Circulations & Jay Scarlett’s New Worlds
w/ Guilty Simpson, SA-RA & more


Cutting-edge Japanese label, Circulations, have joined forces with European tastemaker & host of Amp Soul Generation radio show, Jay Scarlett, for the brand new compilation, New Worlds. The project was put together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the HMV Shibuya store - one of the leading retail supporters of quality music in Japan.

To mark the occasion, they’ve gathered new and exclusive tracks from some of the most promising artists of this new beat/future soul generation - including Loose Joints alumni SA-RA and Ras_G, as well as Super Smoky Soul & Guilty Simpson, Quadron (which features Robin Hannibal of Owusu & Hannibal/Boom Clap Bachelors fame), Take, Hudson Mohawke, The Big Payback (Onra & Byron The Aquarius) with Reggie B, and plenty more. And these all come packaged with fresh cover art & design courtesy of Philly-based artist, Joshua Mays, who has also blessed covers for Waajeed (The War LP), Mark de Clive-Lowe (The Politik) & Jneiro Jarel (Three Piece Puzzle US release).

To give you a taste of what to expect from New Worlds, Circulations has blessed us with a free download of the track, “Knockout Kings,” a heavyweight bout between Japanese production trio, Super Smoky Soul and one of Detroit’s finest, Guilty Simpson. The song features Guilty throwing his typical K.O.-blows over SSS’s fresh approach to a familiar sample. The song will be released as both a limited-edition 7″ single, and a remixed 12″ in the coming weeks - so stay tuned for more info on both releases.

But before that, you can also preview two full-length songs below - SA-RA’s kinky quiet storm bounce, “Talk Sex”, as well as selector Jay Scarlett’s “I Can’t Help It” - a club-friendly, broken thump which also features British singer, Leon King.

And as always, stay tuned after the jump for some bonus selections. This time around I’m highlighting some of Guilty Simpson’s more low-key collaborations and past mixtape tracks, including tracks from Mr. Porter’s Runyon Ave. crew.

UPDATE: Last minute addition, courtesty of Stones Throw - a free download of Oh No’s new remix of Guilty’s “The Future” featuring MED, originally from the Ode To The Ghetto album.



SA-RA Creative Partners “Talk Sex”


Jay Scarlett “I Can’t Help It” (feat. Leon King)


DOWNLOAD: Super Smoky Soul & Guilty Simpson “Knockout Kings”

BONUS DOWNLOAD: Guilty Simpson “Futuristic” (feat. MED) (prod. Oh No)

SUPPORT: The New Worlds compilation is out now in Japan and will be on iTunes worldwide soon.

BONUS TRACKS: More Guilty Simpson rarities after the jump



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December 2, 2008 / , , , , , , , , , , / 8 Comments

While I Was Gone


I’m back, bidges!! Did ya miss me? Haha.

First off, I just wanted to say Thank You once again to everyone who’s hit me up about the Loose Joints mixtape. I’m glad you guys liked it - I’ve got some more mixes on their way soon, so stay tuned for more on those.

I’ll be back to doing my regularly scheduled selections starting tomorrow, but for now, here’s some release updates on past selections, along with a quick rundown of what’s been going on while I was away.

For everyone who’s been hounding me about “Where’s Tiombe?? When she’s coming out with something?!?” - I’ve got some news just for you. Tiombe Lockhart has aligned with Nick & Todd (formerly of the band, Men, Women & Children) and have formed a new group, Cubic Zirconia. They’ve just recently launched their official MySpace page with two new tracks, “Fuck Work” and “I Wanna Freebase You.” They’ll be releasing a sampler mixtape soon, so stay tuned to right here for much more from them soon. You can also check out their hilarious new blog page while you’re waiting.

The homie Jneiro Jarel (AKA Dr. Who Dat?, etc.) joins the podcast world with a brand new mix “for all you weird shoegaze heads.” Selections include TV On The Radio, Cocteau Twins, Micah & more - plus the debut of a new Willie Isz track (Jneiro’s project w/ Khujo Goodie). You can download the podcast and subscribe to future episodes here.

T3 of Slum Village un-earthed a lost gem from SV’s formative years called “Drop The Drums” on his new blog spot, T3′s Night Gallery. The song is a rare glimpse into the early stages of legends in the making, or as T3 puts it, “You can get a taste from true vintage circa 1990’s SV, when we were all about characters, alter egos and acting on songs…the good old days.”

The boys of Johnson&Jonson are at it again - with a new video clip for their track, “Up All Night.” Big ups to Okayplayer for getting the first scoop on that one. Blu also added a fresh batch of new tracks on his MySpace page - so be sure to check those out as well.

