New Music Fridays: November 11th, 2016

The United States just shot itself in the foot with the presidential election, but here’s some of the week’s best new music to take your mind off things.

A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service

a-tribe-called-quest-we-got-it-from-here-thank-you-4-your-service-album-cover_uyzmbuI’m going to be writing a lot more about this shortly, but this historic day saw the release of what many thought was an impossibility: a new album from A Tribe Called Quest, featuring the entire lineup from the group’s first album (including both Jarobi White and the late Phife Dawg), as well as ridiculously good contributions from André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Busta Rhymes, Consequence, Elton John, and Jack White. It’s early to tell, but this is already one of the year’s top albums.

Belly – Inzombia

belly-inzombia-mixtape-zip-downloadOnly a few months after dropping his sophomore album Another Day in Paradise, Toronto rapper and XO affiliate Belly returns with Inzombia. The eleven track project features Future, Jadakiss, Young Thug, Ty Dolla $ign, and up-and-comer NAV (who had a recent star-making appearance on Travis Scott’s “Biebs in the Trap”). The Palestinian/Canadian rapper won a Juno for his 2007 album The Revolution, but it was his Weeknd-assisted 2015 hit “Might Not” that brought him to some much-deserved international acclaim. Belly was highly involved, as a songwriter, on the Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness, and will feature on the Toronto singer’s upcoming third album Starboy.

Berner & B-Real – Prohibition, Pt. 3

bernerbrealprohibition3Taylor Gang rapper Berner has been teaming up for albums with Cypress Hill frontman B-Real for three years now. The third release in their collaborative series, Prohibition, Pt. 3, gets some help from a handful of stoner-rap legends, including Wiz Khalifa, Devin the Dude, Dizzy Wright, and Pall Wall.

Dumbfoundead – We Might Die

1478797444_fc5fc0be95022c6c2bbf2acb8815d134Korean/American rapper Dumbfoundead has been pretty quiet since dropping his third studio album, Old Boy Jon, in 2013, but that’s understandable given that he’s (allegedly) one of the founding members behind rising Asian hip hop visual collective 88rising (the group behind the rising popularity of other rising Asian artists like Rich Chigga, Josh Pan, and Jay Park). We Might Die is Dumbfoundead’s new mixtape, released through Soundcloud, that includes appearances from KOHH, Nocando, Too $hort, and Jay Park. Josh Pan provides some EDM production for “Banned in the Motherland”, and Brandun Deshay is behind the standout title track.

KXNG Crooked – Good vs. Evil

kxng-crooked-good-vs-evil-artworkThe Long Beach rapper born Dominick Wickliffe has had a long career, both as Crooked I and more recently under his new moniker, KXNG Crooked: he’s been signed to both Virgin and Death Row Records, been a part of the supergroup Slaughterhouse (with Joell Ortiz, Royce da 5’9″, and Joe Budden), and currently holds the position of either CEO or Vice-President in three record labels. Good vs. Evil is his second full-length of the year (after releasing Static KXNG with producer Statik Selektah in February), and it’s a political concept album about a future dystopia. Eminem, RZA, Tech N9ne, Xzibit, and Just Blaze all make appearances throughout the 14-track record.

OT Genasis – Coke N Butter

1478126561_4d92d876585e89063cc66d0a1b29571eAtlanta rapper OT Genasis is a certified hitmaker, managing to craft ridiculously catchy singles with both “CoCo” in 2014 and “Cut It” in 2015. His latest release, Coke N Butter, is the fourth album in as many years from the almost 30-year-old rapper (his discography includes a joint album with Busta Rhymes and J-Doe, surprisingly), and it features T.I., 2 Chainz, Remy Ma, Quavo,  and YG on soon-to-be viral hit “No No No”.

Odd Couple – Liberation

unnamed2-1478798444-640x640Chicago producer Odd Couple was one of the first signees to growing Chi-Town record label Closed Sessions (which boasts Jamila Woods, Kweku Collins, and now WebsterX on its roster), and he’s worked with a ton of the city’s newer heavyweights in his relatively short career. On his latest tape, Liberation, all of his labelmates make appearances, as well as Mick Jenkins, GLC, Mike Golden, Joey Purp, Kelechi, and more. Add this to the list of phenomenal Chicago albums that are keeping the city’s neo-soul tradition alive.

Also released: Chevy Woods, Gang Shit Only; Digital Nas, Dn EP; Dragonette, Royal Blues; Fluent, Carolinafornia Nightmare

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