Getting things on back track -
we teamed up w/ Surefire Agency & the Abstract Earth Project
to once again pick up our FRSH SLCTS WKND BEATS series,
w/ an exclusive, all-new EP from the man himself – Dibia$e.

By now, you should already know Dibiase from either his debut album on Alpha Pup last year,
for winning the Red Bull Big Tune beat battle in 2010,
his work w/ 14KT, Exile, Blu, devonwho, or his Green Llama crew constituents,
or for just generally being the muhfuckin man…
so lets pretend like you do & move on.

For this 9th installment in our series,
Dibi offers up Comfort Zone -
a 7 track beat EP, w/ more worthwhile morsels in its 17+ minutes
than most producers could give you in a full album’s time.

Not only that – but these particular tracks are literally hot off the presses,
being heard here for the first time,
all of them just being bounced down from their respective programs early this same morning.

& w/ this week’s tragic passing of our man J-1 still being fresh on our minds,
we decided to dedicate this project to his memory.
W/ his active passion for fwd-thinking funk music &
everything he did for the beat scene w/ both of his Starship 27 compilations
(which Dibiase contributed a track for each volume to) –
we hope that he would approve of this project.
Dibi explained a little bit more about one specific tribute moment in his e-mail,
copied below:

track 4 sub factor ( so ruff ) has a lil [audio] footage from so ruff so tuff in l.a. – thats j-1 on the mic… i thought that beat would be something he would gettin amped up on. if its funky he mess with it. went with a smooth approach ,and a lil funk influenced on a few joints too. hopefully heads dig this project.

He also broke down the different soft/hardware he used for each track.

Knxwledge gave me a tutorial on ableton while he was in sacramento. So i been using that more as of late. So i used ableton on Send me , Deep Winter ,and Applebeez .So those pretty much my first batch of ableton beats.

Track 2 Bulletproof was made on the 404 alot of my llama project joints i use that piece. i get a different gritty sound out of that. I try taking on a different character with any machine.lol speaking of machines i used the maschine on track 4 sub factor.

For the tracks blessings and serchin for it i made with reason. I get all over the place with software and hardware at times.

You can preview 3 of the tracks
before downloading the full EP below.

Also included as an added bonus,
is live footage from Dibia$e’s first show in PRTLND
@ the Fresh Selects Presents… concert series
@ The Fix last September,
as well as the clip for his new brand new 7″,
“Fly Me t’The Moon” w/ Versis,
directed by Ruffmercy.

1. Send Me
2. Bulletproof
3. Deep Winter
4. Sub Factor (So Ruff)
5. Blessings
6. Applebeez
7. Serchin For It

Produced & Mixed by Dibia$e
Artwork by Nate James
Selected by KNNY FRSH for FRSH SLCTS

Fresh w/ something new for this autumn,
the WKND Beats series rides on -
with its latest (ed/add)ition being from its first repeat contributor,
the PRTLND-raised & as of recently, SoCal-based, Hi-Res.

With his last solo offering, 1080 Beats (aka WKND #6),
being released over two years ago -
& a good amount of steady emails coming into the site ever since
asking & pleading for more – seem even concernedly so,
this new set show&proves that Res definitely wasn’t fxckin around during his time off.

Despite it being his most compact offering to date,
it still manages to bare a wider range of styles than ever before;
his repertoire now including a few upbeat joints
that venture a little bit closer to the eclectic dance side of things -
surely ripe for the Ableton beatsets of the day -
as well, of course, w/ a few more nighttime-ish smokey headnodders
& that perfect, extended hidden album track/beat interlude feel
that we’ve come to know him for.

Always one for the straightfwd,
he’s dubbed this set simply Beats For The Ride.
But take that as a mere suggestion,
& do what them what & where you will.

Below you can preview 3 outta the 9 in this set
before downloading the full project below.

& be on the lookout for a follow-up to the New Chill
rap project w/ partner-in-crime, DaveNotti,
to come out… uhh… eventually.
Those two take for-EVER w/ their shit,
but it’ll be worth it tho.

1. Missionmode
2. Zones
3. Donnasong
4. Randominterlude
5. Cloudbounces
6. A Quick Intermission
7. Swayin’
8. Dubresstep
9. I Doubt It

Produced by Hi-Res
Mixed & Mastered by Doc Adam
Artwork by Nate James
Executive Producer: KNNY FRSH for FRSH SLCTS

After an almost two year hiatus – the FRSH SLCTS WKND BEATS series has now officially been reinstated. Joining the ranks among Daru, devonwho, Will Sessions, J-1, Proh Mic & Hi-Res for the 7th edition of the series is an all new, exclusive beat CD from Portland’s own, Tope. First known as one half of Living Proof, and then later on as both a solo MC/producer, & one third of the group TxE – Tope’s production work can often get slept on the in the midst of his output as a rapper. So here with a freshly squeezed batch of reminders that he gets it in true on the beats as well, Tope offers up FREELEMONADE.

