AFH Ambrosia for Heads

A Violinist & Violist Are Combining Hip-Hop & Classical in Amazing Ways (Audio)

Throughout history, musical worlds have always collided as cultures and influences blend together to form new and exciting sounds. Now, with the digital era, the bridging of worlds has become far more frequent, and the resulting amalgamations continue to impress with ingenuity and creativity abounding. Violinist Kevin Sylvester and violist... Read more

Lupe Fiasco Surprises Fans With Free Mixtape, ‘Pharaoh Height 2/30’ (Mix)

Lupe Fiasco Heads rejoice...the Chicago MC has released a surprise free project and with it a nod to the fans who have been following him since 2006. Eleven years ago, he released a series of three mixtapes entitled Fahrenheit 1/15, the same year he released his Platinum-selling studio debut, Lupe... Read more

House Shoes Offers A Free-Form Mix Featuring Skillz, Wu-Tang Clan & Ohio Players (Mix)

Detroit, Michigan-to-Los Angeles, California DJ mainstay House Shoes is as versatile as they come. The longtime right-hand man to J Dilla kicks off a new series with Dublab called "Magic." Last month's inaugural edition features House Shoes pullin' out cuts new and old, ranging from Kendrick Lamar and D'Angelo, to... Read more

Hear the Greatness of Nina Simone as Interpreted by Lauryn Hill, Common, Mary J. Blige & More (Album Stream)

Later this week (7/10), RCA will release Nina Revisited...A Tribute to Nina Simone, celebrating one of the most enigmatic and acclaimed voices of the last century. Ahead of the album, NPR has made a full stream of the album available, via its First Listen series. Ms. Simone's reach extended to... Read more

Pharoahe Monch Gives An Enticing Performance In Keep Pushing (Short Film)

Producers of the upcoming film Revolutions Per Minute, have released a prequel to the movie, titled Keep Pushing. The visual is set sometime in the early 1990s. Almost 15 minutes long, the short film follows a Bronx, New York rapper by the name of Billy da Kid. The video starts off with... Read more

Jill Scott Brings Down The House & The Tears In Her Grand Return (Video)

Jill Scott is something special. While the signs of Spring typically conjure up songs about new love, lust, or at least the pursuit—"Jilly from Philly" knows that not all are so lucky. Presumably marching towards her first album since 2011's The Light Of The Sun, the Atlantic/Warner Bros. Records star... Read more

Pharoahe Monch Delivers Some Valentine’s Day Love with a Compilation Album (Audio Stream)

Pharoahe Monch has delivered a Hip-Hop Valentine's Day present in the form of a compilation album. Lost in Translation is a 12-song project featuring all-star contributions from Jill Scott, Robert Glasper, Will.I.Am, Justin Timberlake, Phonte and more. According to Pharoahe's Bandcamp page, ""Lost In Translation" is a collection of previously... Read more

Raise It Up: Grasping The Entire Greatness Of J Dilla In Retrospect (Food For Thought)

On the heels of the first expanded Dilla Weekend, it is difficult to ignore the growth in posthumous fame that James Yancey (a/k/a Jay Dee or J Dilla) has accrued since passing away on this date, nine years ago. Like Amadeus Mozart's and Vincent Van Gogh's before him, Dilla's legacy... Read more

Stream and Download More Than 35 of the Best Mixtapes of 2014 (Mixtapes)

2014 was a year of incredibly diverse mixtape offerings. There were amazing blend projects like Yasiin Gaye which combined Mos and Marvin, beat-jacking tapes like Jon Connor's amazing takeover of Kanye West tracks, albums in disguise like Travi$ Scott's Days Before Rodeo, remix wonders like Soul Cookin's complete re-imagination of... Read more

Happy Birthday to Pharoahe Monch. Here’s a Celebratory Mix of His Music (Audio)

Happy Birthday to Pharoahe Monch who turned 42 on Halloween. To celebrate the date, OkayPlayer commissioned DJ Raydar Ellis to put together a mix of Monch's music. Ellis dug deep in the crates pulling out gems from Pharoahe's solo career, his days with Organized Konfusion, featured appearances and more. Check... Read more

Bilal is Back as Soulful as Ever. Sound the Sirens (Audio)

Bilal is back with a new song and it is oh so soulful. Adrian Younge and A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad provide the track for "Sirens II," an update on Younge's original "Sirens." Heads will recognize the music as the anchor for the sample Jay Z used on... Read more

Don Cheadle Gives an In-Depth Breakdown About His Film on Miles Davis and the Soundtrack (Video)

Who better to play Miles Davis than Don Cheadle? Aside from their obvious physical similarities, Cheadle shares the same quiet intensity and brooding energy that made Davis one of the most enigmatic and coolest cats ever to grace the stage. Cheadle spoke about the upcoming biopic Miles Ahead, his feature-length... Read more

Don Cheadle Is Campaigning To Push His Directorial Debut Film “Miles Ahead” (Video)

This summer, Don Cheadle is working on his feature directorial debut with a film about the life and music of Miles Davis entitled, Miles Ahead. "I’ve taken my marching orders from Miles’ mandates," Don explains, referring to “play what’s not there,” and “fear no mistakes. There are none," "and focused... Read more

Stream Terrace Martin’s New LP ft Snoop, Kendrick Lamar & More (Audio)

