If you’ve already listened to Kanye West‘s new album Yeezus, you probably noticed the reggae-derived samples throughout. Also, if you’ve followed Ye’s production for a while now, you know this is nothing new for him. Our channel partners at LargeUp put together a list of Kanye’s Top 10 Most Jamaican Moments–here are a couple of my favorites.

Coming in at spots 3 and 4 were Jay-Z‘s ”Lucifer” and “Encore,” each featuring distinct reggae samples that make you wonder if West is short for West Indian somewhere in his family tree. Both tracks off  2003′s The Black Album, Kanye borrowed from Max Romeo‘s “Chase The Devil” and a reggae tribute to The Beatles with John Holt‘s cover of “I Will” to produce these island-influenced sounds for Hova. Naturally, Kanye seamlessly incorporated the originals to suit Jay’s style and made bangers of the both of them. Read what LargeUp had to say and scroll down to listen to some of his most well-executed Caribbean extractions below.

Meanwhile, the horns from John Holt’s reggae cover of The Beatles’ “I Will” blare across “Encore,” signaling what was intended to be Jay-Z’s grand send off on his retirement album. At this time—three months before the release ofCollege Dropout—Kanye’s production was still heralded as his bread and butter. While Danger Mouse’s mash-up masterpiece The Grey Album was heralded as a visionary project for its pairing of Jay’s Black Album a capellas with the sounds of the Beatles, it’s important to note that Kanye also went leftfield by weaving in Holt’s Beatles cover to create “Encore.” Mash it up Yeezy.

>>>Read Kanye’s Top 10 “Most Jamaican Moments” (via LargeUp)

The post LargeUp Top 10: Kanye West’s 10 Most Jamaican Moments appeared first on Okayplayer.

A year ago, DJ/producer, and ambassador of all things Detroit, House Shoes, released his debut producer album, Let It Go. With features from Danny Brown, Roc Marciano, Oh No, Alchemist, Quelle Chris, MED, Black Spade, and more the LP is well worth your dollars – however, he’s giving it out as a free download, today. Says Shoes: “My debut LP, Let It Go, dropped a year ago today. To celebrate the anniversary I’m letting it go. For the free. Fuck it. Pass this shit around y’all. It’s a good fucking record. All your favorites are on the shit. Buy links are below if you wanna pay some respect out of your pocket.  Stay tuned for STREET CORNER MUSIC, the new imprint on Fat Beats Records. More to come…”

>>>Download

1. Let It Go feat. Shafiq Husayn
2. Empire / Get Down
3. Goodfellas To Bad Boys feat. Moe Dirdee / Dank Interlude
4. Dirt feat. Greneberg (Oh No, The Alchemist, Roc Marciano) / Jeedo Interlude
5. Time feat. Big Tone / Hex Interlude
6. Crazy feat. Black Milk, Guilty Simpson / BahBahBahBah
7. Last Breath feat. Nottz, Oh No, MED / Mayer & Shoes
8. Keep On feat. Co$$ aka Cashus King / Helluva
9. Sweet feat. Danny Brown / Noodles
10. So Different feat. Chali 2na / Moody Interlude
11. Everything (Modern Family) feat. Fatt Father / Without You
12. Sunrise feat. Black Spade / Love
13. Trouble feat. Moe Dirdee, MarvWon / Royce Interlude
14. Nails feat. Quelle Chris and Guilty Simpson / Broken
15. Castles (tHE SKY IS OURS) feat. Jimetta Rose / My Brother
16. Cry Now / Gone
17. Roller Coaster feat. Self Says and Fat Albert Einstein
18. Empire Reprise feat. Sam Beaubien of Will Sessions (Bonus Track)

The post House Shoes – Let It Go [LP Download] appeared first on Okayplayer.

JJ DOOM drops the official video for their song “Bookhead” directed by legendary street artist Steve “ESPO” Powers. The footage follows their behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video in London. The final cut features DOOM spitting over a dense score that thumps against an ominous melody from Jneiro Jarel. JJ flips the track with a bit of his trademark Braziliant sound around the halfway mark. The visual finds DOOM sporting a new look as he ditches his trademark metal face for a two-way mirror mask that allows him to spy on the world he reflects and spend a little time catching up on reading; by the end of the video DOOM has made himself comfortable inside the stacks of a local bookstore and the pages of “The Canterbury Tales.” Check the footage below to view the full video for JJ DOOM’s “Bookhead” presented by NOISEY.

