Why Are U Still Sleeping? An Ode 2 The New School...

So Last month when we did our 'Drake' feature, I got a few people holla @ me (notably home-girl 'Bola' clamoring for a 'BIG SEAN' feature) saying how 1. Drake ain't the best new emcee out there (we never said that btw) & 2. If we're gonna do a feature on Drizzy then surely we should consider the other very very talented newcomers out there, even more so talented than 'October's Very Own'. One quite memorable email I got went a lil sufin like this... "Yo dude I see you on this Drake fella and it's all good but there's better acts that you could put on! Where's Charles Hamilton? Where Kid Cudi @? Where Mickey Factz @? Cory Gunz? Blu? (My Rejoiner - Blu is my man from day so don't even! & if you dont already own 'Below The Heavens', you need 2 get it HERE now!) Ace Hood? B.o.B? Where the hell are all these guys??? You need to come correct IMO!"... Ok did they jus take their list from HERE but anyway, Suffice to say that y'all (everyone that sent in an email) got us envisioning this here feature for a few weeks now...

2 be honest right, there are a truck load of 'newcomer' emcees out on the circuit these days, my Itunes has been inundated with new music from the best of em for the past year and a half, a few of which I aint even heard yet BUT one of my fav new emcees (asides Drizzy ofcourse) is D.C's finest, Mark Ronson's Allido Records signee & Jay-Z's Roc Nation affiliate... Wale (pronounced Wah-Lay lol). In the last 3 years, it's been very hard NOT to take notice of this 24-year old... I saw him over here in the UK back in October of 2007 for the BBC Electric Proms @ Abbey Road when he was on tour wiv Mr. Ronson & he f**kin KILLED it! Check out some footage HERE. He rhymed he was 'kind of a big deal' back then, well he so damn kinda is!!!

2 weeks ago he, along with 'Hip-Hop's Favorite Producer' 9th Wonder, dropped some new music by way of his 5th mixtape 'Back to the Feature' to ready us for the debut album 'Attention Deficit' thats due out in September. Let's listen 2 some Wah-Lay, shall we? After the jump...




What you jus heard is the kid jumpin on Yael Naim's 'New Soul' with production from BKS. This is my favorite track off of the 'Back to the Feature' E.P (you know how we always on that mellow retrospective hip-hop sound!!!). On the reals though, this song is too sick!!! What do you reckon? Anyway as we proceed...




This one's an ALL 'Allido' effort with Mark Ronson on production & Daniel Merriweather on the hook. In case you didn't already know, Mr. Ronson is a genius, he brings that ol skool vibe on this one & I gotta give it up to this Merriweather fella cos I haven't been payin him nuff attention, the dude can sing! What can I say bout Wale though, I like this brova... his flow is on point, it's not boring & he's got dope verses for days!!! This one's called 'Pot of Gold'...

You can download the 'Back to the Feature' mixtape HERE, other joints you should definitely check out are the Jean Grae collabo 'Goodbye', Say It Again (featuring Royce Da 5'9) & the '5 Minutes' joint with Skyzoo... The kid's 2008 E.P 'Mixtape About Nothing' is HERE too for your downloading pleasure!!! We're gonna ride outta here wiv one more record off the new E.P if you don't mind?




Seein as its a collaborative work wiv 9th, it's only right we feature one of his productions... This one features Big Sean, Ken Starr & Mike Posner & its called 'Wonder Why'...

So are we feeling Wale? I know I am... let's get your 2 pence.

From a Roc Nation affiliate, we go straight in on Jay-Z's first signing for Roc Nation... North Carolina native, Jermaine Cole quite simply known as J. Cole. This rapper/producer & St. Johns University graduate Magna Cum Laude first came into our ear's sights in 2007 with his 'The Come Up' E.P and was heavily slept on at our very own peril because that s**t was opus!!! Get it HERE before we go in... Fast forward to Monday 15/06/09 and J. Cole' released his second E.P 'The Warm Up' and everyone was listening this time around... Let's join in!




