Def Jux affiliate Cassettes Won’t Listen continues to impress me with his remix projects. Earlier this year, he created dope remixes for Bisco Smith’s Time Zones and Yak Ballz’ The Compass. Now CWL is back with his latest remix project “Animal Ox” – a mix of Indie rock back Animal Collective and underground hip-hop legends Cannibal Ox. Keep your eye out for his new solo joint dropping later this year. Click below to download Cassettes Won’t Listen’s “Animal Ox” for FREE:

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This is a dope remix of Yak Ballz’ latest track The Compass, created by Def Jux artist Cassettes Won’t Listen. Click below to listen to Yak Ballz’ The Compass (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix):

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

I was amped to see this new track posted on EL-P’s Facebook page yesterday, as I’ve been waiting for dude to drop new solo material since he dropped “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” back in ’07. Although it’s unmastered, the shit still hits. Whores: The Movie is a track from EL’s upcoming “WEAREALLGOINGTOBURNINHELLMEGGAMIXXX3″ – which is supposed to drop sometime this summer. Click below to listen to EL-P’s Whores: The Movie:

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And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

This is a conceptual video for The Compass, a new track by Yak Ballz. The Compass was produced by Chapter 7, and is available for FREE download here.

Don’t exactly know what this is all about, as the Def-Jux-affiliated artist D Swain was supposed to release this album for sale later this month. Now all a sudden, it’s up for FREE download. Click below to download Danny!’s “Where Is Danny?” for FREE:

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This is a nice little freebie Yak Ballz gave out in celebration of Halloween last weekend. Silver Bullet is produced by Chapter 7. Click below to listen to Yak Ballz’ Silver Bullet:

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And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

I ain’t gonna lie, I was a little skeptical about Cage’s new shit when he dropped the video for I Never Knew You. But Look At What You Did, the most recent release from Cage’s upcoming album “Depart From Me,” got me interested again. From my perspective, Cage rips it here. Click below to listen to the track:

[See post to listen to audio]

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

El-P leaked this track late last night, and it is apparently material from the Weathermen’s highly-anticipated upcoming collaboration album. Titled Reports of a Possible Kidnapping, this track features El-P, Aesop Rock and Cage. For those you who don’t know, the Weathermen is a supergroup of Def Jux affiliated emcees consisting of El-P, Cage, Tame One, Yak Ballz, Breeze Brewin, Aesop Rock, and the recently-deceased Camu Tao (not pictured above). Click below to listen to the track (please excuse the occasional promotional overlays):

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And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

Brand new video for Cage’s I Never Knew You, from his upcoming album “Depart from Me” – set to drop in July.

Mr. Lif “I Heard It Today” Album Review
I’ve got to admit, I’ve been a little disappointed with hip-hop’s lack of awareness recently. While everybody came together in support of Obama, we all just seemed to drop off in the months following the election – as if there was no economic instability, housing crisis or social injustice being done in this country. Luckily, Mr. Lif stepped up with “I Heard It Today,” an album intended to create dialogue about various problems that plague our nation today.

Why I Like This Album?
I’ve always been a big fan of Lif. I just like his unique rhyme style and conscious lyricism. And I could go on and on about that if I wanted to. Instead, kinda like my reviews for his last two projects “Mo’ Mega” and “Black Dialogue,” I’d like to point out some of the topics Lif talked about in “I Heard It Today” which few emcees seem to be tackling these days.

1. The Housing Crisis – It amazes me that no one in hip-hop has talked about the housing crisis, despite the fact that it affects many hip-hoppers. But then again, this is one of those problems that are beyond the understanding of many of us who aren’t economists. So in the title track I Heard It Today, Lif manages to explain the housing crisis in everyday terms, and basically attempts to tell why it happened. The following verse blames the crisis on greedy lenders and lack of government intervention:

They were willing to give people with bad credit loans/
‘Cause they knew within a few years, we’re out of our homes/
And they could buy up all the same properties they sold us/
For the wealthy and maniacal, the shit was a gold rush/
They told us rates could fluctuate, but they didn’t say they could spike/
Now our credit is like/
How we gonna get another place/
Look at our face/
Distress at best and yes anger manifests/
When our president knows we’re drowning in the elements/
And really doesn’t give a fuck, so we ask for hesitance/
Bush offers only one-tenth of us pompous relief/
They may or may not decrease grief/
He’d rather help the lenders/
Original offenders/
Then send us off to get job number three/
Humbly sacrificing education and healthcare/
He’d rather just perpetuate the war ‘cause there’s wealth in it/
Health benefit it heavily tinted/
Windows of CEOs rooms remained closed/
So they never have to listen to those who oppose/
The path that they chose to slow economic woes/
They prey upon our desperation/
Instead of seeking elevation/
Shit is catastrophic in my estimation/
It happened during the Republican reign/
And some of y’all still went and voted McCain/
I heard it today/

2. The Economy – Lif has always been an emcee that speaks for the people. Therefore, it came as no surprise to me that many of his lyrics discussing the faltering state of the U.S. economy revolved around the belief that the wealthy trick the lower and middle classes into complacency by dangling monetary gains in front of them like a carrot in front of a donkey. The following verse from What About Us? stresses this point.

