PEACE. Whether you’re one of HHL’s daily visitors or someone who has stumbled onto HipHopLinguistics.com for the first time, thank you for visiting this website. Unfortunately, I am currently on vacation. Due to a summer filled with travel and time off, I have decided to take my first break from this website in more than five years. I will be back in a couple months, but in the meantime, check out my four vacation posts below. These will catch you up with my favorite music of the first half of 2010, as well as what I’ll be bumping during my travels:

1. My Vacation Albums
2. My Favorite FREE Album Downloads of 2010
3. My Favorite Videos of 2010
4. My Favorite Tracks & Quotables of 2010

Have a great summer! And stay up on real hip-hop! PEACE

I’ve been so caught up in new posts, tracks, videos and downloads this year that I haven’t reviewed an album in more than 3 months now. Therefore, I’ve decided to spend my vacation listening to my current favorites, and catching up with music I never got around to bumping thoroughly. Below is a list of the ten albums that have either received the most rotations in my iPod over the past couple of months, or have become recent favorites of mine. Each album on this list is sure to get a lot of play during my vacation. I highly recommend checking them all out.

1. The Roots “How I Got Over” - Although I’ve only had this album for 10 days now, I’ve been unable to listen to anything else since I picked it up. Possibly the best album of the 2010. For a preview, check out former HHL tracks of the week How I Got Over and Dear God 2.0, as well as this nice little live performance from the Jimmy Fallon show.

2. Reflection Eternal “Revolutions Per Minute” - I had actually been going around saying this was the best album of 2010 for more than one month before The Roots came into the conversation. Either way, this is definitely in the running. For a preview, check out City Playgrounds and my current favorite In This World.

3. B. Dolan “Fallen House, Sunken City” - I was pretty amazed upon checking my iPod stats to find that this was my most bumped album of the last four months. I just can’t get enough of this album, which contains some of the best tracks of the year. For a preview, check out Earthmovers, Marvin and 50 Ways To Bleed Your Customer.

4. Sage Francis “Li[f]e” - This album took a couple listens to grow on me, as it is more spoken word than hip-hop at times. But once it caught on, it has been among my regular rotation for almost two months now. Another work of brilliance from Sage. For previews, check out former HHL quotable Best of Times and former HHL track of the week Slow Man.

5. Core Rhythm “The Ecology” - I’ve been bumping this album consistently for more than six months now. Core Rhythm is an NYC emcee who has been one of my local favorites for years now with his previous albums “Ronin” and “Nat Turner Reloaded.” For a preview, check out Core’s video for King, or his FREE download Metropolis.

6. Rhymefest “El Che” - I’d been waiting for this one to drop for years, and it was worth the wait. Possibly the perfect combination of underground and mainstream. For a preview, check out Prosperity, T.M.S. and Say Wassup.

7. Everliven Sound “Freedom 2” - This duo has been one of my favorite underground collaborations since they dropped “Freedom” back in ‘08. The follow-up is even better. For a preview, check out Get Up Stand Up, Elements and Crack and The Electric Chair.

8. ScholarMan “Fatherhood Dreamlovers Mix” - This is the only mixtape to make my vacation list, but I just can’t stop listening to it. Although only seven tracks, this album is a heartfelt tribute to ScholarMan’s pops – who sadly passed recently. For previews of Scholar’s other music, check out Hopes & Dreams, Reap, Sow and I Love Hip-Hop Music.

9. Homeboy Sandman “The Good Sun” - The NYC emcee’s third album is among his best work to date, and that’s saying a lot considering how much I liked “Actual Factual Pterodactyl.” For previews, check out Yeah, But I Can Rhyme Though and Angels With Dirty Faces.

10. Zajazza, Hired Gun, Rabbi D “Skillz To Take Brazil” - This is a compilation by three emcees out of the local NYC underground scene. If you like that underground sound with raw lyricism and high energy, this album is for you. For a preview, check out Thank Hip Hop.