WOW! Ok I know I always go on bout amazing production and what not, like all the time BUT you can hear this for yourself, those are guitars you hear right??? It's that soulful s**t & it's undeniable too!!! The amazing thing 2 me is that for an emcee this dope 2 come with production that's this on point is very rare BUT that's what you get with J. Cole (he produces 20 of the 22 tracks on 'The Warm Up'. This track's titled 'Losing My Balance' and those vocals? So dauntingly G.O.O.D! Now unto a track I reckon Mr. Roc Nation C.E.O, Shawn Carter, will very much enjoy... After the jump yeah?




'I'm Out 4 Dead Presidents 2 represent Me!'... SNM Jermaine, we hear you loud & clear on this one! Dude comes overly HARD and he rides this original Ski produced classic very very nicely! If you haven't taken notice of J. Cole until now, I suggest you wake the F**K up already & witness the goodness!!! & Courtesy his record deal wiv Roc Nation, this revolution will be televised! Download 'The Warm Up' HERE & get your knowledge up!!!

& jus in case you're a deep sleeper, here's a bucket of cold water being splattered over your sleepy heads lol...




I'm in love with this here record on the E.P and the overriding concept of the whole E.P cos I definitely relate to the 'if-at-first-you-dont-get-in-try-try-&-try-again-until-you-make-it' message but not only that, it's such a beautifully crafted piece of art... Enjoy it! & do tell us what you think...

SO from Fayetteville, North Carolina, we're taking it back to the heart of Hip-Hop, Brooklyn NYC!!! BUT for something not quite Hip-Hop in the traditional sense of it... His Myspace page describes the sound as Soul/New Wave/Pop & his Facebook page adds Hip-Hop & Funk to that genre description BUT you can obviously tell by his music that he's influenced by a wide array of music.. It's definitely very different BUT it's also very GOOD music! We Plug 2 YOU... Theophilus London & he's a HELL-OF-ALOT!!! & Mr. London is HIP-HOP (Yeah I said It!) so 2 all you hip-hops don't leave jus yet (& a bit electro too) & we've got some G.O.O.D Music right after the jump... Just wait 4 the drop on this one k!




The track's aptly called 'Always Love U' & I love off how he refixes this Whitney Houston classic. I reckon I could stay listening to this for days & I can imagine this being played in Fabric on the regs & a few summer house parties. Such a shame that most London D.Js aren't ready or futuristic enough to rock wiv this tune cos this is a BIG record. It's off of his latest mixtape, 'The Charming Mixtape', the sophomore to his very creative 2008 debut mixtape 'Jam' which you can download HERE... Anyway let's get back to the music, shall we?




Who here remembers Twissman's 'Women's Psychology' from time ago? Doesn't this record start off a lil like it? Maybe that's why I liked it from the 1st listen... This one's called 'Aquamilitia' & I mean, the title already shows you it's on some different futuristic s**t... Question is, are you really ready for this??? We're givin Theophilus London & the music he creates the 'We Plug GOOD Music' co-sign, get with it!!! 'The Charming Mixtape' should definitely be in your record collection which is why you can get it HERE! Definitely check out 'Day One Fans', 'Fatality', 'Hum Drum' & Theophilus going in U.K's own Crazy Cousinz' funky house hit 'Bongo Jam' but one of my favorites from the mixtape is this right here...




& It's called 'Cold Pillow', straight fire I tell ya! Straight FIRE!! So what's your verdict on Theophilus London then? The kid is the business... Jus don't sleep is all I'm saying!!!

So ladies & gentlemen, there you have it... some real GOOD music from 3 of the best (or shall I say 3 of our favorite) freshmen into the class of Hip-Hop. Do let us know what your take on these fellas are OR what your take is on any other new emcee out there...

SO Until the Next Time...

OH sorry, Quickly right before we leave you... As recommended by my home-girl Bola & partly because I've been listening for a month now & I must say Kanye West was on some futuristic s**t when he signed Big Sean last year... His latest mixtape 'U Know Big Sean-Finally Famous Vol. 2' is definitely worth a listen... you should definitely add it 2 your collection from HERE!!! My fav tracks on there are 'Say You Will', 'Love Story' featuring Keely, 'Supa Dupa' & 'Who Knows' which features Mike Posner... The album's coming soon as well, make sure you cop that!

Peace & Love! RIP 2 the King!!!