1. The Roots - How I Got Over

Tentative Release Date:  Spring/2010

Producers/Collaborators: Phonte (of Little Brother), Blu, Cody Chesnutt

What We Know: The Roots are set to release their ninth studio album How I Got Over. The album title comes from a Mahalia Jackson gospel song of the same name. The band has described the new LP as upbeat, funky with political influences. The title track was first premiered on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in June 2009. According to ?uestlove, Phonte recorded three to five tracks for the album. Here’s hoping the live version of “How I Got Over” makes the final cut it because its clearly superior to the studio version. Read the rest of this entry »

There are few musicians in hip-hop that actually get me excited. Zo! is one of those musicians. Catching me completely by surprise this evening, Zo! dropped this wonderful EP of covers, featuring FE homies like Yahzarah, Carlitta Durand, Phonte, Sy Smith and Darien Brockington. This serves as a perfect teaser to hold us over until the summer when Zo drops his LP, SunStorm. Give it a spin and share some thoughts after the skip!

Download: Zo! – …just visiting too

Hit the skip for the tracklisting…

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As long as The Foreign Exchange is performing, no one can ever even think about showmanship being dead. The eight-piece band that took the stage of B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grille on Oct. 23 moved the crowd in a way that few acts are capable. And it all started at 1 a.m. As such, you would think a show starting that late would lend itself to a somewhat less-than-energetic audience. But that was simply not the case – I mean, this is New York City we’re talking about.

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In the past six years Nicolay and Phonte have definitely put their stamp on black alternative music. I first heard Nicolay back in 2002 on Little Brother’s – ‘Whatever You Say’ (12″) on a track called “Light It Up”. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is the latest leak that Nicolay is handing out on his blog called “Purple Flip”, and it features a gang of fantastic musicians. Not only is this a star-studded line-up of artists, but their chemistry is silky smooth. It would be nice to see more music come out of this camp in the future, and it is especially interesting to see Ahmir add his two-cents to the already magical Foreign Exchange mix. Check it out and let us know what you think about this joint…

Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson- Drums, Samples
Nicolay- Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano
Zo!- Korg synth, additional rhodes
Phonte and Carlitta Durand- Vocals

Download: The Foreign Exchange – “Purple Flip”

Album Review: Zo! & Asylum 7 – Overdue Process (2009)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Potholes

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Detroit producer Zo! sent me an old blog he wrote just after Dilla’s passing. It may seem a bit cliche now, but J Dilla really did touch so many lives. What Zo shares right here with us all is a very touching and deep story about the first time he met Dilla, and when he received the news that he had passed away.

Zo also sent us a very special tribute track for your downloading pleasure. Many thanks to Zo on this one. Go support his new album with Asylum 7, Overdue Process.

Download: Zo! – 4 Dilla

Here is a preview, hit the skip for the full entry from Zo!…

“I can remember distinctively the first time that I heard Jay Dee…and actually KNEW who I was listening to (I owned a some of his music at the time but never put two and two together).  It was The Pharcyde’s “Runnin’ (Remix) back in late ‘95/early ’96…I was a senior in high school.  One of my classmates, my boy Dwight hit me up one day and was telling me about his most recent trip to the record store that day.  Included in the store run was the maxi-single for “Runnin’”.  So he told me to check for the remix done by a kat named Jay Dee whom he had heard was from Detroit which was a big deal…there wasn’t a lot of national exposure coming from the D around 95/96.  So I was like, Bet! I’ma start keeping an eye on him for that reason alone.  Things looked good from the break as I opened up my “Labcabincalifornia” CD jacket, checked the credits and under all of my favorite joints I saw “Produced by Jay Dee” or “J. Yancey”.  The next thing I know, here come the “Woo Haa” remixes…the “Stakes Is High” song and remix, The Ummah.  Damn man…this kat was starting to sound real consistent.  So continued to keep my eyes and ears open for him.  “Beats Rhymes & Life” came out about a month before I went away to school in ’96 (“Word Play”, “1nce Again”, etc, etc)…
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Today marks three years since the passing of James Dewitt Yancey, otherwise known as Jay Dee or most notably, J Dilla. The Detroit producer/emcee/singer is no longer with us, but his character and music is timeless. The bumping bass, drums and impeccable sampling resonate throughout hip-hop, as his music touched so many artists and fans alike. I am not one to elaborate on the man’s impact on music, but the artists that we have gathered today can vouch for these statements on the utmost level.

Here are brief statements from Amanda Diva, Black Milk, Ilyas & Donwill of Tanya Morgan, Count Bass D, Zo!, Finale, Trek Life, 8thW1, 6th Sense, Keelay & Zaire, IMAKEMADBEATS, Rob Vikum and D/Will on how J Dilla changed their lives.

Continue to join us for the rest of the week as we celebrate J Dilla’s life with more tributes and features including DJ YNOT’s exclusive mix tonight!

Check out what these fantastic artists have to say about J Dilla and let us know how J Dilla changed your life in the comments section after the skip…

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006)

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Got another treat for everyone! Now available for free download is the “Wondabat…Where Art Thou?” mixtape from Flux of the Binkis Recs! The 9-track mix features production from Ras, Madlib, DJ Pocket, DJ Static, King Lenario, Willie Evans Jr and Zo! Plus guest appearances from The Hheads and Eddie Meeks!

Continue to join us as we get closer to our January 25th launch, we still have some great treats for you!

www.potholesinmyblog.com
LAUNCH DATE: JANUARY 25, 2009

Full tracklist and Download after the skip…

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