Hard to talk about up and coming rappers without mentioning Dom Kennedy. After being mysteriously left off the XXL Mag Freshman Class ’11 Cover, Dom dropped off a treat today via twitter to hold us off until his much anticipated From the Westside With Love II. XXL might end up looking back on that as a mistake. The Original Dom Kennedy is just more good shit from the Leimert Park native; flows on point but when he blows up he’ll be the last to say it. He also threw different artwork on every track, gotta love that. If you haven’t already, grab From The Westside With Love below… might have been my favorite tape of ’10.

+Jangbar

Dom Kennedy – The Original Dom Kennedy | DOWNLOAD

Dom Kennedy – Designer Sh*t
Dom Kennedy – Playas Punch

BONUS

Dom Kennedy – From the Westside With Love | DOWNLOAD

More on “Playas Punch”

YOLO Mentions bring attention to special
songs featured in that week’s YOLO List. Get the latest list here!

I know this is from a couple lists ago, but I’ve been dying to lay down my two cents on this mysteriously-eccentric supergroup’s eighth studio album. With a majority of their former albums hitting platinum album sales throughout the planet, and some even 3x platinum, Radiohead had some Shaquille O’neal sized shoes to fill with King of Limbs. Getting platinum album sales entails getting over a million sales in that country, a feat most artists can only dream of achieving. Although, none of that has ever kept Radiohead from consistently producing equally amazing and unique albums.

First off, the announcement of this album came out of butt-fuck nowhere, but couldn’t have been released at a more significant time. Arcade Fire had just won album of the year, and it was almost eerily coordinated that Radiohead would shower themselves with the indie spotlight. The album enters a new realm of sound that none of their former albums had dared to travel. They take a dream like approach and fill it with a bunch of electronic samples, while Thom Yorke’s voice catches us off guard a minute into the album on “Bloom.” An acid jazzy intro that seems perfect for a rainy car ride through the city. The album gets a more structured feel with “Morning Mr. Magpie” and “Lotus Flower,” both of which could have been singles in my opinion. The album weaves every track together much like a sine graph (uh oh math reference) and ends peacefully on “Separator.”

King of Limbs is a beautiful compilation of talent that captures Radiohead’s evolution of sound in a way that none of their previous albums ever could. The first run-through is intriguing, but the kind of intriguing that questions your initial opinion. It’s bound to grow on you with every listen. A sound you won’t hear anywhere else that only Radiohead could manage to pull off.

-Skinny Genes

King of Limbs

1. Bloom
2. Morning Mr Magpie
3. Little By Little
4. Feral
5. Lotus Flower
6. Codex
7. Give Up The Ghost
8. Separator

You should really set that image as your background… it’ll brighten your mornings. Anyways, LA local trio Pac Div’s been building up a solid fan base and respect from some big names over the past few years killin’ verses with a strong old-school influenced sound. Got to see them open for The Cool Kids and Q-Tip a few years back and they put on a hell of a show. They’ve teamed up with Don Cannon to blend decades with their latest mixtape, Mania! Their third tape since signing with Universal back in ‘08 packs a little of everything from start to finish; bangers, tracks to light up to, summer jams. They’ve been putting in work and it shows… if I haven’t made it clear, this shit goes harder than Sheen. Grab the whole thing below or you still a knucklehead.

+Jangbar

Pac Div – Mania! | DOWNLOAD

Pac Div – Anti-Freeze
Pac Div – Take Me High
Pac Div – Still a Knucklehead ft. SIr Michael Rocks

BONUS

Couple new tracks this week.

Asher Roth ft. Chip Tha Ripper, Whatzisface – Back Home (prod. by Blended Babies)
Wiz Khalifa – The Race

12FV

So, I’ve been on a high all week from Nero‘s show in San Diego, and yet I’ve been fiending another concert more than usual. It’s probably because my lack of funds are catching up to me, and there are so many shows I want to go to. Time to be more selective. The grass is still greener here! There are a bunch of great events coming up, and Coachella is the closest it’s ever been. Had to turn down seeing my buddy’s in DJ Slander spin alongside Avicii at Radius Fest in San Diego on Friday. I’m happy to have at least been able to pass on the opportunity to Chronic Mncher. Turns out it was a hell of a show, and I’m not surprised.

