Blind I | The Boutique Music Blog | Quality Over Quantity.

MAIYA PRESENTS…RENDEZVOUS VOL. 15

I once told Sulaiman that I wanted to find the art that was on the walls in that scene of Belly (by Thierry le Goues) and suggested he use it for (RDV7). I’m big on art and the walls of my apartment have always been lined with it. He delivered immaculately. The talent on the Blind I staff never ceases to amaze me. Our imaginations are all over the place.  For this volume, Noah asked me the usual, “What do you want the cover to look like?” I responded with my usual abstract (albeit unhelpful) explanation of what I had in mind.  It went something like this.

Me: Ummm this is what I’m thinking (Shows a classic photo of Kate Moss smoking a cigarette). I like the idea of a beautiful woman smoking a cigarette. Probably because I want someone to take an edgy picture of me with a cigarette. Even though I don’t smoke.  (Shows photo of Naomi Campbell naked pointing a gun at the camera). Like a good girl gone bad vibe.
No: I feel you. Let me look at all of these pics. I’m in full agreement with having titties on the covers of RDV now. I’m glad Pam Grier was the first.
Me: Well… it’s not about the titties, Noah. More like raw sexuality and strength, you know?
No: Yeah…All that. And titites!

The one we ended up with was the first image I sent to Noah. And I love the way he flipped it! If you’ve noticed, we’ve posted less and less of these compilations. It’s not because we don’t love them or don’t care. We just want to adhere to our mantra of quality over quantity and allow you to really spend time with each one.  It’s always a joy for me to highlight artists that are friends of mine on here and this month there are several.  Hopefully you enjoy this one! Tracks/links after the jump.

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Tags: ANNA WISE, BLIND I, blu, BLUM, CARLITTA DURAND, COMMON, CORTEX, DAEDELUS, drake, EVIL NEEDLE, ILL POETIC, J DILLA, JOANNA NEWSOM, KELELA MIZANEKRISTOS, KNXWLEDGE, MAIYA PRESENTS...RENDEZVOUS VOL. 15, MINGUS MURRAY, MNDSGN, PHONTE, Quadron, RZA, SZJERDENE, THE ROOTS, THE STUYVESANTS, The Weeknd

VIDEO: THE ROOTS – MAKE MY

Undun drops before the year is out. Illadelph’s finest is still making incredible music, you gotta love it!

Tags: Make My, THE ROOTS, Undun

VANGUARD:NOVEM

It’s been a minute, but now I’m back in it. Truthfully, I went away from the compilation game for selfish reasons. If you’ve browsed around Blind I in the past year or so, you’ll know that I do my artistic thing. The deeper I got into my craft, I found myself with less & less time to check out new artists. But your hunger was strong for a staple that we’ve been known for since 2006, and we weren’t about to let that just drop so quickly. So I decided to smack myself in the face a few hundred times, sift through some of the wack new developments in this hip-hop shit, some of the over-saturated others, and give you guys a cool crop of fresh records encompassed in my NEW compilation continuation – Vanguard. So from here on out, only shit I’m fucking with in the flesh will make this comp. If it’s short, you know why. If you got dope shit, keep sending it. You too may very well be a part of the Vanguard moment in music. For my inaugural piece, I’ve got features from legends DJ Premier, Nas, Common, and The Roots…..some new-age heavyweights like Black Milk, Thom Yorke, DOOM, Pac Div, Asher Roth, Freddie Gibbs and Big K.R.I.T….and dope newcomers like Casey Veggies, YP, Rockie Fresh, Chance the Rapper, D2G, Vic Spencer, Schoolboy Q, ASAP Rocky, L.E.P. Bogus Boys, Mathien and yours truly. The future is now…partake!