While already having production credits for the likes of Planet Asia and Scarub, alongside hometown heros such as Illmaculate, Cool Nutz, IAME and even pop/folk singer, Kelli Schaefer, Tope is looking to diversify his list of collaborations even further with this batch of 19 beats – all ripe for the artists’ picking, as well as something for the beatheads to just cool out to for the summer. Porch music – if you will.

For FREELEM – Tope stays true to the title of his first album by sticking to chopping up some of his favorite soul music. And although this is familiar territory for the young artist, its definitely not the only style he’s got – as you’ll see very soon with the upcoming FRSH SLCTS release of the first official TxE full-length, We Get It In True, w/ fellow group members Epp & G_Force. Not to mention his official sophmore album, Until The Next Time We Meet, which finds him rapping over a variety of beats, produced by the likes of devonwho, Hi-Res, TROX, Tony Ozier, Lawz Spoken & more.

Below you can view the video preview for FREELEMONADE which was shot & edited by another PRTLND wiz kid, Noah Porter. The trailer takes through another day in the life of Tope, all set to the beat CD’s first track, “CutNow.”

You can view the video and preview three of the CD’s 19 beats, before getting the full free download below. Also included is a bonus music video, “Respect Fully,” from Tope’s self-produced solo debut, Soul Music. For more on Tope, check his own very dope blog, itsTOPE.com, as well as his recent interview w/ the NW-based online mag, We Out Here and his write-up & “Don’t Sleep” feature on Producers I Know by Dart Adams.

Tope – FREELEMONADE

1. CutNow
2. Again
3. Breeze
4. If I Was Chillin With Dom Kennedy
5. Weedwoman
6. Time
7. Take Mine
8. Windows Up
9. Call
10. Leave Me
11. Skate 2
12. Learning
13. Kendall Gill
14. Curt Rambis
15. Kung Fool
16. Room 8
17. Tonight
18. Yawn
19. Warren Slapp

Produced & Mixed by Tope
Artwork & Photography by Mxmdmg

Bringing the Weekend Beats back from a brief hiatus with the latest project from a rising Portland talent, Hi-Res. This batch, entitled 1080 Beats, picks up where last year’s Sittin’ Up In My Room left off with more laidback but still headnoddin & bump-worthy beats. I selected a few tracks from SUIR for both the Loose Joints mix and the FSR #1 podcast, so it was only right I bring you guys the next installment.

Look out for much more from Hi-Res coming in the near future – including a collaboration EP with DaveNotti entitled The New Chill. More on that one coming soon. In the meantime, preview three highlights from 1080 below before getting the full download below. Leave a comment and lemme know what you think.

1. Watches
2. Funkshuns
3. He’lyin
4. Thrilla Remix (feat. Epp & DaveNotti)
5. Savepoint
6. Brothaships
7. Anothernotch
8. Marswalks
9. Rentsdue
10. Thrilla Remix (instrumental)

Produced & Mixed by Hi-Res
Artwork by Craig Sprecher

For this weekend’s selection, we present a full-length beat CD from Proh Mic. The Seattle born, L.A.-based producer/MC is currently making moves as one third of the group, Hawthorne Headhunters, alongside collaborators Black Spade and Ced No. To hold you over till their debut EP drops later this spring, he’s offered up a re-posting of an older beat CD, Nice 2 Beat U Vol. 3.

In Proh’s own words, “I started releasing these beat tapes about a year or so ago. They’re ‘throw away’ beats. Ironically I always end up selling a bunch of beats off these. LOL. I posted this vol a few months ago, thought I’d repost it. Im posting Vol 4 next Fri.” I guess one man’s throwaway’s are someone else’s weekend soundtrack.

I’ll have much more for from the Hawthorne Headhunters coming soon, including a full-length exclusive group mixtape coming in the next month or so. Also included below is a non-album bonus beat, “Gettin Hi” released exclusively on 4/20, as well as a video of Proh & Black Spade performing some songs live at a HVW8 Gallery Bar-BQ in L.A. Get up on it.

Back with another edition of the WKND BEATS series – this time from producer/drummer/DJ, J1. Originally hailing from Cleveland, Ohio but now based out of L.A., J1 is best known as being the co-resident DJ of the TripBoogie party there, as well as the drummer for TaRaach & Blu’s C.R.A.C. project. Most recently, J has being making waves as one-third of the group, Master Blazter, alongside DāM-FunK and Computer Jay.

As for J1′s solo work, he’s just put up a free download beat CD, entitled Attack Of The Deer. The collection consists of 14 rough beats “straight from the MPC,” that range everywhere from laidback jazz loops & grooves to raw drum breaks. To give you a taste, I’ve streamed three highlights from the set that you can check out before downloading the full .zip below.

