Wyclef Jean dropped his new album Wyclef Jean’s Carnival II: Memoirs Of An Immigrant last month and it sounds pretty good, what I’ve heard so far. A wide range of artists guest on Carnival II, from Lil Wayne and Sizzla to Paul Simon and Shakira. Watch the videos and listen to a few tunes right here. ([More →])

Ever wonder what everyone else is listening to? Today’s list of Top Rankin Tunes is compiled from what was most popular among ([HearingTest]) readers in 2007. This is definitely the most pop-oriented of all the lists; starting with the the most-played tune: Alicia Keys and Jr. Reid’s reggae soul remix of “No One” followed by the tune that Jah Cure released at the same time he himself was released from Tower Prison. These two tunes were receiving thousands of plays per day for weeks! Recently, the audio CD that comes with Ghostface Killah’s new book “The World According To Pretty Toney” has been streaming pretty much round the clock on computers around the globe and linked to on numerous hip hop BBs. Other big contenders include Foxy Brown’s don diva anthem with Mavado - “We’re On Fire” - released during her incarceration in Rykers Island and the club anthem of the year in UK - T2 and Jodie Aysha’s incredible infectious “Heartbroken” which puts the bounce in Bassline music! ([More →])

I haven’t been publishing a lot of metal lately, which is too bad. There were some real gems featured earlier this year plus a few tunes that just came in recently. Here is the Top Metal Music of 2007, as selected from the ([HearingTest]) audio archive. ([More →])

Continuing with our REWIND! of 2007, here are the Top 10 Electronic Musings on ([HearingTest]) in 2007… All but “Lion” were released this year, and most of them can be found on BLEEP.com or Boomkat.com. 2007 was also a great year for watching the magic of electronic synthesis and we enjoyed watching loads of wonderful videos. I consider myself very lucky to have attended some of the Bay Area’s hottest live electronic music performances and somewhat capture them on video. It’s all here as we REWIND! 2007’s Greatest Hits! ([More →])

Digging through the ([HearingTest]) audio archive for the Top Rankin Tunes of 2007, I discovered that most of my favorites could be summed up as shotta anthems. So, I pulled out 10 tunes for Top Rankin Shotta Anthems of 2007. These selections are from the archive of tunes featured on ([HT]) over the last year: ([More →])

When I heard that Beenie Man was meeting Alicia Keys to rehearse their AMA performance, I assumed they would be performing the remix that Beenie Man did of her song “No One.” Instead, the performance erupted into a red hot dancehall party! What an incredible surprise! Well, if you were left wanting to hear the remix still, you can listen to it here: ([More →])

DJ C and Modeselektor remix Ghislain Poirier’s “Blazin,” originally from his No Ground Under LP on Ninja Tune. These 2 versions are not included on the remixes album!

DJ C, Ghislain Poirier, Modeselektor Links

DJ C discusses his “Blazin” remix on Mashit - plus a free download of this song!
Modeselektor music $pace
Ghislain Poirier music $pace

Ghostface Killah’s new album The Big Doe Rehab is due to drop in a few weeks (December 4th), and we finally have a tracklisting. Looks like the album features a few takes from Raekwon, Method Man, Masta Killa, Cappadonna and Beanie Sigel… There’s audio too, so jump in! ([More →])

This audio that is included with Ghostface’s new book, “The World According To Pretty Toney” totally made my day! No matter how gloomy you might be feeling, hit play and see if Ghostface can turn that frown upside down!

Not only is Ghostface a riot, but the little tone to let you know it’s time to turn the page is so classic! It’s almost like being 7 again and somehow Ghostface is the substitute teacher for the day….

The book markets itself. I want one for Xmas, there’s no doubt about it.

You can buy yours right now on Amazon.com - just click the cover:

A new song from Outkast with classic Andre 3000 lyrics! “Da Art of Storytellin Pt 4″ is off of DJ Drama’s long-awaited, long-anticipated Gangsta Grillz album and features Marsha Ambrosius. I wish I could say this is merely a taste of what’s to come from the Outkast kamp, but so far no further word.

My friend Afficionado (who first turned me on to the song) even posted the lyrics to this rhyme: ([More →])

This track isn’t brand new, but I wanted to post it up anyway because I’m grooving on it again since last week’s “I’m So Hood” remix. This is two of dancehall’s most controversial deejays, Busta Rhymes and Shabba Ranks, with Akon keeping things smooth on “Clear The Air”:

Finally have the audio for T2’s “Heartbroken” featuring Jodie Aysha, can’t wait to get the vinyl now! The single dropped on CD and vinyl today, but my paycheck was delayed, so I might just have to ring up Amoeba and put that shizz on hold! In the meantime, I’ve added it to the player so it can mingle with the other hot tunes in there right now….

If you’re just tuning in, “Heartbroken” is probably THE Tune of 2007, representing the youngest offshoot of UK garage, Bassline/Niche music…. There’s a vid and plenty more info on HearingTest about T2 and Bassline, so just use the search box or browse the electronic music section.

Chris Brown releases his Exclusive album today with the likes of Kanye, Lil Wayne, Will.I.Am and more on it. Here’s “Hold Up” from the new album…

The second track is a remix of “Wall To Wall” I threw in their just to keep it rollin.

Buy Exclusive

Roll Deep’s new tune “Racist People”:

Available for download on the Roll Deep my$pace.

This is the mix that Kode 9 made for Mary Anne Hobbs’ radio show featuring music from Burial’s new album Untrue.