We'll Be Back Soon

Video: Alexander Green (Kaimbr & Kev Brown)- Low Budget 260° ft. Sean Born

From the forthcoming Alexander Green album. Shot and edited by Roddy Rod.

Video: Oddisee, Toine, and Kenn Starr Cypher

DMV cypher at DJ Quartermine's spot called The Gold Room featuring Oddisee, Toine from DTMD, and Kenn Starr.

Freestyle Fellowship- Why?

Is this another track off their upcoming album The Promise? No idea. It just suddently popped up on Monday and now I'm re-posting for all the West Coast heads that wet their teeth with pacific whiskey.

Download: Freestyle Fellowship- Why?

News: Zion I & The Grouch- Heroes in the Healing of the Nation

At last! West Coast hip-hop stalwarts Zion I & The Grouch  return with their sophomore collaborative effort "Heroes in the Healing of the Nation ".  The long-awaited follow-up to the group's 2006 critically acclaimed, "Heroes in the City of Dope " could not arrive at a more fitting hour.

This time around Z&G raise the stakes to expand the playing field from City, to Nation, inviting listeners everywhere to join them on their quest in channeling their highest selves. Amp live provides the bulk of the banging backdrops as Zumbi and The Grouch consciously kill it with a well versed ease. 

Zion I & The Grouch have been leaders marching to the beat of their own 808's for some time now but the group suggests that we're all cut from the same cloth. “Anyone changing other peoples lives for the better is a hero to me” explains The Grouch of the album’s title. “People are going through a difficult transition these days,” adds Zumbi. “We want this album to aid in that process.”  

Heroes in the Healing of the Nation  is due out March 22, 2011 . Zion I & The Grouch will also embark on a nationwide tour, details soon on the tourdates.

Track Listing 

01. Invitation (ft. Brother Ali)

02. Leader

03. Victorious People (ft. Freeway)

04. Drop It On The 1

05. It's Goin' Down (ft. Jacob Hemphill from Soja)

06. I Used To Be A Vegan

07. Rockit Man (ft. Silk E)

08. Be A Father To Your Child

09. Healing Of The Nation

10. Frankenstein

11. Plead The Fifth (ft. Codany Holiday, Fashawn, & Casual)

12. Test of Time (ft. Marty James)

13. Journey to Forever (ft. Mystic & Eric Rahmney from Rebelution)

14. Like A G (ft. Los Rakas)

Kev Brown- Instrumentals Vol. 1

Earlier today, Low Budget All Star Kev Brown released Instrumentals Vol. 1, a 14-track odyssey through a portion of Kev's career that is now available on Bandcamp for free or more.

Download: Kev Brown- Instrumentals Vol. 1

Writtenhouse- XL

Charlie K, Chris Conway, Kush Shalimar and Somersville Sleeves drop another track off their forthcoming LP, While You Were Sleeping, set to release February 15th.

Download: Writtenhouse- XL

MaLLy & The Sundance Kid- Once We're Kings

One of my favorite new groups from 2010 has dropped their first track of 2011 and it's my favorite track from them so far! On "Once We're Kings", MaLLy & The Sundance Kid churn up an unforgivable mix of lyricism and production that instantly lets everybody know that the duo is continuing to solidify their spot and strive to never disappoint or sacrifice quality in 2011. As the emerging duo said in an email, "Truthfully, WE GOT THIS and will consistently progress with our own brand of authenticity in a world where unoriginality is a normalcy." 

I believe 'em. Make sure to check out or past coverage here so you can get familiar.

Download: MaLLy & The Sundance Kid- Once We're Kings

Video: Distrakt- Adjust ft. Count Bass D

Another dope animated video from Colorado's (and underground hip hop's) best kept secret, Distrakt. 

Savant- Make Your Move

Once again Savant draws heat from the UK sonic pool, this time linking up with electronic music wizard Luke Vibert (aka Wagon Christ) for the OHHLA/ RapReviews and Nora Perez assisted "Make Your Move". The bouncy, anthemic song features lines paying tribute to some of the bar slinger's favorite emcees and hip hop entities, ranging from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def and Black Thought to Jay-Z, Redman and Ludacris, all the while lacing some familiar components of the "Golden Era" with a modern flair. Further correlating elements of the song (including the original instrumental, lyrics, Savant's audio commentary and more) can be downloaded at http://www.ohhla.com/Savant/index.html.

Make Your Move (prod. by Luke Vibert) by Savant aka Stanstro

Muneshine & Vinyl Frontiers- Freeze & Easy Does It

Toronto Producer/MC Muneshine connects with the Netherlands production team Vinyl Frontiers to bring us the free Larger Than Life EP on February 2nd. To get us amped for the release, here are the first two "leaks" from the EP, Freeze and Easy Does It; two perfect starting selections that spotlight Muneshine's simple and sturdy flow over vintage brass blazed production from the Dutch.

