MIXTAPE 57 – SOULTRONICA VOL 2

And as promised, pilule Soultronica Volume Two. If you haven’t caught the first installment in this ongoing sideseries, you need to go back and get a bar – once you’ve caught Soultronica Volume 1 in its entirety, come back and check this one out.

This volume finds our heroes back in space, and your boy back in Cali with the official studio – don’t get me wrong, the Macbook mic is fine for what it is, but nothing beats recording into a mic that’s worth more than you are.

D’Angelo – Devil’s Pie (Kenny Keys remix). I was so impatient to share this joint with the listeners when I first got it that I damn near made a one-song episode of your favorite hip-hop podcast. Keys shows us where his name came from on this joint, and the production is hot as well. Brilliant remix. myspace.com/kennykeys

J*Davey - Let It Bleed. There’s so very little I can say about this duo without simply reiterating what everyone in the know has been saying for what, going on a couple years, at least, now? Production is funky, soulful, and futuristic, the vocals ooze intelligence and well, sex. jdaveybaby.com

J*Davey – Gangsta. Damn. Do not let the lyrics slip by you on this one, trust me.

Dwight Trible and the Life Force Trio – Equipoise (feat Sa-Ra). And somehow I managed to sneak Sa-Ra back into Volume 2. I remember back a couple summers ago when JR was talking about Dwight Tribble, and when I finally got my hands on Love is The Answer, I got what he was talking about. Real spacy, groovy, soulful joints – special thanks to JR for approving this joint for mixtape show play. Make it a point to cop the full album.

DJ Spinna - Where’s Your Love (feat N’Dea Davenport). Another joint off of Intergalactic Soul. This record is kind of weird because it starts off hip-hop – and does a pretty damn good job of it, as listeners that caught volume 1 will remember – and then around track 5 decides it’s had enough of this rap shit and runs for safety in the form of house. I’m not complaining, because I like house anyway – shit, I might do a house episode sometime soon (what do you all think – want to hear that? comment away), and this is a nice example of what the rest of the album sounds like. djspinna.com

J*Davey – Mr Mister. Some of you might know this one.

Wale Oyejide – Falling. And we finally got some more Wale on here. This joint is off of Africahot!, and was actually recommended to me by LG over at Shaman Work – I’d forgotten how much I felt this joint when I first heard it. There’s been a lot of buzz around this record, and for good reason. Wale’s got style all over the place – wait until I break some more of this Black Gold material out for y’all… shamanwork.com

(opening beat – Kenny Keys).

And that’s it for this week’s installment of the most important hip-hop podcast on the entire intarwebbe. Next week, we’ll be…actually, I have no idea what I’m doing next week.

Any feedback, questions, comments, light up the comments section.

MIXTAPE EPISODE 49 – SOULTRONICA

This week – no hip-hop. Yeah, glaucoma you heard me.

I’d like to officially present to the internets – each and every one of them – a nascent genre of new Black music. I don’t know what to call it – I’ve heard Space Funk (or maybe I made that up? I can’t remember), dosage Neo Funk, and TK seems to have settled on Soultronica, which I think is fairly accurate. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to the episode. So, for now, soultronica it is. Check the playlist.

DJ Spinna – Intergalactic Soul feat Phonte of Little Brother. This is sort of a weird record. Spinna starts off with two or three solid space-hop joints – this being the hottest – and then just when he’s got a good momentum going, he turns around and runs straight for motherfucking Chicago. House all the way through. Weird, but good. djspinna.com

J Davey – No More (Donwill Piracy Remix). At long last, after nearly 8 months of talking about it, I’ve finally gotten some J Davey material. I actually have enough for a whole episode, or two – peace to them for getting all that to me. I’d already heard the original joint, but this unofficial remix puts it over the fucking top. If you’re not already on the J*Davey bandwagon, you need to be. jdaveybaby.com.

Steve Spacek – Dollar. A J Dilla production [1]. Jon of SIC passed this to me damn near a year ago, or maybe it was a year ago, shit. Still, the beat is ridiculous. If you’ve already heard it, listen again.

Jneiro Jarel – Breathin’ feat Rocque Wun. In true space-age fashion, both of these artists have names that I can’t pronounce. For some reason I slept on Jarel’s last album for the longest – something about the cover art, I don’t know. Finally someone told me to listen to the goddamn thing, and it’s nice. Nice. jneirojarel.com

Sa-Ra – Second Time Around. Black pretenison personified. This is material done before the G.O.O.D. music thing – I think – some more material from the batch of exclusives Jon for SIC gave me a while back. If it hasn’t hit you quite yet that this whole Soultronica thing is a throwback to Parliament, maybe you’ll get it here – or find their sampler and listen to that.sa-ra.net

Opening beat – Kenny Keys – Starr Step (unreleased) – myspace.com/kennykeys
Outro – Sa-Ra – We Gonna Do It Again sa-ra.net

[1] Be on the lookout for the big Episode 51 – trust me, it’s going to be hot. Shaman Work has a lot to do with it, if that is any clue. Check back with your favorite hip-hop podcast next week for the full joint.