The Black Milk-produced, Invincible & Finale collaboration, “Don’t Sleep is available on iTunes now along with the Black Milk instrumental. So be sure to support that, and be on the look out for the 12″ coming soon.

And on the soul side of things, Jesse Boykins III’s full-length debut, The Beauty Created is out now on Amazon MP3, with iTunes & CD formats soon to follow.

Illa J dropped 2 new videos from the Yancey Boys album last week - “We Here” and “R U Listenin?” featuring Guilty Simpson. Check back tomorrow for a brand new FRESHsclusive featuring Mr. Simpson… stay tuned!

November 30, 2008 / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / 2 Comments

FRESH SELECTS: LOOSE JOINTS


As promised, here’s the first-ever Fresh Selects mixtape. No, it’s not really mixed - its just a .zip full of tracks that I’ve been feeling lately, and/or been meaning to post about. I’m gonna be gone for the next couple of days so I wanted to put this up to hold you guys over until I come back. But if all goes well, I should be coming back with a bang. We’ll see…. but until then, bump this.

Tracklisting & download links below. Oh, and I also did some quick liner notes for each track after the jump, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.

Also, I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks to everyone who’s been spreading the word about the site whether it be through linking me on your own blogs, posting the link on your MySpace or Facebook, whatever it may be - thank you. This one’s for you.


1. Hi-Res - This World (Thrilla Music Group)
2. Black Spade vs. 88-Keys & Kanye West - Stay Up! (Viagra) (Stoney Rock Remix) (CD-R)
3. Mike Slott feat. DistantStarr - Boxed In (All City)
4. Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins - Shine On (prod. Black Milk) (Mello Music Group)
5. Devon - Hold Up Zelda (Thrilla Music Group)
6. SA-RA Creative Partners - All In The Kitchen (CD-R)
7. Black Spade feat. Coultrain - A Lil Taste (CD-R)
8. Finale - Ice (prod. DJ Final) (CD-R)
9. Dill Clinton (TaRaach vs. The G.O.A.T.) - LiveWire (Lovelution Prosper)
10. Knowledge - Relief (CD-R)
11. Ras_G & The Afrikan Space Program - Clair Huxtable (Brainfeeder)
12. Waajeed - Can’t You Feel It (Instrumental) (Bling47)
13. TaRaach feat. Mia Simone - Benjamins (prod. AmDex) (CD-R)
14. Noni Limar - Monogamy (prod. Black L.A.) (CD-R)
15. Finale - Run It Back (prod. Rashid Hadee) (CD-R)
16. DaveNotti - Get Real (prod. DaiN) (Thrilla Music Group)
17. Kissey Asplund & DistantStarr - Car Ride (To The Future) (prod. Jay Scarlett) (CD-R)
18. Troubleman feat. Steve Spacek - Without You (Waajeed’s Flash Gordon Remix) (Bling47)
19. Fatima - Wildchild (prod. VeeBeeO) (CD-R)
20. Donel Smokes - Got Me High (Bridgetown Steel)
21. Devon - Sleep Tight (Thrilla Music Group)

All tracks selected & compiled by Kenny Fresh for Fresh Selects.


DOWNLOAD: Fresh Selects - Loose Joints

LINER NOTES: Track-by-track commentary after the jump



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November 21, 2008 / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / 25 Comments

SA-RA FRESHclusive:
Shafiq Husayn EP Preview b/w
Badu “Master Teacher” demos w/ Bilal & Georgia


Two new exclusives for you guys today, both coming to you via the homie Shafiq Husayn of SA-RA Creative Partners. First up, we have a special full-side preview of his brand new instrumental EP, Shafiq presents… Jank Random vs. Earl Leonne - The Frequency Cla$h, which is out now on Poo-Bah Records. The record marks his first solo venture - in which he takes us along for an experimental beat excursion through the minds of his alter-egos. To give you a taste of just what that journey entales - I’ve got a full streaming preview of the entire Side B of the EP. For a breakdown of the tracks, read this excerpt from the Poo-Bah press release (also, big ups to Ras_G for all his help with this):

“Side B kicks off with PSA, a bouncer with a horn line reminiscent of early 90’s hip-hop drug through dust, and Sirius B, a quick time-out to shout out the fam! I predict Earls Thing to be the next great DJ standard along with The Mag, two absolutely ridiculous minimal stunners that hit all the right pleasure spots in your brain. While Earls features an off then on descending synth bassline and those groovy 70’s drum machine sounds we love, The Mag is straight up vinyl samples and strings smashed into machine funk, crackles and all! Push brings things back up to Bomb Squad-like intensity before closing things out with the fuzz acid guitar down a flight of stairs funk of Still Woke.”

