Ayah & Skyzoo - “Passin’ Me By”
Ayah and Skyzoo put their spin on Pharcyde’s 1992 classic of the same title with mixed results. Let’s just say the original was way better.

Foxy Brown’s claim to fame was her guest appearance on Jay-Z’s ‘96 smash single “Ain’t No N*gga.” During the studio session, Foxy was given food and drink. She then went into a room to write her portion of the collaboration.

I have 7 free copies of Foxy’s KOCH debut, Brooklyn’s Don Diva, (out May 13th) for 7 lucky TRUbians. All you have to do is complete the following sentence with the correct entry.

During that studio session, Jay gave Foxy a pizza pie and a big bottle of _____________

Mail your answers to therapup at gmail dot com. The first 7 correct entries win. Go!

UPDATE: We already have 5 winners, so the question can’t be that hard. But if you’re still unsure, here’s a dead giveaway: It starts with the letter “S”

(Fine print: Must be a US resident to be considered eligible for the giveaway)

“”I ain’t tryin’ to get by, I’m tryin’ to speed through”

One of my favorite songs of the year so far.

Buff1 - “Beat the Speakers up”
Album: There’s Only One (August 5th, 2008)
Producer: Vaughan T of The Lab Techs

After I posted Buff1’s “Beat the Speakers up” video yesterday, his people hit me with the mp3. I thought you might be interested, since the song is indeed a banger. Enjoy

[Props to Stephanie @ Asideworld]

Talib Kweli & Chester French - “Fall Back” (ft Res)
As he does every now and then, Kweli proselytizes on the essence of resilience.

[Shout out to R.A. @ Interscope]

[via: Michiganhiphop.com]

In case you weren’t convinced by this (or this), here’s yet another optimistic take on the future of the blogosphere.

Music blogs are nearly as old as the Web, but the past year has brought unprecedented growth, influence, and dollars to the sector as people look for help discovering new music.

CNET claims that blogs will not only replace traditional DJs in the long run, they’ll eventually start signing artists to their own imprint. The article points to Stereogum and Pitchfork as examples of blogs that have successfully moved in this direction. So, if any of you rap singers out there need a record deal or something, I’m only one click away. Hope you don’t have a problem with me retaining 100% of the publishing rights.

Source: CNET

>>Remy Ma sentenced to 8 years in jail [About.com]

>>Def Jam artist Ne-Yo has joined the blog game [Year of the Gentleman]

>>Smoking Session with one of Canada’s best MCs [TSS]

>>Big Noyd steps in the booth for a lesson in ‘Freestyle 101.’ [G4TV]

>>Redefining the hip-hop generation [Campus Progress]

>>Royce + Elzhi + Black Milk = whoa! [Street Hop]

>>Jay-Z speaks out on Glastonbury controversy [NDTV]