Buscrates & Kiara Ravae - Shine On

More goodnes from the Buscrates basement. This time he's hooked up with vocalist Kiara Ravae also hailing from Pittsburgh. The result is a fantastic piece of steel city street soul that leave us craving for more. We have high hopes for a potential upcoming EP or album from the duo!

Kiara:

"This is one of those feel good joints about having fun and going with the flow of things. Stay positive.. it's hella hard for me to do but I tried to channel what positivity I have into this song"


Shine on is not available for purchase or download (yet!) but while waiting for a potential release of the track here's Kiara's smooth cover of Echo's Doorway over D'Angelo/Premier's beat for Devil's pie.


Download: Kiara Ravae - Doorway

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Flying Lotus - Between Friends feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Captain Murphy

Flying Lotus contributes to the latest and sixth offering in the weekly Adult Swim Singles Series with the muched talked-about track 'Between Friends' that has been making rounds on every blog worth mentioning the last day or so.

As a lot others we felt that it's most definitely worth a write-up. There's Prefuse 73 and some Rjd2 circa 00 all over this. A perfect combo of wonky electronica and pure hiphop. The changes and pauses in the track are fenomenal, along with the outro. An instrumental of the track is available over at Flylo's soundcloud.

Prepare to get laced up in a magic world of basslines and hypnotic rhymes. It features hard verses (lyrics below) from Earl Sweatshirt of Odd Future and the mysterious Captain Murphy. The talk and belief around the web a while that it was Tyler, The Creator. But Flylo tweeted: "so glad y'all like that 'between friends' no it isn't tyler on there or any other rapper trying another alias". So is it Flylo himself? A Captain Murphy track on youtube has surfaced named 'Mighty Morphin Foreskin'.






Download: Flying Lotus - Between Friends feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Captain Murphy


Earl Sweatshirt

First off, I'm a start charging y'all per compliment
You give to me, see how much purse I can earn off of it
As far as bars, you heard wrong if you heard continent
It's incontinence, inconsequent turned sponsorin'
Rockin' a fur smock with
Some RC go for rockin' the beats, this is curb stomping it
Serve consonants hotter than hot combs
And surfing through brown perm and that germs that will jump off of it
Hot doggy with no condiments
Flow proper this show stopper be bow guarding it
Aliens be going hard and Early be going artisan
And lick fo' shot of the focus, talkative
Talkative, let the robbers in

Off a couple Sake shots
Watching pot grow in short shorts and some soggy crocs
Shoddy lot of black faces trading body shots
For all of the belongings in your pocket, park it
Hardly not, gnarly tots, nollie pops
Use a bit, it got me; then she buzzin' like a walkie talk
Staying gold like the only watch that Lonny rocks
Grimey socks and you know you don't wanna play with papa swamp

Captain Murphy

So unorthodox
Chillin' with a shaman, eating ramen in a parking lot
I brought a bag of dreams with me, breathe the kundalini in
Exhale a meaning and the feeling of Elysium
Even the reason leavin' 'em lost, lyrical boss hotter than
Most so kill me, martyrs and most of my Holy ghost
Host a party in 'em, I brought my odd unruly souvenir
On their blouse like a "Yours Truly" steel pin
Evil (Ha ha ha); they can't get past the deep voice
Conceived in a Rolls Royce, abortion life, pro choice
Got hot, put a beanie on pitch bent like a leanin' song
Learn to fly high the first time that I'm dreamin' on
The Force is strong with this one though, over 9,000
Midi-chlorian say so, really show
No mercy, all master, no Percy, show these little
Bastards in the journeys of my troubled mind, saddled by your
Blasphemy, look at what you father signed, now you can't
Imagine me, running high the casualty and fucking die
This is why we had to bring the guns out
Rattled neighbour's windows every night until the sun's out
Two dudes, two odd crews with strange leaders
Kitty cats a couple blunts new wang feeder

Outro

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Häzel - The lost tapes

"His father was a well known radio host in Brasilia back in the 80′s, the city where Häzel discovered his love for music. Being surrounded by his dad’s massive vinyl collection enabled Häzel to appreciate the classics, but it wasn’t until he first listened to the late James “Dilla” Yancey’s work that he knew his musical destiny was set."

Many great reunions this week. French producer Yannick Beaucaine a.k.a. Häzel just dropped his Lost tapes on CD, white vinyl and cassette (!) We previously covered his collaborations with Drake, Slakah, Onra to name a few.

