mmettmldom.com | Mvstermind on Twitter (@mvstermind) | Facebook | Bandcamp

North St. Louis rapper/producer Muhamma “Mvstermind” Austin presents the Louis Quatorze-directed music video for “80-D”, his self-produced new single from the upcoming eponymous album. “80-D” features appearances from AtM, Ciej, Sixela Yoccm and Lyrique, all artists on Mvstermind’s MME Entertainment imprint. A onetime resident of New Orleans, Atlanta and several other US cities, Mvstermind returned to St. Louis to release A.D.D. (Artistically Day Dreaming), a nod to Mvstermind’s childhood diagnosis of attention deficit disorder featuring appearances from Dharma Jean, Kayla Steen, Sixela Yoccm, Adult Fur and AtM.

Y-Roc on Twitter

16-year-old emcee Y-Roc presents Livin’ Proof ’13, where he showcases his rap talents over seven DJ Premier instrumentals from Group Home’s 1995 Livin’ Proof album. Picking up musical influences from his father’s record collection, albums like Reasonable Doubt, Low End Theory and Doe Or Die inspired Y-Roc to step to the mic, releasing the Word Is Born EP a few months back (listen here). “The inspiration behind Livin’ Proof ’13 actually came from listening to the Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg Morning Show on Hot 97,” explains Y-Roc. “They were having a DJ Premier tribute mix on his birthday and they Peter said that if an up and coming MC would just rock over the whole Group Home album and was able to really pull it off, than they would be out of here. I’ve released material before but not like this. I began to find my sound and my sound matured so its really like my first step into the door to let people know im here.”

ColorMeDifferent.org | XODUS on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Paulie Monster on Twitter

Dominican-American rapper/producer XODUS presents his new single “Go Away”, produced by Long Island beatsmith Paulie Monster. “It was 2005; I was young, trying to form my priorities,” the Washington Heights NYC native says about “Go Away”‘s genesis. “I’ve always been in a rush and I felt like if I kept spending time out in the street, there was no way I was going to find myself in time to do something great. So, I was literally locked away in a basement, in a long-term, long-distance relationship, and struggling with my own brain chemistry—trying to learn the key to my own happiness so I could begin the pursuit. I brought on my own introspective depression and Go Away was probably all I would have had the energy to mutter if I could have personified pain and exchanged words.” XODUS is pioneer of the Color Me Different movement, which he explains as “a consciousness, a philosophy. It’s about making your own decisions based upon your unique perspective; developing yourself through thought and self-analysis, rather than just embracing a societal default in order to ensure acceptance. ‘Reject the ordinary, embrace the ordinance.’” A full-length project is currently in the works.

UndersoundMusic.net | E Major on Twitter | Facebook

Baltimore-bred, Los Angeles-based emcee E Major presents the self-directed music video to “Zodiac Freestyle”, where he drops lyrics over Flying Lotus’ “Zodiac” instrumental. To that end, he finally achieved his dream of moving to Los Angeles, a gamble for an artist with the kind of support he commands in B-More. His 2011 album Better Than Yours had already made Baltimore City Paper’s top ten albums of 2010 – two years after dubbing his Majority Rules album “a classic” – by the time his 2010 hit “Paper Runnin’” started doing the rounds on 92Q, later remixed by local legend DJ Booman. Wielding common-sense lyricism and a relaxed, persistent flow which presides on equal footing over boom-bap and trap alike, E’s shared stages with Lupe Fiasco, Wale, and Little Brother and has gotten the nod from Okayplayer, MTV, VH1 and DJ Booth. E’s new album Baltimore Bruin is set for an August release.

“Talk It Over” on iTunes
GUS on Soundcloud | on Twitter | LucindaSlim.com

Belgian emcee GUS (a.k.a. the Great UnStoppable) presents the Manu Dewan-directed music video for his I.N.T.-produced new single “Talk It Over”, featuring vocals from Lucinda Slim and backing vocals from U-Gene. A force on the Belgian hip-hop scene since 1991, GUS first stepped out as an artist alongside talents like Krewcial and Moiano, recording and performing across western Europe. He was the first official recording artist on Belgian label Brick 9000, dropping his solo debut “Word to the Wize” as well as work with his collective DHL. GUS has opened up for  De La Soul, The Pharcyde, Black Eyed Peas, Common, The Roots, Bilal, Jill Scott, The GZA, The Game, Xzibit, The Last Poets, Black Star ( Mos Def & Talib Kweli), Tony Touch, Cash Money, Craig David and Beck, and has collaborated with DJ Grazzhoppa, I.L.L., Versatell and more.

