Sunday, May 07, 2006

THE ALTERNATIVE HIP-HOP CHOICEZ!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, SoundNexx is about bringing new and innovative music choices for the masses! Even at a point when a lot of fans feel that hiphop has lost it's way with the lack of creativity and corny gimmicks, there are still artists that are making moves to change that. I bring you two albums that are definitely on the creative side of hiphop music. First up is the collaboration group Gnarls Barkley, which is a combination of Danger Mouse (DJ/Producer) and Cee-Lo Green (Goodie Mob/Dungeon Family) working together to bring us the album "St. Elsewhere."
St. Elsewhere is sure to make some hiphop headz frown, but I feel that hiphop needs these types of music projects. Every since the release of the classic unauthorized Jay-Z remix project, "The Grey Album" using those Beatles samples, D. Mouse has been in fast forward ever since! With the underground success the Danger Mouse & M.F. Doom music project "Dangerdoom" last year, it's no surprise to see this new Gnarls Barkley project become a reality! Cee-Lo has been doing his thang as well, with his infamous ghetto Senatra impersonations since his departure from the Goodie Mob a few years ago! Vocally, Cee-Lo is pretty solid and he brings that "southern soul" feel into anything he blesses. Even crooning over the top of the sometimes spacey-rock production of Danger Mouse, there is still a feeling of true soul! Their first single "Crazy" is making some noise on the underground, so check it out if you haven't already heard it. St. Elsewhere drops on May 9, 2006..so make sure you kopp that!! Real music and artists need your "financial" support.....

MADLIB: THE BEAT KONDUCTA VOLS. 1-2 MOVIE SCENES
Madlib is no new comer when it comes to this hiphop thing! He started out in 1990 working with his westcoast group Lootpack, and made a name for himself providing production for the Alkaholiks! After many years of putting in work on the underground hiphop production scene, he got critical acclaim with the success of his weed smoking rap alter-ego Quasimoto on the album "The Unseen" in 2000! From there it was non-stop opportunities for Madlib with later projects with Blue Note, Jay-Dee (R.I.P.), M.F. Doom and a second Quasimoto album! Madlib's newest album release is "The Beat Konducta Vols. 1-2" with 35 freshly produced instrumentals. Production albums have become very popular over the last few years because it affords known and upcoming producers the opportunity to spotlight their talent. Most production instrumental albums are pretty boring after the first listen! I personally like production more than vocals, but hearing the same loop, bassline or sped up vocal over and over agin can get annoying? Madlib tells us a story with his production on the Beat Konducta project. It's meant to be heard from beginning to end! It's more like a musical movie, which explains the album title ending with "Movie Scenes." Yes, you can pull out tracks you like, but that's like only watching chapters 5, 11 and 15 on your favorite DVD the first time you played it! You usually watch the whole movie first, then you skip around to your favorite scenes, right? Same goes for this album! For all you upcoming and wanna-be producers, checkout this album to hear what a REAL instrumental project is supposed to sound like!

I provided you with one of my favorite tracks from the Beat Konducta project titled, "Open Space" that flips a famous Afrika Bambaataa track into something real special! Check it out, and make sure you support good hiphop by purchasing these two albums if you feel what they are doing?

If you are feeling Madlib's "Beat Konducta Vols. 1-2," make sure you checkout Jay-Dee's (a.k.a J Dilla) last instrumental album, "Donuts!" Definitely one for your collection! Most of the colored (hi-lighted) words have links attached to them, so make sure you click around before you leave!

The MP3 PLAYER has been updated, located on the right of this page...so checkout some great hiphop & soul! ---------------------------->

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