In which Action Bronson does bicep curls in glasses, cartwheels, shoots dice with Riff Raff, hits three pointers, slices pineapple, skewers meat, performs erotic freakdances, compares his beard to Iraqi dictator scions, and eats a cake made in the form of his own face. Shades of Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More.” Video for the year? Worth betting a sumptuous shrimp feast on.

Straight out of the Kevin Gates video playbook: lounging on a bed in a white tee with a very sexy woman. Religious imagery. D-Boys. The forlorn stressed-out shot in which his world is going to crumble but you know he will triumph. He is Gates and he will not lose.

I have been part of one of these awkward interviews where Gates expresses his inner views, so I guess I know that it’s real. I’m also very pleased to see Gates continuing to drop videos in support of Luca Brasi. The rap Internet might already know, but your average normal does not. I’m also very happy to see him rocking the Cincinnati Reds jacket because someone needs to be the rap game Joey Votto.

Southern Hospitality’s Best of Gates mix below the jump, in case you missed it the first time around.

Fort Romeau remixes Holy Other and take the latter’s ectoplasm mood music and turn it into an extended minimal house jam. This is what the Ghostly-signed producer does. I like the Soundcloud commenter who described this as “existentially good.” If you listened to that Devil record I posted a little while ago, this is an ideal way to decompress.

Via (GVB)

This is not the work of an insane person, but the work of someone who believes that everything he sees is insane. We throw around the word “reality rap” without any context or real gravity attached to the term. Rapping about trapping and everyday torture doesn’t necessarily make something reality. Everyone’s reality is different. For me, reality is conveying a sense of desperation — the idea that this life is fleeting — for some much more so than others. The best trap music isn’t powerful because it celebrates an outdoor black marketplace, but because it portrays what it’s like to be stuck. Harbinger is the trap as tar pit– real hells turned abstract, and made real again. The “Trap Going Ham” video, which the Devil was a part of, touched a raw nerve several years ago because it brought these grim truths to YouTube. World Star shows stuff like that everyday. But circumstances often gain a new power when they’re split up and given new surroundings.

This is what Harbinger and the videos that The Devil has released seem to represent. Charles Manson going ham and Buddhist monks immolating themselves exist side by side with raw raps from Alley Boy and the 808 Mafia. If you wanted to hear an album where Future was paired with the real Freeway Ricky Ross, this is the only place you’ll find it. The videos are edited to cause epileptic fits. They are fast and frenetic slide shows of violence and addiction. The music is heavy and bludgeoning. The vibe is a Southern Gothic where no one gets out alive. There are six parts to the project: Love, Drugs, ??????, Violence, Betrayal, Rage. It’s Bosch crossed with baseheads.

This put together with great care but very little caution. Harbinger is best consumed as a complete project — videos, songs, and the website, One Thousand Thieves.  It has no home in the landscape of contemporary rap. It neither celebrates the perils of the street nor condemns it. It aspires for more than just a straight-forward depiction. You might not like it, but it will stick in your skull longer than almost anything else you see this week or month or whenever. This is the opposite of the belief that the “Devil’s greatest trick was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

Download:
ZIP: The Devil – Harbinger (Left-Click)

Evan Nabavian wrote this in Pac blood.

2Pac isn’t exactly the rap martyr du jour right now. Yes, he is rap’s greatest firebrand and any rapper-cum-revolutionary owes him a debt of gratitude, but direct emulation of his style and sound is rare outside of Freddie Gibbs. Popular rap styles change with the seasons and it’s fair to expect more 2Pac love when everyone is done doing molly (please excuse the lack of a good “I Get Around” joke). For now, Co$$’ turn as ghetto sermonizer on “Blasphemy In Babylon” is a refreshing take on Pac’s cadence and latter day cynicism.

Co$$ employs one of the more precarious hip-hop tropes in using Muslim terrorism as an analogue for gangster shit, but he actually puts together a compelling picture without quite putting his foot in his mouth. His world is one of men conscripted by fate to betray and kill in the name of fealty to neighborhoods. He has the reedy voice of an indie rap flag bearer except when he quavers into song on the hook to emblazon “Babylon” in your memory. Urgency is packed into his rapid yet malleable flow that builds to a climax of street paradoxes worthy of “City of God” or La Haine”. But the lineage of “Blasphemy In Babylon” can be neatly traced back to track five on 2Pac’s “last” album.

Everyone remembers Mazzy Star for their Buzz Bin jam, “Fade Into You.” They overlook that the LA band was one of the greatest bands of the 90s. The evidence is obvious in this Black Session recorded 20 years ago in Paris.  Seeing that I’m a sucker for any group who reminds me a little of early Mazzy Star (see also: the first two Beach House albums), I’m smoking all my opium in anticipation of the forthcoming record from Boardwalk. I am mainly joking about the opium. I could probably get DMT faster than I could get opium, which is probably for the best anyway. I have seen the movie From Hell. Twice.