BizarreRideLive.com | on Facebook | on Twitter

Several months after opening shows at Los Angeles’ Roxy (video) and San Francisco’s Low End Theory (video), Fatlip, Slimkid3, J-Swift, L.A. Jay and Delicious Vinyl have taken Bizarre Ride Live - the performance that recreates The Pharcyde’s classic 1992 debut Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde onstage – from Canada to Japan to Singapore and back (video). Bowing to popular demand, they now announce their return to Europe for a series of summer dates across England, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Italy, France, Holland and Germany. Original Pharcyde emcees Fatlip and Slimkid3 combine with Bizarre Ride producers J-Swift and L.A. Jay as well as former Wascals emcee K-Natural, blurring the lines between a straight up hip-hop show and a theatrical performance. Expect animated hip-hop, energetic raps, bright colors, b-boy throw-downs, magnetic visuals, a heavy dose of humour, and absolutely everything in between. Bizarre Ride Live commemorates the 20th anniversary of Delicious Vinyl’s release of the LP Kanye West calls his “favorite album”, re-released as a 3-CD deluxe edition (view here), and revisited by UK deejay Chris Read for his Wax Poetics-sponsored 20th-anniversary mix, which blends many of the alternate versions found in the deluxe edition (listen here). Since embarking on Bizarre Ride Live, the crew have been featured on District MTV (watch interview here), Peter Rosenberg and Cipha Sounds’ Juan Epstein podcast (listen here) and the Tim Westwood show (watch here).

In The Making on Bandcamp
IAmKlassik.com | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

Milwaukee emcee/producer/musician Klassik presents the Xavier Ruffin-directed music video for “Forever Whatever”, the second single from his album In The Making. Two years after his father inspired him to pick up the saxophone, a young Klassik was being mentored by sax legend Berkley Fudge. By high school he was touring Europe as a professional jazz musician and experimenting with beat production programs like Fruity Loops. A couple of years later he dropped out of the University of Wisconsin to pursue music. Since releasing In The Making, Klassik has won ”Solo Artist of the Year” 2012 for the 88.9 Radio Milwaukee Music Awards, “Rap/Hip Hop Artist of the Year” for the 2013 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards, Milwaukee Magazine named the first single “Anything” (watch video here) as the “Catchiest Song Of The Year”, and the album spent 15 weeks on CMJ’s Top 40 hip-hop charts. ”Life is about rolling with the punches and finding the silver lining in everything,” says Klassik about the song. “Staying positive is how I stay afloat in the midst of the darkness, so all the negative, at the end of the day, is forever whatever.” Klassik is slated to open for Talib Kweli at this year’s Summerfest.

My Untold Story at datpiff.com/Chi-City-My-Untold-Story-mixtape.478567.html
IAmChiCity.com | on Twitter | on Facebook

Southside Chicago rapper Chi City presents the Kajmir Beats/Klay Dots-directed video to “Early Morning Dreams”, the Kajmir-produced single from his new album My Untold Story, featuring Kid Daytona and Ronnie Martini, as well as production from Dreamcatchers, Traksounds and more. With over nine underground tapes bearing his name – his last being 2011′s Who Is Chi City – Chi has collaborated with Cory Gunz, Mullyman and has toured with Philadelphia Freeway, Mickey Factz, Mikey Halsted and Daytona. He was crowned Coast To Coast’s Indie Artist Next To Blow and has performed at the BET Artist Showcase and ThisIs50.com’s Independent Fridays. He has ghostwritten for B.O.B., Diggy Simmons and G.O.O.D. Music affiliates. The idea [for 'Early Morning Dreams'] came from me wanting to tell about how so judgemental and backwards most people are, and how the thought of having everything can make some people really lose everything in the same process,” says Chi.

