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Apollo Brown announces new instrumental album

Today, Detroit producer Apollo Brown has announced his first new instrumental album since "Clouds" (2011). The new album titled Thirty Eight will be released May 6th, 2014 on Mello Music Group. Those who pre-order Apollo Brown's Thirty Eight https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/thirty-eight/id838614636 will receive the new single, "The Answer" as an instant download. Apollo Brown's Thirty Eight is a contemporary throwback, inhabiting the realm of reverent reinvention and innovation. It deftly bridges the gap between '70s Blaxploitation soundtracks (e.g. Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye) and the hip-hop records that sampled from them. Brown enlists New York mercenary Roc Marciano for the soundtrack's two features. With the sharpest of eyes and the frostbitten wit of a Polo clad hustler sl

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Bruse Wane releases new single featuring Keith Murray

Wane Enterprises CEO and New York artist Bruse Wane presents "Return Of The Spitters (RMX)", the new single from The Dark Knight Album...The Day The Earth Stood Still. Produced by Al Walton Jr., "Spitters" features guest verses from Keith Murray as well as Fam-Illy, an artist on his Wane Enterprises roster. A native of the Bronxdale Houses Projects in the Soundview section of the Bronx, Bruse founded Wane Enterprises in 2001, hosting events featuring Styles P, Papoose, N.O.R.E, Buckshot, Remy Ma and Keith Murray, who Bruse chose to bless the remix of the original version of "Return Of The Spitters", which can be heard on The Dark Knight Album. "I began contemplating a remix with a legend on it. Whoever I used I did not want to go too far back or too current, so Keith Murray was the

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Albuquerque emcee Wake Self releases sophomore effort

Albuquerque hip-hop staple Andy "Wake Self" Martinez had a stellar year in 2013. He released his first solo album, The Healing Process, and toured the country in support of the record, winning over new fans and solidifying his reputation as a fearless emcee. On March 18, 2014, Martinez drops his sophomore effort, Good Things Happen to Those Who Wake, a 12-track voyage through the New Mexico native's mind. Packed with flawless production by PH8, Percy Wells and DJ Young Native, Martinez effortlessly ebbs and flows over each beat with the fluidity of a master. With atypical lyrical content ranging from yoga, energy cleansing and eating organic food to population control, wearing matching flannels with his older brother and social media dumbing down America, Good Things Happen to Those

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Tef Poe releases new video from his Cheer For The Villain album

The first official video from Tef Poe's heavily buzzing new release Cheer For The Villain is here. Called Hennessy, the visuals are directed by Remrod and the track itself has a distinct sting to it, but finishes smoothly. Tef, talking real talk as always, exudes bravery and confidence in the midst of frustration and anxiety. The guitar, drums and keys on the album are mostly live by executive producer DJ Burn One and 5 Points Music Group. Cheer For The Villain was just released independently by Footklan/Overdose Entertainment. Tef Poe embodies the righteous, misunderstood villain and definitely has you cheering for him. Check out the new video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GHaVpVUoYE and album http://tefpoemusic.bandcamp.com/album/cheer-for-the-villain and say hi to the bad

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Exclusive: Zapp Band - The RAPstation Interview - Part 1

Zapp Band Part 1 By Kyle Eustice In 1977, four brothers from Hamilton, Ohio emerged with a fresh funk sound that eventually inspired an entire sub-genre of hip-hop in the '90s. Called Zapp and Roger, brothers Roger, Larry, Terry "Zapp" and Lester Troutman exploded on to the local scene armed with a talk box (vocodor) and one of the meanest stage shows anyone had ever seen. Funk music had already begun to infiltrate American culture thanks to artists like Parliament Funkadelic, James Brown and Kool and the Gang. After playing around the Cincinnati area for many years, they eventually released their debut album, Zapp, in 1980 on Warner Brothers Records. The album yielded the massive hit, "More Bounce to the Ounce" and catapulted them to a whole new level. After Zapp II, III

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MaLLy preps new album and releases single with Slug & Rapper Hooks

If The Last Great, the debut album from MaLLy, was meant to be a chest-thumping, boastful, and triumphant effort that finally broke MaLLy to the masses, The Colors of Black is the direct result of what would have been the end result if The Last Great never came into existence. Throughout the duration of The Colors of Black, MaLLy uses it as a vehicle to present the pressures of race, acceptance, and the politics, or lack thereof, in current day Hip-Hop and himself. It allows MaLLy to utilize his sharp wordplay to paint vivid depictions of what would've came to be of Malik Watkins, or what already is. Last Word's production provides MaLLy with a dark, ominous, and bleak sound to take MaLLy's dark imagery and expansive wordplay to new heights, like g

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