It's official: Jay-Z's selected "On to the Next One" as the next single off his uber-smash album "Blueprint 3". A bouncing, club ready cut featuring production (and ad-libs) from Swizz Beats, "On to the Next One" is catchy, but I don't think it's a hit. Far be it from me to question hip-hop's president, but I wouldn't have gone with "On to the Next One" as the next single, and not just because Swizz has been making the same beat for five years now. See more to listen and download...
There may not be a better feeling in the world (besides a mind blowing orgasm) than hearing a track by a previously unknown artist and absolutely falling in love with it. Well, that's exactly the experience I had this morning when Dominique Larue's new track "Fall '96" landed in my inbox. Larue, an Ohio native, has teamed up with producer Ghost Rydah for an ode to a time when hip-hop was at its peak - at least in my lifetime. See more to listen and download...
On Monday, Mick Boogie and Idle Warship (a.k.a. Talib Kweli, Philly singer Res and Toronto emcee/vocalist Graph Nobel) will release their conceptual project "Party Robot". To build anticipation for the release, they've leaked the BK hip-hop banger "Go Brooklyn" co-staring Skyzoo, and as a bonus, the title track "Party Robot" (don't worry, no auto-tune included). See more to listen and download.
Judging from radio and TV you'd think every rapper and singer lives in Atlanta, New York, Miami or Chicago, but believe it or not, there a thousands of artists in other cities making great music. That's why RefinedHype is giving artists from less-well-known locales the chance to rep their city on the national stage. Today we kick off our "My City" series with Trazz, a Buffalo, New York native whose hyper-electronic blend of hip-hop and R&B has been building some serious buzz. While Buffalo is probably known to most Americans as "the city T.O. plays in," Traxx lets us know there's far more to the upstate New York city than just cold weather; like for instance "Loganberry Juice."
Each week we will send you a recap of our top stories, downloads, and videos.