Mixtape: Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik

Download "Trunk Muzik" HERE

Tracklist

1. Trunk Muzik (3:40)
2. Stage Lights (Remix) (3:35)
3. Good to Go (feat. Bun B) (3:39)
4. Pop the Trunk (3:49)
5. Box Chevy Pt 3 (feat. Rittz) (4:23)
6. F.U. (3:15)
7. Lick the Cat (feat. Diamond) (3:36)
8. Speak Her Sex (feat. Nikkiya) (2:53)
9. I Wish (feat. Raekwon) (4:30)
10. In This Club (4:00)
11. Love Is Not Enough (3:46)
12. Mixin Up the Medicine (Remix) (feat. Juelz Santana) (4:06)

Yelawolf is an unlikely character in hip hop. A white guy from Alabama with a long black rat tail who is obsessed with Chevys and shotguns. But guess what? He has carved out a niche for himself that has gotten him enough buzz to get signed to Interscope. Now you might think to yourself that this is just a short-lived novelty thing, but after hearing this mixtape I know that this dude has a real future in the hip hop game. He has such a unique style, mixing trunk rattling bass heavy crunk music (hence the title Trunk Muzik) with a captivatingly intense and dexterous flow spitting about rural Alabama themes (just peep the video below to see what I mean). The only true way to appreciate this album is to put it on your car stereo and turn the bass all the way up. If it doesn't make your mirrors shake then your speakers suck and you should probably get that corrected immediately. Although there isn't too much depth in his lyrics, there is one true gem on here - track 11 (listen above) where Yela spits about heartbreak from a breakup with his girl. I was psyched to see that he could do a track like this and I await to hear more like it in the future. If you are skeptical about Yela's place in rap music then he has one thing to say to you, "I wish a muthafucka would tell me that I ain't hip hop. BITCH YOU AIN'T HIP HOP".

Yelawolf - Pop The Trunk (Track 4)

Filet-o-Mix 07: 23 'til Infinity EP

Download HERE: "23 'til Infinity EP"

Mixtape Themes: Love, Breakups, Perseverance, Money, Business, Friends, Dreams, Adversity, Girls, & Reminiscing on the simpler times

Tracklist
01 Sway - Still On My Own
02 Scribe - Dreaming
03 DJ Quik - Summer Breeze
04 Celph Titled - Me and My Friends (Ft. Apathy & One Two)
05 Showbiz & AG - Fat Pockets (Off Beat Dance)
06 Looptroop - Business & Pleasure
07 Macklemore - Love Song
08 Skyzoo - Comeback

The ripe age of twenty-three is such a pivotal time in the human life cycle that I would say that it's the fulcrum on the seesaw of life (yes, pun intended) - It's the point in the maturation process when you can finally peek over the edge into the future and realize the immense possibilities in life while you look back at your past and reflect on how you got where you are.

This EP is about the themes and struggles of the 23 year old. I put this EP together because I realized that a few of my favorite songs are about what it's like to be my current age. Each song has a line about being 23 and this simple fact means that many of these songs are introspective and self-reflective, which you'll see after you listen to them. Some of them are extremely relevant in my life and some might be more relevant in yours. As an MC or musician, it's important to have your fans identify with your music. One of my favorite MC's, Macklemore, put it best in his song Kings by saying "be a mirror to the people when they're searching for truth". Ultimately, I made this EP because I connect with the songs and my hopes are that the other 23 year olds of the world will connect with them too.

Now let's get into the music shall we.
Sway - Still On My Own
"I'm only 23, but I feel like I'm older. Developed a hunchback from carrying the world on my shoulders. In a world full of motives in the land of Tony Blair, it's hard to BBC (see) my dreams and stay focused. And I've always been a loner in the form of a trio, the three amigos with me, myself, and I - uno mio."

Scribe - Dreaming
"I'm 23 and I just want to be me. Want to be free. Want to be everything I can be. But I don't have many choices, can't afford to be wrong. All I do is try to stay true to the words of my song. Just don't hesitate and wait too long cause like a dream when you wake up its gone...its gone."