Judging by his sound we were not surprise to learn from his biography that he grew up in Brazil and is heavily influenced by Dilla. He just released one of the bonus tracks from the album. Bosquito is available now as a limited free download. So be quick!

Häzel's The Lost Tapes is now via the-beatdown.com

Download: Häzel - Bosquito

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Beathearts rewind #47: Mobb Deep - Shook ones pt 2 (Figub Brazlevic remix)

I'm the first to say "if it ain't broke" when producers take on the classics. And I must admit I was a bit sceptical when I first got the link to German beat smith Figub Brazlevic's version of Mobb Deep Shook one pt 2.

It's apparently been out for about a year now but it's defintely worth bringing back. His dreamy, dubby but still rock hard version take's Shook ones to a whole other place and makes it 2012 relevant. Absolutely ace!

Download:
Mobb Deep - Shook ones pt 2 (Figub Brazlevic remix)

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Nas - Life is good (Track by track)

Nasir Jones just dropped his long awaited album Life is good. It's been a long time since we were this excited about a new Nas album and with the tunes that dropped before the album it sounded promising indeed. We normally don't do standard reviews of albums but since we've had our expectations up for such a long time we felt we wanted to release some of that tention through a track-by-track walk-through.

Tracklist:
1.No Introduction (Prod. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League) 2
Unnecessary. Not the best opener.
2.Loco-Motive ft Large Professor (Prod. No I.D.) 4
Still a solid head nodder for the people who are "stuck in the 90s".
3.A Queens Story (Prod. SalaamRemi.Com) 4 
Always had a weakness for storytelling rap tunes. Nice tune with original production from Remi.
4.Accident Murderers ft Rick Ross (Prod. No I.D.) 3
Ok track but I fail to understand how the only featured rapper on the album ended up being Rick Ross?
5.Daughters (Prod No I.D.) 4
Nice positive tune that sticks out in both production and the theme of the importance of beging present.
6.Reach Out ft. Mary J. Blige (Rodney Jerkins & SalaamRemi.Com) 4
Best performance in a while for Mary. Great choice for a collab.
7.World's An Addiction ft Anthony Hamilton (Prod. Salaam Remi) 2
First sub-par production from Remi. French producers mastered no-beat-beats 10 years ago...
8.Summer On Smash ft Miguel (Prod. Swizz Beatz) 2
I had high expectations for another New York Shit type (Busta) classic from Swizz Beatz. Fail.
9.You Wouldn't Understand ft. Victoria Monet (Prod. Buckwild) 3
Nothing groundbreaking but you gotta love the Miles Jaye sample.
10.Back When (Prod. No I.D.) 4
Solid reminiscent tune and production. This will probably grow.
11.The Don (Prod. Heavy D, SalaamRemi) 5
Without a doubt the best track off the album.
12.Stay (Prod. No I.D.) 4
Great late-night-driving-through-downtown-tune. Another grower.
13.Cherry Wine ft Amy Winehouse (Prod. SalaamRemi.Com) 3
Never been a Winehouse fan but nice production from Remi.
14.Bye Baby (Prod. SalaamRemi.Com) 5
My personal favorite off the album. Dope way to end the standard edition of the album.

Total score for standard edition: 3,5/5

BONUSTRACKS:
15.Nasty (Prod. SalaamRemi) 5
Why exclude one of the best tracks of the year from the album?
16.The Black Bond (Prod. SalaamRemi) 4
Dope production and another story teller. Why only a bonus track?
17.Roses (Prod. Dan Wilson, Al Shux) 4
Original production and an unexpected experimental track from the man.
18.Where's The Love ft. Cocaine 80s (Prod. No I.D.) 4
Another great track that should've been included in the standard edition.
19.Trust (Prod. Boi 1-da) (iTunes Bonus Track) 4
Solid track in a different style than expected.
20.The Don (Don Dada Remix) (Japanese Bonus Track) 4
Ok, but unnecessary remix of the best track off the album.

Total score for deluxe edition with bonus tracks: 4/5

The verdict? 

Well, all in all Life is good is in my book Nas' best effort since Illmatic. However, that stands for the Deluxe edition with all bonus tracks. The fact to exclude four of the best new tracks from the standard edition is not done out of love for music. I've got no facts to back this up but it smells label politics and marketing tactics and won't do Nas any good in the long run. Let's keep our fingers crossed that future copies of the album will include all bonus tracks and this might have a chance to end up becoming a rap classic in a few years.

