Check It ... @RubyIbarra

I've been sitting on this one for a little while.

The homie Shaun (@readbeanpie) hit me with the Kitchen Raps video a few weeks back. I was definitely digging it. I found myself laughing at the girl dancing in the background and then suddenly she let lose in rhyme and my jaw dropped. It was unexpected.

She is Ruby Ibarra.

Her flow in Kitchen Raps caused me to dig a little deeper and find more stuff from the West Coast female emcee.

After digging for music and exchanging a few emails with Ruby, all I can say is she's dope. Like many emcees her roots are in spoken word and it shows in her rhyme. She's lyrical. She's fresh. I'm telling you, pay attention! Expect more projects on the way from Ruby!




Writer's Block - Ruby Ibarra & Random Abiladeze


www.myspace.com/rubyraps
twitter.com/rubyibarra


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First Listen ... Caits Meissner "The Wolf & Me"

I had the chance to preview Caits Meissner's new project, "The Wolf & Me". It's spoken word at it's finest. It's super fresh. It's one of those projects you throw on with a gang of friends, supply the wine and embrace the conversation that "The Wolf & Me" invokes.

"The Wolf & Me" is a well packaged (the PDF is serious) creative offering that delivers just over 25 minutes of Meissner's words, a host of production (Blu, Cazeaux OSLO, Just Plain Ant, Bisco Smith, CAV3 and The Aftermath) and a few features (Maya Azucena, Jesse Boykins III, Dunce Apprentice and Broke MC). You even get a little singing from Meissner on the project, something she calls "her honest and edgy tone." She definitely delivers herself on the nine track EP.

I think the press release says it best, "The Wolf & Me is something that will linger in your soul."

It truly does. I enjoyed it.


"The Wolf & Me" will be available May 1, 2010, for just $7. Support. Enjoy.

Download "Blackest Blood," the new single from the forthcoming project free
at www.caitsmeissner.com


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Check It ... Tanika Charles "Sillyhappywild"

One of my favorite blogs/sites is hiphopiscoolagain.com, run by the homie @jcrillz aka Ghostface Crillah, out on the West Coast. I caught this joint from Tanika Charles aka Mz Chawls, the songstress out of Canada, on his site this morning. Like he said, it is refreshing. Enjoy.



www.myspace.com/tanikacharles

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What I'm Watching ... Off The Wall (Midnight) Sessions - EP. 12 Tanya Morgan

I've been peeping a lot more of the Off the Wall videos. Interesting way to look at artists. Catch Episode 12 featuring Tanya Morgan.

Off The Wall (Midnight) Sessions - EP. 12 Tanya Morgan from OFF THE WALL SESSIONS on Vimeo.

homebasenyc.net
hotmopfilms.com

www.myspace.com/tanyamorgan

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Check It ... Taiyamo Denku feat. Prince Po "Mona Lisa" (Agartha Audio Rmx)

This joint is serious. That is all. Check it out. You're welcome.



www.uncommonmusic.net
Taiyamo Denku's LP "Articles of Mind" can be purchased on iTunes
Agartha Audio's LP "The Hollow Earth" can be purchased on iTunes

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Download ... @VerbalTaktiks "Coffee House Chronicles Books 1-7: Morning Brew"

I have to thank Shaun from beanpiepromotions.com for getting this joint to me. Shaun understands the process of how I work. He hit me up like, "when you get a chance..." and he knew the response would be "putting it on my desktop." ("Putting it on my desktop" is code for, sooner or later I'll listen). But because I respect dude and he's sent me good music in the past, I went back and checked the "Coffee House Chronicles."

Verbal Taktiks do their thing on the seven track EP, that starts off with a really fresh spoken word segment, ironically enough named "Fresh". It's fun. It's lyrical. It's quick (7 tracks, easy listening). It's Hip-Hop. It's a great introduction to the Sacramento crew.

Check out "Fresh" and "Notebook" off the project and if you dig 'em, go ahead and download the full project.

Fresh


Notebook


Coffee House Chronicles Books 1-7: Morning Brew [Click to Download]



twitter.com/VerbalTaktiks
www.myspace.com/verbaltaktiks



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What I'm Watching ... @BlitzAmbassador "Something to Believe" feat. Tess

photo by Mikey the Conscious Hustler

You know who's super dope? This guy -----> Blitz the Ambassador! Yep. I've been checking dude out for a bit and his music continues to impress me - deep rooted in classic Hip-Hop with it's heavy jazz overtones and coupled with Blitz's serious word play. Translation, Blitz is dope. Check out "Something to Believe" featuring Tess, off the StereoLive EP. The vid was directed by Terence Nance of the MVMT. The Live Session performance will air on MTV2 and MTVu.




Click here to purchase StereoLive on iTunes

Click here to purchase StereLive on Bandcamp.
www.stereolive.bandcamp.com


blitz.mvmt.com
twitter.com/blitzambassador


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The Journey to Hip-Hop ... Connecticut: Duece Bug

I hope you're enjoying the Connecticut installment of The Journey to Hip-Hop series. Much like the Milwaukee installment, I'm being introduced to a lot of different heads that I hadn't heard of before. It's dope.