“Still Woke” brings us to our next piece - the world premiere of three alternate versions of one of my favorite songs of the year, Erykah Badu’s “Master Teacher” (which Shafiq produced). Whereas the version that we’ve all come to know & love from the New Amerykah album, featured Georgia Anne Muldrow singing the lead verse & Badu on the second - the song wasn’t always that way. First, there’s the original version of the song, which Shafiq had co-produced with Georgia for SA-RA’s G.O.O.D. Music debut, Black Fuzz, which actually featured Bilal singing the lead vocals (who you can still hearing in the background of the Badu version), and Georgia on backing vox. I love what both Erykah & Georgia did over this - but I gotta say, Bilal really KILLED this shit, in my opinion (also - credit due to Ty&Kory, who I believe sing background on all of these versions - but don’t quote me on that). I’ve had this one since about 2006 (bigs up to my G.O.O.D. hook-up for that) and to my knowledge, this has never leaked - so I had to hit up Shafiq and make sure it was cool to unearth this lost gem. And not only did he give the OK, but he also gave some insight on how to came it be on Badu’s album and provided two additional unreleased versions.

So the story goes - after the deal for Black Fuzz fell through, Shafiq explains “Erykah always liked the song…I was like you should use it…(our deal at that time with GOOD was done) so it was just one of those records sitting around…Why not let Badu rock it? It made sense.” And so to go along with the album version (which you should already have), I’ve got Shafiq’s unissued “Final Mix” of the track, which features Georgia on lead & Bilal backing her up. This is the mix that Shafiq intended to be appear on the album, but it didn’t make it in time for the deadline. And if those two weren’t enough for ya, there’s the included bonus, “Master Teazer (Ken’s Revenge Edit)” - an instrumental re-edit of Shafiq’s beat, using different outtakes from the sessions by SA-RA affiliate, KenBts.

Stream of the the B-Side of Jank Random vs. Earl Leonne EP below, with the “Master Teacher” Sessions download .zip at the bottom, plus a bonus video of Badu talking about working with Shafiq & SA-RA after the jump. I’ll also have one more exclusive SA-RA joint for you guys at the end of the week as part of the first-ever FRESH SELECTS MIXTAPE. Stay woke!!



Shafiq presents.. Jank Random vs. Earl Leonne - The Frequency Cla$h: Side B


DOWNLOAD: SA-RA - The “Master Teacher” Sessions EP (feat. Bilal & Georgia)

SUPPORT: Get The Frequency Cla$h 12″ EP on Poo-Bah’s MySpace page & Erkyah Badu’s “Master Teacher” on iTunes now

BONUS VIDEO: Erykah Badu interview about SA-RA after the jump



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November 17, 2008 / , , , , , / 10 Comments

BLING47 RADIO Presents…
PPP - Abundance Mixtape Preview Pt. 1


Brand new episode of Waajeed & Bling47’s podcast series, Bling47 Radio. This latest installment is the first of a two-part sneak preview of PPP’s upcoming Abundance Mixtape - which will be available right here in the coming weeks. All of this will be leading up to the release of PPP’s new album, Abundance, in stores everywhere on January 20th.

Featured in this first part of the Mixtape preview are remixes of Triple P classics featuring SA-RA, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Tiombe Lockhart & more - remixed by either Waajeed himself, or blended & matched with beats Jeed gave to Seattle’s own, DJ Topspin. It also features exclusive new songs from PPP’s current line-up, including singers Coultrain & Jamila Raegan, that didn’t make the album - and even an unreleased track Waajeed & Coultrain did with J Records artist, Jazmine Sullivan. Download link below, with the full tracklisting & credits after the jump.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and much more from PPP and the Bling47 camp coming soon.

DOWNLOAD: Bling47 Radio - Episode #5: PPP “Abundance Mixtape” Preview Pt. 1

RELATED LINKS: Hit up PPP on their MySpace page & let them know what you think of the podcast




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November 13, 2008 / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , / 3 Comments

Classic Blog References


This is a new section of the blog I’m trying out. This will be used to compile all the stuff that didn’t make it into its own post, follow-up on older posts, or just put you guys onto some other blogs that I check for. I’m not sold on this as the title for this section yet - I might switch it up each time or just keep trying em out till I find one I like. I dunno - we’ll see what happens. Anyways, lets get into it…


- The homie Andres @ Classic Drug References (get it now?) posted up another dope installment of his podcast, CDRADIO. This week’s episode includes new & old tracks from Jay Electronica, TaRaach, Ras_G, Exile and more.

