Brooklyn producer Harry Fraud released the Free EP, ‘High Tide’. Featuring a variety of well-known artists and a few up and comers, the 5-track tape has some bangin’ beats and is definitely worth listening to.

You can listen or download at ScionAV.

Check out a track from the album featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Riff Raff.

In the quest to make their next big hit, artists constantly experiment with new sounds, and often draw on classics for inspiration. A classic piano track or bassline can instantly elevate a song, but some artists have discovered a new secret ingredient. With Anchorman 2 set to release in December of this year, rappers and producers are paying homage to the legend of Ron Burgandy by incorporating the jazz flute into their production.

Building up to the release of his highly anticipated album, ‘Born Sinner’, J. Cole released the first official single from the album earlier this year. Cole knew that if he really wanted to build up hype for his album, he had to throw in some jazz flute, so he pulled a sample from the legendary flutist Hubert Laws. Check out J. Cole’s song below and Laws’ song here.

Additionally, while the project was done several months ago, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y’s ‘Live in Concert’ was just recently released. Why did it take so long to release the project? Because every song on the 6 track EP contained some dope jazz flute samples from Bobbi Humphrey, and the duo had to do their due diligence in clearing all of the samples. When asked about the album, Curren$y responded ‘Let’s think about what Ron Burgundy’s jazz flute did to Mrs. Corningstone. Ron Burgundy mastered that flute and it made him able to bring her to Pleasure Town on animated horses and they were fuckin’ out in the solar system and all of that. So how could we not employ the talents of Ron Burgundy and his jazz flute on as many cuts as possible for Live in Concert.’ Check out this cut from the ‘Live in Concert’ EP:

Most recently, on Chance The Rapper’s mixtape ‘Acid Rap’, he complements his unique assortment of production with some flute on the track ‘Lost’, instantly turning it soulfulness up a notch:

These guys blazed the trail for the use of jazz flute samples, and we expect that this won’t be the last we hear of them in mainstream hip hop.

J. Cole released another ‘Truly Yours’ EP to tide his fans over until his album, ‘Born Sinner’ is released June 25th. Cole has stated that he is gunning for an Album of the Year Grammy with this album, and is attempting to ‘compete with the white people’. We hope he does, but there will certainly be plenty of other competitors.

Download it here: J. Cole – ‘Truly Yours 2′

Chance The Rapper dropped his highly anticipated ‘Acid Rap’ mixtape today, and it lives up to the hype. With his soulful style, tongue-twisting verses and features from Twista, Childish Gambino, Action Bronson and Ab-Soul, this mixtape is going to spread like wildfire.

Download it at chanceraps.com

After exploding onto the scene this fall as an independent artist, Macklemore has found himself with an incredible amount of media attention and success. While shooting the video for the viral sensation ‘Thrift Shop’ Macklemore invested most of his own funding into it, and even drove the u-haul himself as they went from on shop to another.

Now, with significantly more resources, Macklemore took the second most popular song off of ‘The Heist’ and created some pretty awesome visuals. Check it out:

King Chip, formerly Chip Tha Ripper might not have figured out what to call himself yet, but he has been bringing the heat with his raps. After great features on Kid Cudi’s ‘Just What I Am’ and Game’s ‘Church’, Chip dropped a new track of his own:

For any of the 217,000 people who purchased Lil Wayne’s new album, you might feel like you deserve your money back. For a veteran rapper with so many classics under his belt, this album is no doubt a disappointment. As some consolation, recall that Weezy went through a mixtape phase, where he gave a ton of music away for free that was arguably better than this album.

He’s got an assortment of them available for free download on datpiff, though I would definitely avoid ‘Dedication 4′. I’d recommend you start with ‘No Ceilings’.

Or, if you’re pissed off about the album and would prefer to get a laugh out of its asinine content, check out Complex’s ’40 Most Ridiculous Lyrics’ on the album.

Lil Wayne’s album leaked a few days early, and as far as content, it’s pretty much what you would expect (pussy, drugs, dick, money, etc.) He’s got an eclectic mix of producers, including Juicy J, Soulja Boy, Diplo, Mike Will Made It, David Banner and Cool & Dre among others. The unique mix of production, which ranges from a live piano track on “IANAHB” to poppy electronic beats, really adds to the seemingly endless slew of metaphors and punchlines that Lil Wayne spits. It’s like Weezy says over Diplo’s production in “Lay it down”, “Might as well go stupid, since this is a stupid beat”.

One of the highlight of the album is Gunplay’s feature on “Beat the Shit”, where he cranks it up and outshines Wayne with only a quick 50 second verse (see Banana Clips for another example of these two collaborating).

After the preview at SXSW last week, the official remix is now available:

Chance The Rapper released another single and video from his upcoming mixtape, “Acid Rap”. The song features a soulful beat and hook, complemented with Chance’s intricate raps and squawking adlibs. We’re pretty eager to see what this precocious rapper will keep coming up with for the rest of this project.