Bueller Da Don - "Testi-Fly"

Listen ... the simplest way for me to put this is this track is TOUGH! I raise my right hand, put my left hand on Hip-Hop and bear witness to the testimony.

Bueller Da Don is gettin' out of hand. Every time I hear him it sounds like he's aged 5 years in experience. The confidence. The delivery. The ear. Out of control.

"Testi-fly" is another in a series of stellar releases since "Cruise 2 Fame." (A project that's still in my car, by the way. Disc 1.) On top of the highly enjoyable work that Buell is doing himself, there's Traxx Trigga. This dude is a m-o-n-s-t-e-r with the production. Many producers don't learn to create epic structures on a pro level until they get to the pro level. Think about what Kanye, Swizz, Just Blaze and others like them sounded like in the beginning. They were clearly very good but they grew to be epic. Traxx is epic already. He's dropping stadium beats and Bueller Da Don is hitting everything out of the park.

A lot of these major label artists need to step it up. These indie artists are on your asses!

Check the free stream below. Support independents and cop the single on iTunes TOMORROW!

Bueller Da Don on Twitter

Stixx - "For My Town" Music Video

image via artist's website

It's been a while since I last heard from Stixx. I like that he's taking time with his work to craft top notch material though. A lot of artists don't understand that. Quality over quantity is much easier said than done.

In the same vein as January's "New York Love" video, Stixx continues to put on for The Big Apple with "For My Town." I don't have to explain to you the premise of the track. The visual is filled with New York staples though. Including a visit from NYPD. They were probably trying to shut down the shoot which was surely done without a license.

Stixx is as sharp as ever and I like his all around energy. "For My Town" is apparently on the upcoming 'Dom P and Cubans' album. No release date yet but I imagine that it will release before the close of summer. Get into it below...

Stixx on Twitter

www.iamstixx.com

Mag - "The Truman Show" Live

When I first heard MaG back in January, I was truly impressed with his sound. So when I got the opportunity to check him out live this week I jumped at the chance.

I caught the Bronx MC's 45 minute set at The Delancey with a six piece band and definitely glad a made the long drive south to see it. He took the crowd through previous material as well as some new joints from the upcoming project. I grabbed some video of the "The Truman Show" from 2009's 'I Ain't Goin' Back to Retail.'

I had a great time at the show and the band was on point. I've have seen many Hip-Hop artists working with live bands but I have NEVER seen one with a Ukulele. That was wild to see. Sidebar: I had a damn good hard cider to sip on while I vibed to the music too. Second one I've had in about 4 days time that was on point.

Anyway....

After grabbing some quick photos and video I got to really soak in the music and I'm really digging MaG's craft. He delivers "everyman" topics with great style. I'm looking forward to hearing what he gives us on the new project.

Watch MaG get busy and download 'I Ain't Goin' Back to Retail' and other works at the link below.

Click Here to Download

Villa - 'Pack Light, Travel Far'

'Pack Light, Travel Far' is a brilliant mantra. I've always aimed to live my life this way even though I didn't know what to call it. It's so easy for people to get lost in the shuffle of living in America. We often plant our feet firm and cross our arms and refuse to open ourselves up to greater possibilities due to fear of the unknown. Villa's newest album explores those possibilities but how does it stack up to the previous 'Inertia' LP?

If I had to describe it in a word, it would just be ... different. Villa obviously found a comfortable creative space with producer Brandon Rossi. 'Pack Light, Travel Far' is entirely produced by the long time collaborator and the pairing works perfectly. They've both found their "it" thing and sharpened that skill into a complete theme. The project is dope! No two ways about that. I love Villa's work and this project is no exception.

For all that is right with this album though, there was still something missing for me: variety. Where 'Inertia' gave me different landscapes this project fell short of that. Villa and Rossi's "it" thing is so sharp and precise that it's almost sterile and that's not a good thing. The content is there. The craftsmanship is there. It's just too much of the same. I'd equate it to visiting Giza, Egypt. After the first couple of pyramids, you'll be kind of over it. That doesn't take away from their beauty or the effort given to craft them but there isn't much else to see after the first couple. They were all built the same. Most of 'Pack Light, Travel Far' is pyramids. Great structures on their own but less impressive standing next to each other.

The Sphinx among them is "Polos With No Logos." This was the track that gave me the most excited energy. Brandon Rossi leaves the boards to drop his own brand of delivery on it and it is the most standout moment for me.

Check the free download below, complete with album art and a 12 page booklet in .pdf format. Enjoy!

Click Here to Download

Kiah Victoria - "Thinkin Bout You" Music Video (Cover)

image via artist's website

The last two weeks have been overloaded with talk of Frank Ocean. Between his "announcement" and the release of 'Channel Orange' there was more than enough ammo for fanboys/girls and haters alike. During that span, and given the amount of music I search for and listen to daily, I've heard TONS of covers of the ubiquitous "Thinkin Bout You." Let alone that this song released almost a year ago.

Many of the covers are very good. None of them were as good as this. Not Yuna. Not Karina Pasian. Not Braelyn. Not Tori Kelly. Not n'an nudda soul. NONE. Again, many are really good and most of them are over 500k views on YouTube. What Kiah Victoria has done is on another level, however. She has taken ownership of this song. Move over Frank Ocean. You wrote a great song for Kiah.

This is what inspires me to do what I do. I aspire daily to have this level of mastery here on this blog.

 The entire production is other worldly. The restructuring, composition, harmonies, timing ... all impeccable. I'm entirely entranced by this version and instead of heading to bed for the night, I'm looping this song and dreaming of another time and place. It's 1:30 am at the time of this writing and I should be in REM sleep already!

Kiah Victoria's ability to strip this song down and build it up again into this stunning arrangement is nothing short of amazing. She did something very different while maintaining the quiet, melody and simplicity of the original song. Sink your teeth into this and fall in love with Kiah. I know I did....

www.kiahvictoria.com

Kiah on Twitter