- A-Side Worldwide has a free download up of one of my favorite Buff1 songs, “For U,” remixed by M-Phazes. While you’re there, be sure to check the latest vlog entries from both 14KT & Buff (peep him rockin the old school Bling47 “Soul” T-shirt - haha!). Big ups to Michigan Hip-Hop for spotting em first.

- Speaking of MIHipHop, MOSologist wrote up an insanely on-point rant, aptly titled “Fuck Your Blog,” on his new site, Hater Central. Half-assed bloggers - please read & take notes!

- Von Pea of Tanya Morgan just put out a new mixtape for his birthday (happy belated, fam) entitled, The Further Adventures Of Von Pea. The mixtape features Von rhyming over Madlib’s instrumentals from the Quasimoto album of the same name. Check the hilariously hood rich video & then cop the free mixtape download.


Videos Of The Week

Along with Von’s video mentioned above - these are the videos that had me spitting up at the monitor this week.

- A-Ha - Take On Me (Literal Video Version) as seen on one of my favorite blogs, Trees For Breakfast.

- Facebook News Flash from Current. Semi-corny, but embarrassingly accurate.

And last but MOST certainly not least, the Queen Of YouTube Doom (bow down) brings us this delightful gem…

- “I’ll Fuck You Till You Love Me” © Mike Tyson as found on Tiombe’s new band, Cubic Zirconia’s blog that I’m not supposed to tell anyone about. Oops! Shout out to Jackie for the heads up on that one as well.
November 13, 2008 / , , , , / 9 Comments

New from Coultrain:
“The Wanderer” b/w PPP’s “Angel” Remix



I know — its been almost a week since my last post. But no worries, I’m back I’m packing heat. St. Louis heat to be exact - in the form of two new tracks from Coultrain. If you’re not already up on him, then I’ve really got some shit for you. With his naturally vintage-leaning vocals matched with his very modern approach and his forward-thinking lyricism - Coultrain is quickly gaining a loyal following among both modern music listeners & nostalgic soul heads alike. Building upon the buzz created with his self-released solo debut, The Adventures Of Seymour Liberty (the first in a three-part series of concept albums released earlier this year), Coultrain has recently been in the lab both writing and recording with co-conspirator, Waajeed, for a wide range of projects they have lined up together. Among the first of which to be released will Abundance, the highly anticipated second album from Waajeed & Saadiq’s rotating super-group, PPP - in which Train played a leading role in not only leading the new cast but also writing the bulk of the songs on the album.

While working with the PPP/Bling47 crew in Brooklyn, Coultrain is also staying true to his St. Louis roots through numerous collaborations with artists from back home. One such artist is producer, I, Ced (aka Cedric Norah), who released a single with Coultrain earlier this year, and also produced Train’s latest solo offering, “The Wandering”. Picking up where the Seymour Liberty saga left off, “The Wandering” is meant to serve as somewhat of an epilogue to The Adventures Of…, but also a prologue to the series’ next chapter. Train broke the song down to me as only he could, “Its not a lost track its an inbetween track. Its a track 2 continue the story. Check it, The Adventures Of… ends w/ The Sabbatical, while on the sabbatical Seymour becomes a Wanderer, u dig?”

And on the PPP side of things, I’ve got an exclusive download of Waajeed’s recent remix of the Coultrain-featured track, “Angel.” This version finds Waajeed providing a more hip-hop oriented, bang-heavy backbeat to Coultrain’s anthem, instead of the stadium rock-funk feel of the album version. This remix is off the upcoming Abundance Mixtape, which features new Waajeed remixes of all your PPP favorites album, as well as some un-used gems from the Abundance & Triple P sessions. If you missed out on the first leak off the mixtape, “Shotgun (Waajeed’s Plinky Remix)” featuring Dilla, then here ya go.

And the fun doesn’t stop there - after the jump, I’ve got 3 bonus tracks from Coultrain’s other collaborations with both Waajeed and I Ced, including a free download of a track he did with the Hawthorne Headhunters - a new group consisting of I Ced, Black Spade, and Proh Mic. Also included is a video interview I did with Train earlier this year for Bling47 TV, where he breaks down his involvement in the new PPP album, his songwriting process, and more.

PHOTO: Coultrain live w/ PPP in Madrid Oct. 08, courtesy of One Dragones.



