Damn you, Subliminal Renaissance. Smashing shit for years out the Cali way and then leaving us to fend for ourselves for all this time with no new music. Good thing they heard the cries from around the globe though, because I’m happy to announce that SUB REN is BACK! Not only are Sol Plus 10 and Noahdeeakili back in action making crack music (of which you can sample some of the newness above), but they’re rocking out in Santa Clara on the 16th at the shindig celebrating Tape Mastah Steph’s 2nd Homecoming to the Bay Area, along with Soapbox Melodics and a whole bunch of other goodness. I, for one, am ecstatic that Sub Ren’s back in action and if I could get my Chicago ass out to the Bay to catch this show I surely would! If you’re out there, you should definitely be in attendance! You can click on the flyer over there —> for more info and check out the Subliminal Renaissance Bandcamp page here –> http://subren.bandcamp.com/. The album will be out Spring 2011 on Isolated Wax Records, so be on the lookout!

Lupe Fiasco – Horn Synth (f/ Pharrell)
Download audio file (Lupe-Fiasco-Horn-Synth.mp3)
[DOWNLOAD]
Holy Shit. Lasers. The snippet cuts out for a few but hot damn if this hasn’t made my Monday! Shouts to FeedOffRap

As the recent publicity surrounding Mos Def, Jay Electronica and Curren$y‘s collaborative-side-group Center Edge Territory reached a feverish pitch in the viral music world, questions arose around the studio where said collaboration and countless other secret musical rendezvous are rumored to have occurred. Alas, Mr. Damon Dash, a very familiar face in the trend-setting music mogul world has been behind it all, providing artists with the DD172 space in Tribeca. DD172 seems to be a new hot-spot for brainstorming sessions, musical vanguard, and almost certainly a long, raucous line of eager artists wanting in to create their own masterpieces. For this is how musicians work. We are historians at heart, purists of our art form, and suckers for atmospheres where our creativity can flow at ease. Dash and DD172 have recently partnered up with rock group The Black Keys and artists like Mos Def, Zoe Kravitz, Raekwon, ODB, RZA, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, Billy Danze of M.O.P., Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra, Tash and more, to create the BlakRoc project, of which we recently posted a video clip on the site. Chicago-bred video mavens Coodie & Chike have spearheaded the coverage of the project as well as Creative Control. Pretty much a creative mash of great proportions! We’ll see what fruitful creations come from this space in the future, but one thing is presently sure: the future is bright for ideas of this magnitude, and I hope it spurs more individuals to create workspaces and projects similar to this one. Great music!

I’ve been working on this for a LOOOONG time and I finally completed another masterpiece. For those not in the know, The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for some successful Hip hop, R&B and Pop artists in the late-90s and 2000s. The Neptunes’ sound is a distinctive brand of off-kilter, stripped-down electronic funk. Along with Timbaland and Dr. Dre they were the driving force behind many of the musical characteristics of late-90s/2000s hip-hop, helping to re-introduce sci-fi style sounds into the hip-hop mainstream, along with sounds from Middle Eastern and Asian music including percussion and woodwind.

I decided a few months back to make a collection of my favorite rare, b-side, and unreleased Neptunes production, from 1999 to 2009, in order to create a dedication to over 10 years of next-level music that still stands the test of time. I swear listening to these tracks puts you in a state of mind where everything’s better around you. Decemvir, which is the latin term for “ten“, is used to describe this decade of incredible works from the stellar production duo. Their music can speak for itself more than anything I can say, so without further ado, I give you…

The Neptunes: Decemvir (A Decade Of Rare Gems & Unreleased Material)
(Disc 1 Sharebee)   |   (Disc 2 Sharebee)

Tracklisting after the jump!