Suburban spitter Asher Roth let loose his latest project, Pabst & Jazz, a couple weeks back to finish off what was a great 2011. He’s always been loaded with talent but hasn’t been able to get the deserved recognition from the hip-hop masses with one really good project. I was a big fan of The Greenhouse Effect Vol. 1 and Seared Foie Grois w/ Quince & Cranberry but they were both lacking polish. He’s put it all together with this tape, combining bangers that he’s released over the past few months – “Useless,” “In the Kitchen,” More Cowbell,” with fresh tunes featuring some rising MCs like Hassani Kwess, Action Bronson, and ASAP Twelvy. He even goes in on Kids These Day’s “Hard Times” with young Veggies. We see more of the playful, witty Asher with this project as he calmly packs every line to the brim with rhymes. I expect he’s leaving the knowledge bombs for his second album, Is This Too Orange. The Blended Babies provide beautiful production that make this so easy to lean back and nod your head to from start to finish. Plus Asher’s voice is so smooth that it’s like an added effect of the production. This ends up giving the calming effect a PBR and some jazz would have while you kick your feet up after a long day.

Asher Roth – Pabst & Jazz | DOWNLOAD

Tracklist

1.Pabst and Jazz (feat. Hassani Kwess; Kenny Keys) [Prod. Blended Babies]
2.Choices (feat. Action Bronson) [Prod. Blended Babies]
3. In The Kitchen [Prod. Chuck Inglish]
4. Useless (feat. Pac Div) [Prod. Blended Babies]
5. More Cowbell [Prod. Blended Babies]
6. Bastermating (feat. A$AP Twelvy, Chip Tha Ripper, YP) [Prod. Blended Babies and Chuck Inglish]
7. Common Knowledge [Prod. Blended Babies]
8. Golden Midas (feat. Boldy James, Nico Segal; Greg Landfair Jr. of KTD;) [Prod. Blended Babies]
9. Insurance (feat. ZZ Ward, Rockie Fresh, Blu;) [Prod. Blended Babies]
10. Hard Times (feat. Kids These Days, Casey Veggies) [Prod. Blended Babies]
11. Ampersand [Prod. Blended Babies]
12. Get By (feat. Nico Segal of Kids These Days;) [Prod. Blended Babies]
13. Not Meant 2 Be (feat. Nathan Santos;) [Prod. Blended Babies]
14. Running Away (feat. Nathan Santos;) [Prod. Blended Babies]
15. Charlie Chaplin (feat. Phil Ade’, GLC, Thurz; ) [Prod. Blended Babies]
16. Dope Shit [Prod. 1500 or Nothin]

Hit the jump for the In the Kitchen & Common Knowledge videos and a really good interview he recently did w/ Bootlegkev.com.

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Having spent the last few months in another country, I’ve become frighteningly aware of the state of our great nation. It’s amazing how easy it is to be engulfed by our day-to-day lives to become oblivious to big picture issues. I don’t speak for all, but still this remains true for the majority of my generation. Being away assisted in realizing how fucked all of it is. (Of course, movies like Zeitgeist help with this, although I realize the extremity and try to just take away from it what I can). The systems in place — education, financial, health — are all designed so awfully when concerning the greater good but when broken down it’s easy to see why they’re designed that way. Kanye West recently went to Twitter to announce his new enterprise, DONDA, named after his late mother Donda West, which claims to “pick up where Steve Jobs left off.” This new initiative will apparently employ the leading architects, graphic designers, directors, musicians, producers, A&Rs, writers, publicists, social media experts, app designers, managers, car designers, clothing designers, DJs, video game designers, publishers, tech guys, lawyers, bankers, nutritionists, doctors, scientists, teachers, and I’m sure more. He went on a rampage of inspirational tweets, sharing what seems to be raw passion and an altered mindset. One of the main points he puts across is that his passion is art and music but that his main goal is to connect people to make a positive difference.

This could all be fluff. It could all just be the ramblings of a man with too much going on in his head than he knows what to do with. But maybe he’s crazy enough to make a difference. Why not support a mogul who has some kind of vision that involves a positive widespread impact, and hopefully the money, ideas, and connections to do it. Time will tell. Hit the jump to scope the tweets.

