Common has returned to his Soul By The Pound days with his latest release The Dreamer, The Believer. In the weeks leading up his latest project, Common has been on promo spree including exclusive tracks, freestyles and a track-by-track video breakdown. After listening to the album, The Dreamer, The Believer i can confirm that it lives up to the hype and will be a front-runner in the Album of the Year race.

To add to the hype, Common has released a full stream of Dreamer, Believer in a move that is totally left field in the eyes of labels and other artists. It’s a risky move, but Mr. Breaker 1/9 is rolling dice on that fact that more people will pre-order the album than rip it from YouTube. My money is on Common.

Pre-order Common The Dreamer, The Believer on iTunes

More fiyah from Duck Down’s Lecrae & Statik Selektah

***Bonus***

Watch Lecrae’s interview at the “Live & Let Live” video shoot in Atlanta.

Lecrae discusses how he first met Statik Selektah & how the collaborative track came to fruition.

Purchase the track today on iTunes for 99 cents.

Skyzoo presents his latest cut off his The Great Debater Revisted album which is available now on iTunes for only 7.99 with 4 new bonus tracks.  ”Rocket Science” is produced by !llmind. Click Here To Purchase It Today.

Classic mixtape from Da Bouncemaster Doo Wop. Circa 92 when Doo Wop and Kid Capri had beef. Featuring a freestyle by Doo Wop dissing Kid Capri and music from 4th Quarter 1991. Enjoy.

Part 1: www.zshare.net
Part 2: www.zshare.net

@DJDOOWOP

From the Black Star reunion LP, now Mos Def & Talib Kweli has released a 2-minute snippet via Facebook/Soundcloud, produced by Madlib.

Madlib_Mos+Talib_Untitled by 1DA

Music from Talib Kweli’s ‘Gutter Rainbows’ album out now: http://bit.ly/fIvNl8.

Directed by Niim The Dream & featuring Nigel Hall

Six weeks ago, Chairman Mao of XXL and Ego Trip fame, compiled a list of the 30 Greatest Hip-Hop Demos of all-time. Though the litany inspired the usual bickering about order and exclusions, the feature was as comprehensive as anyone could rightfully expect. Presumably, only a minor fraction of people reading this had heard demos from Organized Konfusion, DJ Shadow, Biggie and Mobb Deep.

There was a time long, long ago, just after the wheel was invented, that rappers would record their voices on these things called “tapes”, and then they’d try to get record execs to listen to their “demo tape” and sign them to “deals”. Virtually every rapper you know over 40 had went that route. I know, crazy huh? While the days of careers made or broken on the strength of some Memorex are deader than bin Laden,

Thankfully the good folks over at Complex put together a pretty fucking dope compilation of 30 of the greatest rap demos, and from early Biggie to Common, Public Enemy, Lord Finesse and much more, this should be mandatory listening for any true scholar of the art form. It’s crazy how much some rappers have changed – Eminem barely sounds like the Eminem we know and love. Do your homework and get to downloading. You’re welcome.

Download | MegaUpload

The Notorious B.I.G. – Guaranteed Raw

Download

Common – 2 The Temple

Download

Courtesy of RefinedHype.com

Here’s a dope remix by 5th Element of the Hip-Hop classic Gangstarr – Mass Appeal. Video Edit by me, the world famous DJ Nyce

R.I.P. Guru

Now normally i wouldn’t post anything by Lil B, but he hooked up with 9th Wonder, Phonte & Jean Grae on an amazing track, Base for Your Face. Track is dope and Lil B actually holds his own against lyrically geniuses like Phonte and the phoenix herself. Enjoy.

Lil B, 9th Wonder, Phonte & Jean Grae – Base for Your Face

Download | RefinedHype

Here’s a dope freestyle by Kaneye West, Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def. The joint was recorded during a Lupe show at the infamous Blue Note jazz club with jazz-pianist Robert Glasper and co backing them up.

We got the 8 Minute Kanye and Mos-only freestyle, the full 30 minute cyper and the video.

Revivalist Exclusive: Lupe, Mos & Kanye Freestyle with the Robert Glasper Experiment from revive da live on Vimeo.

Kanye West, Mos Def & Lupe Fiasco – Blue Note Freestyle (Kanye and Mos Def Only) | Download

Kanye West, Mos Def & Lupe Fiasco – Blue Note Freestyle (Full) | Download

Courtesy of RefinedHype