Sufjan Stevens Gets Hip-Hopped

The NYC hip-hop duo Metermaids has transformed Sufjan Steven's brilliant Illinoise album into a hip-hop album titled Nightlife In Illinoise. From what I've listened to it's pretty interesting. They are clearly striving for Grey Album status, but it's not that good (but what is?). If you appreciated the sweeping beauty of the Sufjan Stevens and have an appreciation for hip-hop, it might be worth your while. You can download individual tracks or the entire album here.

Another N.A.S.A. Jam featuring Kanye & Santogold

Ok, so now I'm pretty jazzed up about this N.A.S.A. business. N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) is comprised of DJ Squeak E Clean and DJ Zegon and their forthcoming album The Spirit of Apollo is supposed to feature everyone. Literally everyone is on this album. It's nuts. I found a track listing thanks to this dude's blog.

N.A.S.A. LAUNCHES ‘THE SPIRIT OF APOLLO’ ON FEBRUARY 17, 2009

1. “Intro”
2. “The People Tree” (feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab,& Z-Trip)
3. “Money” (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip)
4. “NASA Music” (feat. Method Man, E-40, & DJ Swamp)
5. “Way Down” (feat. RZA, Barbie Hatch, & John Frusciante)
6. “Hip Hop” (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip, & Slim Kid Tre)
7. “Four Rooms, Earth View”
8. “Strange Enough” (feat. Karen O, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, & Fatlip)
9. “Spacious Thoughts” (feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
10. “Gifted” (feat. Kanye West and others TBD)
11. “A Volta” (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank, & Lovefoxxx)
12. “There’s a Party” (feat. George Clinton & Chali 2na)
13. “Whachadoin?” (feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold & Nick Zinner)
14. “O Pato” (feat. Kool Kojak & DJ Bãboa)
15. “Samba Soul” (feat. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert)
16. “The Mayor” (feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM & Scarface)
17. “N.A.S.A. Anthem”

Uh. Yes please.

Check out this sick new jam. It's called "Gifted" and it features Kanye West, Santogold and Lykke Li. It's a pretty dancey thing. Kanye raps. The quality isn't great. Kanye's vocals are a little quiet, but it is a leak after all. I look forward to hearing the real thing.

Download the "Gifted" mp3.

Watch the "Money" music video.

"Number One" - Eminem produced by Dr. Dre

New Eminem leak.

Dre produced it.

A dude at Interscope records said the following about Eminem's next album:

"We only tried to put him out this year to replace Dr. Dre, but we got into a quagmire. Eminem was always coming next year. But what happened was, I lost Dr. Dre to Eminem. Dre had to stop making his album to finish Eminem's album. Eminem hit a streak, and when a guy like Eminem gets on fire, you stop everything."

I can't wait for Relapse.

Download "Number One"

"Money" - N.A.S.A ft. David Byrne, Chuck D,Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, and Z-Trip

I found this video on Pitchfork from a new duo called N.A.S.A. This track, titled "Money" features an incredibly eclectic (and awesome) guest list: David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, and Z-Trip. I'll be honest with you, I only know who David Byrne and Chuck D, but those two guys piqued my interest enough to investigate the video. And I'm glad I did. It has a sick raggea hip hop sort of vibe. The forthcoming album from N.A.S.A., titled The Spirit of Apollo, is rumored to feature collaborations from David Byrne, Tom Waits, M.I.A., members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kool Keith, CSS' Lovefoxxx, Spank Rock, John Frusciante, Fatlip and Slim Kid Tre from the Pharcyde, E-40, Gift of Gab, Chali 2na, KRS-One, George Clinton, Seu Jorge, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Amanda Blank, Z-Trip, and DJ Qbert, Kanye West, Chuck D, Ghostface Killa, the Cool Kids, Scarface, and Santogold.

Whoa.

If that doesn't make you look forward to the February 17 release date, I don't know what will.

Check out the video here.


NOTE: My blog finally got noticed! By the copyright people! Hopefully, yall were able to get that incredible Jay-Z track "Brooklyn (Go Hard)" because that post was taken down and I was warned against posting copyrighted material in the future. Sooooo I've decided to start posting more YouTubes and links to other sites that have downloads rather than post the actual download itself. This will mean a little extra work for my three loyal Midpoints readers. Sorry guys, it'll be a little more work for you.

Lil Wayne Never Sleeps

If he did, there is no chance in hell that his output would be as insanely prolific as it is. Last week he brought us the Dedication 3 mixtape. This week we get The Drought Is Over Part 6: The Reincarnation mixtape. I just started listening to it and I already like it better than Dedication 3, but who knows what next week will bring. The mixtape starts with the infamous interview where Weezy explains that his next studio album will be called Tha Carter III, but will have none of the same songs as what we know now as Tha Carter III. He explains that he wants everyone to like Tha Carter IV and what he is working now simply isn't what Tha Carter IV is supposed to be...I guess. Best rapper alive? Sure. Easy to decipher? Not so much.

Ok, I'm a few more songs in. This shit is awesome, you gotta check it out.

Even if you aren't a Lil Wayne fan, you have to admit that is the single greatest album cover of all time. Lil Wayne has wings. And a baby. And a river of blood.

Download The Drought is Over Part Six: The Reincarnation.


BONUS: I have no idea what this song is from. It was labeled as being part of TDIOP6:TR but it certainly isn't on the mixtape. It's called Hot Revolver and he sings some Green Day lyrics and I have no idea what is going on, but it's really cool. Download it here.

Who The F!@# Is Kevin Rudolf?

He is the latest artist to sign to Cash Money Records and he continues to team up with some of the biggest names in rap. First it was Lil Wayne and now it's Nas. I can't quite wrap my brain around his stuff. Love it? Yes. Understand it? No. It's like alt rock. Except it's dancier. So like Fall Out Boy/Panic At The Disco. But not. It's club anthem dancey, like Rihanna/Lady GaGa. But it has guitar solos. And rap. I have no idea what's going on, but I like it. Check out the mp3: NYC featuring Nas.

Dedication 3

Lil Wayne with DJ Drama. just released his first mixtape since the release of Tha Carter III. I'll be real honest, I was not impressed by Dedication 3 at all. I thought it relied to heavily on other rappers and not enough on Lil Wayne himself. My first impression was actually that the skits where Weezy just talks were the best parts of the mixtape. Luckily, I took the time to go back and listen again. I was wrong. Dedication 3 is great. It takes about five tracks to really hit it's stride, but once it does it's smooth sailing for the rest of the album. The skits get funnier. The beats/samples get better. DJ Drama continues to refer to himself as "Barack Odrama". Wayne goes crazier. He say's it best himself:

"You get money and you get crazy. I get crazy and I get money."

Download it for free here.