Posted on 10/29/2008
Chemistry is an elusive phenomenon. It’s what ignites white hot romantic sparks between two otherwise nondescript individuals. It’s also what marks certain rarified creative collaborations as truly magical. In both cases, chemistry elevates the whole above the sum of the parts. Fittingly enough, it is chemistry that propels the sophomore release from The Foreign Exchange, both conceptually and sonically, culminating in one of the more rewarding listening experiences of...

Posted on 10/29/2008
Consisting of all winners or not, a bona fide crew is luxury for today’s fans, but it’s that same extra effort that makes the AOK Collective all winners in the first place. For the unfamiliar, this NYC squad consists of Homeboy Sandman (Unsigned Hype - The Source, June ‘08), Fresh Daily, P.CASSO (“Chairman Choice” in the current XXL), Nola Darling, 8thw1, and Naturel, with frequent beat providers 2 Hungry Bros....

Posted on 10/29/2008
Decon is a multimedia outfit specializing in both the audio and visual aspects of the business; or to put it in Hip-Hop parlance, Fresh Rhymes & Videotape. The company's previous credits include Common's “1-9-9-9” video, Dilated Peoples' The Release Party DVD and Aceyalone's Lightning Strikes. In the summer of 2008, Decon stuffed Dilated, Aceyalone, The Alchemist and 88-Keys on a tour bus and drove them around the country for the...

Posted on 10/29/2008
The two guys that make up iNSiDEaMiND aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill turntablists. These dudes’ brains were at some point snatched-up and manipulated by Martians, and then beamed back to us earthlings to create music for both our listening pleasure and bewilderment. Gathering the pieces of 2006’s FragMental, Scatterpopia is the second dose of ambient energy released by the Toronto masterminds. Since their first recording in 2007, iNSiDEaMiND have made waves...

Posted on 10/29/2008
PZ is quite the learned hip-hop scholar. His new album, 2Blessed2Bstressed, features multiple styles of tracks running the gamut of hip-hop fair game on his and at times PZ has some pretty impressive lyrical puzzles pieced together. However, PZ suffers from the same –itis that a lot of lower-lighted MCs suffer: he can’t quite find his own voice and style in separating him from the pack.

Posted on 10/29/2008
Now that it’s become the industry genre du jour, it’s getting a bit crowded on the electronic music bandwagon. Still, Jamaican rhymetress Terry Lynn jumps aboard in hopes that her digitized dancehall riddims will be the right vehicle to spread the socially-conscious messages that dominate her full-length debut, Kingstonlogic 2.0.