Coultrain “The Wanderer” (prod. I, Ced)


DOWNLOAD: PPP feat. Coultrain “Angel (Waajeed Remix)”

SUPPORT: PPP’s latest single “On A Cloud” b/w “Angel” available now. Abundance album in stores everywhere January 20th.

AFTER THE JUMP: 3 more from Coultrain (including another free download) & bonus video



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November 10, 2008 / , , , , , , , , / 9 Comments

FRESH ELECTS:
“Change The World” w/ “Obama” & Black Spade


I won’t get too preachy on you - but you already know what today is and what’s at stake. Hopefully you’ve already done your part by making sure your voice gets heard - whatever your position may be. Anyway, to celebrate (and hopefully inaugurate) the change I feel we all need - here’s two Election Day FRESHclusivses from St. Louis multi-talent (producer/MC/singer/fashion designer, etc. etc.), Black Spade, and his alter-ego, Stoney Rock.

First up we have Stoney Rock’s “Change The World” - an optimistic anthem for the new generation that mixes soul, hip-hop and even a touch of house music into one boiling pot of hope. Joining in on the concoction is a guest verse from Chicago-based rapper, Simeon Viltz (aka See-Me-On) of the group, Primeridian. I first found out about this track through this video that Ty G of HVW8 filmed & posted on MySpace. So big ups to Ty for putting that together, as well providing the track for me to share.

To go along with it, we’ve got Black Spade’s simply-put endorsement, “Obama” - a hypnotizing looped chant for change. Play this one for some Republicans while waving a watch in front of their eyes and see what happens. Shout out to Ced No for hooking me up with this one. I’ll have plenty more new music coming out of St. Louis for you guys at the end of the week, so stay tuned.

DOWNLOAD: Stoney Rock “Change The World” (feat. Simeon Viltz)

DOWNLOAD: Black Spade “Obama”

ARTWORK: Obama piece by Ray Noland from his Got Next Tour 2008. See more of the installation here.

November 4, 2008 / / 4 Comments

Invincible & Finale
“Don’t Sleep” (produced by Black Milk)


Today I’ve got your first listen of the new single from one of my favorite MC tag teams, Invincible & Finale. Michigan’s finest duo are at it again - this time with “Don’t Sleep,” an awakening system shock aimed at all the zombies out there. The track features Invincible on the verses, Finale holding down the hook, none other than Black Milk supplying the beat, and LD of Technicali on the cuts (& shouts out to Tokio doing his thing on the cover art). “Don’t Sleep” will be released as a digital-only single by Mello Music Group later on this month with an exclusive bonus remix.

A full-length stream of the song is available below, and then after the jump I’ve provided three highlights from Invincible & Finale’s many collaborations together - two of which were also produced by Black Milk. The line-up includes “Last Warning” - the original version of what would later become “Hip-Hop” on BR Gunna (Black Milk & Young RJ)’s Dirty District Vol. 2 compilation. The beat to the track was switched when Slum Village wanted to use it for the intro to their Detroit Deli album - but when the beat didn’t make it onto that album either, Invincible decided to use it as the title track to her Last Warning mixtape. Along with that we’ve also got “Recognize” off of Invincible’s ShapeShifters album - which finds the two MC’s first breaking down the history of how they first linked up, before flexing their respective styles on the second half of the track. Rounding it all out is “Eye Of The Beholder” - a poetic storytelling track from Finale’s album with producer Spier1200 for the Rawkus 50 campaign. “Beholder” pairs Invincible & Finale up with Elzhi, yet another lyrical force from The D.

Look out for more exclusives from both Invincible and Finale, including the “Don’t Sleep” remix coming here soon.


Invincible “Don’t Sleep” (feat. Finale) (prod. Black Milk, cuts by LD)


SUPPORT: Be sure to cop Invincible & Finale’s “Don’t Sleep” digital single - available on iTunes starting November 25th

BONUS TRACKS: More Invincible & Finale collabos after the jump



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November 3, 2008 / , , , , , , / 16 Comments

Little Dragon “Fortune”


New video from Fresh Kept Secrets alumni, Little Dragon. The song is “Fortune” - a shining example of their signature smooth-but-noddy, sleepy-but-electric sound. The video comes from Japanese animator, Hideyuki Katsumata, and features a fun, literal interpretation of the band’s name. “Fortune” serves as our first taste of their upcoming sophmore album, Berlinmaster, which after hearing this, will hopefully be dropping very soon.

Check out the video and then download the song for free below, couresty of RCRD LBL.

Little Dragon “Fortune”
Directed by Hideyuki Katsumata


DOWNLOAD: Little Dragon “Fortune”

November 2, 2008 / / 2 Comments