I constantly talk to hip-hop artists who are looking to get signed, get a record deal, and make a lot of money. Unfortunately, the chances of that continue to appear slimmer and slimmer as the record industry evolves. These days, more and more artists are moving away from the old business models and putting out FREE albums. Below are some of my favorite FREE album downloads through June, 2010. Click on each to download the album for FREE:

1. Free Ice Cream “Bohemian Rap CD“
2. ScholarMan “Indomitable Will“
3. The Roots “Sandwiches“
4. Mystik Journeymen “Return 2 The Love“
5. Reflection Eternal “The RE:Union“
6. Oddisee “Odd Spring“
7. Toki Wright “Blackmale“
8. Rhymefest “Dangerous 5-18 Mixtape“
9. Domer “The Flaming Clipse“
10. Rabbi Darkside “The Darkside of 2009“
11. Mike Schmidt “Mike Murder“
12. Cymarshall Law “The Creator’s Craft“
13. Grieves & Budo “A Tribute to Felt3“
14. Everliven Sound “Freedom of Speech: The Last Word Benders“
15. ScholarMan “Fatherhood Dreamlovers Mix“

More underground hip-hop artists are planning, writing, producing and directing their own videos these days. Even more can now afford to have professional videos made for them. This list gives many examples of both. Click below to view some of my favorite hip-hop videos through June, 2010:

1. Greenhouse Cold Out Here
2. Bisco Smith Vibrations
3. Ruslan Domesticated
4. Element Self Explanatory
5. Richie Cunning Richie Cunning’s Day Off
6. Junk Science Really, Man
7. Sage Francis Best Of Times
8. Vinnie Paz Keep Movin On
9. Kosha Dillz Cellular Phone
10. The Grouch Whatever I Say
11. Type Man Crush (No Homo)
12. Kalae All Day O.G. Lyrikal Bookbagger
13. Cognito Outcast
14. Rel!g!on Lucid
15. ScholarMan Hopes & Dreams
16. Dessa Dixon’s Girl
17. Bohemian Rap CD Little High/Little Low
18. Hasan Salaam Angel Dust
19. Core Rhythm King
20. Metermaids Matchbooks

One of the big things I love about the current evolution of the hip-hop industry and business model is the new way tracks are released to the public. In preparation for their albums, both mainstream and underground hip-hop artists leak multiple songs to the blogs and websites. It is a great way to preview an album and to get free music. The tracks below are some of my favorite songs and quotables through June, 2010. Most are available for FREE download, and many have the lyrics posted:

1. Reflection Eternal City Playgrounds
2. The Roots Dear God 2.0
3. B. Dolan Earthmovers
4. Sage Francis Best of Times
5. Bohemian Rap CD Mama Mia
6. Dark Time Sunshine Primor
7. Everliven Sound Crack and The Electric Chair
8. ScholarMan Hood Stories Vol. 4
9. Kats Rich Dad Poor Dad
10. Random & DN3 The Won Too
11. Oddisee NYC Remix
12. Luckyiam TV In The Afternoon
13. Core Rhythm King
14. Debaser Don’t Sleep
15. Little Brother Curtain Call

This is the second dope track/video I’ve come across from these cats. The Mass Effect is a track from Spectac & Amiri’s “Almost Famous.”

This is a new video for Destroy, a track by C-Rayz Walz that I can’t find any information for anywhere. Hopefully, it’s a sign of new material dropping. If you have any details, please leave them in comments section.

Brand new video for Weight Of The World, a track from the Grouch’s latest album “Three Eyes Off The Time.” If you like this, check out the video for Whatever I Say.

“HELLO” is a brand new mixtape by NYC hip-hop group the Metermaids. Mixed by DJ Rob Swift, “HELLO” is a bunch of remixes of popular indie rock songs of 2009, including tracks by Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, The White Stripes and more. If you want to sample some of the tracks before downloading, check out Yellow Tape and Girls and Music. Click below to download the Metermaids’ “HELLO”:

Download

Brand new video for Get Up Stand Up – a track from Everliven Sound’s new album “Freedom II.” If you like this, check out Elements and Crack and The Electric Chair.