A$AP Ferg: "DTM Awards '14" ("Trophies" Remix)
A$AP Ferg has spent the past few months relishing over the big victory he scored with his recent release, Trap Lord, which has been in constant rotation over here at RubyHornet since it dropped. Today, as "DTM Awards '14", the New York City and A$AP Mob rapper dropped his remix to Drake's "Trophies" and also announced a tentative release date for the full A$AP Mob project with a tweet, pointing at March 4 for the official release. Check out the latest from the 'Hood Pope' streaming here below.
[Video] Sasha Go Hard: "Own Lane"
For Chicago hip-hop artist Sasha Go Hard's video for her single "Own Lane", off of her recent release Nutty World, the rising star decided to take it back home, bringing things back for the APJ Films-directed visual. Success has found Sasha quickly as she has risen from a virtual no name two years ago, into one of the leading ladies in hip-hop today, and she ruminates over feeling some type of way about the whole ride, while taking a trip through familiar streets while pressing, "I'm in my own league, with my own lane" from behind the steering wheel. Earlier this week she also announced a European tour, on the heels of a string of successful London dates in late 2013. Sasha has most certainly carved out her own lane in the greater hip-hop scene, and this latest track may be one of the most lyrically-inviting pieces to date from the rapidly maturing MC. Check out the video for "Own Lane" below and scroll a bit for the full European tour dates.
[youtube id="2rP_sGUb0dw"]
Mike Golden & Friends: "Hey Jane"
Later this month, Mike Golden & Friends will release their latest project, Utopia. Today, we get the lead single from the project, released today via the Internet. Featuring fellow Chicagoans Vic Mensa and Donnie Trumpet, "Hey Jane" is an emphatic play on dealing with the relationship with "Jane". Golden offers up an inspired, soulful chorus as Mensa continues to slaughter a wide variety of beats with his frenetic, changing rhyme scheme and easily relatable lyrics. Donnie adds his pieces in the background, helping to build the overall aesthetic of the track. If nothing else, "Hey Jane" should get you up out of bed to face the winter weather. Check out the track below, along with an exclusive behind the scenes video at Classick Studios from Davy Greenberg at Elephilms.
Chance The Rapper Covers The Source Magazine
It's 2014 now, but not much has changed for young Chance The Rapper, as the accolades continue to roll in. The Chicago native was recently named The Source Magazine's fourth "Rookie of the Year" in the publication's latest edition. Posing as his own Ventriloquist dummy, Chance joins the likes of past winners, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa. Currently, Chance is preparing to settle into some new digs out west in Los Angeles before diving head first into an already-packed 2014 that may just see him switch from the "Rookie of the Year" cover to the "Man of the Year". Only time will tell on that one, but for now check out the excerpt from the story and pick up a print edition on January 7.
[Album Stream] The Alchemist: "The Cutting Room Floor 3"
The Alchemist has long been one of hip-hop's most genuine journeymen, as any look at his encyclopedia-like index of a discography will attest to. The quintessential producer that seems naked if not making a beat, we recently were blessed around the holidays with a new solo offering from the legendary track crafter. The Cutting Room Floor 3 is a eclectic smattering of experimentally interesting and throwback-recognizable beats from The Alchemist, which set the floor for a lineup of features that could compete with most award shows as 50 Cent, Nas, Mobb Deep, Rick Ross, Blu, Kool G Rap, Capone N' Noreaga, and Meek Mill all hop on the project. We have a full stream of The Cutting Room Floor 3 available here below, kick it to iTunes to pick up the full project for your non-streaming pleasure.
[Album Stream] Angel Haze: "Dirty Gold"
A couple of days ago, Angel Haze took Danny Brown-like threats to her label, Island, to a new high by actually leaking the project herself on her personal website. Having forced the label's hand, the caved and the stream was down fairly quickly. Perhaps demonstrating the true power of artists in the music industry today, Haze did something that is often seen as problematic for artists, to herself by leaking the project after several attempts by the label to continue moving the release date further back. Well, it's finally here (officially). Angel Haze's Dirty Gold is a welcome drop for the XXL Freshman-lister and is a solid building on previously released remixes and singles. Give Angel Haze's latest a solid listen, streaming below, and read an open letter about her leaking the project early.
[iframe id="w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/125715443&color=ff5500" mode="normal" align="center"]
"It's so annoying that my label could tell me that if I fucking finished my album before the summer it would be out this year. I have gone to bat for this music. I have gone to bat for myself. I have literally sat fucking sleepless and starved crying over this shit. I turned down so much shit to be sure that I could finish this album because actually wanting something to me means doing all you can to be sure that it's attainable. I stopped arguing my point. Stopped giving a fuck about everything. Let these other ditsy bitches disrespect me. I turned my fucking cheek because MUSIC IS ALL I FUCKING HAVE. And I know that's the same for some of you. I did everything I could for you. I did not promise an album and not deliver, unlike every fucking one else. I sat my ass down and came up with this music WHEN I HAD NOTHING. Taking shit on the chin does not mean sitting back and letting the world beat and suck you fucking dry. It's knowing something is bigger than anything you are or will ever be and sitting the fuck down and complying to get shit done. I'm sorry if I seem angry. But these are my dreams. The only thing I have in my life. Imagine having the only reason you're alive being the very thing straining your existence. Ughhhh... So sorry to Island/Republic Records, but fuck you. I got here doing this for my fans and if you guys don't feel the same, it won't stop me. Idc what happens after this. They will get the music they were promised. And you guys JUST MAY LEARN TO KEEP YOUR FUCKING WORD."
[Mixtape] Clams Casino: "Instrumentals Vol. 3"
Clams Casino has been busy working with just about everyone in hip-hop since coming up with A$AP Rocky a couple years ago. Yesterday, the busy producer released his final, annual, year-end recap of work he's done with different artists. Kind of like his own personal, best-of list. The project is jam-packed with a slew of solid beats that littered the end of 2012 and early 2013, including tracks for Mac Miller, Rocky, Santigold, MF Doom and Jim Jones, along with several unreleased beats that found their way on the tape. Clams latest project was the HP "2-day Beat" project with Vic Mensa and several other artists that shows his rise into the corporate side of the music industry. Good for him. Anyway, check out some hot beats below.
1. Crystals
2. Hell (A$AP Rocky instrumental)
3. Cry For Me (unreleased)
4. Pull Me Down (Mikky Ekko instrumental)
5. LVL (A$AP Rocky instrumental)
6. Bird Call (Mac Miller instrumental)
7. Freeze (A$AP Rocky instrumental)
8. Haunt (unreleased)
9. Melthru (unreleased)
10. Bookfiend (DOOM instrumental)
11. Cold Feet (Mac Miller instrumental)
12. Wizard (remix)
13. Youforia (Mac Miller instrumental)
[Video] Taylor Bennett: "Heartbreaker"
Chicago's own Taylor Bennett has been gaining steam since dropping his mixtape, The Taylor Bennett Show this summer, and tonight dropped the video for his single, "Heartbreaker" off his upcoming 2014 project, Mainstream Music. The video, shot by 16-year-old Thelonious Stokes and premiered by IllRoots, is interesting, with Taylor musing over the intricacies of relationship issues, playing between a melodic hook and mixed bag of rhyme schemes throughout the track. The video is a small preview of what fans can expect from the 17-year-old's upcoming, sold out show at Reggie's Rock House in Chicago on December 20. Check out the video below, and keep it locked to RH for more on Taylor Bennett.
[youtube id="ZD50oBu2pOY" mode="normal" align="center"]