Fresh off the heels of “Marvin’s Room” and “Dreams Money Can Buy,” the Toronto emcee has dropped yet another free download in anticipation of his forthcoming album, Take Care. “Trust Issues” is a spin-off of Drake’s feature in DJ Khaled’s “I’m on One” alongside Rick Ross and Lil Wayne.

Drake describes the record as, “my own little thing using some other thing I did. You know,” on his blog, October’s Very Own.

Take Care is scheduled for an Oct. 24 release—Drake’s birthday. in the meantime, you can catch the Degrassi star in Toronto headlining Ovofest on July 31 with special guests Rick Ross and The Weeknd.

Drake - Trust Issues


DJ Khaled - I’m On One Ft. Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne


Drake - Marvin’s Room


Drake - Dreams Money Can Buy

What do you think of all the new material Drake has been releasing?

It’s Donwill’s birthday, so he’s giving you a present. For the past three years Donwill, one third of rap group Tanya Morgan, has released music on June 4, his born day, to show appreciation for his fans. This year is no different and Donwill is offering DPPLGNGR, a follow-up to his LP Don Cusack in High Fidelity, for free download.

the title comes from just becoming a whole different person over time, sorta like a doppelganger of  yourself. that feeling that you get when you look in the mirror and dont really know the person looking back at you even though they look just like you. our lives change us incrementally on a daily basis so after a few jarring experiences one day we all lose who we were to become who we are. thats life right? you change it or it changes you.

For more from Donwill on this project check out his blog McDayJob.

As promised, Roc Nation signee, J. Cole has released another record, “Return of Simba.” Cole promises his forthcoming album is well on it’s way and doesn’t anticipate any additional delays. The singles are all complete but J. Cole describes “Return of Simba” as a b-sides track for the fans. Read more for the stream and download.

The Mayback Music Group constituent just dropped the FreeStalley record, “Chevys and Spaceships.” The Ohio emcee was recently added to Rick Ross’ MMG’s roster in April, also home to artists Wale, Pill and Meek Mill. MMG’s Self Made compilation also debuted today. Read more for a stream and download of “Chevys and Spaceships.”

What do you think of “Chevys and Spaceships,” does Stalley have a winner?

Fresh off the heels of Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” video debut, the next single from her forthcoming album, 4, has leaked to the web. “Till the End of Time” is  a diversion from her first, girl power anthem and an impassioned call for everlasting love.

“Come take my hand, I wont let you go/ I’ll be your friend, I will love you so/I will be the one to kiss you at night, I will love you until the end of time”

The production is a fusion of styles and pulls from a Beyonce favorite, big band horns, in addition to African drum beats, synthesizers and  techno. Read more for a listen of “Till the End of Time.”

Photo: LA Times

What do you think, did Beyonce make another hit?

“They keep talking this is ‘new West,’ but dude we been here, you left.” – Pac Div

Okay, so maybe we took a brief departure from the left coast with the surge of music coming from below the Mason-Dixon but we’re back, we’re listening. With the advent of path-breaking West coast emcees, Dom Kennedy, Pac Div, Blu, and Kendrick Lamar among others, the world has been all ears. Enter, H.O.P.E. His last formal project was in 2009, a project titled, Follow the Leader, and two years later H.O.P.E. is back with a free album, Believe in H.O.P.E. Wright. Give it a listen, the kid’s all right.

H.O.P.E. – Believe in H.O.P.E. Wright | Download Here

Believe In H.O.P.E. Wright by julien-edwards

Update: The mixtape is not an official project from Glover, instead a compilation of CG’s best but as a departure from being hosted by a DJ, it was curated by these guys.

Fresh of the heels of his Freaks & Geeks EP, actor, Donald Glover, better known in music circles as Childish Gambino has yet another project floating in the blogosphere–an unofficial mixtape titled, I Do Not Talk. You may recognize Donald Glover as character, Troy, on NBC’s Community. When he’s not acting, writing (He used to be a writer for Emmy award-winning show, 30 Rock), or even hosting (Glover hosted MTV’s “Woody Awards” this month) he’s rapping and singing under his pseudonym, Childish Gambino.