The post JJ DOOM – “BOOKHEAD” [Official Video] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Public Enemy, hip-hop’s original revolutionaries, are about to kick over the barriers once again. Specifically the rap legends have decided to release “Get Up Stand Up“–their fist-raising collaboration with rhymesayer Brother Ali–as a BitTorrent bundle today. That might not sound like a shot heard round the world at first gloss but what it means is that the group is letting their song’s DNA go viral in the most way possible by letting fans not only download the song but also access its 37 multitrack stems (plus additional video content) simply by entering an email.

That’s when things really get out of hand–fans will have an opportunity to create their own song using the multitracks and share those with Public Enemy using another BitTorrent product SoShare. PE will then choose the winners with the top pick getting produced and released by Public Enemy.

In short, its about as close as Chuck D could come to make the lyrics of the song:

“This song don’t give a damn / you can’t dance or romance to it / This song ain’t arrogant / if you don’t try, buy it / if your radio denies it..”

…come to life. Since using technology to take hip-hop direct to the masses is pretty much the heart of what Okayplayer has been about since 1.0, we are understandably a little amped about this whole thing–not to mention extremely proud to have BitTorrent as our official sponsor and partner in content-capture at Roots Picnic 2013.

PE & Ali’s power move is just the first volley of a whole new format for music and other culture that the BitTorrent bundle represents, so in the spirit of empowering music-makers and spreading knowledge we asked Chuck D’s manager Gary “G-Wiz” Rinaldo and BitTorrent’s Matt Mason to break it all down for us. Hit the links below to get the “Get Up Stand Up” bundle and–ESPECIALLY if you make music, scroll down to get the full science on how BitTorrent is about to rewrite the basic code of the Internet.

 >>>Download Public Enemy’s BitTorrent Bundle

>>>Get Remix Contest Details

 >>>More Info

Gary “G-Wiz” Rinaldo On Public Enemy x BitTorrent:

OKP: Why did PE choose to partner with BitTorrent on this?G-Wiz: Because if you’re going to make very large files available, who better to make sure everyone can actually get it than BitTorrent technology? Couple that with the options available in the bundle and it makes complete sense. Streaming is great but we believe in retaining files too. As more and more fans are herded into accessing media but never retaining it, it is important in many cases for fans to have access to the files they have gotten the right to download.

OKP: Why was it important to give fans the multitracks? What do you hope to get back from this other than an awesome remix?
GW: It is the best case scenario when doing a remix. Having an acapella is good, have the ability to access more of the music is great, the full multitrack is usually not an option, we wanted to make it an option for this remix. [BitTorrent also has] a large music community with the best technology for transferring large files seemed like the perfect fit for what we wanted to do.

OKP: What has been the impact on technology on the relationship between artists and fans?
GW: We’ve supported it from the beginning, we believe in it, direct connecting, faster access to music, making things available. For many established people in the music business there is a fear that comes along with it. We don’t have that fear. The process of technology affecting how music is made and sold is almost complete. Its now in everyone’s hands and its more about what you can do rather than gaining access to a facility to do it in. Motion pictures are well into that cycle now. Fairly soon, the idea and creativity behind it will be the only limitation.

Matt Mason on PE x BitTorrent:

OKP: First off, what is BitTorrent and why do people need to know about it?
BT:That’s a great question. There’s a lot of confusion about what BitTorrent is, and what it does. So here it is in plain language: BitTorrent is an Internet protocol; a way of doing things online that makes the web more efficient. It was invented in 2001 by our founder and chief scientist, Bram Cohen as a replacement for HTTP; the protocol that moves Internet traffic. When the Internet was created, no one envisioned the size and volume of the data that would travel across it each day. In the past few years alone creating HD video and hi-resolution photos on your smartphone has become possible. And if you take photos and vids as often as I do, then multiply that by the millions of people with such a smartphone – that’s a hell of alot data clogging up the Internet. And they haven’t even started to roll out 4K video, but it’s coming. BitTorrent is what makes these files move smoothly over the Internet without creating traffic jams.

BitTorrent is used by the Internet’s leading platforms to move data, everyone from Facebook to Wikipedia to Twitter to the Human Geonome Project and the Large Hadron Collider uses BitTorrent to do so. With over 170 million users and more than 30% of all Internet traffic, BitTorrent is hugely important resource for content creators and consumers.

The post Public Enemy + BitTorrent Team Up To Revolutionize Online Music appeared first on Okayplayer.

