Recently I came across a more soulful production of J Dilla than I'm used to on a vinyl called "Jay Deelicious: The Delicious Vinyl Years (95-98)". Most of the songs featured on here are remixes of The Pharcyde songs but there are a couple of soul/R&b songs with The Brand New Heavies and N'Dea Davenport. Dilla's music lives on.

This hip hop duo from DC released a remix album of their 2007 LP called "The Re Route," featuring remixes from some of my personal favorite DJs: Spinna, Damu the Fudgemonk, Nicolay, and Mekalek. Flashback to Stardom is my personal favorite but I think I already posted it in a mixtape a while back. Walk in the Park is my second favorite. Damu = the new Pete Rock!

French producer Dela's first LP called "Changes of Atmosphere" finally released worldwide this month. I've been following this guy for about a year ever since he came out with the mixtape, "Atmosphere Airlines Vol. 1", which reached a good amount critical acclaim - at least in underground hip hop. Last month he released a sequel to Atmosphere Airlines and had songs featuring Biggie, Talib Kweli, Supastition, Aloe Black, CL Smooth, J-Live, and more. Blu is one of the upcoming artists out of LA who's put together albums in his groups C.R.A.C. and Johnson&Jonson as well as a solo album in the past year and a half.

So one day I was scrolling through Rolling Stone's top albums of '08 and I came across "Dear Science" by TV on the Radio. I'd heard one of their songs (Wolf Like Me) on a Friday Night Lights episode a little while ago, but other than that I hadn't been exposed to them at all. Well after listening to this album from start to finish, I can see why critics are univerally regarding this album as one of the top ones of the year. I can't put my finger on what type of genre they are...and I think that's a good thing. They're indie, alternative rock, jazz, funk...I could go on forever. Just listen

Coinciding with the release of biopic Notorious in theaters, Astronote put together a mixtape of remixes of Biggie verses on fresh beats and featuring the likes of Puffy, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, Junior Mafia, and Talib Kweli. The man is long gone, but one can still see the mark Biggie made on hip hop and its culture.

This is a few months old but it's almost a crime that I never dropped the first single off of might Mos' upcoming 4th solo LP called The Ecstatic. There are only a few artists who I anxiously wait around months in advance for their albums to drop. Mos Def is one of those artists. Both this single and his second single, Quiet Dog, can be purchased on iTunes.

It isn't often that you run into a rapper from a foreign land who discusses the pride and perils of his country through music. For those who don't know, Somalia is a northeastern African nation in the midst of a crisis where the president resigned, the government is in disarray, poverty is in abundance, and pirates control some of the country's main imports and exports. You can feel the passion in his voice.

Common and (autotune-less) Kanye with Neptunes production on the same track = instant classic. Even though I already have half the tracks, I CAN'T WAIT for Invincible Summer/Universal Mind Control.

I don't know who Fki is, but he's in the same group as Mickey Factz so he must be good. This song is so catchy and combines a couple of beats I'm really into so this gets an emphatic thumbs up. Watch out for more of the GCFNY crew.

Seeing as this is the first election I voted in and the first time I've been reading the politics section in the NYT daily, I must say Obama has invigorated the youth in this country. Here is a selection from King Coz which features a portion of Obama's acceptance speech from Grant Park.