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Chuck Inglish just dropped the beat tape he’s been hinting at for the past couple weeks. I can’t think of another producer that’s been putting out dope beats as consistently as him. 20 tracks, some familiar instrumentals (“Wear My Hat,” “Fat Raps”) with mostly unreleased beats. He shows off a little more range- not every one will have your car rattling like what we’re used to. Excited to see who he teams up with in 2012. Forget what you need to do for an hour, roll something up and get lost in your headphones; aspiring MCs, get your pens and pads out.

Chuck Inglish – I Was Seeing Stars
Chuck Inglish – California

Chuck Inglish – WRKING | DOWNLOAD

Bonus

Here’s another Chuck produced track, featuring Hassani Kwess from DC. Still finding tunes from Kwess but from the few tracks I’ve heard, dude’s nice. Was featured on Asher Roth’s “Pabst & Jazz” track off the tape with the same name.

Hassani Kwess – Kick the Bass, Chuck (prod. by Chuck Inglish)

It’s been an interesting 52 weeks. As we wind down towards the end of the world, we’ve seen the music industry evolve at a faster rate than ever. Collaborations coming from every which direction, electronic music infiltrating every aspect of our lives, and artists giving away music for free like they’re on the Venice boardwalk. The best part of all the competition and lack of record label influence on releases is the amount of shit that’s coming out now. You can’t go more than a week without grabbing a mixtape/EP/album that you’ve been waiting to listen to. I love it. Since we’re not doing “Worst of” lists, I’m just gonna throw it out there that Tha Carter IV was the worst album of the year. I’m not a big numbers guy, so here are the best albums/EPs/mixtapes I think 2011 produced. If you don’t agree with my opinion tell me why! I wanna hear what I should’ve been listening to this past year.
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Vince Staples, the semi-Odd Future affiliate, still remains somewhat of a mystery. Claims to not truly have an affiliation with Golf Wang but is featured on plenty of Odd Future tracks and routinely teams up with their producers. I guess it really means shit. His Death of Eros EP remains unreleased. The original tracks that are out there though showcase his baby bottom smooth flow and lyrical finesse. It’s about as smooth as you can sound while rapping about some of the fucked up shit he does. Kinda sounds like Earl Sweatshirt on a Xanny. He just released “Gold Chain Ricky,” teaming up with MIchael Uzowuru again. A full release is supposedly coming out the 30th, stay tuned. In the meantime check out his interview at Rap Genius and this post for full info on him on the OF forums.

| You fix your own problems, tame your own conscience
All that holy water shit is nothing short of nonsense
Not denying Christ, I’m just denying niggas options
Cause prayer never moved my Grandmama out of Compton |
– Versace Rap

Vince Staples – Gold Chain Ricky (prod. by Michael Uzowuru)
Vince Staples – Martin Ruger King (prod. by Michael Uzowuru)
Vince Staples – Versace Rap (prod. by Michael Uzowuru)

Vince Staples: Facebook | Twitter

Crizzly‘s been on an impressive rise this year, building a solid buzz after releasing a couple bangers in the past few months. He gave out a treat this Boxing Day, a remix of Dream‘s ‘Go Hard.’ The w0mp has a kind of vintage Rusko feel to it. He seems to be really perfecting his sound, looking forward to what he comes up with in the future. Catch him on tour with 12th Planet and Flinch starting February.

Crizzly: Facebook | Soundcloud | Twitter

Dream – Go Hard (Crizzly Remix)

New jam from The Jealous Guys featuring production from UK producer Kwes. Kwes really shines, creating a harmonious mix of soft synths and snares with a mellow bassline. I’ve come to expect tracks from BizYCasa and Ayinde to be accompanied by proper production. Show ’em some love, it’s that music with a message. Less braggadocio more provoking of thought. Throw it up if you’re tryna live life. (YOLO)

| All good I’ma livestrong
I’m pedalling on life’s bike
Ignore the yellow on my wrist
Hintin to slow it down right |

The Jealous Guys – Life (Kwes Remix)

Scope their video for Walking Around from The Audiobook EP