Our take-away tracks off the album are:

Nas - Bye Baby (Prod. Salaam Remi)
Man! I must admit that before these new Nas tunes I haven't really paid attention to Salaam Remi's production skills. But with bangers such as Nasty, The Don and now Bye Baby he's defintely on my radar.

Bye baby is the bastard child of that Teddy Riley 80's sound (Goodbye Love 1988) and an early south London dubstep acetate (e.g. Doc Scott/Nasty Habits - Shadow Boxing). Fantastic tune that gives me the same kind of sensation as when I first heard Biggie for the first time on a crackling boombox in the summer of 1994.



Nas ft Mary J. Blige - Reach out (Prod. Rodney Jerkins/Salaam Remi)
Like Nas put it on LocomotiveI I may be "stuck in the 90s" but I'm just a sucker for that Isaac Hayes sample from Ike's mood. One of the best uses to me was Rayvon's No guns no murder (1994) but here Nas and Mary put on a great performance over that funky bass/piano combo.

Nas - Nasty (Prod. Salaam Remi )
"I’m not in the winters of my life or the beginner stage, I am the dragon Maserati, pumpin’ Biggie, the great legend Blastin’, I’m after the actress who played Faith Evans My little Jackie Onassis, dig?"

Nasty was the first video off the album Life is good but for some reason not on the album. (It's a bonus track on the deluxe edition). The track is produced by long time collaborator Salaam Remi. For Nas he has produced tunes like I can, Get down, Made you look and many others. It's great to hear Nas rhyming over a dirty breakbeat again. The video kind of reminds us of the feeling when Biggie's Juicy dropped and it was just what we were hoping for after remaniscing to Elzhi's Elmatic project last summer. It's got that same boots-on-the-concrete-street-corner-vibe we came to know Nas for.

Nas - The Don (Prod. Heavy-D & Salaam Remi)
Produced by the late Heavy-D this hard, straight forward beat with a ragga twist got our heads nodding from the first bars. We took our eyes of Nas and he brings back this New York banger that floored us when we least expected it. One of the baddest tunes of the years. No doubt.



Nas - Daughters (Prod. No-ID)
The third single off the album. It's entitled Daughters and is a dedication to to all fathers that try to be good role models for their daughters. Produced by No-ID this is a conscious slow banger.




Bonus material:
As a bonus and to wrap things up, here are two great documentaries about the man.

The first documentary is called Nas - Behind the music and was recently aired on VH1. It's his personal reflection of his career's ups and downs so far with added comment from the likes of Q-Tip, Common and DJ Premier.

Last but not least here's Nas ode to the old cassette mixtapes recorded the latest joints from radio back in the day. Courtesy of TDK Chronicles. Ah man, I just to stack up on those even though BASF Chrome maxima II was my choice :)

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AB The Confidant - The prologue Vol.1

To make the wait for D'Angelo's upcoming (?) album a little easier here's Washinton DC based Aaron Abernathy latest output. Together with Black Milk he's put together a fine EP of unusually well crafted covers. Our standout track is his dope version of Chaka & Rufus Everlasting Love but the whole package is definitely worth grabbing!

Tracklist:
1.Prologue
2.Kissing you (Total)
3.Everlasting love (Chaka Khan & Rufus)
4.Strawberry Letter 23 interlude
5.Strawberry Letter 23 (The Brothers Johnson)
6.Sweetest thing (Lauryn Hill)

Download: AB The Confidant - The Prologue Vol.1

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Buscrates 16-bit ensemble - Computer Boogie

Here's a great version of Valentine Brothers classic Computer Boogie from 1984. Reworked by Buscrates 16-bit ensemble it reminds us of the funky legacy of John and William Valentine from Columbus, Ohio. You've probably heard their amazing Money's too tight to mention. At least in Simply Red's version.

Anyway, here's Orlando Buscrates Marshall on synthesizers, rhodes piano, drum programming and microkorg vocoder. It's still available as a free download so be fast!

Download: Buscrates - Computer Boogie 

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Foster/Magic Riot - UK street soul mixtape

Following last weeks Beathearts exclusive funky 80's edit from MKRBT I've had a serious relapse of 80's UK street soul. I've never seen a proper definition of what defines UK street soul but there's a Facebook page that formulated it quite nicely:

"UK Street soul is the often overlooked and slept on soul sound of the UK. It's kind of like the UK's more soulful and delicate answer to the New Jack Swing sound. It was mostly produced in the UK in the late 80's and early 90's."