“I’m to Blame” is the first official release from the LA-based duo of Mike Edge and Amber Quintero. Off the strength of this and several other songs, it earned them a deal with Stones Throw. The full-length debut drops later this summer, but this is something to be savored now. There is echo and reverb and wraith-like seductive vocals. It feels like it was written to soundtrack the final montage scene in a movie. I see tears, slow-motion running, and the slow sepia fade. If I were a music supervisor, this would send me to speed dial (if that even still exists). This is ideal for slurred late nights and awkward swoons. It is the song voted most likely to cause someone to take their girlfriend behind a liberal arts college and get them pregnant.

Let’s play the Wu-Tang guessing game. When do you think this track was recorded? Son Raw guessed that this is an extra from the early 2000s and judging from the tight verses of Deck and the RZA, that could be accurate. I don’t like dissing people who I would be willing to die for, so let’s not talk about the latter-day output of the Rebel INS and the Rzarecauteur. In fact, this does sound like something from the Digital Bullet era. Raekwon offers us no clues, because the chef has been consistently excellent for a long time.

Zilla guessed that this is an extra from the Man with the Iron Fists soundtrack. The Frank Dukes beat would seem to be a dead giveaway, although it could very well feature old vocals transferred to a new beat — one that does a better job of channeling late 90s RZA than modern day RZA. I’m sure someone in the comment section knows the true answer, but it’s more fun to speculate. After all, good new Wu-Tang is no longer the norm, so it’s important to appreciate when the melodies are deadly.

This was originally a Pusha T song that was recently revamped by now-ex Stones Throw Julian Malone. They all do Don Cannon’s beat justice, but Wayne has no sympathy. He’s putting people in 7th inning stretchers. Fucking up people with laves. He’s “got demons, in fact I eat with them/they’re the ones who told me that I needed more seasoning.” No more seasoning needed. Catch your breathe and play this on loop. If you don’t make the “whoop” noise when the Jay-Z sample taken from the intro to In My Lifetime Vol. 1 comes in, you are not invested in rap the way I am.

Because Jonwaye cares, he also dropped an ambient mix this week, so you can nap after “Numbers on the Hoard” makes you feel like a Hun.

ZIP: Jonwayne — Daytime Naps (Left-Click)

Granted, the new fans he gathered with his self-titled album, structured more along the lines of traditional pop, might sometimes look on in confusion as Blake spins abrasive electronic tunes from Blawan or Salem at his after-parties. But in reality, through his DJ sets and his new label 1-800-Dinosaur, he’s actually doing a huge service to the underground community by exposing these artists to a new and receptive audience.

After revealing that he’d been dating Theresa Wayman from Warpaint and trashing his label for a number of unauthorized leaks, Blake released his second full-length last month amid a perfect storm of gossip and controversy. Before stopping in NYC for two sold out shows at Terminal 5, I spoke to him on the phone about collaborating with the RZA, the timelessness of Outkast and the Wu-Tang Clan and how Christopher Hitchens influenced his writing. Aaron Frank

Where influences are concerned, electronic music seems to take a backseat to hip-hop and R&B on the new album. Can you talk about some of the artists you were listening to while making the record?

I listened to a bit of the Jeremih mixtape. I listened to a lot of gospel, quite a lot of Stevie Wonder as well. What else? A lot of Wu-Tang. I could go on.

What appeals to you specifically about Outkast and Wu-Tang?

I think the difference between Outkast and Wu-Tang is that Wu-Tang never really got absolutely massive. I mean, they were big, but I just saw them at SXSW doing a reunion show basically, and there’s something about the fact that they were never absolutely huge to the point where you would hear their records overplayed on radio and stuff like that. So when you see them live now, it felt completely fresh, even though you’ve known those tunes all your life.

Whereas with Outkast, their tunes did get massively overplayed on radio, but they were that good to where you don’t care. I could hear “Ms. Jackson.” I could hear “Hey Ya.” I could hear any of their hits over and over again and never get bored because they’re such interesting pieces of music. They made pop music interesting for a lot of people.

It’s interesting to see how The Love Below has influenced most everything ten years on. Modern indie and pop music just wouldn’t sound the same if that album had never been released.

I mean Andre 3000 is one of the most influential producers in music. Not only that, but he’s one of the best rappers ever and one of the best producers ever. You can talk about how they influenced pop, but just the way they came out in the first place was revolutionary.

What was it like working with the RZA? I know you two just performed together for the first time at Coachella.

We met him for rehearsal before the show and it was cool. It was pretty brief, briefer than I like, but it was amazing to meet him. When he really got going, it was like, “Oh shit. The RZA’s here.” You could really feel the skill and the prowess. It was just great. After the rehearsal, me, Rob and Ben were like what the fuck just happened?

You hadn’t met him while recording?

Not to record. That was done on the Internet, and we didn’t get to meet until we rehearsed. But just a really stand up guy, just a nice guy to work with and we got on. He’s got good energy.

The lyrics seem much more direct and cutting on this album. Are they mostly inspired by personal experiences?

