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Pete Rock Is Dropping An Album Of Unreleased Beats From The ’90s

Legendary producer, rapper, and DJ Pete Rock helped cement a culture of Instrumental Hip-Hop releases. Since the first volume of Petestrumentals, the Mount Vernon, New Yorker helped shine a light on cohesive album-making without MCs on the track. The first Petestrumentals, released in 2001, followed the 1990s where Pete Rock... Read more

Anticon Co-Founder & MC/Producer Alias Has Passed Away At The Age Of 41

Alias, a producer, MC, and founding member of the independent Hip-Hop collective Anticon, has died. The producer born Brendon Whitney passed away March 30 from a heart attack, according to friend and collaborator, Sage Francis. Alias was 41 years old. Anticon's social media accounts later confirmed the news. A product... Read more

Pete Rock & J Dilla Birthed A Beat Generation That Shaped The Future (Audio)

Within the space of three months in 2001, two of Hip-Hop’s preeminent producers, J Dilla and Pete Rock were in a kind of competition, and this led to the release of two ground-breaking albums that would shape the sound of the genre for the next decade and beyond. According to... Read more

Da Beatminerz Show How They Made Those Thunderous Boot Camp Clik Beats (Video)

DJ Evil Dee and Mr. Walt are one of the most successful brotherly groups in Hip-Hop. As Da Beatminerz, the Brooklyn, New York record clerks-turned-DJ/producers have laced ageless knocking beats for Smif-n-Wessun, The Roots, Mos Def, and of course Black Moon (which Evil is one-third of). From Academy Records to... Read more

Kanye West’s 1997 Beat Tape Travels To The Past In A “Spaceship” (Audio)

In 1998, Kanye West the producer broke through in a major way. The hungry artist from Chicago, Illinois landed on two big albums, care of joints on Foxy Brown's platinum #1, Chyna Doll (see: "My Life") and Jermaine Dupri's star-studded solo debut, Life In 1472 (see: the Nas-assisted "Intro [Turn It... Read more

DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Holiday Groove Has More Than A Touch Of Jazz (Audio)

DJ Jazzy Jeff knows how to do holidays right. His and MICK's Summertime mixtape series have made the Summer months even hotter. This time, as the year comes to a close, the West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hip-Hop legend sprinkles a new track on fans. "Xmas Is Coming!!" is a straightforward Jazz... Read more

Thelonious Martin Is One Producer You MUST Be Watching For (Video)

So who will be the highly sought-out producers of tomorrow? Montclair, New Jersey's Thelonious Martin is one worthy of consideration. After work with Curren$y, Mac Miller, and MC Tree, Theo' is holding down his own fort. Taking 2014's Wunderkid freebie project, Martin provides a quick visual for "Wrong Or Right." Just... Read more

Sit Back & Cool Out To Pete Rock’s Petestrumentals 2 (Album Stream)

Today (June 23), Pete Rock released Petestrumentals 2. The second installment in the series in 14 years finds the Mount Vernon, New York producer/DJ/MC now working with Tucson, Arizona-based Mello Music Group. As reported, the 10-tracks of the instrumental project are a balance between new musical creations, as well as... Read more

Kid Capri Blends 52 Of Hip-Hop’s Most Important Instrumentals & Breaks (Mix)

Kid Capri's body of work speaks for itself. The New York City mainstay DJ, mixtape pioneer, and accomplished producer does a strong job digitizing his gems from the past. In 1992, the D.I.T.C. affiliate (and later Sony Records artist) released 52 Beats. This mixtape featured the Kid cutting, scratching, and... Read more

Step Into Pete Rock’s Petestrumentals Kitchen & Watch Him Cook (Video)

Less than two months removed from Petestrumentals 2 (June 23), the Mount Vernon, New York living legend lets cameras catch him (dramatically) in action, breaking down some "Cosmic Slop" on the Akai MPC. The song features extensive percussion, and the kind of serious sounds that P.R. has offered Edo G.,... Read more

Just Blaze Re-Examines The Musical Magic In Michael Jackson’s Human Nature (Audio)

2015 has seen Just Blaze shake things up with some instrumentals. The New Jersey producer/DJ really became a go-to sound source for flipping, altering, and reinvigorating certain samples, especially in his tenure with Roc-A-Fella Records. Keeping things in the Def Jam building, Just recently laced Ludacris with a Ludaversal closer... Read more

Pete Rock Signals More Petestrumentals & Unleashes A 20 Year Old Groove (Audio)

It's hard to believe it's been nearly 14 years since Pete Rock released Petestrumentals. Following Jay Dee's (p/k/a J Dilla) Welcome To Detroit, Soul Brother Pete laced BBE (Barely Breaking Even) Records' Beat Generation series (Marley Marl and will.i.am were among those who would follow). Pete struck the Hip-Hop/R&B charts... Read more

Just Blaze Releases The Beat Jay-Z & Rick Ross Wanted, Encourages Only Nice MCs To Touch It (Audio)

Just Blaze is one of the more interesting producers on social media. The Patterson, New Jersey producer/DJ enjoys waxing poetic about music, technology, industry, life, and engaging with his legions of fans. With that unpredictability in mind, Just released "Miracle," an instrumental track that he claims was a bidding war... Read more

DJ Dahi Drives Stevie Wonder’s All I Do Through The Trap, Then To The Jungle (Audio)

In the last five years of Hip-Hop music, DJ Dahi has made hits—and never seems overly concerned with getting his name out, or on the track. A Los Angeles, California native, the man born Dacoury Natche has produced hits for Big Sean ("IDFWU"), Drake ("Worst Behavior"), and ScHoolboy Q ("Hell... Read more

After 15 Years Of Dope Tracks, A Jake One Beat Tape Beckons The Listen (Audio)

In addition to albums with Freeway, Brother Ali, and his own acclaimed White Van Music, Jake One's production discography extends back to the '90s, with heat alongside the likes of G-Unit, Evidence, Ghostface Killah, T.I., and Rick Ross. The veteran Seattle, Washington producer (once represented by Sha Money XL) has... Read more

Clams Casino Releases Another Block Of Instrumentals, Including Beats For MF DOOM & Mac Miller (Mixtape)

Nutley, New Jersey's own, Clams Casino, stayed strong in 2013. Amidst a three, four-year run with joints for A$AP Rocky, Lil B, Mac Miller, and MF DOOM, C.C. stays the course. In keeping with tradition, he released a new Instrumentals download project. Over the years, these have defied genre and... Read more

Damu The Fudgemunk – Fades ‘Em Gone

The DMV is a great a place to dig for records (and we're not just talking about Biz Markie's second crib full of wax). A hot-bed for dusty loops, it's little surprise that the region has spawned Oddissee, Nick Tha 1da, and Damu The Fudgemunk. The latter is a name... Read more