Theme of this week’s YOLO list is know your rights! I’m tired of people getting taken advantage of by the cops. (I know this is random, but it’s relevant to life so go with it.) I got pulled over the other week because the cop said he thought I wasn’t going to stop at a red light I stopped at…If you know what’s good for you, you’ll watch this long video with horrible actors (some of which who wear puka shells) to edumucate yourself on what you can do when a cop is trying to get tricky. The advice from the video works. Fuck tha police and enjoy the choonz.

-Skinny Genes

YOLO33

Click here for all of ’em

Crystal Vision – Pickled Beets (Kids At The Bar Remix) (Electronic)
Zoo Brazil & Adam Sky – Circle Jerk (The Bloody Beetroots Remix) (Electronic)
Maritime – People, The Vehicles (Indie/Rock)
Maritime – Parade Of Punk Rock T-Shirts (Indie/Rock)
Skepta – Rolex Sweep (Vandalism RMX) (Electronic)
Discovery – Swing Tree (Alternative/R&B)
Devendra Banhart – Chinese Children (Folk/Rock)
Calvin Harris – Vegas (Disco)

YOLO Mentions bring attention to special
songs featured in that week’s YOLO List. Get the latest list here!

I’ve been getting more and more into the hip-hop realm now that +Jangbar has me covered on the latest and greatest, and DJ Kue‘s spin on this chart topper takes it more up my alley..I feel kinda weird using that phrase but you know what I mean. Anyway, California’s own DJ Kue is getting a lot of rightfully deserved praise by DJs like Kissy Sell Out, Bloody Beetroots, Pete Tong and others. With a glitchy style that drops into nasty headbanging glory, he’s on par with Porter Robinson, Wolfgang Gartner, and Feed me. A style that’s pretty much just a combination of all the rising sub-genres of electronic. Artists are churning out more and more of these combo-bangers every week. Although this’ll make it harder for DJs to stand out, I can’t get enough. Keep em coming! Scope his soundcloud for more.

-Skinny Genes

DJ Kue

Wiz Khalifa – Black and Yellow (DJ Kue Remix)
Lady Gaga – Born This Way (DJ Kue Quick and Dirty Remix)
B.O.B. – Beast Mode (DJ Kue Remix)
Motorcycle – As The Rush Comes (DJ Kue Remix) Delightful Choice!

12FV

Sorry about the lack of posts everyone. Life has been in full force recently. To make matters worse, woke up Thursday morning to slap my snooze button only to hear a splash and find my laptop chillin in a mysterious puddle of water. Don’t know how or why or where that water came from, but it’s in the past. Good news is I had most of my music backed up on a hard drive, so the random assortment of tracks for the YOLO lists will persist. I want to be upset, but I know it’s life just balancing out for how amazing this weekend is gonna end. I am 21 today and am seeing Nero tonight at SOLD OUT Voyeur in San Diego. Pumped as fuck. That being said, may have some big news this week on potentially getting a line of events together in OC. I don’t want to get too excited yet, but I will keep you guys posted. Oh.. GET THE NEW RADIOHEAD. Tunez below.

-Skinny Genes

Paul Coutu

TAKE IT ALLLL!

Radiohead – Lotus Flower (Alternative)
Radiohead – Morning Mr Magpie (Alternative)
Wiz Khalifa – Black and Yellow (DJ Kue Remix) (Electronic/Dub)
Miami Horror – Don’t Be On With Her (Treasure Fingers Remix) (Electro House)
The Virgins – Right Girls (The Twelves Remix) (Electronic/Disco)
Moving Units – Bricks & Mortar (Indie/Rock)
Moving Units – Submission (Indie/Rock)

First track we’ve heard from J. Cole since Friday Night Lights back in November; understandable considering he’s either been in the studio or on tour ever since (somehow missed him everytime… SMH). Dropped this last night after hitting 400,000 followers on his Twitter.

+Jangbar

J. Cole – Nothing Like It

Bonus

Fashawn ft. J. Cole – Relaxation +
Notorious B.I.G. ft. J. Cole – Can I Get WIt Ya