Los Angeles emcee Busdriver follows up 2007’s RoadKillOvercoat with Jhelli Beam (out June 9). On Jhelli Beam, Busdriver’s legendary breath-defying flow teeters precariously on top of samples of classical music, jazz drumming and proggy guitar parts, without ever losing sight of the electronic music that helped define his sound on RoadKillOvercoat.

The legendary underground battle rapper Nocando guests on the classically witty Busdriver track “Least Favorite Rapper,” while Islands’ precocious Nick Thorburn’s influence can be heard on an almost ELO-flavored song “Happy Insider.”  Jhelli Beam is mindfully engaging and physically palpable at the same time – a wholly unique take on what an underground hip hop album should be.

“Least Favorite Rapper”
“Me-Time”

(right-click, save as… to download)

Busdriver’s Myspace

British producers Jez Colin and Matt Cooper of The Latin Project fuse together deep house, broken beat and hip hop with Afro polyrhythms and vocals on their second full-length, Musica De La Noche (out on June 23).

With brand new songs and a collection of remixes from A-List producers like Shawn Lee, Supreme Beings Of Leisure, Static Revenger and Morgan Page, Colin says, “some of our most dynamic work over the last few years has emerged from collaborations with other artists in our community such as Bebel Gilberto (“Aganju”) and Incognito.” Vocalists Freddie Crespo (erstwhile percussionist and vocalist for Tito Puente), Debi Nova (also heard performing with Sergio Mendez, Mark Ronson and Ricky Martin) and Guadelupian Joel Virgil still pop at the top of the mix with a few additions to the lineup.

The Latin Project’s first album, Nueva Musica, rose to #1 on the Billboard dance chart, won the IDMA Award for Best Latin Dance Song and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Remix Single.

More info on Musica De La Noche

After his debut Endangered Species, Nickodemus unleashes his second solo album, Sun People. Inspired by sunny days and good people, the album mixes positive dance music from all over the globe including Guinea, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Romania, India, Turkey, United Kingdon & his hometown Brooklyn, NYC!

Some of the original Endangered Species cast returns for Sun People, including Jay Rodriguez, Quantic, Hector “Tempo” Alomar & The Candela Allstars, Zeb, Nappy G & Real Live Show. New additions to the signature Nickodemus sound on Sun People include Guinean born singer Ismael Kouyate, Indian classical & pop singer Falu, Richard Shepherd of Radio Mundial, Brazilian born singer Liliana of the band Maracatu, the versatile voice of Nuriya, members of Taraf de Haidouks, and The New York Gypsy Allstars.

Free download: “2 Sips & Magic” feat The New York Gypsy Allstars

More info on Sun People (out June 16)

With the release of We Are To Answer (out June 9th on ESL Music), Ancient Astronauts have prepared a mixtape for your summer activities in the sun.

From old school hip hop classics, to new school beats, the mix skips in and out of genres, lacing hints of reggae with thick slabs of funk.

More on We Are To Answer

Download the exclusive Heart of the Future Mix (Right-click, save as…)

Heart Of The Future Tracklist

With a slew of product in the pipeline, Brighton’s Tru Thoughts Recordings are coming through with goodies from Quantic, Kinny, Stonephace and more, celebrating their 10th anniversary as an independent label.

Shot by the legendary B+ in Columbia, Quantic’s new video documents the conception of his upcoming album, Tradition In Transition.

Free MP3 Download (from the new Tru Thoughts Shapes Compilation):
“Don’t Joke With A Hungry Mother” by Spanky Wilson & The Quantic Soul Orchestra vs. Lanu (right-click, save as)

Read More & Watch New Videos From Kinny & Stoneface

Marking a foray into new frontiers of D.C.’s ESL Music, Ancient Astronauts‘ debut We Are To Answer is a melting pot of funk, dub reggae, and pure unadulterated hip hop. Featuring vocal collaborations with Bootie Brown and Imani of legendary hip hop group the Pharcyde, Azeem, Tippa Irie, Bajka, Phat Old Mamas, Ulf Stricker, Raashan Ahmad and Entropik, it’s a block rockin’, boom-bappin’ sonic tour-de-force.

Their very name, Ancient Astronauts, implies a mash-up of the distant past and the far future; traits exemplified in their melding of genres with forward-thinking flair and production technique. The artists behind Switchstance Recordings, Kabanjak and Dogu hail from Cologne, Germany…via outer space! Coy with their true origins, the duo can only confirm that they returned to planet Earth in 2001 after traveling the musical cosmos for thousands of years.

“I Came Running”

Click here to download “I Came Running” and stream more tracks from the album.

With Márcio Local Says, ”Don Day Don Dree Don Don”: Adventures In Samba Soul (out now on Luaka Bop), he stands at the crossroads of two great traditions in modern Brazilian music: one foot in samba (the heavily percussive Afro-Brazilian dance music that took its modern form in the early twentieth century) and the other in soul.
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Featured trumpet soloist with The Count Basie Orchestra for 17 years, Scotty Barnhart records his debut album Say It Plain out May 19th.

On it, he has assembled an incredible lineup of musicians including Wynton Marsalis and Clark Terry to perform his arrangements of six originals and six standards. From a radically new arrangement of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” complete with whistle and its danceable New Orleans groove, to a duet with Wynton Marsalis on Dizzy Gillespie’s Latin standard “Con Alma” and the rocking church feel of the title track complete with tambourine, the music contains a variety of styles from early jazz to straight ahead 4/4 swing, ballads, blues, medium Latin grooves, and up tempo burners that will satisfy any listener regardless of particular taste.

Barnhart “possesses one of the loveliest trumpet tones I’ve ever heard, can be playful, a deep thinker, virtuosic, adventurous, and a down home summoner of the sort of soul from which jazz comes,” says Stanley Crouch in the liner notes.  “This recording is well thought out and superbly executed.”

More info here.

The Beauty Created: An Interview With Singer Jesse Boykins III
By Mawuse Ziegbe, Photo (c) J. Shotti

No one has more swoon-worthy finesse than Jesse Boykins III. With his breathy intonations, boyish hustle and collaborations with artists like Melo-X and Theophilus London; he’s making noise in a soul music scene aching for something classic and new. In an age where vocals course through vocoders and double-clicks rule the DJ booth, Boykin’s New School-bred production and arrangement skills are both novel and necessary. His second album The Beauty Created is awash in richly textured instrumentation and driven by Jesse’s lyrical adoration of a woman’s quirks. Giant Step spoke with the Miami native about ’90s boy bands, working out with Bilal and, of course, the fairer sex.
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Reggae alpha-male Mojo Morgan’s debut solo album got Mojo? is out today via iTunes.  Heavily influenced by reggae rock, hip-hop, and R&B, it’s a new hybrid of Morgan’s sound as part of the Morgan Heritage super group, with his own personal message and style.

Son of the legendary reggae artist Denroy Morgan, Mojo carves his own niche in Rasta-rock style. got Mojo? includes a cover of The Police classic, “Roxanne,” recreated with reggae; the mellowed-out and sexy “Till the End” featuring vocals Mischu Laikah & Laza – perfect for soul lovers; and the standout party track “Tonight.”

Download “Tonight” here.

Buy from iTunes here.