and its awesome. More from The-Drum is nothing to complain about, I think these guys are currently flying perfectly under the radar and are crafting a sound familiar to so many but purely their own. Check out the first single from The-Drum’s debut LP Contact below; titled “Sirens”.

Make sure to find you way to snag their stellar EP Sense Net; its free and awesome.

Two artists I’m fans of but consistently make it difficult for me to continue to like them because of my perception of their personal choices, so I guess its fitting both drop new videos today that are both in contrast to each other and to who I think they are as people.

Is Azealia a good person with bad days (a lot of them) of a good person with bad days (on display by her own hands)?

Regardless when you’re in Miami & ULTRA its a good day. She and the beat are fire.

Is Drake hard or has he just picked up the persona of his ‘dread nigga from the south’? Rap is music, music is art, art displays emotion; Drake was feeling a certain way when he penned this.

Cuz ya know lotion is still lotion. Anyway though he delivers on this track.

“From The Inbox” is the submissions portion of Social8gency, whether you sent it via email / Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr – we try to listen to everything. Keep Creatin’!

I’m way behind on the submissions, deal with it and forgive me for not bringing HAWDWERK to you sooner. He dropped his The Graveyard Shift album late February and I believe its worth your $3 to support a young man with talent and ability. The standout tracks to look out for are “Mastermind” & “Why Can’t We Smile ft. Chevy Jones”, both tracks present fully realized songs; the former about growth and expansion the latter about relationships and taking a look at who we are. Not laying this lofty of praise on the man, but I haven’t felt as strong connection with some hip hop as I did with these in particular since perhaps Blu’s Below The Heavens.

“Mastermind” & “Why Can’t We Smile” hit me that directly, so it could be more of a personal note than anything else, but that type of combination of ability, heart, and reflection are always welcome in these parts.

Take a listen to The Graveyard Shift by HAWDWERK, the man’s put enough of it in.
Get at the young talent: TWITTER / OFFICIAL

A rundown of a few things that caught my eye today; trying to build that link karma.

New Hit Boy posse cut ft. Raekwon, Schoolboy Q & more. – Pigeons & Planes

Trailer for Cali Beat Scene Documentary – OkayFuture

Fresh New Blu & Exile Video for “Ease Your Mind” – OkayPlayer

Wavves new video is apocalyptic fun “Demon To Lean On” – Pitchfork

Nova Rockafeller “Call Me Batman”

I don’t post everything that I like (that should probably change) anyway though Joey Bada$$ is nice; he will quickly become “that dude”. Leader of the Pro Era linked up with DJ Premier and Coodie & Chike for this track and video respectively.

If you don’t know Bada$$ then you should get familiar.

2 Questions:

1. Don’t Joey Bada$$ look like Pete Rock? There’s got to be something there right?
2. Has DJ Premier aged a day in his life? I guess hip hop keeps ya young.

Something to kick your day off right before you plop down and waste the rest of your week on the new Sim City. Dutch Producer BINK recreates Madlib’s classic beat for “The Healer” from Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part One, setting the tone isa Arts teh Beatdoctor bringing crisp visuals.

Recently with BBC Radio 1′s Zane Lowe, the Channel Orange programmer drops a few hints on his latest album as well what its like to sit in with a legend like Pharrell.

Something I’m consistently waiting for is new J. Cole. As rapper and producer he’s one of the few who can deftly do both. Crafting tracks that can get spins across the landscape of hip hop. So to my delight he just released “Power Trip” for your streaming pleasure to his Soundcloud. The track features Miguel who’s ubiquity is growing by the minute and I can’t be mad at that. Take a listen:

“From The Inbox” is the submissions portion of Social8gency, whether you sent it via email / Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr – we try to listen to everything. Keep Creatin’!

I actually met young Sin Marlee some time ago as he and his crew were shooting a video at my former home, crazy how things coem together sometimes. A friend of mine at the time was working with Sin’s Anti-Diamond cohorts and shot me some of their music; all were hungry, you could sense that, but Sin was the standout. Shortly after he was scooped with a deal on Bone Thugz’ label & dropped a well received mixtape “Something Like A Movie” presented by DJ Ill Will.

Sin dropped this solid gym late last year and I believe it deserves your time.

Always gotta support the homegirl Lyric, she recently released this little gem for your ears to vibe with. She brings in the help of oft collaborator Phene to round out the track. For real Lyric can spit and just needs to get the shine to be able to really carve a space for her self cuz there is definitely room for talent in hip hop.