Mixtape!

While waiting for B.o.B (aka Bobby Ray)'s debut album, set to hit the shelves on May 25th, the Atlanta rapper/singer hands us a little gift to keep busy.

Download B.o.B's new mixtape, appropriately named May 25th, HERE!

Track Of The Day! - Young Buck & D-Tay

I found this video of Young Buck a couple of years ago, I lost it, and now I've found it again. This is pre Buck's G-Unit era, when he was teamed up with his 'Cashville' (Nashville) partner D-Tay - who by the way has an incredible flow in every track he appears on, it's a bit of a wonder he hasn't been signed by a major label. As you can see from the slightly low budget video, the money hadn't started raining over the 'Dirty South' man back in 2000 when the duo's album Thuggin til the end was released.

Young Buck & D-Tay - Back on up

An electric machine!

So, were talking yesterday about Hip Hop with electro beats, and I'm going to keep talking about it.

This new genre is massive in the cold country up north where I'm from, Sweden. It's been going on underground for quite a while but it was with the success of Adam Tensta a couple of years ago that it almost got out of proportion.

In November 2007 Maskinen dropped their first single called Alla som inte dansar (är våldtäktsmän), and set the tone for what was about to come. The track became a bit hit in the clubs, and the group, consisting of Afasi of Hip Hop duo Afasi & Filthy and Frej Larsson of the electro band Slagsmålsklubben (Swedish for Fight Club) went touring, doing gigs in clubs all over Sweden, following the releases of singles as Pengar (Money) and Segertåget (the Victory train).

To know what I'm talking about, have a look at THIS. Probably one of the best live performances ever made.

Two years after the first single came out, Maskinen's first album, named Boys II Men, came out, proving that this sub-genre was here to stay. It includes songs bound to be played heavily in the clubs, such as Buffalo Blues - so crank up the volume on those speakers and tune in!

Maskinen - Alla som inte dansar


Maskinen - Segertåget


Maskinen - Buffalo Blues


Maskinen - Gatan upp


Maskinen - Undan för pundarn

Track Of The Day! - Three 6 Mafia

Three 6 Mafia - Feel it (feat. Sean Kingston, Flo Rida, Tiesto)


Am I the only one who wants more of this? I'm completely sold on Hip Hop music with electro/house beats. In fact, I'm gonna give you a little special on the subject tomorrow, and it's going to come straight outta Sweden!

Stay tuned... Whoop whoop!

Hello I'm the Martian!

Lil' Wayne is doing it again!

The "Martian" has released part 2 of his documentary The Nino Brown Story, in collaboration with DJ Scoob Doo. The film shows the life of a aap artist from Lil' Wayne's perspective, and focuses mainly on the world of Hip Hop after "Weezy" dropped his latest album The Carter III.

See the first part of the documentary below, and click here for the following parts.



Wayne has also been in the spotlight at this weekend's American Grammy Awards where he performed Drop The World with Eminem and Forever with Drake and Eminem.

Who's back?!

After the success of his album Man On The Moon, which came out in the summer of -09, KiD CuDi is back with a new track and video - conveniently called Cudderisback.

Track Of The Day! - Swizz Beatz

Swizz Beatz - It's Me Snitches (feat. Lil' Wayne & R. Kelly)

And we're off!

Now we're done with deadlines, done with course work for a while and done with staying quiet.

This will be the start towards new heights and the start of, at least, personal success. So I thought that what would be better than to ease you in with a little bit of music from a man who is destined to find success as well?

Last year, the best mixtape released came from North Carolina born rapper J. Cole, who followed up his 2007 success The Come Up, that got him signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation, with The Warm Up, dropped on June 15 -09.

Since releasing The Warm Up, which was in close battle with Wale's mixtape Back To The Feature for the position as year no. 1, J.Cole has guest starred on Jay-Z's album Blueprint 3 where he joined the Brooklyn-legend on the track A Star Is Born. Recently he also featured on Talib Kweli's track Just Begun with Mos Def and Jay Electronica

Download the best mixtape of -09... HERE!

J. Cole - Show Me Something



J. Cole - Losing My Balance



J. Cole - Last Call

Important Announcement!

Okay, so let me tell you what's going on with this blog at the moment: not much. And I'm sorry for that, but a lot of things have come in between and I've had to focus on other things for a while.

HOWEVER, I've got BIG plans for this thing! By the end of January, I'll be getting back to business and get the Rubberband back to what it was last spring. It's going to be taken to a whole other level in many aspects. I will be working on a new design during the spring; get a proper domain going; improve the content, hopefully with some interviews and such; and a Twitter feed has been set up, but not yet officially started off - find it here.

To make it a bit simple: I'm gonna to make this into a brand! It's going to be a platform for Hip hop music, for the (future) packed with action empire, for you and for me. And hopefully, when we've reached that far, others will be able to join and team up.

For now, enjoy this:

Jay-Z - On to the next (feat. Swizz Beatz)



Dizzee Rascal - Dance wiv' me



Akon & David Guetta - Sexy Bitch (Littles The General Remix)



Maskinen - Bränner

Slam Harder!

A couple of years ago I saw a video on MTV with a group I had never heard of before. I got hooked straight away. The hard style, the raw approach and sound was very different from what I had heard up to that date. I downloaded their record (this wasn't illegal at the time) and found more tracks in the same style as the one I'd heard on MTV.

