Rap Radar

Q-Tip has been quiet as of late, but he breaks his silence and tells EW that he is producing for new albums by Drake, Esperanza Spalding and Santigold, and his own multilingual solo album The Last Zulu. Below is an excerpt.

“I feel like my fans have been so gracious over the years,” Q-Tip says. “They’re so smart that I want to extend the grace back to them and speak to them in their tongues.” One slight problem: The Abstract Poetic is fluent in neither French nor Spanish. “I’m going to have to brush up!”

He plans to start seriously focusing on The Last Zulu in February, with a tentative release target of late 2011/early 2012. Here’s hoping it doesn’t fall victim to the label shenanigans that delayed 2008′s The Renaissance for so long.

So far Q-Tip has a few rough ideas for songs and a general concept involving vintage rhythms. “It’s going to take us back to the days of when it was breakbeats, when [Grandmaster] Flash and [Afrika] Bambaataa was throwing on them hard beats. It’s going to have a lot of that energy, and it’s going to feel really big and anthemic. It’s going to be unlike anything I’ve done before.”

Previously: Q-Tip Reveals New Album Title

With a Patti Labelle sample, Young Goldie drops off his official remix to his latest single in dedication to the late Teena Marie and Aretha Franklin. King Of Hearts is coming soon.

Bottom Feeder

L Boogie is about to embark on her tour next week, but beforehand, she set the tone last night and performed at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, with Prince and Janelle Monae in attendance. More footage when you proceed.

UPDATE: You should be honored by her lateness?

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Christmas came and went, but to keep the holiday spirit going a little bit longer, here is a Mark Ronson-unreleased holiday tune from 2003 featuring Sai and Che. Fa la la la la.

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Unreleased Bonus: Rhymefest x Killer Mike “Super Guy”

Khaled continues his “We The Best Forever” series and his time around, he performs in the ATL with Cam, meets up with Ricky Rozay at his meet-and-greet and then hits the stage with Ace Hood. We The Best Forever coming soon.

Previously: DJ Khaled “We The Best Forever” Ep.11

Now that Saigon and Joe Budden have buried the hatchet, here’s footage of them recording “Bring Me Down” two weeks ago at Stadium Red. Bring us that CDQ whenever it’s ready guys.

Nah, It wasn’t the man upstairs, B.Dot. Instead, it was Andrew Dawson. The LA Times recently chopped it up with Dawson about his involvement on Kanye’s …Dark Twisted Fantasy.

How did you get involved with the “Fantasy” album, and what were some things you talked with Kanye about in terms of engineering and mixing it?
“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” pretty much started New Year’s Eve 2009. He flew everyone out to Hawaii the day before New Year’s Eve … and I remember on New Year’s Eve I was in the studio getting everything ready to go for the next day. And on Jan. 1, we were getting into the recording sessions and worked pretty much 24-7 for six months straight out of Hawaii. I literally would leave to go shower, change clothes and come back to the studio. There weren’t many beach days. But Kanye went through his process and worked on it solid for a good six to seven months.
But as far as engineering, there are certain sounds and certain production aspects that he really likes. If there’s a sound or an idea he wants, he’ll take it to, like, an extreme, to where you start to wonder, “Why is this so far out there?” Then he’ll pull it back to a perfect amount. He’s the master of knowing how to push things almost too far. …  I did some co-production on “Power.” I was the one who found that “21st Century Schizoid Man” sample and chopped it up.

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Previously: Kanye So Appalled At Los Angeles Times

Closing out Al Lindstrom‘s end of the year awards are Most Valuable Player and Label Of The Year. Once again, YN and the usual suspects weigh in on the Internet’s most talked-about topics.

Previously: Most Improved MC | Rookie Of The Year; 6th Man | Album

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The Roots were in the DMV at the 9:30 club for the past two nights and according to my lil’ sister, they were incredible. And during Monday’s show, ?uest and F. Knuckles went head-to-head on the sticks. Give both drummers some, will ya? Black Thought after the jump.

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Buck and the Outlawz have done numerous collaborations, but today, they bring forth their latest thanks to Jordan Tower Films.

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