Durag Dyasty - Luxury Whip

Man I been waiting for some new Alchemist music to come out!! AND I been waiting for Durags to come back!!  Shit I got mine on right now!

Anyways, the whole album is really gritty but polished which has kind of been typical of recent Alchemist produced albums.  Planet Asia, Killer Ben and TriState round out the vocal talent on this project and to be real I had only heard of Planet Asia (who I have been a fan of for a minute) but the other two MC's hold it down throughout.  

Luxury Whip is one of the many gems off the album with a super cool old sample which has more of a vintage Alchemist quality of production.  The vocals compliment the track well and flow perfectly and if you a fan of rap music then you should check this song out and go cop the album as well.

New Music: Big K.R.I.T. ft Bun-B - Shine On

K.R.I.T. is one of my favorite MCs out of the last few years and it he hasn't given us much new music in a while, so he was generous enough to bless us with this gem of a single.  As always, he impresses lyricly and the beat is vintage K.R.I.T., perfectly sampled old soul-type track but rearranged with a very modern feel.  Bun-B always comes hard on features, and does not disappoint here either. Bottom line: the track is fire, listen to it, tell a friend to tell a friend so real rap can get the attention and praise it deserves!

#BeatTape Kelly Portis - Scores & Spaghetti

Being a huge fan of sample driven beats, this tape was awesome to me.  I stumbled across this by accident really, the cover artwork drew me in, and I'm sure glad I gave it a listen.  I'm not really one to just sit down and listen to a beat tape of a producer I have never heard of, but this is some high quality music that I have spent the better parts of a few days having on repeat.

From the first few bars of the first track, The Opening Credits, I had a feeling this was going to be a great tape.  Focusing on scores from classic Spaghetti Westerns, the album really has a unique, sound and though there are no lyrics it truly does feel like a real album and not just a collection of beats.  The tape ranges from grand-scale ballads to  low-key super smooth jazzy tracks and a few other styles in between.  Album highlights for me are The Opening Credits, 24 Bar Da Vinci, and my personal favorite, Draw.  All in all Scores & Spaghetti is a great piece of aural art with quality production throughout, and a unique and satisfying feel to it.  I am now a Kelly Portis fan, and am hoping for more music from this very talented producer!

Download Scores & Spaghetti HERE.  Also worth checking out is the tape he put out prior to this entitled Free Lunch: Beats Vol. 4