As a bonus, I’ve also included a video of a recent Master Blazter jam session, recorded live at the HVW8 Galley in L.A. Be on the lookout for much more from the trio coming soon.

Credit due to both HVW8 and BlackNBling for debuting the beat CD earlier this week.

1. Sunny
2. Three 1.1
3. Gloria
4. Stargard 1.0
5. Alone
6. Bongo
7. Think About It
8. Run
9. Off-Top
10. Legos
11. The Set Up
12. Gangsta
13. Ruckus
14. Final

All songs Produced & Mixed by J1 aka tHE DEER
Artwork by HVW8

For the third installment in the Weekend Beats series, I decided to switch it up a little bit and introduce some funk into the mix with a “beat CD” from Will Sessions. They’re a Detroit-based band formed by established session musician, Sam Beaubien, who is the key arranger and also trumpet & keys in the group. They’ve already played on songs by artists like Buff1 (“Pretty Baby”), 14KT (“Less Than Enough”) and Black Milk (“Give The Drummer Some”), and have recently recorded parts for upcoming albums from both Slum Village (Barak) and Mayer Hawthorne (Stones Throw). They’ve also just released their debut album, Many Faces, and have also been playing shows around the Detroit area with MonicaBlaire (who just recently joined PPP‘s live line-up) on vocals.

So as an introduction to the beatheads and funk fans alike, Sam sent me an exclusive batch of beats & demos to spread around. The batch is about 1/3 hip-hop beats & loops, 1/3 covers of dusty funk 45′s and 1/3 jazzy jam sessions. Also included are two vocal tracks, with appearances from frequent collaborators, Buff1 and Asylum 7.

You can download the beat tape below or listen to some selected streams beforehand. For further insight on the tracks, stick around after the jump for some track-by-track commentary/liner notes from Mr. Beaubien himself. And for even more on Will Sessions, be sure to check out Sam’s featured interview with the good people over at Michigan Hip Hop from earlier this month, as well as this video of the group recording with Black Milk for the upcoming Slum Village album.

For the second installment of my new Weekend Beats series, I’ve got the latest from the homie (and possibly the #1 FS commenter), devonwho. This latest offering, the WaVES EP, mainly consists of some recent highlights from his ever-changing MySpace player, but he also threw in some all new exclusives as well. Included in the EP are five instrumentals, a track each with both singer/Fresh Kept Secret gradute, Suzi Analogue (who also did the artwork), and also one of the nicest MC’s currently residing in Portland, Theory Hazit, and also a white label remix of Frank N Dank‘s “Shut It Down.”

So thats about it – let the WaVES be your weekend soundtrack and lemme know what you think. Also, be on the lookout for much more from devonwho coming soon to both right here and elsewhere. You can check out three streams from the project before you get the free download below.

1. Withstands Pt. 1
2. About You Redux (LODBmix) (feat. Suzi Analogue)
3. Peppa Jack
4. Somethingelseagain
5. FrankNDank Shutitdown RMX
6. Whiteplastic()
7. The Finder
8. The Heimlich (feat. Theory Hazit)

Produced & Mixed by devonwho
Artwork by Suzi Analogue

New section on the site starting this week, simply titled Weekend Beats. Pretty self-explanatory – just something to bump both when you’re goin out on Friday & Saturday night, or just hanging out around the house/recovering on Sunday afternoon. Not to say that I’ll have one of these for you guys every weekend, but I’ll do my best.

Starting it off right, we have both an album preview and a free album download from the one and only, Daru. If you’ve been sleeping, Daru is an innovative, up-and-coming producer/live drummer who uses minimal equipment but always manages to maintain maximum quality. He’s put out an abundance of both free releases and retail albums, most notably collaborations with his sister, Rena (free download of that here), and singer, Reggie B. He’s also backed up acts like Black Milk, Kweli’s Idle Warship, Slum Village and others as their live drummer. He’s currently working on a highly anticipated project with singer and fellow band-member, AB, on an upcoming album, A.W.I.P. (you can preview that album here).

But most recently, Daru has released the second in his instrumental series, Spirit Drumz, which finds him taking spiritual/Gospel samples and chopping them into beats universally acceptable by beatheads & music heads of all faiths, like only he can. The first chapter of Spirit Drumz was a free download on Daru’s MySpace page, but this second part has been officially distributed by Believe Digital and is currently on sale at all major MP3 sites – so be sure to support that.

Below I’ve provided previews of 2 tracks from Spirit Drumz Pt. 2, the smooth intro “For You” and the bugged-out outro, “Order My Steps” – as well as a free download of the inspirational “Lean On Me” off of the same album. I’ve also got a link to download the full Spirit Drumz Chapter 1 album for those of you who might’ve missed it when it first dropped.