Is this in our best interest/
To infest the world with stress/
Just so you can dress best/
I guess you answered yes/
As we linger at the precipice/
Just to hear from dying – hear the crying?/
That old couple with the hopes of retiring/
About to clap you with the iron/
Trying hard not to let go/
Old goals are set from the get go/
Lost they power and the price of petrol/
And now they Petro/
And so the story goes/
Death with no memorials/
Editorials on this don’t exist/
Income tax is just a myth/
To make the bankers richer/
So they can sell you half the picture/
And seize your assets quicker than you can go acquire them/
We have the right to fire them/
Instead we co-conspiring/
Through silence, through science that’s social/
And economic/
They manufacture our consent to make a profit/
The papers been powerless since they left the Gold standard/
They using currency to woo the whole planet/

3. Police Brutality – So yeah, this isn’t exactly a topic that nobody talks about in hip-hop. But nobody talks about it like Lif does – who often stresses the deeper causes and effects of police brutality. The following verse from Gun Fight talks about the social consequences to families and communities, the lack of judicial response, and the belief that police brutality is just a small part of America’s system of modern day slavery.

Lorenzo, Darby, now let’s bring it back to Rodney/
Cops ain’t sorry they never small like a safari/
They viewing us as three-fifths human so they guns booming/
Death is glooming ain’t no punishment pursuing/
Them cops got off scot free, it doesn’t shock me/
Until they use their Taser to shock me/
They use Freeze Plus to seize us/
Dogs and leave us is dark alleys/
Protest they beat you with balies/
Families don’t recover/
From the loss of a brother/
Mother, sister or father/
It’s outright slaughter/
Emancipation Proclamation just some documentation/
To rock you to sleep, knowing your cell is waiting/
This nation is a plantation/
The government it’s slave master/
Police are trained to gather slaves faster/
Ask them brothers down in Alabama/
They brought the chain gangs back in ‘95/
Slavery’s alive/
Housing crisis, oil prices/
Low pay and high prices/
As the desperation rises/
They’ll be ready to fight us with shields and snipers/
Kill your kid in diapers, they’ll murder anybody like us/

4. Spirituality – One of the things I love about Mr. Lif is that, despite his political agenda and anger toward the powers that be, he maintains a level of positivity and spirituality in his rhymes. In fact, I often sense that it is Lif’s deep belief in a common spiritual purpose or energy that has helped to form his social and political stances. The following verse from former HHL track of the week The Sun illustrates this spiritual vibe.

I came from the wind, came from the seas/
Came from kings, came from queens/
Provided means to express what’s seen/
I’m the hope that will gleam/
When things seem useless/
Futile, fruitless/
I’m hoping you can use this, the truth can be ruthless/
You’re launching your attack, then you need some theme music/
Expressing your emotions in sync with the oceanic/
Tide – believe but gonna grind, don’t panic/
I could be frantic or maybe mellow and soothing/
No matter what tempo, with form I’m still moving/
I move Bob Marley and I moved Etta James/
Then they claim when the fire breaks out, I’m to blame/
Same people who raised hell in their youth/
Now they got all types of advice to tell you/
Do what you feel if your actions are real/
Then you shall find glory when the truth is revealed/
Just follow your call and when your visions are done/
Then wander …/

Overall: Ridiculously dope. I just can’t stop listening to this album, and it just keeps getting better. Mr. Lif’s “I Heard It Today” is easily among the best hip-hop albums of 2009 thus far, and definitely a must have for any hip-hop fan. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, I highly recommend doing so now. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Welcome To the World
2. What About Us?
3. Breathe (feat. Bahamadia)
4. Collapse the Walls
5. Folkore (feat. Dumbtron)
6. Police Brutality (Scene)
7. Gun Fight (feat. Metro)
8. PNN 1
9. Hatred
10. Homecoming (Scene)
11. Head High
12. I Heard It Today
13. The Sun
14. Dawn