I was looking forward to peepin’ the new Slum Village album, Evolution, regardless, but cot damn that “Summer Breeze” joint won me over somehtin’ serious. With the full LP set to drop next Tuesday (6/25), VIBE just premiered the full stream of the LP. Features on the 12-track release include Havoc, J. Ivy, Earlly Mac, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Rapper Big Pooh, Joe Scudda, and Blu. The members may have changed, but T3, Young RJ, and Illa J show they’re still capable of making that good SV music the name has been known for over the years. Pre-order Evolution via iTunes.

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Ice Cube takes center stage at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to perform the west coast rap classic “It Was A Good Day” with The Roots. Ice Cube promotes peace during the performance and drops a few shouts to ?uestlove, Jimmy Fallon and The Isley Brothers; Cube’s song samples their iconic 1977 slow-jam “Footsteps In The Dark.” The entire audience gets in on the act, swaying to the chilled out track with their hands in the air. Check the performance below. Look out for Ice Cube’s forthcoming LP Everythang’s Corrupt, dropping early next year. He hits the road this summer with De La Soul, Public Enemy and L.L. Cool J.

The post Ice Cube x The Roots – “It Was A Good Day” Live On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon appeared first on Okayplayer.

TiRon & Ayomari surely are keeping their fans entertained as we wait for their next LP, The Great New Wonderful. Today, they released their second pre-TGNW EP, The Wonderful Prelude Pt. 2. This one seamlessly picks up where the last one left off. No throwaways here, 4 more great tracks from one of the more promising duos out of the west. If you really wanna be down with that T&A wave, head to their store and cop the new ‘Wonderful’ tee. Stream/download The Wonderful Prelude Pt. 2, below.

The post TiRon & Ayomari – The Wonderful Prelude Pt. 2 [EP] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Ice-T teams with Phase 4 Films to present Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp – a documentary that dissects the life and works of legendary Chicago pimp Iceberg Slim. The documentary directed by Jorge Hinojosa features Ice-T (a former pimp himself), Snoop Lion, Henry Rollins, Chris Rock and Quincy Jones offering commentary on Slim and the seminal seven-tome series of books that would go on to demonstrate the strength of street knowledge; his writing inadvertently gave birth to a street literature industry that continues to boom as many authors self-publish decisively seedy and suspenseful tales from the hood. Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp is slated to drop On Demand on July 12th. It hits theaters on July 19th. Check the documentary trailer below. Stay tuned for more from Ice-T’s Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp.

The post Pass The Popcorn: Iceberg Slim Documentary [Official Trailer] appeared first on Okayplayer.

I needed this one right about now. Some hard boom bap shit with Blu (on his A game) supplying the verses. This new banger comes from German producer Klaus Layer (fka Captain Crook) and will appear on his upcoming album, The Adventures of Captain Crook. For now, enjoy the latest gem from Redefinition Records (and go ahead and cop that flex disc vinyl).

The post Klaus Layer “Illest In Charge” feat. Blu appeared first on Okayplayer.

The Roots hosted a sold out crowd for the 6th Annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on June 1st. The sun came out with the concertgoers to raise the temperature on an already sizzling lineup as people packed the Festival Pier on Penns Landing for a day of non-stop partying courtesy of The Roots and an eclectic line up of top talent. Now you can relive it all with our official recap video in association with our new friends at BitTorrent.

The main stage played host to Jennah Bell, Sonnymoon and the Robert Glasper Experiment while Trinidad James and Joey Bada$$ kept it suffocatingly crunk inside Diplo-tent. Solange murdered her set with an awesome performance while A-Trak took over the tent and proceeded to tear the canvas off. Macklemore‘s crowd-surfing skills gave us reason to believe he might be capable of walking on water. Meanwhile, the Okaykittens (more on them very soon) were busy stealing the show backstage as Trinidad James and his crew battled Pro Era on the basketball court. Naughty By Nature officially sent fans over the edge during a show-stopping performance with The Roots that shut the stage down. The evening came to a close as Meek Mill hit the stage for a surprise set with The Legendary Roots Crew. He put on for Philly with his rapid-fire flow to cap another epic weekend in the City of Brotherly Love.

Check the footage below to check what you missed or relive the moment once more. Come Alive! Keep an eye out for more big news from Okayplayer and BitTorrent (follow them on twitter) coming later today, as well as more original videos from the Picnic all this week.

The post Okayplayer TV: 6th Annual Roots Picnic Recap! appeared first on Okayplayer.