That rap group was Onyx. That song was Slam Harder.



Another reason why they got my attention was because I recognized the first rapper in the video, Fredro Starr. He's done many acting jobs and has appeared on TV as well as in films. Sticky Fingaz, the third rapper in the Slam Harder video is also an actor. I'd seen him on the Conan O'Brian shows among other tv programmes.

Today, Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz are the only ones who's left in the group, and now they're back with their new track Black Rock.



I'm going to need to find their whole discography I think. You should do the same!

From Tensta to NYC!

Sweden's own Adam Tensta is hitting the U.S at the moment with the crew from My Best Friend Is My Grind, including Medina. Have a look at a performance by Mr Tensta from Club Ella in New York.

Track Of The Day! - Chingy

Chingy - Bagg up

Track Of The Day! - J. Cole

J. Cole - Last Call



The song comes from Roc Nation signed J. Cole's mixtape The Warm Up, which is the follow up for his mixtape The Come Up. A lot of things going up in other words, and so is his career. This man will be big, trust me on that.

Track Of The Day! - Tyga

Today we've got Young Money's own Compton-kid, Tyga with the hit Coconut Juice

New date!

A little update to the list of album releases from a couple of days ago; The Clipse new album Til The Casket Drops has been delayed and will come out on December 8th, not November 10th as was first said.

Lil' Wayne going to prison!

T.I. is already doing it, and now it's time for another one of the biggest rap stars in the world to serve time in prison.

Lil' Wayne has been sentenced to one year behind bars after being convicted with gun possession after an arrest in New York 2007. Weezy, who pled guilty on the charges, would have been facing up to 15 years in jail if doing the opposite.

Wayne, or Dwayne Michael Carter Jr as is his real name, is expected to start sitting off his sentence in February 2010.

It's going to be pretty interesting how this affects his career, since Lil' Wayne has been a name we have been able to see in the charts constantly for some time now. But it's been done before, rappers going to prison and coming back stronger than ever, and also able to create a hype around them due to the conviction.

As mentioned, T.I. is doing the same thing now, and when he comes out in spring next year, I'm quite sure we're going to witness an era of endless chart toppers.

Track Of The Day! - Drake

Drake - Forever (feat. Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Eminem)

Dates, release dates!

A quickie today yes?

Here's some important release dates for this autumn, so flip up that calender of yours, click your little pen and write this shit down!

October 20
Fashawn - Boy Meets World
Stat Quo - Great Depression

October 27
Tech N9ne - K.O.D.
Triple C - Custom Cars & Cycles

November 3
Shwayze - Let It Beat

November 10
Wale - Attention: Deficit
The Clipse - Till The Casket Drops
DJ Kay Slay - More Than Just A DJ

November 17
50 Cent - Before I Self Destruct

November 24
Glasses Malone - Beach Cruiser
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The World's Enemy
Birdman - Pricele$$
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin'
Various Artists - The Ultimate Death Row Collection
Timbaland - Shock Value 2
Wiz Khalifa - Deal Or No Deal
Jay-Z - Greatest Hits

So, basically there's gonna be a busy couple of week in November. I'm especially looking forward to Wale, Clipse andfa Wiz Khalifa.

E-40's new album should be interesting too, his My Ghetto Report Card from 2006 was impressive to say the least.

50 Cent? Naaw, unless it's in the same spirit as his early G-Unit work, it wont be a hit.

Timbaland has got a lot to live up to. We all remember Shock Value with tracks like Apologize and The Way I Are right?

Also, I expect nothing but one of the best lyrics since the borth of the CD on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony new record. So please prove me right!

Here we go!

So, time to get down to business.

It has been a busy summer, but I don't really see the point in just telling you about it word for word. Where's the fun in that?

Basically, it has all been about Jay-Z. The Jiggaman has released his latest album, Blueprint 3, and all over the world people have been queuing up to praise the record which, according to the main person himself is three times as good as edition one and two.

Just watch this interview and you'll know what I'm talking about:



And I can't really argue, Blueprint 3 is the best album of the year so far, no doubt. The tracks just keep growing the more you listen to them. For example, here's Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)



...and Already Home (feat. Kid Cudi).



What else? We've got a new album from Fabolous called Loso's Way, and as mentioned in the previous post, Clipse is coming out with Til The Casket Drops in a near future and have been spitting out hits to promote the release.

Fabolous - Everything, everyday, everywhere (feat. Keri Hilson)



Clipse - Kinda like a big deal (feat. Kanye West)



Sweden? Don't know where to start there. The scene of electro/drum n' base influenced Hip hop has truly exploded, mostly thanks to My Best Friend Is My Grind. You've got new names such as Cake Boy, Pato Pooh and the list goes on, which are trying to make it big and are on their way to getting there.

Pato Pooh - Follow Me (feat. Adam Tensta)



Cake Boy - How I Roll



Well, that'll be all for now.

Catch you in a bit.

Whoop, whoop!

Track Of The Day! - Clipse

Alright people! We're back in the game again after a well deserved, as well as needed, break over the summer. There's been going on a lot which needs to be reported on, and I will get down to that when the time is right, which will be tomorrow.

But for now, let's just start of nice and easy with a track of the day. From their upcoming, and according to me, highly anticipated album 'Til the casket drops', here's Clipse with I'm Good: