Rhymes & LIfe: Danny! - "Keep Your Head to the Sky"

Yeah, I know this joint has been out since the beginning of 2012, but he posted it on Tumblr again, and I felt it necessary to share some personal thoughts/reflections on Danny!'s music and my life.

I’ve been riding for Danny! fairly hard the past 4-5 months. But damn dude just makes some really uplifting music. I’m in the midst of some pretty hard times in my life currently, and I can honestly say “And I Love H.E.R.” has been one of the most helpful albums for me to listen to the past few months.

Back in May, he allowed me to listen to Payback (1.0), and this was right when all these bad things started to happen. I really wish I would’ve been able to listen to tracks like “Get Up” along with the rest of the album, but unfortunately that wasn’t the way things played out. “Misery” off of And I Love H.E.R. more than made up for it though.

Anyways by the time Payback (2.0) comes out (SEPTEMBER 25), I really hope to be on the other end of this whole thing I’m going through. But if not, I know Danny!’s gonna hold me down with some great, inspirational music. Check this track out and remember to cop Payback on 9/25 via Okayplayer Records.

And if September is too far away for ya'll, he just re-released his 2nd instrumental album, Dream, Fulfilled today.

Rhymes: Ben Z & Dejection - "Liquid Reflections" (Artist Spotlight)

Today I received an email from an emcee named Ben Z, who hails from Madison, Wisconsin. Yesterday he released his new album "Liquid Reflections" which is entirely produced by German producer, Dejection. Ben's technical lyricism and Dejection's European, electronic hip hop production is a pretty solid combination. Check out tracks like "Circumstances," "Childhood" and "Love," which has a very cynical yet thought-provoking take on relationships. You can stream the album at their Bandcamp page, and they're offering a $10 download as well as a $15 CD. Press Release:

On August 7th, 2012, Madison, WI-based emcee Ben Z and Darmstadt, Germany-based producer Dejection released their full length album, “Liquid Reflections”. This bold album was born out of SoundCloud collaborations across the globe. It features a new and unique sound that combines Ben Z's intelligent lyrical style and catchy hooks with Dejection's bouncy electro synths and pounding drums. This new brand of hip hop will capture your attention right from the beginning with tracks such as “Reflect” and “Not just who you see”. Not only have Ben Z and Dejection delivered a powerful, thoughtful, new style of music; but they also brought along an amazing supporting cast of guest artists including: Sphinx Guiliano, theEditson, Jer 1 of Figureheads, Marlene Johnson, and One Hello World. To listen to and purchase Liquid Reflections, please go to: http://liquid-reflections.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-reflections To keep up with news, videos, and other information on Liquid Reflections, please go to: www.liquid-reflections.com

Rhymes: Rakotep - 2 (Artist Spotlight)

Since I started writing for Okayplayer and Rapreviews, I've been getting an influx of artists emailing or tweeting me asking if I could post their music. I've always done my best to at least check out the music and give it a couple of listens, but I haven't always been the best at actually posting about it. So I'm going to try and post artist spotlights more frequently. With that being said, BRL's first Artist Spotlight is a duo called Rakotep. They consist of vocalist/emcee Stacy Epps and French producer Astronote. These two tracks are off of their upcoming album.

//Rakotep = Stacy Epps + Astronote (2)//

Please check out the new musical offering "2" from Rakotep, the duo composed of veteran emcee/songstress Stacy Epps and French super-producer Astronote! Two songs from their upcoming debut self-titled debut, "2" satisfies your hunger for musical balance with the joint "Neva Know" featuring smooth sounds and soothing vocals and "Finish" a lyrical feel-good summer track with heavy bass-lines and hard drums.

Bandcamp: http://rakotep.bandcamp.com/album/2?permalink

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/stacyepps/sets/2-rakotep

Stacy Epps collaborated with artists such as MF Doom, Madlib, J Dilla, Oh No, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Flying Lotus. Astronote produced for artists such as Talib Kweli, Buff1, Donwill of Tanya Morgan, Joell Ortiz, Guilty Simpson and Mayer Hawthorne.

Stacy Epps website: http://www.japanubia.com/

Astronote website: http://www.theastronote.com/

Rhymes: Nas - "Daughters" (Music Video)

Hello my fellow beets, I know it's been a while, but I was super busy graduating and getting a job and all that jive. But I am finally back with a dope video/song off of Nas' upcoming album, Life is Good, which is set to drop July 17! This is the third video off of the up-coming album, and it is a really great song about being a father to a teenage daughter.

The song has recently gotten some flack from Nas' ex, Carmen for making their daughter, Destiny look bad. And I agree that the song and video highlight a lot of negatives including a line about her posting pictures of her condoms on Instagram. But at the same time, Nas is an artist and he is going to write about his life. He often blames himself in the song for not being a strict enough father or not always being there for his daughter. Overall this is a very moving and genuine song (produced by No ID, who is going to exec produce the album), and hopefully the rest of Nas' 10th LP will be as good.