Maureen Yancey, mother of the late James “J Dilla” Yancey speaking about the “The Rebirth Of Detroit” project. She also talks about the resurgence of the city and the Love that Detroit gets Worldwide.

RJ Bass

A year has passed but it’s still hard to believe that the Hip Hop icon known as GURU (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) is gone. Keith Edward Elam better known as GURU, was born on July 17, 1961 and left this Earth on April 19, 2010.

When my friends and I first heard GURU rap on the 1989 track “Manifest” and Primo’s production, we were like “What The F***?!” Where did these cats come from?! This is the sh*t!” I didn’t think I would ever stop playing that song. Over the years the GURU & Primo, better known as Gang Starr put out so many good songs, that it’s impossible for me to pick a favorite.

While GURU was mainly known as 1/2 half of the mighty Hip Hop duo Gang Starr, he was also responsible for introducing many youth (as well as many adults) to the world of Jazz through his Jazzmatazz projects. Collaborations with Jazz greats such as Donald Byrd, Kenny Garrett, Ramsey Lewis and many others (the list is too long for me to name everyone) proved that he was respected outside of the world of Hip Hop. The fusion of Hip Hop and Jazz on this project also showed many people how well the two art forms go together.

I’m going to leave you with a couple of tracks featuring GURU.

Gang Starr – Mass Appeal

GURU – Lougin’ (From Jazzmatazz I)

GURU, Rest in Peace.

RJ Bass

Just after Tuesday, 12 midnght EST (1PM,  Japan time) Shade Cobain released the third installment in his Theory series called, Cobainish Theory. There’s been a lot of buzz around this one for past several months and his latest does not disappoint. I knew it was going to be good and bought it as soon it was made available.  Hard work definitely pays off.  Shade, you outdid yourself on this one.  Oh yeah, the incredible artwork is by Nanz (@nanlib on Twitter).

Be sure to check out Shade’s previous releases by going to his Bandcamp page here.

RJ Bass

Over the past several years, there have been a lot people talking about how Hip-Hop is dead or how they miss the good ol’ days of “real” Hip-Hop (blah, blah, blah). Yes, there has been a lot of garbage put out (and still a lot flooding the radio and video stations) BUT “real” Hip-Hop has not gone anywhere…and its here to stay. There are a lot of talented MCs and producers all over the World that are making great Music…and many of them are based in North Carolina. Here’s one example.

Mallz is an MC out of North Carolina and recently released his second full-length solo album called Service Entrance. The album was actually started a few years ago and finally released last month. I could go on and on about it but I’d rather you listen for yourself. I’ll leave you with this…if you enjoy good, no-nonsense Hip-Hop, you will Love it! Trust me.

Peace

RJ Bass

Discovering new Music is always good but discovering new Music out of Detroit really gets me fired up! Hey, what else would you expect from this Detroit cat?

Liquid Copper is 21 tracks of goodness by Detroit producer Eddie Logix. This is the first instrumental release by the Hip-Hop producer who has produced Music for many Detroit MCs. It’s real good…and it’s free! Enjoy.

Peace

RJ Bass

Instrumentals Vol.3 by Concept is part of the “Instrumentals” series released in 2010 (be sure to check out the first two in the series as well). This collection of 9 songs will take you back in time a bit with its funk and soul inspired grooves. As I listened to each track I could hear elements of the great artists that were sketched on the cover. Oh yeah, the cover art is incredible! Enjoy.

RJ Bass