Part comedy, groupie chronicles and revenge of the nerds soundtrack, CG finds his niche as the “smart middle class black kid” over indie influenced rap tracks, or rap influenced indie tracks–you decide. I Do Not Talk download and stream of his last album, Culdesac, after the jump.

Childish Gambino – I Do Not Talk | Download Here

Culdesac by Childish Gambino

Pittsburgh native and Wiz Khalifa affiliate, Mac Miller, has released yet another free project, On & On & Beyond. It’s a six track EP that features staff favorite, “In The Air,” a track originally on Miller’s Best Day Ever.  Read more for a stream and download.

Mac Miller – On and On and Beyond Preview – SBG by SBG Movement 2

Mac Miller – On & On & Beyond | Download Here

Studio Life: Big K.R.I.T. Album Listening Party for “Return of 4Eva” from 3 Little Digs on Vimeo.

Fresh off performing at arts festival, SXSW, rap newcomer, Big K.R.I.T.—King Remembered in Time—just dropped his latest project, Return of 4eva, to a bevy of anticipating fans. Return of 4eva is a welcomed follow-up to his critically acclaimed album, K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, and was trending on Twitter in Atlanta, Houston, Washington, D.C. and even New York.  Read more for a stream and free download.

“I am proud to present “Return Of 4eva” to all my supporters, I took the past year to work on this project,” said K.R.I.T.

“I reached out to some of my favorite artists that I felt represented what this album was about. Ludacris, Bun B, David Banner, Chamillionaire, Big Sant, Joi and Raheem Devaughn all helped me to make my vision of this album complete.”

Big K.R.I.T. – ReturnOf4Eva by Q-CA

Big K.R.I.T. – Return of 4eva | Download Here

With no warning, young emcee Wiz Khalifa decided to release mixtape, Cabin Fever by ways of twitter. Khalifa, famed for his singles “Say Yeah” and “Black and Yellow” is a recent Atlantic Records signee and his forthcoming album, Rolling Papers, is scheduled for a March release. Read more for the tracklist and download.

Wiz Khalifa – Cabin Fever | Download Here

Baller Carmelo Anthony has teamed up with Krossover Entertainment to produce mixtape, Become Legendary. The mixtape features Nas, Ghostface Killah, Bun B, Jadakiss, MC Lyte and  Shawn Chrystopher among others. Download and tracklist after the jump!

01 Michael Jordan – Become Legendary
02 Bun B – Mastamind f. Diego Cash, Steel Bill & Scotty
03 Nas – Foul Breeze
04 Jadakiss – Goes Up f. Diego Cash
05 Styles P – M7?s
06 N.O.R.E. – Legendary f. Al Gator, Diego Cash & Mr. Kane
07 Young Dro – I’m On It
08 MC Lyte – Rockin’ With The Best
09 Young Dre – The Illest f. Nipsey Hussle & Bad Lucc
10 Ghostface Killah – The Eulogy f. Sheek Louch, Diego Cash & Bully
11 Tru Life – Stand Up f. Jay-Z
12 Cavi – Look How Far We Came f. PO & Omega
13 Cassidy – Hypnotized f. Diego Cash
14 Saigon – You Make Me Sick
15 SouthSide – Shoot You
16 Trifelon – Make ‘em All Come Out
17 Shawn Chrys – Catch Me If You Can
18 Jody Breeze – Rookie Of The Year
19 Big A & Al Gator – Jordan
20 Big Sean – Poster
21 2 Much – Here To Rock
22 Cavi – Become Legendary f. Diego Cash & Ja Miss
23 Al Gator – M7?s Freestyle

Carmelo Anthony – Become Legendary | Download Here

Well you can’t say we didn’t call it! In accordance with “G.O.O.D. Fridays,” Kanye West dropped “Take One for the Team” featuring Keri Hilson, Pusha T of The Clipse and Cyhi the Prynce and marked the end of his “nice guy” public relations campaign. The Chicago emcee went from tweeting “Yo being nice is my whole sh*t now” back to rapping:

You know what?/ I figured out I’m not a nice guy/ I shook hands, kissed babies, gave it a nice try,” ‘Ye raps. “You know what?/ I hate pictures of other people kids/ I hate plastic couches in other people cribs.