I've been listening to mixtapes with Loose Ends, Driza Bone, Blacksmith et al. non-stop for a couple of days now and I thought it was about time I'd share one of the better tapes I've found.

It's put together by a Foster/Magic Riot from Switzerland. We haven't been able to get a full tracklist (yet!) but it's smoothly beatmixed and a splendid selection of tracks. And before you say anything, yes I realize all the tracks are not from the UK but I still feel it represents that sound.

Foster/Magic Riot:

"Messin' around with some extended versions & instrumentals of 80s soul/r'n'b records. Maybe the right soundtrack for driving to your summer holiday. attention: heavy use of 808 and DX7 sounds! 
contains tracks by: barbara mason, royalle delite, dayton, vesta williams, loose ends, shokk, dee c. lee, nitro deluxe, zushii and others. Sometimes I only used the instrumental or remix-versions, and edited them slightly...

UPDATED WITH TRACKLIST BELOW!


Loose Ends - Golden Years
Royalle Delite - I'll Be A Freak For You
Zushii - Say Goodnight
Dayton - Meet The Man
Vesta Williams - Don't You Blow A Good Thing
Basia - A New Day For You
Barbara Mason - Another Man
Nitro Deluxe - Let's Get Brutal
Shokk - Lock Me Out
Dee C. Lee - Hold On
Swing Out Sister - Fever
Adele Bertei - Build Me A Bridge
Serious Intention - You Don't Know
Isabel Roberts - Rhythm Of Your Love
B.B. & Q. Band - Riccochet
Kate Farrow - Pride Or Lovers
Sade - Paradise
Carly Simon - Why
Stephanie Mills - Something In The Way You Make Me Feel

Download: Foster/Magic Riot - 80s streetsoul mix

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Beat Generation Series #4: MKRBT (Brussels)

In our quest to discover new soulful underground music we come across many up and coming producers from all around the world. We thought is was about time to put the spotlight on a few of them that we think are about to blow up. We call it The Beat Generation Series.

THE BEAT GENERATION SERIES #4: MKRBT/MonkeyRobot (Belgium)

MonkeyRobot is producer-duo made of Brussels based beatmakers Eric P and LuiGi (Eric Paquet & Louis Van De Leest). After more than 10 years of activity as hip-hop producers under the moniker of the Infinitskills-crew they changed their name and visual identity into MKRBT/MonkeyRobot early 2010. Exploring the boundaries of soulful music between 90 and 120 BPM became their acclaimed trademark.

Monkeyrobot also makes part of the electronic/ cross-over future jazz project ' 74 Miles Away' inspired from the likes of Bob James, Weather Report and Herbie Hancock to the futuristic beatmakers of today.

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Beatmakers and drummers are a great source of inspiration for us discovering new soulful underground music. Are you drummers as well? When/how did you start making music?

LuiGi: I always was surrounded by music and musicians at home since I was a little kid. Later on I started drumming at the age of 7, and played in several groups from my 16 till 25 more or less.  The fact to have a drummers background played an important role when I discovered the MPC for the first time. Must have been somewhere around 2002. It definitely influenced the rhythmical programming of MKRBT with other words, screw the sequencing, and go live as it gets haha!

In my later childhood I started taking piano lessons parallell to my drumming courses. I always had a love for the "rhythm section". And actually when you're creating beats or other electronic related music, this "rhythm feeling" on keys, bass or drums, is just a blessing. Blessing in a sense that you can produce in a spontaneous way, guided by my intuition, without posing questions on how should I do this or that.

Eric P: I'm not a drummer. I started playing guitar when I was 15, mostly playing blues and rock standards. The years after, when skateboarding became part of our life, I became more familiar with local punk and hardcore bands. Mostly through my brother, who played in one of these infamous local bands - Down But Not Out.

In '94 a friend of mine made me discover the art of sampling which also was the first introduction to a sampler. I made my first steps with early computer audio software which I switched for the MPC2000XL back in 2000. Nowadays, I use the MPC in combination with familiar audio software and synths.

As we both love "the live sensation" of playing music we translated our productions into a dynamic electronic live-set. Our jazz/fusion project '74 Miles Away' gives us the opportunity to play with other musicians, and to make part of an organic live band. This project is based on a minimal sequenced based structure.



