Kid Cudi Mixtape - I'm Just Scott

This mixtape isn't the reinvention of the wheel by Cudi so take that into account before you read this and listen to the mixtape. This mix tape is Cudi just being him self and having fun with making new music. It's the same old Cudi with a few things that aren't ground breaking but are glimpses of what the new Cudi may be with the WZRD. 

Mr.  Kid is my personal favorites on this mixtape. It is just one of those songs that is simply beautiful because it is just so simple. It's Cudi doing what he does best, pouring it all out. Another track that is a lot of fun is Cudi the Kid with drumming done by Travis Barker and the beat being laid down by Steve Aoki, it's a song that goes hard. The heavy bass beat from Aoki and the fast paced drumming of Travis Barker make a great fast paced song with great vocals from Cudi in between. The Run is also a fun song, it is by no stretch a song that is something to hype up but the beat is catchy and makes you want to dance. Brake is a song that should be paid particular attention to, with Dot Da Genius also being featured on the track. If you read the Dose of Dopeness article yesterday you would know that Cudi and Genius are about to release their album under the name WZRD the 28th of this month. I think this is what we can expect from this album. A rock and roll Cudi that puts even more emotion with slow drumming and synth lines that play through to add even a darker emotion. This is what we will most likely see tomorrow when WZRD drops the album. Now the question we re wondering is that will this be a good idea for Cudi. I myself have some worry, but great artist can switch it up and be just as good so this is Cudi's time to really prove what he's got.

Just as a heads up for people reading the song titles are links to the songs on soundcloud  and youtube for your enjoyment. You can also get the full mixtape here.

Kid Cudi - Dose of Dopeness

I thought I would drop this track for you guys with Kid Cudi and Dot Da Genius. Cudi and Genius have been in the works on this song since the early Cudi days and have finally released a finished version that I think has the very old school Cudi feel that we all fell in love with. We all love Cudi because of who he is, how he writes his music. He leaves nothing out, we all know the pain he felt losing his father and the trials and tribulations he has gone through. We have all been there and that is why we connect to his music, because of the pain that we all must go through to become who we are. Cudi shares his pain and we can relate back to him.

I wanted to drop this most of all because of the upcoming release of Kid Cudi's new project called WZRD which is a rock band project with Cudi and Genius. It's something that Cudi announced he would start working on in 2010 and finally in 2012 is ready to release the album. The album is set to release on the 28th of this month and you can be sure I'll have a write up of the album here when it drops. Until then enjoy this song and get ready for a new sounding Cudi. Enjoy ya'll!

Dub Sonata - Nights in Cuba

We all know the story of Cuba and it's famous leader Fidel Castro. We also know that with a government regime like that of Cuba music can be one of the biggest enemies of the state. Music lets people express their views and feelings without even having to say a word, sometimes all you need is the beat to feel the emotion and feelings the artist is trying to convey. This is very true in the released work from Dub Sonata who released Nights in Cuba last year and some of you may have heard it being played around my apartment, but I wanted to share the story of this amazing music.

Castro is well aware of the power of music and with the rise of the Cuban hip-hop industry the government established the Cuban Rap Agency to try and control the culture on the rise. The agency provides artist with a record label and resources as long as the don't speak out against the government.

Well here we know how that you all like the rebel type of music and the music that goes outside the system and with Dub Sonata that is what we have. The story of the album is one of the most interesting that has been heard in a very long time. Dub is from New York City and one day he got a call from his friend in the Cayman Islands saying that he can get to Cuba from where he was staying. The next day Dub was in the Cayman Islands and two days later with no tour guide or reservations he is in Cuba. As fate would have it he meets a musician there who shows him around and takes him to shady variety store. This is where Dub stumbles across around 3000 badly mistreated records. After two days of searching through the dusty records he takes 70 of them with out even listening to them and ships them back to the States. That is what I call digging deep for inspiration.

When he got back to NYC the trip that had no plan continued to develop. He took the music back to his MPC (music production center) and sampling began. Drums, bass, that gritty NYC feel, and samples started to come together. With these in hand he took them to other musicians and the classic MPC tracks went on to full blown productions. Productions with flutes, grand pianos, scratches, percussion, and trumpets and with it Nights in Cuba is born.

What makes this album great is the story and the passion it took just to make something so diverse. Cuban music is an amazing style of music because it blends European and African influences. Cuban music is easily the most recognizable world music and I would dare say it is the most popular one too. And what is beautiful about this album is that it is all just pure music. There are no cheap tricks in here to keep you hooked that isn't needed. There are no catchy choruses in the songs that are fillers to keep you in, no this is pure instrumentals. This album is beautiful because it is real, it makes you feel a wide range of emotions from wanting to move your hips, to feeling the anger that is held in by years of repression in the music of Cubans like in the song Chess.

I love the 53 second long one more time which leaves you wanting more by the end of it. Another great song from the album is Que Lastima which starts out with a beautiful dirty Cuban introduction and then suddenly switches to the banging hip-hop beat then ends by sliding back into a Cuban style of feel. Its a song that really lets you get a feel for the album. The album has the feel of being played in some underground night club you found while wondering the street at 5 am in a foreign country. It screams that underground dirty vibe that makes this music so beautiful. It embraces everything it can and spits it back out in a fashion that makes you want to dance the night away and maybe even do a little salsa.

Hope you enjoy the music and to find more here is the website for Dub Sonata you can find the whole album on Itunes for 10 dollars and in a time when good music is hard to come by and cds are usually 15 dollars or more this is a great deal for a great album with an amazing story, so support the little man and help promote the up and comers. Much love y'all enjoy!

Chi Duly 's Balloons of Haus...so good The Weeknd approved it!.

Welcome to the first post here and thanks for reading.

As we all know The Weeknd has been really been taking over the past year and has made girls panties slide off long enough in the bedroom (check out his two mix tapes out now "Thursday" and "House of Balloons". His voice has a quality that doesn't just float into your cerebellum, but more melts it's way into your mind. Now Chi Duly has done something that most of us that follow electronic music have wanted for some time, to use his voice and add a more electric beats. He takes his voice and adds beats that make this much more club friendly. Duly takes the songs and adds house beats to make this not only melt woman's hearts, but also dance floors around the country. I personally like the song D.D. as it is a faster more up paced house beat, but for a slower beat that really accentuates his voice check out the bonus track "The Party"

According to Chi Duly, "Balloons of Haus in house music for the "I'm not really into techo" folks. It's uptempo but more to the point (free of those minute long intros/breakdowns of arbitrary ambience). The concept was born of my interest in bringing The Weeknd's vibe to a DJ set.

Chi Duly does this almost spot on. These songs get right to the point and get your feet and hips moving before you even know it. It may be for the I'm not that into techno group, but that doesn't mean that this isn't greatness. The beats he adds and matches up with the voice is magical. He lets the voice do the work and adds the beats that make this a great dance album. There is not a song on here that won't get you to dance and move and isn't that what we all want from music? Some people try and take music so seriously and forget that its made to be enjoyed.

If this doesn't entertain you well it is not for you and it is for someone else. Everyone forgets that about music, so as you are here try and keep an open mind and find something new and surprising I hope. As I get more savvy with this blog and figure out more I hope to be able to add links and directly add sound cloud files to the posts. Till then here is the link to the sound cloud for your listening pleasure The Weeknd - Balloons of Haus (Produced by Chi Duly).

If you want to download the whole album here is the link. I hope you enjoy!