[DOWNLOAD Vanguard:Novem]
Track listing after the jump.
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Tags: ASAP Rocky, Asher Roth, Big K.R.I.T., BLACK MILK, CASEY VEGGIES, Chance the Rapper, COMMON, D2G, DJ PREMIER, DOOM, Freddie Gibbs, L.E.P. Bogus Boys, Mathien, Nas, PAC DIV, Rockie Fresh, SCHOOLBOY Q, Sulaiman, THE ROOTS, Thom Yorke, VANGUARD, Vic Spencer, YP

MAIYA PRESENTS…RENDEZVOUS VOL.13

Mndsgn-Hernumerxledge

I can’t believe I have done 13 of these compilations already! 13 is actually my lucky number, so it makes sense that this one is one of my favorites among the recent volumes I’ve put together.  Let’s get lucky together. All you have to do is give it a gander and let me know what you think! P.S., whenever I check the download count for these and see hundreds and hundreds, it really makes me smile. I’m glad you appreciate my musical aesthetic.  Tracks and links next door. Enjoy. Give me a shout and let me know what you think!

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Tags: ANAIS ADA, Beyonce, BLIND I, BLUM, COCO, Colin Munroe, Daru Jones, FLYING LOTUS, JESSE BOYKINS III, JUSOUL, KELTON BLACKSHEAR, Kendrick Lamar, Kissey Asplund, LES NUBIANS, MNDSGN, Quadron, Taylor McFerrin, The Cool Kids, THE ROOTS, THUNDERCAT, VINDAHL, VISIONEERS

HENNESSY PRESENTS ‘ART OF BLENDING’ FILM PREMIERE TODAY

Hennessy: the ‘Art of Blending’ documentary, a 30 minute compilation of electric performances, and 1:1 interviews. Hennessy mixed old school and new school at a once-in-a-lifetime event – bringing together musical icons including Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, Mary J Blige, The Roots, Eve, Bobby Brown, Ron Isley and Erykah Badu.

‘Art of Blending’ is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Thibaut De Longeville, best known for his documentary about sneaker culture, ‘Just For Kicks.’

The film will premiere on Hennessy’s Facebook (www.hennessy.com/aob) TODAY, Thursday, June 30th from 5pm EST.

Tags: ?uestlove, ART OF BLENDING, Bobby Brown, Chaka Khan, Eve, Hennessy, Mary J Blige, Q-TIP, Ron Isley and Erykah Badu, THE ROOTS

NO KNOWS DOPE | NO KNOWS NOSTALGIA | MAY 20XI

So this was an idea I had back in 2007. $ even made me a cover & everything & I never put it out. I decided to pull from that & make this to give y’all for this months edition of NKD, thus we going back in time, to a place where I was coming up as a MC I bumped the schitt outta everything on this edition. Broken tape decks & everythang! This past Saturday I was up @ my DJ W1shOne’s Audio Playground all day working on a mix of this for y’all but was not able to complete it the way I wanted to within such a short time, thus, expect a mix with songs that are not on this to be intertwined with some of these songs & more a lil down the road this year. Ill drop it randomly so stay TUNEd for that. Until then, go inside my mind/ears & enjoy some NOstalgia.

TL & DL after the after…

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Tags: A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, A.T.B.A.N. KLANN, ANOTHA LEVEL, Black Moon, Black Sheep, BRAND NUBIAN, CAMP LO, Canibus, COMMON, CRU, DERELIKS, Digable Planets, ERULE, FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP, Group Home, HELTAH SKELTAH, Jeru The Damaja, Keith Murray, KWEST THA MADD LADD, LPG, MADLIB, Mobb Deep, PETE ROCK & C.L. SMOOTH, SOULS OF MISCHIEF, THE NONCE, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., THE PHARCYDE, THE ROOTS, THE TUNNEL RATS, TRACEY LEE, Y'ALL SO STUPID, YAGGFU FRONT

MAIYA PRESENTS…RENDEZVOUS VOL. 12

Evil Needle-Jazzolude #2

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I couldn’t really figure out the tone I wanted this volume of Rendezvous to have. So it was fitting when Noah sent me the cover artwork and it looked like braille or an encryption you have to decode.  However, after playing the songs in this one, I have to say it’s one of my favorites I’ve done in a while. Songs like “Manifestations” aren’t conventionally “sexy” but to me there’s something sultry about them. These mixes in general are like a trip inside our minds and what moves us each. Not sure why exactly, but somehow this fits nicely. Tracks/links after the jump. Enjoy.