Download: 74 Miles & Monkey Robot - Neverending Rhodes

What does the creative process behind a new Monkey Robot track/remix look like? 

We mostly exchange ideas, samples, drum patterns. Really rough unpolished stuff that goes from one to another. After exchanging, and building up a song in layers and pieces, we finish it up together in the studio. Consider it as a perfect example of complementary work, which finally is the strength of MKRBT. Where one half is good into digging for the right sample at the right moment, the other half drops down the bassline, drum chops.

Sometimes we build up a song from scratch in the studio: jamming, recording, arranging but that's rather rare. We tend to catch up in the studio as much as possible, despite busy professional occupations.

Who were your musical heroes when growing up?

From old school hardcore punk bands over blues legends, jazz heroes, 80's metal, pop idols to 90's rap supremacy. To name a few:

Jimi Hendrix, Pharcyde, Gangstarr, Black Flag, Michael Jackson, Jeru the Damaja, Circle Jerks, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Sick of it all, Miles Davis, Led Zeppelin, Smif 'n Wessun, Black moon, J.L. Hooker, A Tribe called Quest, Wu tang and Early Metallica.

What are your inspirations today? Could you drop a few albums or tunes that have recently blown your mind?

Nowadays there are so many names, so many dope producers, so many dope tracks that pops out everyday. It's hard to be uninspired!

But on the other hand, due to this massive daily overexposure, it's not that easy to discover good quality music that gives inspiration. Our inspiration still mostly comes from listening to older records from the 60-80's. From rock over jazz, soul, boogie records, crappy dollar bin records. But sometimes just a particular sound on a crappy record is sufficient to inspire us and to starts building up a song.

Here are a few contemporary names that definitely had an impact on the musical evolution of MKRBT the last two years:

Floating Points: All his EP's
He's just a musical genius. Nothing more to add.

Thundercat: The golden age of Apocalypse

The reborn Weather Report with a touch of Flying Lotus, virtuosity galore. The legacy of Jaco Pastorius still remains.

Dauwd-What's there EP

Terrifically well executed minimalist future garage. Ear catching indeed.

Pomrad - Vlotjes EP

Local producer who blew our mind, after seeing his live-performance in Brussels. Probably the best live beat set we've ever seen so far. Clever productions and a brilliant approach on the keys.

Any dream collaborations?

Nothing in particular, we just want to work with talented vocalists. Maybe a track together with Patrice Rushen on vocals and fender rhodes?

One of the first tracks that caught our attention was the sub bass slow roller Brick stomach. Tell us how that track came about?

LuiGi messed around with a new plug in, a Mini korg on one side, MPC on the other. This is one of the rare tracks that was build up from scratch during one evening (beside the mixing). No samples, just raw layers. As we're really bad in finding adequate names for our tracks, I literally referred to the Belgian syndrome that explains' the love of building and rebuilding houses'. Some subby broken beat going on here. At loud volume it feels as a brick in your stomach.

Download: MonkeyRobot - Brick Stomach

How would you describe the music scene in Belgium? There was of course R&S records that left a huge impression in the 90s, electronic/pop experiment Czerkinsky and more recently Lefto.  Do you consider yourself part of the scene?

Belgium has an infamous, for most unknown, musical history. Legendary jazz cats and projects, chansonniers, the Belgian Popcorn DJ-movement which was somewhat the Belgian equivalent of England’s better known Northern Soul movement, a largely spread new-wave community in the beginning of the 80's, inventing the new beat scene at the end of the eighties (which became the precursor of European House), widely spread techno & house output during the nineties and it's related internationally acclaimed club culture, and maybe most of all Belgium is internationally the most renowned for their rockbands we guess. Let's say that the Belgium's musical history and output is quite phenomenal in proportion to the tiny scale of our country. The list of bands and artists is endless.

We consider ourselves to be part of a movement instead of a music scene as such. There are a lot of DJ's /producers//blogs/promoters who are more or less walking the same path when we're talking of producing or playing soulful underground music. As we've been making music for over 10 years now most of them became friends or friends of friends. Brussels, our capital and the place where we live, is quiet active in promoting quality music the last years through dedicated radio shows, parties, labels and blogs.

You recently featured on Tall Black Guy's compilation Tempo Dreams (Bastard Jazz). How did you hook up with him?