Check out Duece Bug, the Norwalk, Connecticut emcee. The dude has opened for Method Man and Redman, Foxy Brown, Ghostface, Wale, House of Pain and a few others. He's got tracks with Cappadonna, Cory Gunz, Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox and more. His album, "fuck.duece.bug" drops in June. But enough of the co-signs and dope emcees he's worked with, the dude's music speaks for itself. Check it.

"More Than..." feat. Cappadonna



Check out more: www.myspace.com/duecebugalot

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Download ... Zone Fam x Teck-Zilla "The Full Script"

I didn't know how I was going to feel about this project before listening to it. I'll be honest, I was skeptical. But while there are a few tracks on this joint that are just alright, Zone Fam and Teck-Zilla definitely deliver with "The Full Script". The production is serious. Check it out, it's definitely worth a listen.

"This is the culmination of hard work, perseverance and consistency; going back and forth for over a year the Zone Fam and Teck-Zilla have put together, what is one of the best cross country collaborations that will be heard. Teck-Zilla from Nigeria is a rapper and Producer for Str8 Buttah Productions and Zone Fam are a six member Rap Crew from Zambia under Slam Dunk Records.

Hooking up on Africanhiphop.com was the start of big things, they collaborated on the song ‘To be an African’ that featured on the ‘The Sequel’ Mixtape. Teck-Zilla being based in London and Zone Fam in Lusaka - proved not to be much of a challenge as the world wide web has made the globe so much smaller. The Full Script features 10 blazing tracks with Hip Hop and its influence on the collective being the main subject matter."

www.facebook.com/pages/Zone-Fam
www.reverbnation.com/zonefam




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Check it ... Wrekonize (of ¡MAYDAY!) Freestyles!

Good, good stuff in the email today courtesy of ¡MAYDAY!. I gotta share. Check it...

Freestyles Galore

Wrekonize has probably been serving up freestyles since he jumped out of his mother's womb and the ¡MAYDAY! native recently lit up the net with a series of freestyles that would even make your momma proud.

His most recent release has the battle MC spitting fire over Lil' Wayne's "Single" instrumental, reminding us once again why that last shot of Jack is just a bad idea.

Listen to Wrekonize - "One Too Many" (Freestyle)and while your at it treat yourself to Wrek's last two freestyle gems over Diamond District bangers, "In the Ruff" and "Streets Won't Let Me Chill".

Wrekonize – "One Too Many" (Freestyle)


Wrekonize - “Don’t Stop The Music” (Freestyle)


Wrekonize : “Streets Wont Let Me Chill” (Freestyle)


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The Journey to Hip-Hop ... Connecticut: Expertiz - "Machinery"

Expertiz, out of Stratford, CT, hit me up with this track "Machinery" off his album Disrupting Nature's Balance which was released March 3rd of this year. He heard we were doing a special project for local artists in the state of Connecticut and wanted to be a part of it. Got it, listened, liked. So now I want you to check it out...

Balance, depth and intensity are at the core of the debut release from Expertiz, Disrupting Nature’s Balance. The 22 tracks move effortlessly throughout, each standing on it’s own as a separate pieces of a complex poetic puzzle. These ideas and concepts are his alone and shun the languid conventions of “radio” hip-hop. Expertiz wears his heart on his sleeve while lacing paragraphs littered with density throughout the project. Whether spitting fire like that found on “Let’s Be Clear” questioning Darwinism as found on “Weave Through Worlds” or looking within himself to find answers such as “Before Life Concludes”, the album has something for all avid listeners of classic hip-hop. With production by some of Connecticut’s finest producers, including Deto-22 Dirt E. Dutch, and Defnyshn, the music serves as a perfect compliment to the array of lyrics shown by the host emcee. Guest appearances include Hawl Digg of Workforce, Roc Doogie of Phenetiks, The Rising Sun Quest and Breez Evahflowin.

Expertiz - "Machinery"


Expertiz's MySpace
Expertiz's Facebook

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Check It ... @WillieGreen1 "David Lopan"

I caught this joint a day or so ago in the email in the midst of a gang of other music and releases. It almost slipped by me but I came back to it and I'm pleased that I did. "David Lopan" is off Willie Green's upcoming project "Dirty Jordans". The joint is fresh. Enjoy.

"The lead single from Willie Green's upcoming album Dirty Jordans, "David Lopan" is a hip-hop/dub hybrid loaded with samples from its namesake's film Big Trouble In Little China. The song is a feature from the producer's next instrumental release, a 30-track follow up to last year's acclaimed "...Of Heroes and Villains."

Willie Green is based out of Brooklyn, NY and possesses an impressive production resume including Cannibal Ox, LuckyIAm, Reks, Naledge (of Kidz In The Hall), MarQ Spekt and many more. As in-house producer/engineer for Backwoodz Studioz, Green has a number of upcoming projects with the label, including a one MC/one producer project with New Jersey's HiCoup titled Guerilla Jones, and production on the upcoming billy woods solo effort History Will Absolve Me."

Dirty Jordans will be available June 22, 2010 from Backwoodz Studioz


www.WillieGreenMusic.com www.Twitter.com/WillieGreen1 www.BackwoodzStudioz.com Follow the madness: twitter.com/madbloggers Check out more from The Mad Bloggers