“Spectacle” direct download
advance stream of Quickie Mart’s remix of “Robomonster” by Robopunx
Quickie Mart on Twitter | on Facebook | SuperMartProduce.com | on Twitter | on Facebook  

New Orleans producer/deejay Quickie Mart presents his new single “Spectacle”, available free on his Soundcloud page. “Spectacle” comes on the heels of a slew of releases from Quickie Mart’s Beatport imprint Super Mart Produce, among them tracks from bass artists Partymonster, Computa Games and Rroid Drazr, as well as his remix of New Orleans bounce pioneer Ricky B’s classic “Shake Fa Ya Hood” (video). Last year Quickie Mart released the Space Monkey Radio EP, a collection of artist-approved dubstep remixes of songs also including rapper Freddie Gibbs, California ska-funk outfit Slightly Stoopid and singers Shyvonne and Justina which debuted at #4 on the Beatport charts. In the last two years alone Quickie Mart has released four volumes of the Haze Diaries mixtape series with rapper Gotham Green, featuring Freddie Gibbs and Planet Asia. Visit Quickie’s Soundcloud page to get an advance stream of his upcoming Royal Records remix of “Robomonster” by

Imagerial Denouement on iTunes | order the 7″ vinyl
AFTheNaysayer.com | on Twitter | on Facebook | ReservedRec.com

Producer AF THE NAYSAYER presents “Imagerial Denouement”, his new single featuring Myka Nyne of Freestyle Fellowship. A tribute to the late Japanese producer Nujabes, Reserved Records has released “Denouement” on limited-edition 7″ vinyl. A native Californian, AF now splits his time between Lake Charles, Lousiana and New Orleans, where he has become a mainstay of the city’s burgeoning electronic beat scene. The cover is a painting from artist Wes Sumerall, and the single was mastered by Richard Simpson, responsible for work with the Monkees and David Bowie. ”Originally ‘Denouement’ was just an instrumental, made before Nujabes death,” AF explains. “The title is a play on words of his song ‘Imaginary Folklore’. This song was my tribute to Nujabes, because he has such a large influence on my work.” Reserved Records is offering the digital version and a choice of the vinyl or a poster of the cover art for a special price at their Bandcamp page. The digital version is also available on iTunes.

“‘Imagerial Denouement’ reminds me of a mix between Roy Ayers and something I would hear at a Herb Kent Steppers ball. Very mellow but very danceable at the same time.” -Mr Echoes of The Opus

Mazzi on Twitter | Nore on Twitter | Smoke DZA on Twitter | Harry Fraud on Twitter

After great success with their first compilation album, The Best of Both Offices, founded by Young Sav + Steve O, are preparing to release the second installment of the series April 16th. Spearheaded by Immanuel Smith of BOBO, the project will once again feature A-list and up-and-coming artists alike, starting with the first project single “Weight.” Produced by Harry Fraud, “Weight” comes courtesy of Mazzi of S.O.U.L. Purpose and guest appearances from N.O.R.E. and Smoke DZA.

Y-Roc on Bandcamp | on Twitter

16-year-old emcee Y-Roc presents “Now In Charge”, a song over DJ Premier’s “Supa Star” beat, made famous by NYC duo Group Home’s 1995 album Livin’ Proof, which Y-Roc rhymes over in full for his forthcoming mixtape Resurrection Of The Livin’ Proof. Picking up musical influences from his father’s record collection, albums like Reasonable Doubt, Low End Theory and Doe Or Die inspired Y-Roc to step to the mic, releasing the Word Is Born EP a few months back (listen here). “The inspiration behind Resurrection Of The Livin’ Proof actually came from listening to the Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg Morning Show on Hot 97,” explains Y-Roc. “They were having a DJ Premier tribute mix on his birthday and they Peter said that if an up and coming MC would just rock over the whole G roup Home album and was able to really pull it off, than they would be out of here. So that’s were the whole idea and inspiration to do it really came from.” Resurrection Of The Livin’ Proof drops May.