And his trademark curt, lady musings:

Why every ghetto b*tch gotta smell like Love Spell/ Or that God damn cucumber Bath and Body Works?/ I can still smell the sweat the sh*t hardly works/ What about cool water that sh*t probably worse

So much for Mr. Nice Guy. Not sure how Keri Hilson fits into this one, what do you think?

British songstress is back at it again with the release of her (almost) mixtape, I Almost Made A Mixtape. In New York? Well the good folks in the Estelle camp are giving away free tickets so a special show tomorrow in the city.

Estelle – I Almost Made A Mixtape | Download Here

via estellemusic.com

Estelle will be taping a daytime showcase for Grey Goose Rising Icons tomorrow (6/30) in NYC at Hiro Ballroom! We would like you to come out this music industry VIP event – for free! If you meet the below requirements, email us your FULL NAME and you will be allowed in for free!

Email greygoose@estellemusic.com if you qualify!

Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer

Maya “M.I.A.” Arulpragasam has never been a fan of native Sri Lanka’s government. As a result of her public opposition, she has received several death threats. This coupled with her son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, greatly influenced the creation of her upcoming album /\/\/\Y/\ (or, Maya). Scheduled for release on June 23. “Steppin’ Up“ is the third single from the album.

“In the last months of pregnancy I watched so much destruction that was happening in Sri Lanka, and saw hundreds of babies being blown up. It was disgusting and it was horrible to watch and I felt so guilty inflicting that on my unborn baby. But at the same time it was a reality. I couldn’t really ignore it, I got extra protective.

“People were sending me death threats and telling me bad shit about my kid… People would write on Twitter and YouTube, ‘Your baby is going to die,’ because I was talking about the Sri Lankan government and the issues that were going on there,” M.I.A. said to Dazed & Confused Magazine.

“Even though I had all this amazing success, at the same time I was watching this crazy destruction going on over there. No one really wanted to talk about it and then all these people were reaching out to me to talk about it because I am the only one that can represent them.

At the same time I was pregnant and I didn’t want to have to deal with that shit but I had no choice. It was the month they decided to end a 30 year long civil war so it wasn’t like I could go, ‘Ooo, sorry I just can’t deal with this right now, I’ve got a baby on the way!’ Maybe I should have done that. I think the album is a mixture of all those things – babies, death, destruction, and powerlessness.”

“Steppin’ Up“ is the third release from M.I.A.’s third upcoming album, a follow up to “Born Free” and “XXXO.”

Today marks what would have been Tupac Shakur’s 39^th birthday.  In the fall of 1996, Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas and days later died on September 16 of his injuries while hospitalized. In tribute, Terry Urban has released The 16^th of June, download and tracklist afte the jump.

An East Harlem native, Shakur spent much of his childhood growing up in New York City and Baltimore, MD before making the move to Marin City, California after his sophomore year of high school. During his high school career on both coasts, Shakur developed an appreciation for the arts, often partaking in ballet, acting, jazz and poetry.

After a brief stint in the hip-hop group, Digital Underground in 1990, Tupac began his solo rap career with debut, 2Pacalypse Now in 1991. Although it did not receive much commercial success, it marked the beginning of a very lucrative career for Shakur. He went on to become one of the highest selling artists in the United States with chart-topping albums Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., Me Against the World, All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.  Additionally, Shakur took to acting and landed roles in the acclaimed films Juice, Poetic Justice and Above the Rim. Even more, Shakur’s posthumous projects— R U Still Down?, Until the End of Time and Better Dayz—  sold a few million copies each.

In tribute of Shakur and his legacy, Terry Urban has released The 16^th of June: A Tupac Shakur Celebration. Enjoy.

Terry Urban Presents The 16th of June | Download here

Miss us much? Pardon the hiatus, the newsroom has been astir with new developments and site delay has been the byproduct. Never fear, we’re back and with a few goodies you may have missed!