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Tags: ANDREYA TRIANA, CARLITTA DURAND, CORTEX, Eric Roberson, EVIL NEEDLE, GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW, J*DAVEY, JUDAH, JUST JAY, Koushik, LITTLE DRAGON, MONO/POLY, PHAROAHE MONCH, SLUM VILLAGE, THE CREATOR, THE ROOTS, TYLER

MEEZY LISTENIN’ VOL 18

Sup my people! Sorry for the delay on this one, I was in the lab cooking up a nice mix for you. Got alot of goodies on this Meezy Listening, it definitely rides nice. A nice mix to bring in the spring time with a bang! So enough of the small talk, lets get to the Music!! TL and DL on the other side! Enjoy!

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Tags: Curren$y & Alchemist, DICE RAW, DOM. Kennedy, ERK THA JERK, Francis and the Lights, FRANK OCEAN, FULL CRATE, Illmaculate x G_Force, Jean Grae, Kuddy LeBlanc & Sineo, Malik B., Miike Snow, PHAROAHE MONCH, Rockwell Knuckles, Roughsoul Beatz, taku, TALIB KWELI, THE ROOTS, The Weeknd, TV On The Radio

MAIYA PRESENTS…SPRING SOUNDS

Dotmatic-It’s Yours

Despite the fact that most of the country is still dressed in boots and coats, spring has arrived. It’s a time for physical, mental and audible rejuvenation.  These songs make me feel like I’m inhaling a breath of fresh air, so I decided to share them with you.  You have no idea how much I enjoy putting these together each month. Blind I faithfuls keep us going. Enjoy.

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Tags: AFTA-1, Apollo Brown, B LEWIS, BLIND I, choklate, COMMON, Compilation, DOTMATIC, HEIROGLYPHICS, HI-TEK, LONNIE LISTON SMITH, MAIYA PRESENTS...SPRING SOUNDS, MELO X, N.E.R.D, NIKKO GRAY, Quadron, Ta-Ku, THE ROOTS, Tyler the Creator

JON LORENZO – RENEGADE SOUND

Hometown Heroes own Jon Lorenzo breaks from behind the cobwebs to give us a super energetic fully charged mix that is guaranteed to keep you moving & grooving from the beginning to the end.

Upbeat rap & oldschool music you don’t normally hear mixed together. Unreleased (extended) version of my hip hop/electro mix from January 2009.

Applications used: ProTools and Serato

I’ll say! He even threw yours truly on there rockin over the Mr.Oizo Flat Beat (I seriously have no recollection of this what so ever) Anyways… it’s a dope mix that you should ALL have while you work out, since you ALL are in the gyms going IN since you ALL made your New Years Resolutions right? hahahaha I keed. I keed. Peep tho…

JonLorenzo-RenegadeSound by jonlorenzo

TL & DL after the after…

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Tags: A-Trak, BANGERS AND CASH, BIRDMAN, BOBBY LABEAT, BUSTA RHYMES, Carter, COMMON, DAFT PUNK, DOM. Kennedy, drake, Eric B & Rakim, JAMES BROWN, JAMIROQUAI, JON LORENZO, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, LADY SOVEREIGN, Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, M.I.A., Madonna, MICAH JAMES, MISSY ELLIOT, MR.OIZO, N.E.R.D, NOAHDEEAKILI, PAC DIV, Pharrell, PUSHA T, SAME AND DAVE, SANTOGOLD, SANY PITBULL, SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, Spank Rock, SWIZZ BEATZ, T.I., The 87 Stick Up Kids, The Cool Kids, THE ROOTS, THE RUB