Terrace Martin has released 3ChordFold Pulse, which features new material from Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Robert Glasper and more. This project showcases Martin's jazz chops even more than the incredibly soulful original 3ChordFold project. Check out the full stream below.... Read more

Gary Clark, Jr. Releases a Mixtape ft Big K.R.I.T., Talib Kweli, Bilal & More (Mixtape)

Gary Clark, Jr. has released one of the more interesting projects of the year. The Grammy-winning blues guitarist put together a mixtape featuring Talib Kweli, Big K.R.I.T., Bilal, Robert Glasper and more. It features remixes to his 2012 album of the same name, and adds a few new cuts. You... Read more

Remember Ron G Blend Tapes? Marsha Ambrosius Must, As She Combines Jeru With Sade (Video)

If you're a Hip-Hop Head, one R&B singer you have to love is Marsha Ambrosius. Since her days with Floetry on into her with Dr. Dre and Aftermath Entertainment, the U.K. crooner has demonstrated elite taste in making palpable Soul music with a B-Girl's edge. Her skills lead the way,... Read more

Stream Black Milk’s No Poison No Paradise Album in Full (Audio)

Black Milk's new album No Poison No Paradise will hit stores on 10/15. He's made a full stream of the album available, and it's one of the finest of the year. In addition to guest verses from Black Thought and Dwele, it features stellar production and sharp wordplay from Black... Read more

Common Discusses the New Era of Chicago MC’s Like Chance the Rapper, Chief Keef and More (Video)

Seeing that he's one of most respected veterans in the game, it's always dope to hear what Common has to say on different topics when it comes to Hip-Hop. He recently sat down during a Rock The Bells show and discussed topics ranging from his never ending love for music,... Read more

AFH: Best Hip-Hop of September 2013 (Audio Playlist)

Summer brought the official start of Fall but the heat kept coming, musically. Here's a playlist of the best Hip-Hop to drop in September, including Pusha T, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Jay Z, The Lox, Cam'ron, AZ, Rapsody, Juvenile, Freddie Gibbs, Common and Organized Konfusion. And even though it's not Hip-Hop,... Read more

Terrace Martin – 3ChordFold (Full Album Stream)

Terrace Martin's 3ChordFold album hit stores today. The album features Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Wiz Khalifa, Musiq Soulchild, Robert Glasper, James Fauntleroy, Lalah Hathaway, Snoop Dogg and more. If you like soulful hip-hop with introspective lyrics, this one's for you. You can stream the entire album below and purchase it here.... Read more

Happy 50th Birthday Whitney Houston (Playlist)

Happy Birthday to the incomparable Whitney Houston. The Voice would have been 50 years old today. Here's a playlist of just a few of the many gifts she left with us. Related: Robert Glasper – Calls ft Jill Scott (Audio) Whitney Houston by Parfit on Grooveshark... Read more

Terrace Martin – You’re The One ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Tone Trezure

To me, this sounds like a hybrid of DJ Quik and J Dilla, with a nice composition for two rising features. That being said, Terrace Martin is completely his own man, and one of the most exciting producers in Southern California since the '90s. His 3ChordFold is out next week... Read more

AFH: Best Hip-Hop of July 2013 (Audio Playlist)

Jay-Z dominated the headlines in July, but there was a LOT of good music from other artists last month, as well. Here's a playlist of the best hip-hop to drop in July. You'll hear music from MC Lyte, Q-Tip, J. Cole, Rapsody, Pete Rock & Camp Lo, Daz Dillinger, Nipsey... Read more

Cosmo Baker – The 6th Annual Roots Picnic Mix (Mixtape)

Here's a BBQ mix just in time for the long weekend. Cosmo Baker lays down the 6th official mixtape for the upcoming Annual Roots Picnic. The playlist is incredibly diverse, including artists like Gang Starr, Naughty By Nature, Jay-Z & Kanye West, Robert Glasper, Solange, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kendrick... Read more

Living Legends: Yasiin Bey (Playlist)

Dante Smith. Mos Def. Yasiin Bey. No matter the name, it still equals the same result--DOPE MC. The gifted rapper, singer and actor has been in the game for more than 20 years both as a solo artist and as a member of groups like Urban Thermo Dynamics and, of... Read more

Janelle Monae – Q.U.E.E.N. ft Erykah Badu

Janelle Monae is back with some new material and she brought out her big sis Erykah Badu. The result? A badass guitar and synth-driven jam that is reminiscent of some of Prince's funkiest joints from the early 80's (think Dirty Mind and Controversy). This joint is red hot! Check out... Read more

Yasiin Bey Performs in Paris (Video)

Yasiin Bey recently performed in Paris with the Robert Glasper Experiment. Here's some video of the event, which includes a guest appearance by Kanye West who performed Can't Tell Me Nothing. Check it out below.  Related:  Mos Def – The Light is not Afraid of the Dark (Prod. Kanye West)... Read more

The Bullits – They Die By Dawn ft Yasiin Bey, Jay Electronica & Lucy Liu + They Die By Dawn Trailer (Video)

Whoa. Here's something you don't hear every day--Yasiin Bey and Jay Electronica flowing over a Spaghetti Western track. The song is for an upcoming Western featuring Erykah Badu, The Wire's Michael Kenneth Williams, Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito, Rosario Dawson, Isaiah Washington, Bokeem Woodbine and more. Both the soundtrack and the... Read more