Check out the new video from Clockwork! “Hold On” is on their album Future Pastime.

Get Clockwork’s Future Pastime on iTunes and follow them on Twitter: @clockwork206.
Shouts to @miguelrockwell!

EDIt: Embedding isn’t working right, so here’s the direct link: DJ Neil Armstrong’s interview with MTV

Source: Hypebeast

If you’ve been keeping up with hip hop (or even if you haven’t), chances are you’ve heard of Drake. If you haven’t heard his music, find his mixtapes. If you’ve heard his music, you already know that he got next.

On a recent video posted on YouTube [Drake on Hot97], Drake started reading lyrics from a BlackBerry. Now the video title may be a misnomer since he doesn’t really “freestyle,” but the issue for some people is how Drake actually writes his raps. Here’s a video of his opinion on writing down lyrics vs. rapping from memorization.

But to each their own. You gotta do what works for you. It’s a creative process.

Now, that’s really real.

Video from MTV.

In other Drake news, Houston performs for Drake while at a Drake concert: Video: Drake Takes Over Houston. This dude is crazy. The audience knows every word.

Source: Nah Right

This isn’t a post about the Beats by Dr. Dre, but rather a post related to equipment that Dr. Dre and damn near every other producer use. These are USB flash drives made to look like miniature versions of the Akai MPC 2000XL and the E-Mu SP-1200. Cop one now before they sell out! They expect to sell out some time today.

Order them from mpc2000xlflashdrive.com.

Technical Specifications

4 GB Capacity
Hight Quality Toshiba Flash Memmory
Ultra High Detail
Super Durable PVC Rubber Construction
USB 2.0 Support

Source: @12ftdwende

Malice, who makes up one half of the Clipse, has started a video blog à la Diddy. His goal is to give advice and educate those on what really goes down in the life of a rap star. On the flip side of things, Phonte of Little Brother & Foreign Exchange (@phontigallo) brought up a good point on twitter.

It’s easy to convince the people you’re a gangster, but its hard to convince the feds that you’re not one. Either way, Pusha and Mal are top notch emcees and I’ll be coppin the album when it drops.

Source: Nah Right

After collaborating with Nike SB on a Dunk, De La Soul found out that they could be a part of Nike+ and their Original Run series. The album is titled ARE YOU IN?: Nike+ Original Run and is designed to lead you through your run starting with a warm up, peaking with uptempo beats, and cooling off for a total run of 45 minutes.

Quoted from Business Wire:

ARE YOU IN?: Nike+ Original Run is a continuous full-length body of music that reflects the arc a runner experiences during a run. Commissioned by Nike, this is the fifth release in the Nike+ Original Run series following releases by artists such as A-Trak, Aesop Rock, LCD Soundsystem and Crystal Method.

The release also features cover artwork by famed designer Joe Buckingham and an exclusive single.

Check out the video and artwork below. And peep the dope bleachers in the background with all the Nike logos from years past to present! Download the album from iTunes for $9.99 tomorrow, April 28, 2009.

Source: Nah Right

New work is dropping from G.O.O.D. Music. This single is titled “Magic Man” and as seen on the album cover, Kanye West and Malik Yusef Present G.O.O.D.Morning, G.O.O.D. Night. G.O.O.D. stands for Getting Out Our Dreams; a good goal to strive for.

101 Distribution is releasing the first authorized independent release from Kayne West’s G.O.O.D. Music label. The 30 song double disc is called G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night and features KRS-One, Twista, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Bun B and of course almost every other G.O.O.D. Music artist.

Kanye West & Malik Yusef – Magic Man feat. Common & John Legend

[Right-click and "Download Linked File" or "Save File As"]

Source: We Do It Right!

KRS-One and Buckshot have a new album coming out on August 25, 2009. It’s titled “Survival Skills.” And the kicker – Geo of the Blue Scholars aka Prometheus Brown is going to be featured on the album. Congratulations, Geo!

“Survival Skills” has confirmed features from Mary J Blige, Slug, of Atmosphere, Immortal Technique, K’NAAN, Talib Kweli, Sean Price, Naledge of Kidz In The Hall, Smif N Wessun, Rock of Heltah Skeltah and Geo of Blue Scholars.

Find more Blue Scholars and Mass Line Media here:
Blue Scholars
Mass Line Media

Source: @prometheusbrown
Celebrity Mound

Here’s a throwback video of Kanye West in the studio working on a beat and spitting a verse for Jay-Z. It looks like clips from this day (or around this time) were used in various works such as Kanye’s Through the Wire video and Jay-Z’s Fade to Black.

[It seems that Vimeo has problems working with Internet Explorer. The problem is with either IE or Vimeo. If you can, please use Firefox or search for the video on YouTube.]

What can we learn from this clip? Hard work pays off. After all this grinding in the studio, Kanye West has the Nike Air Yeezys; he has a shoe with Nike and he’s not even an athlete! And a shoe meaning his own shoe. It’s not just a custom Air Force One or Dunk. And it all started with him following his dream.

Hustle hard.

Source: Maestro Knows

From his upcoming album Future Street / Drug Sounds, here’s a leaked track titled “Hard Work” from DOM KENNEDY produced by Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids. His album was supposed to drop yesterday, but got pushed to next Tuesday April 28, 2009. If you’re feelin’ his music, download his last album, 25th Hour, for free (don’t worry, the link was provided directly from his MySpace page). Don’t sleep on him! 25th Hour dropped last year, but I bet you haven’t heard his music, huh? Download it and listen to this track. You won’t be mad.

DOM KENNEDY – Hard Work

[Right-click and "Download Linked File" or "Save File As"]

Source: We Do It Right!