Rise All Ye Walk Dancers

We all know the Biggie sample from this tune by Herb Alpert, but, can we just vibe out on the whole jam for a minute? It is sooo smooooooth! Plus, this video is HILARIOUS. I would also like to point out that in my extensive research on the topic, this is one of the first music videos IN HISTORY to feature "walk-dancing." I love "walk-dancing" and although it is more fun to watch people do it in a club (on their way to the dancefloor, leaving the dancefloor, approaching someone else on the dancefloor), it is also a treat to see on THE BEACH.

Onra

School is really giving the phrase "dog days of Summer" new meaning for me right now. I don't have enough time to do the things I love, it's all Dewey Decimal, MARC, and, other extremely anal and boring topics. One thing that bothers me is I don't have time to obsessively track down music like I usually do. I'm trying to make some more time for it, though, because I hate being behind when it comes to music. It's my ultimate FOMO.

I remember reading about Onra a year ago, and, then forgot about him. He turned up on Turntable Lab recently with the tag "new school boogie + soulful hip hop beats" so I finally gave him a proper listen, and, man --- this is some fresh music!! The beats are hip-hop, rnb, and boogie funk inspired. His latest album, Long Distance, is in my top 5 so far this year. There's no wobble bass, no trendy tricks, it's just straight up beat genius with AMAZING old school grooves. Funk is having a serious revival right now, in case you were still listening to dubstep. Watch for boogie funk clubs to start popping up all over, replacing the hipster soul clubs. I may start my own in the garage. If you like Dam Funk, there's no way you won't love this.

High Hopes



Mechanical


Long Distance


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Onra's Soundcloud Account

Stussy's 3-Part J Dilla Documentary is Now Available

Theeeeeee best beat maker in history? I'd give the crown to the late J Dilla. When you think about every hip hop song you love, Dilla was probably behind it. Slum Village, Pharcyde, Tribe, De La, Busta, Common, Badu, his collab with Madlib (Jaylib), and, of course his genius beat releases, most notably Donuts, was released a few days before he passed in '06. He surpassed and influenced every beat maker out there in the game. I have a ton of respect for DJ House Shoes and all the people that are keeping his name and music alive.

Rest in Beats, Master!

Rhymesayers, the Hip-Hop McSweeney's

The packaging for Freeway & Jake One's Stimulus Package from indie hip-hop label Rhymesayer's is so amazing, it propels them into McSweeney's (i.e., indie publishing design GENIUS) territory. Have you seen issue 33 of McSweeney's Quarterly? Awesome.

Watch & listen to the new release from Freeway & Jake One!

Dre Day Approacheth

Feb 18th is Dre Day and if you're in or near any city of substance, chances are you can hit the party (Minneapolis, the party is at the Triple Rock, with DJ sets by King Otto and Jimmy Two Times). To get everyone warmed up, we're giving you two dj sets by the man himself from 1986. These mixes have been floating around the Internet for years and every couple months someone reposts them (I'm just doing my part. And, I'm behind on hearing it).

Dr. Dre DJ Set 1986 Side A

Dr. Dre DJ Set 1986 Side B