DJ Quik - Summer Breeze
"Now I'm 23 and I remember the times when we was chillin' like villains and didn't have no nines. Like when we used to mob to beaches to kick it and swim, now I hang around and watch the tides come in. And I'm thinking how many funerals I've been to, watching all my homies get buried in them boxes they put 'em into."

Celph Titled Ft. Apathy & One Two - Me and My Friends
"Yo, the crew I roll with - cold as hell. We own the streets like OG's own the jails. Mack college bitches, they know us well, but now that I'm 23 I feel old as hell."

Showbiz & A.G. - Fat Pockets
"My pockets stay fat, and they always like that. Not only in my pocket in my bank there's stacks and stacks - of dough, cause I move slow. I get my cash flow. Then I go and brother's don't know I'm on the down low. Some get mad 'cause they can't understand, that I'm 23 years old. I'm in command!"

Looptroop - Business & Pleasure
"They say don't mix business with pleasure, you know what that means? Ain’t a rapper with a deal that's pleased. Some don't see where they run, so they run to the sea like lemmings. Drown in despair 'cause they depending. All dressed in designer underwear, but most rhymers are unaware - lyrically impaired. And not prepared to battle me. Been doing this since Karate Kid and Police Academy. A twenty-three years young man, with no suntan, always was a KRS-One fan."

Macklemore - Love Song
"I'm getting older now, 23 years old and half of me just wants to make the move and go and settle down. The other half's like 'hell no you better mess around, don't let me down, especially when you got an album coming out'. When I first saw you I'm like 'awww shit, goddamnit look what God did, Hail Mary Jesus'."

Skyzoo - Comeback
"You a hot one girl, believe I'm a fan, but I don't want you running round like you got a man. I'm only 23 with a lot of life in front of me, and there's a lot of types I wanna see. And I can't give you my all, when part of me still wanna answer my calls."

Enjoy.

Songs: Am I obsessed? This damsel got me in distress...

Here are two songs that I'm really feeling right now, both of which are by Donwill of the hip hop group Tanya Morgan. These two songs are the highlights of Donwill's free mixtape and his first full length solo album both provided below. Both songs are about the emotional hardships from losing that special someone. Listen and download below!

Donwill - Want You To Want Me Reprise Ft. Tanya Morgan

(right click to save & download)

--> Track 7 off Laura's Tape (Mixtape) --> Download

This song has so much emotion. The real minimalist beat really sets the tone of the song - steady background handclaps while a vocal soul sample repeats the haunting phrase "want you to want me". The distorted sample sounds muffled as if its being repeated off in the distance and the lyrics tell the tale of a lost love - "the one" that got away. This is the kind of song that makes me love hip hop for its soulfulness, complexity, and expressiveness. The song isn't long enough and can be put on repeat indefinitely.

 Donwill - Laura's Song

(right click to save & download)

--> Track 2 off Don Cusack in High Fidelity --> Download

This song has a beat that needs to be played loud on a great speaker system to be truly appreciated. The beat seems to surround you with all of its layers. The lead single off this album is dedicated to Donwill's ex-girl who he is obviously so hung up on that he titled this song and the above mixtape after her. Once again, a very emotion laden track, but this time in more of a storytelling manner recounting the tale of his loss. I love the beat on this track with the vocal sample building up to the chorus and playing out in the end of the track. With all the different sounds interacting, it's easy to get lost in the track when you close your eyes and play it loud.

Enjoy the soulful tracks.

Mixtape: Dilla Mix Vol. 2

 Tracklist + Download - Dilla Mix Vol. 2

I'm quite impressed with this mixtape compiled and mixed on the 1's and 2's by my friend Chris, one of the biggest Dilla fans you'll ever meet. He put it up on his blog (link above) a week ago and I couldn't download it until today, but my dude put together a tracklist that'll impress even the most hardcore Jay Dee fan. Staying true to the original mixtape format, this mix is one track - two hours of some of the dopest Dilla beats, verses, and instrumentals. A true testament to Dilla's incredible versatility, this mix gives the listener a good idea of how and why Dilla is considered one of the greatest producers of all time... R.I.P. J Dilla...

"It was in the wind when she said Dilla was gone, that's when I knew we'd live forever through song" ~ Common - Forever Begins