Hip-Hop Hipsters and their mixtapes

The best hip-hop right now is coming from the unsigned and underground. No question. That's right 50 cent, your album sucks. Upon my return from some epic surfing in Tofino I came across these tracks to add to my November playlist. Chiddy Bang, who have been mentioned before on BTA, have recently released their mixtape The Swelly Express. Available in it's entirety on their myspace. I think one of the guys left the group...I'm not really sure. Let's just say he did and you can correct me. Xaphoon Jones kills it with the beats he forms from the likes of MGMT, Passion Pit, and now this one from Sufjan Stevens. These are not mash-ups for the most part. Xaphoon really takes the song and makes it his own.

Next is Wiz Khalifa, a new name for myself at least, only hearing about him recently. His mixtape, Burn After Rolling has a pretty good track with him rhyming over Empire of the Sun. The rest of it is.. so-so. I mean what's with the DJ drops man? You know I hate those. And probably could have done without the shout outs to your twitter followers. I think I am just really liking how the new face of hip-hop is showing that they are definatley aware of what's going on in the other realms of music and harnessing it.

Chiddy Bang - All things go (w/Sufjan Stevens)

Wiz Khalifa - The Thrill

Chiddy Bang

I’ve had a bit of a BTA hiatus this summer whilst working in the fjords of Norway. With an interweb connection that works depending on the weather in a house that pretty much used to be a brothel. So I’m going to try to make up for some lost time. Seems like I’m a little behind on this one, but I’m sure Chiddy Bang would have been part of my summer playlist if I had heard them earlier. Just when you thought you couldn’t stand to hear any more re-works of MGMT, these hip-hop hipsters from Philly drop a mixtape beat sampled from ‘Kids’ to get you bobbing. Lyrically, this track I find is hit and miss. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the beat. I don’t know much about these guys but they seem to be making the rounds lately due to their new era indie rock sampling. Along with this track they also put their own spin on Passion Pit’s “Truth” and have taken a little something from the book of Radiohead in their live performances. These precision cut samples are largely credited to producer Xaphoon Jones, who along with working with the Chiddy Bang boys also dropped his own mixtape this summer. I’m looking forward to some more hipster beats from both these camps as well as seeing what else these guys have to offer besides chopping up indie favorites.

Chiddy Bang – Kids (Feat. MGMT)

Chiddy Bang – Truth (Feat. Passion Pit)