Muneshine & Vinyl Frontiers -03- Easy Does It by VinylFrontiers


Muneshine & Vinyl Frontiers -01- Freeze by VinylFrontiers

Cool Calm Pete- Offline

Cool Calm Pete > all of you.

No Need to Celebrate by Craig S. Jenkins

When I heard that World Star Hip Hop was taken down, I began celebrating with the rest of the "intelligent hip hop community". At the time, my twitter feed was mostly full of celebration and bewilderment, but there was one man that seemed genuinely upset at the reaction of bloggers and journalists. I immediately thought that this was a classic case of pseudo-hispteria-- where someone on the internet purposely chooses the opposite side of a big internet trend or argument just to be different and swim against the stream-- but then I thought, maybe he does have something to say? So, as I rolled my eyes at his final tweet comparing WSHH haters to female Smurfs, I asked Craig to write about it and told him I would post his reaction. To be honest, I thought he would never do it. I also thought he wouldn't have a good enough point for me to change my mind.

I was wrong.

By: Craig S. Jenkins

I need to start with a disclaimer. The views detailed below are not the views of Whiskey Teeth. The homie Ryan was courteous enough to offer me a forum for my wild and crazy thoughts. Well, technically, he kinda asked me to write about said wild and crazy thoughts, so maybe he is to blame for the existence of this piece? Anyhow:

Last night we had a quick scare. Last night it looked like World Star Hip Hop was gone for good. The site vanished briefly, and 50 Cent, who filed a lawsuit against them for using his likeness without permission back in 09, immediately took credit for the outage. 50 copped to lying, and it was later rumored that a stolen intellectual property complaint from a Youtube vlogger might have been to blame. Regardless of the culprit, the news about World Star potentially shuttering broke to more than a little premature gravestone tap dancing by plenty of happy hip hop bloggers. Personally, I didn’t see what was so funny.

Surely the almost unilateral glee World Star’s apparent death engendered is a function of people’s dissatisfaction with the content that the site hosts. The volatile cocktail of shameless stripper showcases, goon rapper music videos, industry gossip, and cell phone footage of public ass whoopings that is World Star’s daily bread rubs people the wrong way. It ain’t classy. The site as a whole is a bad look for hip hop, for humanity, for all bipedal life with eyes and ears, really. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Then why are you defending them?”

Here goes nothing: Blog closures, whether they’re the product of government investigations (like the Thanksgiving clampdown that temporarily sidelined OnSmash), angry artists with a vendetta (50, you dirty, filthy liar, you!), or kneejerk Google/Yahoo/Wordpress/etc. crackdowns (too many sites to name), are not good news for anyone with a website. I don’t care what blog it is. I don’t care how foolish or how deplorable it is. The shit ain’t a victory. What it is is a sign that certain factions have their eyes trained on the online hip hop community, and they’re willing and able to destroy or severely impair sites at will. Ain’t nothin funny about that.

Cheering the closure of a blog just because you don’t like the content is self-righteous and shortsighted. Whether you like it or not, World Star deserves to exist. It paints as much of a picture of modern hip hop culture as any other site does. World Star’s is a seedy, creepy, pathetic, and outrageous picture, yes, but a real one nevertheless. If you don’t like their voice, sing louder. Don’t sit back and applaud when outside forces take action against them that don’t know either of you from a hole in the wall. It’s not constructive.

Last night on Twitter, I likened the behavior to “Smurfette laughing while Gargamel captures Vanity.” Point being, bloggers, instead of all the smirking, you should be paying careful attention. You should have your back up plan in place. You should know what to do if there’s an attack on your site. For all you know, you’re next. While you’re busy chuckling about another man’s downfall, yours might be in the works. That’s the problem with bloggers. Too many of y’all seem to think this is a game of oneupsmanship. This ain’t either me or him or her. When things go bad, we all suffer. Am I the only one that sees this?

I need a drink. Jameson, please?

Video: Intuition & Equilibrum- Live on a AKAI MPD32

Video: Redd Foxx (Alpha MC & VerBS)- Cancer Chicks

Swim Team MCs Alpha MC and VerBS are hip hop's latest tag team known as Redd Foxx. Energetic, infectious, and colorful are three adjectives that best describe them as solo acts, but when combined their best traits magnify, making Redd Foxx one of the most interesting and fun duos to watch out for in 2011.

Here is their debut video "Cancer Chicks". Directed by Adam Stanzak, shot by Tony Oberstar and brought to you by Oh Boy Films.

Also, check out the three promo videos Redd Foxx shot before the release of Cancer Chicks here, here, and here.