Well, it’s all inspired by personal experiences. I’m actually not the sort of writer that can write about things that haven’t happened or fictional situations. I’ve not been able to do that much. But all of these tunes are very personal. It’s very much like a diary this album, as the first one was, but this time it’s almost brutally honest.

But with the last album, the lyrics seem a bit more metaphorical and I think the clarity is what makes this album brutally honest. I’m just curious what inspired that change. Were there any authors or writers that had an impact on you?

Yeah, I would say songwriters more than anything. Someone like Joni Mitchell, and then the writing of prose was actually a big influence too. I read a lot of Christopher Hitchens this year. I read a lot of books in general, but reading prose takes your mind off the musical side of things.

Especially with someone like Hitchens, who really demands your attention.

He’s just incredibly precise. Every single word is utterly relevant and there’s so much packed into a small space. Sometimes it’s quite difficult to read because you have to really focus. You can’t just let the pages go by. Sometimes you have to really study it, but it’s really rewarding and you end up feeling like you’ve really learned something.

Since we’re basically from the same generation and we’ve kind of witnessed the demise of the album as an artform, I’m curious if you think leaks have hastened that demise.

Well, I don’t think leaks have done that. I think format has done that. I think it’s an entire generation growing up with the separation of songs on iTunes playlists. It’s just a different format and a completely different world now, and you just have to roll with the punches.

It’s not going to change unless you develop a better alternative. I think the only way to defeat piracy is to offer a better alternative. The whole album thing, I’ll sit and listen to an album sometimes, but the world is so fast-paced and some people just don’t have time to really sit there.

I guess my question is more about individual tracks. For me, I know hearing four leaked tracks from an album just ruins that sense of novelty and surprise for when you actually get to hear it in its entirety. Wouldn’t you agree?

It does ruin that. I agree. That’s why I was so against part of the campaign with my album, where tracks were being leaked here and there and some of the things had happened accidentally. Just the handling of it I wasn’t particularly happy about. And unfortunately when you say that in the UK, they just kind of shrug it off and maybe blame somebody else.

You’ve just got to make your best effort to make sure there’s as much control around the situation as possible. And I think this time around, I didn’t really have time for that in between just writing a fucking album, you know?

Do you have plans for anymore singles or EPs this year?

It’s quite interesting you raised the thing about albums, because nowadays I don’t think people are expecting that break between albums as much, where you put out an album and wait two years and then you do another album and then you wait three years.

I think people expect more than that now because things move so quick. You might be on the front page of Pitchfork one day and it might be a huge feature, but then the next day you can’t even find the article. That’s the kind of world we live in, so just releasing another single might be a great idea if I find the right song. It won’t be on the album, but this is all just A&R speak.

Your singles always seem to be either more dancefloor-driven or just completely experimental. Does that function as a different outlet for you?

Definitely. The whole release schedule from the beginning came from how people do things in the electronic music world, just releasing 12”s and EPs, so that every month people would have something new to play out. That’s kind of how we started and I hope to continue like that.

We’ve started this label 1-800-Dinosaur, which is kind of a collective of friends, and we’re just going to put out dance music. Not just sort of mildly head nodding boredom, but actual bonafide dance music. Considering what I’ve just said, the first release is one of my tunes ironically, but what we’re going to be releasing in the future is going to be really special.

I suppose it makes sense that the first release would be “Voyeur,” since that’s definitely the most dancefloor-driven track on the new album.

It definitely takes cues from real house music. You know, Chicago house, Detroit house.

So is dubstep less of an influence for you nowadays? When I asked Mount Kimbie about post-dubstep a while back, they just seemed completely over it.

Well, you have to remember that neither me or Mount Kimbie invented that word or ever gave a shit about what it meant. They just make amazing music. They are one of the most exciting things to happen to electronic music in a long time in my opinion. They’re also two of my best friends and they’re doing a new album and it sounds so good.

But house music has kind of taken over in the UK and everywhere else. Is that more an influence for you than dubstep now?

No, I wouldn’t say that. When I DJ out, I love half-time music. I love slowed down R&B, and I love dubstep and dub, all these slightly half-time rhythms. Even if they have a bit of skip to them that makes you nod your head double-time or anything like that, I still love that kind of kick on the one, snare on the three kind of thing. And because of that, I still play a lot of dubstep. Early dubstep still has a huge influence on the way I make music today.

None of this is true. Nor do I have any information that Eddie Murphy’s “Party all the Time” played any role in it’s influence. Nonetheless, I will believe that it did. The Thundercat album does for jazz fusion what Dam-Funk did to boogie, it’s faithful to its influences and yet radical at the same time. It is something shaped by hip-hop, with its own voice, aesthetic and ideas. It does nothing less than transform a theoretically moribund genre, without any trace of irony that plagues most attempts to appropriate these sounds. It might be my favorite album of the year. If George Duke and George Benson were in their 20s in 2013, this is how they’d sound.