Sabzi Releases Nearly All Of His Instrumentals!

Sabzi Instrumentals (Vol. #1-6)

This year, one of my favorite producers Sabzi (Blue Scholars & Common Market), decided to one-up Santa by putting out nearly ALL of the instrumentals from tracks that he's ever released and giving the joyous news of this gift on Christmas day. Now I can't think of a better gift than music (you can never have enough, right?) and so I share these beats with you too. Hit the link above for six streaming volumes of Sabzi's instrumentals mostly from his Blue Scholars and Common Market albums and all of the volumes have a very different style/feel. So hit them all up, rock out and nod away. All of the volumes can be purchased on the cheap and include the original names of the tracks, which are as creative and exotic as the beats they represent. Stream volume #5 below (pictured above) for a savory taste of beat heaven.



For more info on Sabzi, see my first post about him HERE.

Video: The Funk League - On & On Ft. Sadat X

Continuing on from last post with some more international producers comes The Funk League, a production duo from France consisting of Hugo and Soulbrother Suspect that originally met while DJing a monthly breakdancing party in Paris. These two vinyl collectors really know something about capturing a funky break and putting it in its place. Just hit up the video above for a jazz-funk-hip-hop inspired fusion track off their soon to be released album "Funky As Usual" (worldwide release on January 24th). The track features Sadat X spitting an up-tempo narrative of his upbringing in the NYC hip hop culture over two decades ago. The video is unlike any I've ever seen for a hip hop track, using a healthy dose of arts & crafts and creativity to create a fluidly entertaining scenery. I'm really looking forward to hearing the album in it's entirety. Until then, keep yourself entertained with another track by The Funk League below.

Album: SoulChef - Here & Now (2011)

Purchase Here

Damn, here's another stellar find. Straight from the New Zealand producer SoulChef's beat kitchen comes a jazzy and groovy collaborative album featuring a different dope underground MC on nearly every track. The 10 track album is filled with fluid beats and rhymes that will have your head bouncing on one track and contemplating on the next. But one thing remains clear throughout the entire work, it's pretty solid. From the laid back Pete Rock-reminiscent tracks like "We Gon Turn It Out" and "Take" to the driving steady baselines and drums of "Never Been In Love Like This" and "Dreams", this album delivers impressive production...and the rhymes are nothing to gloss over either, although you are highly likely to do so the first listen through as the beats draw you in. 

Enjoy.

Producer Spotlight: Apollo Brown

Download "Clouds" HERE

Maybe I've missed something, maybe I haven't, but it seems that Apollo Brown has exploded out of nowhere in the past year with perhaps the best production work of any producer in hip hop right now. After producing the entirety of the album "Gas Mask" by The Left, which in my opinion was the best hip hop album of 2010, Apollo Brown has dropped consistent non-stop bangers.

Now Apollo is back with a 28 track instrumental album that is appropriately named "Clouds" that takes the listener on a spiritual journey. These tracks are not the same kind of hard-hitting anthems that were found on "Gas Mask", but rather Apollo shows off his versatility with an offering of smoothed-out soul sampled chopped loops with his signature pounding drums - making the whole album a consistent listening experience. Every track is beautiful and drips with quality. If you want to hear how hip hop is supposed to sound, then look to Apollo Brown as your musical tour guide. Spread the word.

Tracklist for "Clouds"
1. Sound of Guns
2. Blue Ruby
3. Never In a Million Years
4. Balance
5. The 11th Hour
6. Wisdom
7. Black Pearls
8. Shoot the Heart
9. Push
10. One Chance
11. Human Experience
12. Know the Time 
13. Heirloom
14. Seed of Memory
15. Bridge Through Time
16. Just Walk
17. Shadows of Grief
18. Time Passed Autumn
19. Choices
20. Father and Son
21. A Conscious Breath
22. Drinking Life
23. Imagination
24. Tao Te Ching
25. Heart of Glass
26. The Baghdad Sun
27. A Day’s End
28. God’s Creation

Filet-o-Mix 08: J Dilla - Live Forever Vol. 1

"J Dilla - Live Forever Vol. 1"
Download HERE

Tracklist
01 A Tribe Called Quest - Get A Hold
02 Skyzoo - Hooded Angels
03 Little Brother - Hiding Place (Ft. Elzhi)
04 Common - The Light
05 De La Soul - Much More (Ft. Yummy)
06 Slum Village - I Don't Know (Ft. Jazzy Jeff)
07 The Pharcyde - Runnin'
08 Finale - Heat
09 MED - So Real
10 J Dilla - Make 'em NV
11 JayLib - The Red
12 Common - E=MC2
13 Oh No - Move (Ft. Roc C)
14 Common - The Movement
15 J Dilla - Won't Do
16 Raekwon - Ason Jones
17 Common - So Far To Go (Ft. D'Angelo)
18 The Roots - Can't Stop This
Leave a comment below if I left your favorite J Dilla produced tracks off here so I can include them in Vol. 2!

J Dilla (aka Jay Dee) is/was/will always be one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, period, no questions asked. Here I have compiled my absolute favorite 18 Dilla produced songs. There are no straight up instrumentals on this mixtape since Dilla did so many amazing beats that it would be nearly impossible to choose his best ones without having a rapper on there to help discriminate (Although I will attempt to put out my favorite Dilla instrumentals mix later). Most of the time in hip hop music it's the MC that gets all the credit even though half of the track is clearly the producer's work. It almost feels like the rapping is the artwork and the beat is just the frame that surrounds it - well in the case of Dilla's beats, the frame is often the masterpiece. The documentary below on J Dilla reveals just how talented of a musician he was.



Dilla's beats have inspired the greatest hip hop visionaries from Common to Busta Rhymes to Questlove to A Tribe Called Quest. His work is extremely unique, yet he has a signature sound that can be identified by the trained hip hop ear. Dilla had the ability to make tracks that would inevitably make your head nod, whether it be a chill track like "Get A Hold" or an upbeat track like "E=MC2". Once described by a musical friend of mine, Dilla tracks often have something that many other producers can't capture in a song - Movement. A Dilla track often feels like it's propelling you forward with the mixture of its drums, chopped samples, deliberate pauses, and unique timing of layered sounds. It's like the track has a soul and its stirring. Jay Dee beats just seem to have more soul than other producers' beats. He had a superb ear for sampling, but what's more impressive is the way he arranged his samples to bring a track to life. If you like what you here on the mix, I highly recommend you buy J Dilla's beat tape Donuts (talked about in the documentary above), which he painstakingly edited in the hospital before his death from the autoimmune disease lupus in 2006. Honestly, his work could change your life. I know it changed mine.

You can order a "J Dilla Changed My Life" t-shirt HERE

{All proceeds go to Dilla's family}

Now I don't claim to own or have heard every J Dilla produced track/collab (frankly that's nearly impossible), but from the TON of Dilla songs that I do have, the tracks above are real standouts to me. And if you like these tracks, there will be a Vol. 2 lurking sometime in the future. Enjoy fellow hip hop heads.

Track 15. J Dilla - "Won't Do" --> btw Dilla was a great rapper too!
The video is just as futuristic as the beat.

Filet-o-Mix 05 - This DJ Kno's Best

Download Filet-o-Mix HERE

Preview the first 3 tracks HERE

01 CunninLynguists Ft. Natti & Versatile - Diamond Sky

02 Mr. SOS Ft. Deacon The Villain, Flip Flop & Juicy - Stay High 

03 Celph Titled Ft. Cashmere The PRO & Oktober - Clap

04 CunninLynguists - Beautiful Girl

05 CunninLynguists - Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)

06 CunninLynguists - Lynguistics

07 CunninLynguists - Since When

08 Tonedeff Ft. Deacon The Villain - Love Ain't (Remix)

09 Mr. SOS - Time (What Is It)

10 CunninLynguists - To Be For Real

11 CunninLynguists - Move

12 CunninLynguists - K.K.K.Y.

13 CunninLynguists Ft. Substantial & J. Bully - Nasty Filthy (Remix)

14 CunninLynguists - Hellfire

15 CunninLynguists Ft. Tonedeff - The Gates

16 CunninLynguists - Halfanimal, Halfman

17 Tonedeff Ft. Deacon The Villain - No Hope

18 CunninLynguists - The South

19 Inverse Ft. Substantial - Spark My Soul

20 Inverse Ft. Trek Life & Deacon The Villain - Til' The End (C.A.L.I.)

For the theme of this Filet-o-Mix, I decided to turn to the music of an influential and visionary hip hop producer, DJ Kno. Kno has created some of the most unique and interesting beats out in the hip hop underground since 2001 when he debuted his skills by producing the majority of the CunninLynguists first album Will Rap For Food. This mix is meant to give you an introduction to some of Kno's best work. You will find that he has a very signature sound of huge bass, crazy soulful vocal samples, and snares that slap you across the face. You shouldn't even play this music unless its loud enough to annoy your neighbors. 

There is no other producer who can copy Kno's style because it is ever changing with his projects. Each project has a concept behind it as Kno explains below in an interview about his group the CunninLynguists,

"We're a shining representation of the fact you have to have an angle to sell records, because people honestly don't know what to make of us.  Horrible name.  Too white for black people, too black for white people, too mainstream for backpackers, too underground for mainstream rap fans, too southern for people outside of the south, too "hip-hop" for southerners.  Too many rock samples for Common fans, too much soul for Sage Francis fans.  I've witnessed it with my own eyes and ears over 6 years. People we reach are people who simply love good music and don't give a shit what anyone else says about their tastes."

This is truly some GOOD music. If you have been following my Filet-o-Mix series, you will notice that at least one track of Kno's appears on each of my four previous Filet-o-Mixtapes. 

Filet-o-Mix 1: CunninLynguists - Love Ain't (Remix)

Filet-o-Mix 2: Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder [Kno vs. HOV: The White Al-bu-lum]

Filet-o-Mix 3: Cunninlynguists - Never Come Down (The Brownie Song), Mr. SOS - Stay High Ft. Deacon The Villain, Flip Flop, & Juicy

Filet-o-Mix 4: Tonedeff - No Hope Ft. Deacon The Villain

Now go download the mix and discover why Kno is one of my favorite hip hop producers to date.

Producer: Sabzi (of Blue Scholars, Common Market)

Art Credit: Record done by Beth Heinzen

Today I would like to talk to you about a man named Sabzi. This man is one of the many people that don’t get talked about enough in hip hop, the PRODUCER (one of my newest favorites). This man is a beast on the beats. He is sick, nasty, filthy, and any other similar adjectives you can think up. I actually put him in the top category of innovative producers with the likes of Premier, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder etc.

Currently, Sabzi is the second member in two different rap groups; Blue Scholars and Common Market. Both groups are based out of Seattle and have one MC in each, Geologic in the former, RA Scion in the latter. Although the two MC’s are very different in their lyrical styles, both group’s stand out from the rest because of their major common bond, Sabzi’s sheer talent for making great sounding music. Trained as a jazz-pianist, Sabzi has an ear for what sounds good and uses a great diversity of sounds in his work, painting a track like an artist with perfectly layered brush strokes of his choice of piano, synthesized organs, horns, chimes, vocal samples, and anything else he gets his hands on. All this on top of masterful heavy-set basslines behind steady drum beats. In 2007, Sabzi overwhelmingly killed the competition in the Red Bull Big Tune national championship, which is a beat battling competition between the best hip hop producers in North America. However, he was disqualified from the grand prize after winning the final (not well publicized) for not signing some legal shit beforehand. Watch the video below to see what I mean by killed the competition! Try and guess which guy is Sabzi?



I am posting 3 albums for download to familiarize you with his outstanding work… your iPod will never feel the same again.

Common Market – Common Market (2005)
Blue Scholars – Bayani (2007)
Common Market – Tobacco Road (2008)

Tracks to Preview:

Blue Scholars - Joe Metro Video (2007)
*Note: Amazing Video/Song*

Common Market - Connect For (2005)

Download Here

Common Market - Winter Takes All (2008)

Download Here

And to get a feel for what Sabzi is like, watch the below video in which Saba shows you HOW he made the beat to my favorite Common Market song Connect For (he runs a very "amateur operation"). Well worth ten minutes of your time for his keyboard solo at the end!



Advice from Sabzi to other producers: “Stop thinking that you're dope. You're not tight, not yet, I don't even think I'm tight yet”

Album: J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid (2009)

Here we go with another album from J Dilla (R.I.P.). For all those that may not know his legacy, this one of a kind producer passed away due to complications from the autoimmune disease Lupus in 2006. This most tragic death came at a time when Dilla really was just coming into his prime. He tirelessly worked on his masterpiece beat tape "Donuts" right up until his death, often struggling immensely to make his beats. The album was released on his 32nd birthday and he died 3 days later. To most hip hop heads, Jay Dee's beats represented the most creative and musically ingenious sounds that a hip hop producer could offer. This album gives us a sampling of some previously unreleased instrumentals as well as tracks featuring rappers such as Black Thought, Blu, Lil Fame of M.O.P., Raekwon, Doom, Havoc of Mobb Deep, and even his brother Illa J. I only with every track had a featured rapper because you can tell that these full length beats were meant to be rocked by the best of the best. Now cop this album if you're a fan of the head-nodding beats of Dilla, and if you're new to his work pick up the classic beat tape Donuts. You won't regret it. Promise.

Favorite tracks: Smoke, Pay Day, Coming Back, and KJay & We Out