Best Albums & Music of 2009: K-Os & Tanya Morgan

I'm just going to post these willy-nilly as the inspiration comes, so this is really in no particular order, BUT that being said, these 2 are absolutely top-5 of the year and quite possibly top-2. Here's my judgement:

Tanya Morgan - Brooklynati

I've been a fan of TM for a short while (follow the link for samples), starting with the mixtape Tanya Morgan Is a Rap Group, and during that short period I downloaded/bought almost everything of theirs I could (thanks to Don, www.mcdayjob.com) . Most of their stuff was a combination of good and not-so-good but they definitely showed promise, and that promise was realized with Brooklynati. The first time I heard "On Our Way," I wasn't halfway through by the time I'd gone to imculture and ordered the Brooklynati Survival Kit, in order to give these guys as much of my money as I could. This album is fantastic.

K-Os - Yes!

Another album I bought essentially "sight-unseen" (sound-unheard?), this album will only disappoint you if you're deaf, or an idiot. If you're lucky enough to have lived in Canada and preordered the album on iTunes, please email me a CD-quality version of "Dance in your car." With a full 2nd disc of fan-made remixes, K-Os continues to solidify himself as a man of the people, and his music, as a result, is unassumingly excellent. My personal favorite on this album is the Soundcrates remix of 4321, but this is an easy album to get lost in from start to finish.

Thank you, K-Os and TM (Von Pea, Donwill, Ilyas), for the aural pleasure in 2009.

to a place I've seen only in my dreams

If you don't know about Tanya Morgan then you are seriously, seriously missing out on on some future classic music. I really don't know what I can say about this album except just listen to it (myspace.com/tanyamorgan), check out the website (www.brooklynati.com) and buy it (www.imculture.com). Here are some of my favorites from the album (which I bought twice!)

Tanya Morgan - On Our Way

This song is amazing, and a great intro song for the album. I was about 30 seconds into this song when I decided to buy the Brooklynati Survival Kit. So, I pretty much bought the album twice on the strength of this song.

Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down

This is the lead single from the album, and comes third on the album after Alleye Need (not posting it here). The three together make a pretty perfect kick-off trifecta.

Tanya Morgan - Never 2ndary

Just listen, I've said enough.

Please, buy the album and support these guys.

...Anchorman on most jams, its Don Burgundy...

Tanya Morgan is (my new favorite) rap group, as my purchase of their album Sunset... the EP. I had heard this song before on the Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group mixtape, but they put an extended version of it on the EP. However, the extended version is really just the song twice over, with it being a different (earlier/demo) version the second time. Regardless, rarely would I stick around to listen to the same song twice in a row but this song is too good to skip after the first version plays. Pretty much everything about this song is amazing, the sample, the beat, the lyrics, its all good and totally worth your while. This is the song I use to introduce people to Tanya Morgan, and it works. Anyways, listen to this song, then head over to Amazon or wherever and buy the album. Also, check out Donwill's blog where you can download more TM music and music from all the Lessondary crew.

Stay Tuned - Tanya Morgan [zshare mp3] [buy the album @ Amazon]

Their new album Brooklynati is coming soon as well, so keep your eyes open for that.

Bonus Joints:

Ced Hughes - Juke Joint [zshare mp3]

Check out Ced Hughes' myspace to download the whole mixtape

Che Grand - City On Fire [zshare mp3]

It's too late for water now, instead we gon' burn it down
Che's got big things coming, check out this song and then go to his myspace to get more

People tellin me hip-hop is dead, but what the hell is this runnin all through my head?

...Scored like ten on my IQ test...

From this post forward I'm gonna try to be a little more focused with the posts, but still throw in those bonus joints for good measure. This post is about Camp Lo...


Camp Lo - "Coolie High (demo)" mp3 (zshare)

Camp Lo - "Coolie High" mp3 (zshare)

Camp Lo - "Black Connection" mp3 (zshare)

Camp Lo - "Black Nostaljack (A.K.A. Come On)" mp3 (zshare)

It's rainin' Alize I'm floatin through the Holland Tunnel swervin'

Coolie High actually just came on in Winamp on the random play as I was typing the name into this post, and needless to say it's clear that this post is oh so necessary. I had never even heard of Camp Lo until this year, 11 years after the release of Uptown Saturday Night, and I have been fiendin for it nonstop ever since. They're on that 70's Blaxploitation flick tip, which misses me a lot of the time, but then again they're so hard to understand anyway that I don't know if I'm actually missing anything. Regardless, the music is so fucking good this album is in my personal top 5 hip-hop albums of all time just for the completeness and overall excellence of every, single track without exception. Only in the last couple of days did I find the rarities & b-sides compilation that the Coolie High demo is from, so I haven't listened to much of that yet but that song was the first one I heard and I almost wish they had kept that version for the official, but then again if they did that we wouldn't have the album version, and I love both so it's all good.

Also, I love that album art, for some reason it reminds me of Guernica, just with some swingin cats having a good time instead of people dying. In fact the art is a reference to Marvin Gaye's album titled I Want You, from 1976, another 70's reference. Needless to say, if you were alive and black in the 70's this is the album for you.

Bonus Joints

88 Keys - "Just LIKE a Man ft. Guilty Simpson" mp3 (zshare)

just cuz I love what 88 does to the sample at the beginning of the song

Wale - "Camp Lo" mp3 (zshare)

Wale loves Camp Lo too, proving that they're your favorite artist's favorite artist for sure
Besides Black Thought, Ye, and Jay-Z, I told ya Camp Lo was my favorite

Wale - "Work" mp3 (zshare)

Here's a Black Thought tribute track by Wale, no Kanye or Jay-Z tributes yet, as far as I know

Tanya Morgan - "Everybody Sucks" mp3 (zshare)

To the tune of House of Pain's "Jump Around," just cuz Von Pea murders the second verse, and the rest of the song is pretty good as well. check www.mcdayjob.com to download more Tanya Morgan, Donwill, and related music for free courtesy of Donwill