Lil Kim had a few choice words for Nicki Minaj concerning the “swagger jacking” rumors. At the end of the day, Kim says, “just pay homage.”

The Cool Kids are keeping us waiting in anticipation for their upcoming LP, When Fish Ride Bicycles, and dropped the mixtape Tacklebox on Memorial Day. Download it here.

D.C. rapper Wale drops new tracks, “Basehead” and “Kini Big Deal.” 

Wale released two new tracks today, “Kini Big Deal” and “Basehead” via his Twitter. Be sure to download them both.

“Kini Big Deal” – Wale | Download Here

“Basehead” – Wale | Download Here

Wiz Khalifa dropped his mixtape, Kush & Orange Juice.

Wiz Khalifa has released the long awaited Kush & Orange Juice mixtape anticipated since early January. This solid, 20 track mixtape is proof that Wiz has been on his grind and is determined to earn his spot at the top. Kush & Orange Juice has less features and collaborations, and more of the creative sounds characteristic of Wiz Khalifa and The Taylor Gang movement.

Wiz Khalifa – “Kush & Orange Juice” | Download Here

Nike Nando drops mixtape, U Know Nando?

DMV artist Nike Nando released his project U Know Nando?: The Mixtape this week via his Twitter. Make sure you check it out. While you’re at it, check out his blog.

U KNOW NANDO? – Nike Nando | Download Here

Rapper Kil Ripkin leaks a new track off his upcoming album.

The Coalescence emcee’s song, titled “Aftermath Pt. 1,” features Eric G on the beat and is a leak from his album, The Balancing Act.

Download the track here.

Check out his current single, “Mind Free,” here.

RAAAAAAAANDY (a.k.a. comedian Aziz Ansari) is AAAAAAAANGRY. Randy with Eight A’s has released a “diss track,” “AAAAAAAANGRY,” with producer Dave Sitek calling out rappers Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Drake, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, Eminem, The Clipse, MF Doom, Mos Def, and Kanye West for not sending in their verses for his upcoming mixtape.

“Clipse! What are y’all making more Playcloths? How about putting on some work clothes on and sending us a verse? Next time you guys are baking some crack ,can you look in that oven and see if any lyrics crawled in there that you can rap into a microphone. I asked you guys, I was like ‘hey can you get verses back to me in a couple of weeks’ and y’all were like ‘yuhhh,’ I thought that meant yes but I guess not.” — Randy with Eight A’s – “AAAAAAAANGRY” excerpt

“Some of y’all, alright most of yall are probably like what are these guys talking about they never sent me any beats, well you’re probably right, we’re calling you out, so send us your verses,” says Ansari on the track.

RAAAAAAAANDY Mixtape is set to release, “whenever the f*ck we want it to.” If the “AAAAAAAANGRY” track is a prelude to what’s to come of the project, RAAAAAAAANDY Mixtape may become one of the better mixtapes of the year. #veryfunny

“AAAAAAAANGRY” – RAAAAAAAANDY | Download Here

Gold of The Five One and Killah Priest

One fourth of band The Five One, Gold blogs from the SXSW festival in Austin, TX! Download The Five One’s Road to SXSW at thefiveone.bandcamp.com.

What’s up everybody.. I’m blogging from Austin’s SXSW Festival, the night before our show at Opal Divine’s Freehouse. I injured my foot somehow and rolled it awkwardly a couple of days ago. I’ve taken breaks in walking by taking these bike taxis, which is a huge relief considering how much distance we cover in one day. It’s a beautiful concept that I hear they have all over Europe, so it’s great to see it at this Festival. Your ride is all about what you work out with the bike rider, sometimes they’ll treat the whole charge as a tip, while others they’ll set a price for you to meet. My buddy Billy Carranza from Reston, came to kick with us from a suburb of San Antonio. Here’s a picture of Billy with GREEN rockin’ the Colorpillar Tee:

First stop was Nice Kicks, a street shop that sells modern/pop-culture/hipster/hip-hop influenced tees, shoes, watches, etc. GREEN wanted to stop by and pick up these GREEN Supras, but they had an orange color incorporated that made him less interested. I thought they looked like Miami Hurricane shoes, but the owner of the store insisted that they were St. Pattys-themed. While we were there, I managed to snag this sweet watch:

Basically, this event is a huge conference. Every venue has a line-up of bands with some sort of theme. One of the events we attended consisted solely of “Duos,” one of which were El Ten Eleven, who wrote the original song for “Stuntin’ Like Mufasa” (Don’t ask me the name of the real song, only GREEN knows as far as the colors are concerned). Each day, we’ve been hopping from place to place and networking with folks representing anything and everything aligned with the art/music industry. We’ve met hired musicians that are between the ages of 18-20, to a Columbian punk rock bands, to musicians part of a touring act signed to Sony Japan. It’s been all over the place, and it’s clear as day that any artist/musician or whatever you call yourself that is interested should definitely be EVERYWHERE. I saw a dude rockin’ a Wizards tee, so I approached and met a writer for the Washington Post. Today, outside of the Muse show (which I did not see), this camera man for Myspace approaches me and asks what I think of the show. Obviously, I said I loved it and said that they should come out to DC, other colors chimed in, and we signed release forms to be in this Myspace video.

A couple of days ago, we were at the Austin Convention Center, where we picked up our artist wrist bands, which gives us freedom to get into most of the events for free, and we attended a conference that show-cased all kinds of different companies and organizations. I met someone who is in charge of Miami Music Festival and exchanged information. Turns out that the gentleman occasionally visits The Five One’s hometown of Reston for business. It was great to meet him and he said that he would love to have The Five One support the event. Miami has a great music scene and we have yet to play in that area, so this was one of the first booths I had to approach. We also approached Blackberry, who were more than happy to play our single, Mandatory for all the attendees approaching. The Starkey Hearing Foundation had a booth that gave hearing tests to anybody interested. We got these sweet ear plugs with cases, I’ve been taking them out all over the place since the music is BLARING everywhere. At some point, we were chatting with an acoustic group (can’t remember the name for the life of me) that gets a lot of attention on the blogosphere, when Erik Estrada rolls in. I met him and we got footage. It’s hilarious, it came completely out of nowhere:

Mini-Me was also there, which was awesome. We also met Morgan Currie, who is the violinist for the Canadian group The Tom Fun Orchestra. Morgan is a computer wiz who created Marcato, a software that bands can use to get organized. It is completely free and he explained to us how to use it. One of the highlights would have to be chatting it up with some folks that run a record label based out of Scotland. Love the accent and culture/music, so it’s always a pleasure for me to link with them. I explained our band and the concept and they loved the idea. It’s really important to me that The Five One is heard around the world, and not just the states. Scotland is a place I have to see and experience one day, why not have them already know who we are when we come through to perform!

In going through the West-side of the Downtown area, we checked out the venue that we are performing at tomorrow. In doing so, we met this dude Miles, who is in the band,Outernational. It was crazy to run into this guy because just the other night, RED and I saw this guy perform a song with Tom Morello’s latest project. Apparently, Outernational’s album was produced by Tom Morello, which is crazy! The song that they performed with Tom Morello’s band SSSC had a heavy gypsy influence. It’s always interesting for me to hear that Eastern European-esque sound, coming from Romania, home to one of the highest gypsy populations. I took this shot from the rooftop venue that they performed, it gave me a Miami vibe:

On the way to checking out Union Park, the venue that Outernational rocked, I spotted myself a GOLD beauty on the way:

Did I mention that I miss New Orleans? I didn’t want to leave that place, I liked it so much.

By the way, we definitely set up our instruments and performed on the street today. This cop pulled up, we thought he was going to have us cut everything out. He told us to play a song for him, which was pretty sweet. He then took off and we continued to rock. The highlight was jamming on this DC Gogo tune. Gives me a great deal of pride to play some hometown music in Austin. Folks stopped to hear Gogo, as I’m sure most, if not all, aren’t familiar with that DC sound. It was beautiful!

Tomorrow, we’re going to try to use power from one of the venues or stores and perform on that main 6th street strip, where EVERYBODY walks through. Wish us luck! I’m exhausted, time to get a few hours of sleep in time for more craziness.

PACE SI PRIETENIE (PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP)

GOLD

[All photos courtesy of The Five One]

Up and coming artist Ashton Travis drops new mixtape.

Ashton Travis, crowned “Mr. Freshman” of the Class of 2013 at Howard University, has dropped his highly anticipated mixtape appropriately titled, Mr. Freshman. This project offers everything from written rhymes to freestyles and spoken word to smooth R&B, not to mention a divergency of different sounds production-wise. Travis says it best in his introductory track “For Ever, For Always, For Love” when he says, “I was born to be a star like holdin’ shift and pressin’ 8.”

Download it here!

Big Sean drops new song featuring Mr. Hudson. Download link after the jump!

The G.O.O.D. Music signee dropped the song “Way Out” featuring Mr. Hudson, produced by his mentor, Kanye West.

Download the track here.

Shouts to GoWhereHipHop!

Fuze the MC’s second mixtape available for download. Tracklist & artwork after the jump!

Atlanta alternative hip hop artist Fuze the MC drops his second mixtape Stereo Typical Music, available for download here. The project features guest artists Dizzie, Jones, Ashton Travis, Cha’nce and more.

FRESH DAILY & Chris Faust team up for the remix to the dance/house song “Lady” to be featured on the 2 Hungry Bros Mixtape Back For Seconds.

Download all the leaked singles here.

Shouts to Beats&Bombs!

Inspectah Deck prepares to drop album March 23. Tracklist and download link after the jump!

Inspectah Deck preps to release his fourth solo album, “Manifesto” on March 23.

Download one of the songs, “Serious Rappin” ft. Termanology & Planet Asia, for free here.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Tombstone Intro (Prod. by J.Glaze)
2. The Champion (Prod. by Alchemist)
3. Born Survivor ft Cormega (Prod. by Moss)
4. This Is It (Prod. by Dtox)
5. Luv Letter ft Ms. Whitney (Prod. by INS)
6. P.S.A (Prod. by Lee Bannon)
7. T.R.U.E ft. MeShel (Prod. by INS)
8. We Get Down (Prod. by INS)
9. The Big Game ft Raekwon & AC (Prod. by Mental Instruments)
10. Tombstone Interlude (Prod. by J.Glaze)
11. 9th Chamber (Prod. by INS and Khino)
12. Really Real ft. Carlton Fisk & Fes Taylor (Prod. by INS)
13. Serious Rappin ft Termanology & Planet Asia (Prod. by Mike Cash)
14. Do What U Gotta (Prod. by Flip)
15. Crazy (Prod. by J.Glaze)
16. Gotta Bang ft Kurupt and Billy Danze (Prod. by Shorty 140)
17. The Bad Apple (Prod. by K.Slack)
18. Brothaz Respect ft Cappadonna and Fes Taylor (Prod. by Cee the Architech)
19. 5 Star G (Prod. by Moss)
20. The Neverending Story ft Pleasant (Prod. by Agallah)

New song leaks from Basic Vocab’s upcoming album.

“Like A Star” featuring Jesse Boykins III is the third leak from Miami based Basic Vocab’s new album A Better Way, which drops in April.

Download it here.

Check out the latest mixtape release from rapper Quest, How Thoughtful. The mixtape is mixed by DJ RTC of recent Closed Sessions fame, the project has one feature (sort of) and is a showcase of the teenaged emcee’s developing lyricism. Download and artwork after the jump!

Quest – How Thoughtful | Download Here

Check out the latest from Basic Vocab! “What They Want” is a single off of their upcoming LP, A Better Way set for an April 1, 2010 release. The project is primarily produced by one third of BV, Tony Gavin (Think T.I., Young Jeezy, Trick Daddy, Trina and Nelly). Download and stream after the jump!

Basic Vocab - What They Want