Lisztomania: Hip-Hop Songs Heard Ad Nauseam in Florida

Because everyone loves lists...
This past holiday season, I headed off to sunny Key West, Florida with a group of friends to ring in the new year as ridiculously as possible. For anyone who hasn't been, the unsuspecting, small island is like a micro-Bourbon Street, with less public nudity and beignets, more stone crabs and Czech strippers. The open container laws are about even. Such is life on Duval Street. While I was adequately prepared for any and all daytime/evening antics, the bars' DJs did little to vary their nightly setlists. After five days, I'd heard "The Motto" over 50 times. I'll say this, all the ad nauseam song repetition only helped to blur those nights together.

Here are nine tracks that were heard in trashy clubs or hungover headphones too much. They should help Ken Burns soundtrack any potential documentaries of our trip...

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SBTRKT - Wildfire (Drake Remix)
Drake - The Motto (feat. Lil Wayne)
Big Sean - Dance (A$$) [Remix] (feat. Nicki Minaj)
J. Cole - Work Out
Mickey Avalon - What Do You Say? (feat. Dirt Nasty)
Ace Hood - Hustle Hard Remix (feat. Rick Ross & Lil Wayne)
Ludacris - Shake and Fries (feat. Gucci Mane)
Earl Sweatshirt - Drop
DJ Khlad - I'm on One (feat. Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne)

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The Monday Mixtape - What I Listened to This Weekend

Some old tunes, some new tunes, all good tunes, most Mondays...
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The Hood Internet - Slow John (Lil Wayne x Com Truise)
Joy Orbison - BRKLN CLLN (Michna's Brooklyn Bridge Remix)
Fair Ohs - Everything Is Dancing
Washed Out - Wicked Game (Chris Issak Cover)
The Hood Internet - Bodhi Shawty Weekend (The-Dream x Kevin Drew)
The Weeknd - The Morning
White Denim - Regina Holding Hands
Major Lazer - Jump Up (Thom Yorke Remix)
The Strokes - The Modern Age
INXS - Don't Change

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Yes, That Is Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV Album Cover

At this point, I'm just regurgitating the mainstream press, but that album cover is too amazing not to blog myself. You can view artwork in high-res by clicking here, but pressing play on the YouTube box shows off Tha Carter IV photo plus a sampling of an unnamed track.

Lil Wayne FTW.

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A Lil Wayne Mash-up Album Actually Worth Downloading

I get it, we're all sick of mash-ups. Unless they're really good. Is that how it works now? I thought Girl Talk's All Day was pretty great, The Hood Internet are still doing their thing well and Black Glove impress me every now and again with their basement interpretations.

Regardless, I'll always have a soft spot for the crypt-robbing genre and this Tumblewoof mini-mixtape was a surprise. It's five songs off Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix paired with choice Lil Wayne verses, but more than that, the DJ does your ears right by sampling/cutting/reordering the Phoenix tracks--the songs are more than simple A+B couplings.

The warmer the weather gets, the more I add to my BBQ playlist. These will do just fine.

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Tumblewoof - MoneyMania

Tumblewoof - Officer Lasso

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EDIT: New Lil Wayne Featuring Rick Ross "John"

Car speakers and college dorm rooms rejoice, the first leak off Lil Wayne's eagerly anticipated Tha Carter IV has arrived. "If I Die Today" is a banger featuring a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League beat and Rick Ross's sleazy baritone.

Between this and "6 Foot 7 Foot," Weezy's on a tear.

EDIT:// The song's been officially released under a new name ("John") and in unedited glory. Grab it from the updated link below.

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Lil Wayne - John (feat. Rick Ross)

Lil Wayne - 6 Foot 7 Foot (feat. Cory Gunz)

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New A-Trak Jam Excuse to Post More A-Trak Jams

A-Trak recently dropped his contribution to Fool's Gold Vol. 1, the upcoming compilation LP from his groovy label, Fool's Gold. "Ray Ban Vision" is more hip-hop than dance (for A-Trak's standards anyway), but benefits from some slick production, a steady BPM, and solid rapping from CyHi Da Prince.

Best of all, posting the track gives me a shameless excuse to host some of my favourite A-Trak anthems.

EDIT:// Speaking of jams, anyone interested can download A-Trak's party-approved mixtapes by clicking the links below...

Infinity +1
Dirty South Dance
Dirty South Dance 2*
* Too good not to download.

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Ray Ban Vision (feat. CyHi Da Prince) - A-Trak

Whatever You Shoot - A-Trak

Fireman So Cold (A-Trak Remix) - Lil Wayne

Party Works (A-Trak Edit) - Donnis

Kilometer (A-Trak Remix) - Sébastien Tellier

Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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Black Glove Could Supply Your Weekend Playlist

White Panda can't control their BPM. Easter Egg is overrated. Super Mash Bros. overdo-it on the pop-punk references. Girl Talk and E-603 are laying low. The mash-up in general is becoming a meme and the only act consistently putting out greatness right now is The Hood Internet.

Well, them and Black Glove.

While this duo from Vermont doesn't turn the genre on its ear, Black Glove mash-ups (thankfully) aren't played out and make some pretty choice references. Sure, the guys mix in overly-familiar hip-hop, but that's par for the mash-up course -- It's what you pair it with that counts, and Black Glove slickly sample some fine indie-electro acts (M83, The xx, The Tough Alliance, Robyn, The Knife, Major Lazer, Crystal Castles, etc.).

I got hold of their "Teach Me How to Dougie" remix featuring a familiar+chill M83 sample and, after touring their website and downloading their mixtapes, I was hooked. These guys are solid.

It's Saturday. Pick up a case of PBR and grab their mixtapes or take a tour of my favourite tracks down below.

Listen to Black Glove - Vol. 1
Listen to Black Glove - Vol. 2
Listen to Black Glove - Vol. 3
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Teach Me How to Appear (Cali Swag District x M83) - Black Glove

1901 Stuntin' (Birdman & Lil Wayne x Phoenix) - Black Glove

This Is Why I Creep (TLC x Mims) - Black Glove

Hold Yuh Bird Flu (Major Lazer x Gucci Mane) - Black Glove

Made You Look in the Diner (Nas x Suzanne Vega) - Black Glove

We're Poppin' Bottles (Birdman x Rock Electrique) - Black Glove

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The Citizen Insane's Hip-Hop Round-Up

So while I've been busy with this whole Ivy League thing (casually brushes off shoulders), I've neglected to mention some of the recentish hip-hop/rap I've been listening to. Here's a rundown of what I forget to mention since sometime in mid-July...

- Kanye West has been releasing tracks once a week for awhile now. Some are great ("Monster feat. Jay-Z, Bon Iver, Rick Ross & Nicki Minaj") and some are just okay ("Good Friday"), but you can grab 'em all by going here. The real homerun is "Runaway," the track that slayed the VMAs. Grab that at the bottom...

- Wale dropped a new mixtape in July and it's a return to good form after his awful, awful major-label debut. Grab it here.

- Despite being a few months old, I'm still playing the new Cool Kids mixtape nonstop. Pick it up here if you haven't yet.

- The ever-prolific Gucci Mane released a new mixtape a couple of weeks ago. It's predictably solid, so if your hard drive could use more Gucci, you can donwload it here. Mr. