Jean Grae - Billy Killer

This is what I love about hip-hop - it tells the eternal stories, reinventing itself, feeding on itself like a mythical beast.

So this is the source material. It's The Marvelettes rejoicing in community and love.



And 9th Wonder sampled it, and Jean Grae gives it a ferocious twist, focussing on the flip-side of the story - not the happiness of love, but the bitterness of the struggle.



Now tell me that isn't clever?

Nice & Smooth - Sometimes I Rhyme Slow

Early backpack rap, from 1991, from Nice & Smooth.



I think what makes it is the sample, straight out of Tracy Chapman's superhit.

Moroka - Kwaito Duppy Mix

This is dense. It's an hour of non-stop kwaito. Replete with heavily layered rhythms, eclectic instruments and all the usual bells and whistles, all smoothly mixed by Moroka.

This is probably not your cup of tea. It's not emotive, or catchy. But if you like music that sneakily takes you on a journey, without pulling at your heartstrings, this is the stuff. For something a little easier to get your teeth into, try Lady May's Kuminina.

Kwaito Duppy mix by Moroka

The Weeknd - The Morning

This is the standout track from that mixtape I was hyping. It's got synths in place of the strings you'd expect, and that voice - half falsetto, half swagger.

The lyrics are right on the cusp of hip-hop - it's almost a rap ballad, but his voice is all sugary sustenuto.

Commercial RnB has been stuck for a while now, and this is what the future sounds like.

Drake - Trust Issues (The Weeknd Remix)

This is like a gourmet meal made of cat food. It's a really tidy remix of this boring Drake track, with added vocals by The Weeknd himself. He's also released a free mixtape, which you can preview here and download here.

The lyrics are phenomenal - this is like another Frank Ocean for me to get excited about. This is the RnB sound of our decade - potty-mouthed and honey-voiced, with skippy beats and layered samples. I'm definitely not complaining.

Open Mike Eagle - Bright Green Light

If you heard this on the radio, you might not know it was hip-hop. That falsetto sounds more indie than urban, and it's only the big stuttering bass that makes it sound street. Well, and the intricate lyrical bravado.

In other news, Open Mike Eagle has managed to make crack dens seem fun.



Many thanks to Potholes In My Blog for pointing me in the direction of this.

Felt - Woman Tonight

Could this be the best hookup song ever? It's probably too brutally honest... the lyrics are just so on point.

Felt is made up of Slug and Murs, and Slug is half of Atmosphere, who I hyped earlier.



The sample that the instrumental is based on is pretty phenomenal. It's from Tommy Butler's Prison Song, which was part of a funk musical released in 1976, celebrating the life of Dr Martin Luther King.

Andi - Tales That Are True

I'm biased: Joey and his brother Philip are probably the nicest people in La Paz. And so everything they make is music to my ears. Literally.

But they have good form - they made Excuse To Stay, which found its way onto nearly every mixtape I made last year (or at least, the ones I made for people I like)

They also go on amazing explore-ventures where they travel across Bolivia, being nice. They went to find a plane wreck in the Amazon. Joey has videos on his YouTube. I live vicariously through them.

This is Joey's side project - a country-flavoured epic sung in tight harmony, shot in the hills around La Paz (which incidentally look like one of the more inhospitable parts of Mars). It sounds like a country-and-western hymn, in a really good way.



You can show them some love by joining their facebook group. Only good things can some of it.

Little Brother - Whatever You Say

Rap serenades - probably the 21st century's answer to the balcony speech.

Little Brother are consistently called the most under-rated hip-hop group of the decade. I dunno about that, but these lyrics are the best chatup line I've ever heard



Also, the instrumental is sweet as.

Womack & Womack - Teardrops

Sulky little groove, this one's a massive tune. The Womacks in question are the daughter of Sam Cooke, and her husband.

Ski Beats ft. Mos Def - Cream Of The Planet

I think rap and brass make a nicely strident counterpoint, and this track proves it. The lyrics are everything you'd expect from Mos Def - chains of nouns, motifs and cosmic imagery, building into something beautiful.

Ski Beatz has a patchy discography, but this instrumental is phenomenal - all complex melodies winding around one another, like an anthem for ghetto angels.

Ella Fitzgerald - Cry Me A River

When I'm broken hearted, I cry until my face goes puffy and my eyes are red and I look like a skinned piglet. Ella makes it sound gorgeous, and makes the flipside sound fine too. If I didn't love her so much, I'd hate her.

Wiley - It's Wiley (Showa Eski)

Took us 3 and a half hours to get home from Fabric last night. Totally worth it for hearing Butterz drop this in room 3 - my ears are still ringing. Royal T's set was ace as well, and he's done a really tidy garage-y remix of this very tune.

Nicki Minaj ft Drake - Moment 4 Life

Never thought I'd say this, but Nicki's got skills. Her lyrics on the first verse are tidy and fresh, and I love her growl. Good-looking video too (once you get past the excruciating pseudo-British accent in the intro... skip to 1:33)

Aloe Blacc - Get Down (prod. Kero One)

Aloe Blacc is one of the most unique voices to get hyped in 2010, and Kero One is my second-favourite Korean American.

Put the two on a party track together, and you get something busily funky. It's a bit more rhythmically complex than most lounge funk, and all the better for it.

SDC - Take Flight

Show Dem Camp are coming straight outta Lagos, in the old-school style.

This is a nice looped-up instrumental, with violins and boom-bap, with some casually clever lyrics on top. It's not poetry, it's didactic, and none the worse for it.

Aventura - Por Un Segundo

I'm on a schmaltzy tip tonight. This is a stunner though. It's a bachata from Aventura, the undisputed champions of the genre, who have spearheaded the bachata invasion in the USA. Bachata is a Dominican folk dance which is now danced wherever people speak Spanish.

A nice boy in Cuba explained its appeal. Merengue, he said, is so easy that you can do it while you talk to a girl, and get to know her. Salsa is tricky, lots of footwork, and is pretty much like flirting with her. And bachata, well, that's just sex. It's danced pegao, there are 3 steps and a swivel, and the hips are pretty much all that move.

This is one of my favourite videos because of the Spanglish intro, and the tune. I hummed this for about a month before I finally got it on CD. The premise is that he's singing to his beloved ex, who's about to marry, and the lyrics are beautifully bitter: "And now for a second, I drown in the sea of reality. For a second I accept my defeat, I truly lost you"

Frank Ocean - Hardest Thing

This is schmaltzier than what I normally go for, but I'd make a million exceptions for Frank Ocean.

This is the future of RnB, and his new mixtape is up for free download.

This has got it all - stuttering drums, a glitchy instrumental and post-modern lyrics (that balance between bravado and hopelessness is pretty on-point).



EDIT: The YouTube upload has been disabled by the record label... But you can download the whole album (the Lonny Breaux Collection) for free and legally. You'll have to sift through 64 tracks to get it, but it's worth it!

Grupo 5 - Hoy Te Vas

Bear with me here... it's 80's, it's Peruvian, and it's amazing. The tune is phenomenal. It's probably a good example of why cumbia is taking over the world: put it on late at night, get drunk, sing along and you'll see what I mean.



The lyrics are along the lines of "today you're leaving, you're leaving, you're leaving, you're leaving, but I know you'll remember something about me. Perhaps you'll compare me with him. I don't think I was better, I was just different, nothing else". It, erm, sounds better in Spanish? Their website is also pretty funny: they look like an Andean barbershop group.

Kid Frost - La Familia

Oh yes. It's obvious how much I like raps in Spanglish.

More to the point, Kid Frost was light-years ahead of his time here, sampling the funk out of 70's soul way before Kanye ever did.

At its worst, the American melting pot gives you boring cultural homogeneity. At its best it gives you this: Chicano re-interpretations of African-American music, set to a video themed around the Italian-American mob. Tasty shizzle.

Quindon Tarver - When Doves Cry

I think whenever anyone our age broke their curfew, or dated someone unsuitable, or wore a Hawaiian shirt, Romeo + Juliet was at the back of their mind.

This song was incredible when Prince did it, but Quindon Tarver's version is the definitive one for me. Its something about that unbroken voice and the manic drums.

Mexicans With Guns - Viva Radio Podcast

Mexicans With Guns always deliver the goods. This is a gorgeously sleazy, upbeat hour of tropical bass.

Tropical bass is a catch-all term for all of the deliciously filthy bass-heavy music coming out near the equator. This podcast is a really nice sampler - and it's annotated so you know what you're listening to. Which means you can chase up genres like tribal guarachero, if that floats your boat.

It makes sense that if white people aren't the world's best dancers, they're not going to be the best at making dance music either. (Please take the casual racism lightly - I'm pretty white myself, and an atrocious dancer).

So get global: pop this on next time you need some backing music. Am I wrong?

Viva Radio & Impose Magazine Podcast by mexicanswithguns

Cee-Lo - I'll Be Around (prod. Timbaland)

I swear I don't have a fetish for fat guys. The appeal of Timbaland and Cee-Lo is more acoustic than physical. Honestly.

Cee-Lo is the larger half of Gnarls Barkley, and Timbaland was the 90's super-producer who made an emo song top the charts, and made the best instrumental of 2007.

This song is dirty, in a way that Ms Aguilera could never manage. Cee-Lo has a knack for making everything intense, and this song is scandalous.

Quadron - Far Cry

Quadron are the most unlikely band: soulful old-school soul, fresh outta Denmark.

I really liked their last video, but its taken me a while to wake up to how exquisite this whole album is. Try it out - it's softly clever.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers/Harry Belafonte - Snow/Day-O

News flash! The Chili's stole their hook off the banana boat! OK, the similarity isn't overpowering, but it's definitely there.

See, here's RHCP singing about snow. The verses are fairly staccato and monotone, and the chorus is all based around "hey-oh".



And here's Harry Belafonte singing about bananas. The "day-o" bits (especially on the intro) sound a lot like the "hey-oh". Seriously.



OK, even if it doesn't, Harry Belafonte is a pretty amazing person, and that song is so good that Lil Wayne jumped in and sampled it 55 years after its release date.

Tayyib Ali - California Love

It's June, and it's raining. It's been raining for three straight days. But this song is the cure - it's honestly pure sunshine. And some of the lines are really tidy: "cold days seem like nice with the N out"... not bad for a kid who dropped out of school.

This is also one of the least awkward rap videos I've ever seen - he looks like he was born to do this. You can get his whole mixtape for free from his website.

Vagabanda - Vou Le Dar

Kuduro is exciting. It's sweeping across Latin America, just like reggaeton did in the 90's, and heavyweights like Don Omar are jumping on the bandwagon.

Kuduro is for Angola what baile funk (funk carioca) is for Brazil: music made in the poorest suburbs, and played everywhere. It's incredibly energetic, the rhythms are a shade more complex than anything you're used to, and as for the dances... let's just say they're going to have to be simplified if they're ever going to catch on in the UK...



The other barrier to world domination is that most of the Angolan groups don't have worldwide distribution deals. Fader magazine has an amazing podcast of some kuduro live from Angola, and an update on current releases.

Choc Quib Town - Pescao Envenenao

Bet you've never heard a song about poisoned fish before. This is so good it makes me wonder why no-one else bases their lyrics on metaphors about food poisoning. To be fair, everything does sound better in Spanish, but this is live, shot in one take, and they're perfect.

Choc Quib Town are pretty much the Colombian equivalent of The Roots. Being Colombian, their influences are very Latin - there's a lot of cumbia thrown into the mix. This is a less bass-based take on tropical bass.

Orishas - 537 Cuba

Cuba has this amazing mix of Afro-Caribbean and Latino cultures, relatively devoid of US influence, which makes for the most amazing music. This is Cuban hip-hop, but there are conga drums, Spanish guitar, and a folk song for the chorus.

A lot of Cubans have had to emigrate because of political and economic pressures, and the lyrics are about what it means to be in exile - 537 is the international dialing code for Cuba.

Calle 13 - Chulin Chulin Chunfly

It's a love song, I swear. It's just got a lot of brass on it, and - like all reggaeton - it's based on the driving Dem Bow riddim.

Calle 13 are pretty post-modern with all of this though. Their lyrics are always cynical, often political, and normally have a couple of bizarre sexual metaphors (this one asks whether she likes it when his "elephant coughs", and that he wants to drink "water from this well... even if it's salty or bitter").

I'm not sure whether it's an audacious attempt to get round Puerto Rico's strict censorship of songs or whether they're just reveling in the ridiculousness of it all. Either way, you have to love the fact that they've rewritten seduction with trumpets and metaphors.

Wick-It - Diversify Yo' Bonds

Wick-It is probably the most entertaining DJ I've listened to this year. He's invented lol-step and made some proper bounce tunes. Everything he makes has that gorgeous commercial sheen - it's so easy to get into. And this is on free download.

Diversify Yo' Bonds (A Hater's Guide To Trollstep) by Wick-it the Instigator

His website has loads more available for download, including an amazing unauthorised mash-up album, featuring Big Boi (of Outkast) and indie rockers The Black Keys. The album's so good that Big Boi decided not to sue for copyright infringement, and instead is taking Wick-It on tour to DJ for him. Props.

Dwele - Working On It

Flamenco-style handclaps are my ketchup - put them on, and everything tastes alright. They transform this song from lethargic neo-soul to something with frantic energy.

It's really sample-heavy: this amazing index lists all of them, but suffice to say it's fairly Dilla-heavy. Cutting so fast through such intricate samples makes for an intense instrumental. Sometimes small things are more powerful.

Jay-Z & R. Kelly - Take You Home With Me (Body)

Put aside R Kelly's dubious reputation, and you're left with a a voice that was built to sing hooks. In this case, he manages to make "body-ody-ody" sound catchy. Really.

And Hova does what he's best at - sarcastic metaphors, brand-drops and the occasional whoop. I'm not sure why I've been bumping this for 2 days non-stop, but I have, and you seem to trust my taste - try this for size.

Jazmine Sullivan - Bust Your Windows

Handclaps, clicks, a voice from heaven and an attitude from Philly: this is perfect RnB.

It's also got the immortal line "you broke my heart, so I broke your car"... I know a certain boy who would be devastated if anyone other than him wrote off his car. Although in his case she could just take off the duct tape that's holding the bumper on, and run off with that. I name no names...

KgPM - Mmiribi Be Beba

I have a massive weak spot for bilingual rappers (I've already drooled all over Kid Frost). And this little number from 2000 hits the spot: KgMP rap in Twi and English over a semi-orchestral instrumental, with a string section and that infamous thumb piano.

I can't get over the instrumentation in this: there's a vocal chorus singing the bassline! I don't think I've ever heard that anywhere else, apart from maybe the Beach Boys, and they didn't make it sound so beautifully sinister, or so low... they're practically singing sub-bass on this.

It's Ghanaian hiplife, which is a fusion of hip-hop and highlife. And the video's stunning (I have a theory that boxing-themed videos are either amazing or atrocious)

Imagination - Changes

This song is gorgeous, and the video is... hilarious. It's got it all: a bored audience, terrible lip-synching and a dance routine that involves an imaginary Stairmaster.

But there's no denying that this is a fabulous slice of camp disco, with gorgeous soulful vocals and twangy bass.

Brick & Lace - Wicked

Unabashed ragga, with flamenco handclaps. This is the stuff summer holidays are made of - right down to the regrettable holiday wardrobe decisions.



I don't think they ever matched this.

Los Abandoned - Van Nuys (Is Very Nice)

You know it would take something spectacular for me to feature rock guitars here. And here it is: Los Abandoned with their take on the second-generation immigrant experience.



It also features a shout-out to La Raza, for which I will love them forever.

The lyrics are about the peculiar experience of immigration: you drop a social class, and miss everything you took for granted. But it's not a sob story - it's ebullient, irrepressible and beautiful. And their dual heritage (check that Spanglish) and freedom to be rock stars is part of the American Dream that their parents sought so earnestly.

Talib Kweli - Keep It In The Pockets (Kero One Remix)

Imagine that the funkiest funk from the West Coast shared a night of passion with the sharpest lyrics from the East Coast. Imagine that nine months later a little musical baby was born, wailing saxophones and farting a kick-snare beat. Got that? This is what it would sound like.

Here, East Coast veteran Talib goes to work on a beat which is nothing short of genius. The way it ebbs and flows, the complexity building into near chaos in the intro, before slimming down to something minimal for the verse, is sublime. Kero One is one of the most exciting funk producers I've heard: his work is consistently musical (but verges into porno-music sometimes, which I guess is appropriate for a Californian)



Best of all, you can download this for free from the incredibly generous patrons of Potholes In My Blog

MC Lyte - I Cram To Understand U

This was released the year I was born, and written when MC Lyte was 13. It's a hip-hop ballad: a story worthy of Shakespeare, delivered with a voice that's somewhere between honey and tarmac.

Classic New York hip-hop: it's got a boom-bap instrumental and an extended metaphor for the subject. It's fluid, insightful, illustrative, and not preachy. I also love the fact that she didn't feel obliged to get naked in her videos.

B15 Project - Girls Like This

This one's for the vintage kitsch. It was released in the summer of 2000, and people used to tape it off the radio, and play it back on Walkmans and we'd shut our eyes and sing along and pretend we were in Aiya Napa, not a park with soggy grass and broken swings.

Growing up was definitely a good thing. This will give you deja vu though.