It was Terrel (Tall Black Guy) that looked us up after being asked by label Bastardjazz to compile an album with his favorite up and coming producers. Always a pleasure when a talented cat asks you to be featured on his proper compilation. Such opportunities definitely motivates us to push the boundaries of our own production skills towards the future. By the way, Terrel himself is gonna be a huge name among on the current producers-scene. No doubt!

The featured track "Basement infusion" is such a banger. It almost feels like a part 2 of Danny Breaks classic "Jellyfish" track. We're you inspired by that tune?

Not at all. We didn't even know that track to be honest haha! It was the first time I recorded with the little phatty (moog) in the studio. All baselines and arpeggiators come from this terrific machine. It happened really spontaneous. Messing around with a new toy in the morning, and ending up the day with a housy track which became Basement infusion. The influence of listening to a lot of slow house and UK-bass music at that time is reflected on the whole track.

What can we expect from the MonkeyRobot studios in 2012?

Preparing a new jazz/broken/raw/future beat oriented album with 74 miles Away, powered by our close friends at Laid Back. Feature on a remix album from a local cat called JtotheC, with other artists. It's a 12'' and powered by local labels On-point & Citywurl records. We're also updating our live set and playing some festivals at the end of the year with 74 Miles Away. Other than that we're working on a track for a remix album powered by producer Evil Needle. We're continuously trying to get more stuff out of our synths and modules, before we buy new equipment haha! 

Which other up and coming producer do think deserves more attention?

Local beathead Title deserves to get more attention, one of the most underrated producers out here. Our fellow Brussels citizens Goldffinch, which are more active on the uptempo front, are becoming a familiar name in the UK-scene, and I hope they will continue their crusade.

As a bonus you've handed us a Beatheartsexclusive track straight from the studio. Tell us about the tune!

Download: Gaznevada - Special agent man (MKRBT re-edit)

Yes! This track is more of an edit. A chopped up original, based on a sample from Special Agent Man from the Italian group Gaznevada. They put out quite a few records from 1979 until their demise in the late 80's. Special Agent Man fits the Italo mold nicely, which basically is cheesy vocals/lyrical concept meets a very solid groove. Anyway, the instrumental version is really nice. Instant inspiration from the first moment we heard this record.

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That's it for this edition of the Beat Generation Series. We're really looking forward to MKRBT's upcoming projects and are sure you'll hear about them soon again!

www.monkeyrobot.eu

http://twitter.com/TheMonkeyRobot

http://www.facebook.com/MonkeyRobotMusic
http://soundcloud.com/monkeyrobot

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Gilles Peterson - La Revolucion De Cuerpo (TBG rmx)

Man! Just discovered this gem. Put out by Tall Black Guy a couple of months ago this is his contribution for Gilles Peterson's Havana Cultura remix project from last year. As far as I know his version was never released though. Until now.

And what a track. It builds on the orignal groove and percussion but adds a late night smooth deep house vibe. Still available as a free download so be fast!


Download: Gilles Peterson - La revolucion de cuerpo (Tall Black Guy remix)

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Frank Nitt - Stadium Music

Frank Nitt of the classic duo Frank n Dank from Motor City just released his solo full-length debut 'Stadium Music' on his own newly formed label Digipop.

2008 the 'Concert Hall EP' was released with the words 'Stadium Music' coming soon, and we have been waiting since. 2010 the 'Jewels in my Backpack EP' surfaced and we started to get our hopes up, and now it was finally time to release this beast! And it's just as good as we thought. Minimalistic beats, easy-going summer jams mixed with boombastic dirty detroit hiphop at its best throughout the whole album. Cop it NOW!

The album features rhymes by Illa J, Que D, Dank, Kid Sublime, Kevin Cofield, Numbe:ra and others.

'Stadium Music' comes in a deluxe casebook together with his first hand experiences in the 48 page memoir 'The View from the Underground'.

"Seeing his work ethic and how much he was off into digging for records and making beats, and just how meticulous he was. That was early, early on. Before anyone got to see or got to be around, you know what I'm saying? J- Dilla, T3, and Baatin were always at the crib workin' on new records. Me being at Jay Dee's crib with him, you know, if he was working on something or came up with a new beat, he would basically test me as an MC. We just liked being creative! 

He would say, Okay I'ma whip up this beat and we got 30 minutes to write whatever we can write, and then we gotta record it!" 
-Frank Nitt, 'The View from the Underground'

'Radio' is the first track from the album and is available for free over at bandcamp.
Over at digipop's soundcloud page there's a couple of other nice beats to ease your ear to as well.

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