Legacy Track of the Week: Gang Starr ft J. Cole - Family and Loyalty
“I press the truth against the neck of devils/ look at the youth just like a precious pebble/ meant to be protected, mentally we let this/ poison of Western philosophy make us sloppy/ we forgot we are the chosen” J. Cole over DJ Premier and trading verses with Guru, this was a transcendent moment in hip-hop and the last of J. Cole’s feature run in 2019.
Gang Starr ft Royce Da 5’9’’ & Group Home - What’s Real
“While the smoke is in the air, feel like voodoo's on the floor/ 'cause we got the actual ashes of Guru on the boards/ he's sitting right inside an urn in the session/ looking down from Heaven to Gang Starr's current progression” Gang Starr released their seventh (and reportedly final) album, One of the Best Yet, which is their first album since 2003’s The Ownerz, prior to Guru’s death in 2010. With that said, it’s good to hear Gang Starr’s signature sounds again, in particular, when next to the likes of Royce Da 5’9’’.
Gang Starr ft. NE-YO & Nitty Scott - Get Together
“It's me El Grande, or call me Papi Chulito/ yo tengo mucho lovin' for you mamis if you legal” NE-YO on the track!
Gang Starr - So Many Rappers
“So many rappers have come and gone/ I guess this rap game has really done them wrong/ so many rappers trying to get their name out/ many got caught up for just having their chain out” Premier worked hard to get these unreleased Guru vocals cleared and it was all worth it.
Gang Starr ft Talib Kweli - Business Or Art
“Business or art? Let's pick it apart/ if you ain't spittin' out your heart, you'd be considered a mark” Guru x Talib 🔥
Lupe Fiasco - Hey Lupe
“So as long as I'm right here and as long as there's nike airs/ we gon' get it on as long as light years” Previously leaked during the pre-Lasers era, this is now being released on DJ Absolut’s Vintage Fiasco mixtape, in addition to the Chill’s Spotlight ep.
Wildstyle - Gametime
“Oops, I just hit them with another move/ no look pass, caught an alley oop” I’m not familiar with Wildstyle but this is more good energy off the Chill’s Spotlight ep that heavily features Lupe Fiasco.
Lupe Fiasco - Run Game
“Playboy's back in ya ear (Uh)/ fresh from Bloomingdale's with a bag full of gear (Yeah)/ yes there's weed there, sex to sleep here (Uh)/ Nah, understand, I'm just blessed to be here, yeah” Originally recorded around 2003, this really is vintage Lupe Fiasco.
Bob Dylan - I Pity The Poor Immigrant (Take 4)
“I pity the poor immigrant/ who wishes he would’ve stayed home/ who uses all his power to do evil/ but in the end is always left so alone” One of the many records on Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin Thru,’ 1967-1969.
Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey - Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels)
“Boy, don't call me angel/ you ain’t got me right/ don't call me angel/ you can't pay my price” They probably should’ve put Ariana Grande in the movie.
Ariana Grande, Chaka Khan - Nobody
“Said who gonna love you like, like, like me? (Nobody)” Ariana Grande x Chaka Khan off the Charlie's Angels soundtrack.
Teyana Taylor, Kehlani - Morning
“I ain't here to play no games, I'm gonna give it to you, just how you want it” A single off Teyana Taylor’s The Album, her third release on GOOD Music and Def Jam.
G-Eazy ft Preme - Big Ben
“Too real to pretend, this mod got me on ten/ this a big boy clock, I call my watch Big Ben” More real player talk from G-Eazy off the Scary Nights EP.
G-Eazy ft Dex Lauper - K I D S
“Feel like fuck it, we partying, going mad dumb/ Up&Down, all these Soho girls wanna have fun” G-Eazy is arguably the best white rapper in the game right now, disregarding Eminem of course who actually sounded like the real Slim Shady on his eleventh album released in 2020 entitled Music to Be Murdered By.
G-Eazy ft Miguel & The Game - Demons & Angels
“****** out here think life is G-Eazy, I pray for 'em/ cross my heart and let the Desert Eagle wait for 'em” G-Eazy x Miguel x The Game… a solid combination.
Westside Gunn ft Curren$y & Benny The Butcher - Lucha Bros
“I wish it was a government plot and not a ***** from the same block/ that walked down on my homie and gave him them shots” Produced by The Alchemist this is the best record off Hitler Wears Hermes 7.
Sheek Louch - Cold Nights and Carhatts
“Sheek Louch, silverback gorilla, buck fifty lookin’ like a caterpillar” Sheek Louch right on time for Halloween with Gorillaween, Vol. 2.
Sheek Louch ft Styles P & Jadakiss - Bang Bang
“Only thing I’m seeing is a new home/ only time I catch a new case, is a new phone” The LOX is still together in 2020 and it’s a blessing to see.
Sheek Louch - Lunch Room
“Don Gorilla in the fuckin’ flesh/ you got beef get it off your chest/ no I ain’t sayin’ that we the best/ but the Gods been around since A Tribe Called Quest” Some gritty New York City rap for the Halloween Horror Nights of Gotham.
Brother Ali ft Pharoah Monch - Situated
“Dikembe Mutombo ordering jumbo shrimp with a pimp/ in Red Lobster eating buttermilk biscuits/ I'm proud, young, gifted/ somewhere in between red and green, getting lifted/ I'm half of the planet when the sun gets eclipsed”🔥🔥🔥 Pharoah Monch went crazy on Brother Ali’s Secrets & Escapes album.
Brother Ali - Father Figures
“Full-grown father of four still in search of father figures/ hard to feel at home here in the body that my trauma lives in” Brother Ali been putting on since his debut album, Rites of Passage, on Rhymesayers back in 2000, and twenty years later the Minneapolis native is still representing.
Yelawolf - Unnatural Born Killer
“It's unnatural/ I'm unnatural/ unnatural born killer” This is solid production off Ghetto Cowboy, Yelawolf’s sixth studio album and first since leaving Shady Records.
Yelawolf - Opie Taylor
“But I got no cares, Opie Taylor” A reference to Ron Howard’s character in the Andy Griffith Show, this is another smooth bop off Ghetto Cowboy.
Vince Staples - Sheet Music - Episode 02
“Women who ain't got extensions, they depress me (I swear to God)/ women who ain't had evictions, they depress me (I swear to God)/ she from Bixby Knolls, she had a jet ski (Yeah)/ her daddy was the police, he arrest me” A promotional single off Vince Staples upcoming fourth studio album, The Vince Staples Show.
Mistah F.A.B. ft Shawn Williams - Intro
“So while you sit back and say you have Indian, West Indian, Cherokee high cheek bones/ it doesn’t matter if your last name is Walker, Smith, or Jones that’s fine/ because I’ve got heroin, in mine” A powerful spoken word from Shawn Williams serves as the introduction to Mistah F.A.B.’s 11th studio album, Cuban Cigars and Rose Champagne.
Mistah F.A.B. ft Rayven Justice - The Era Way
“Money management, investments making my stock rise/ maybe I should open up a Jamba Juice or Popeyes” Big money talk from the Bay Area legend.
Mistah F.A.B. - Somebody Love Me
“Did I think that this could happen, maybe not/ press one button watch the top of the Mercedes drop” The instrumental from Roblo is crazy feel-good summer vibes and shoutout to Mistah Fab for also stepping inside that battle ring, having one of the better performances from a mainstream artist vs Arsonal back in 2015.
