 5 by a member of the Arch Druids production duo.

Portions of tracks 2, 1 and 13 are collected in the video below titled Rosebudd's Revenge Part 1, which dropped last night along with the album. These are produced by Don C[halant], George "Mushroom Jesus" Paulin and Roc Marci, respectively.

Get that money.

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.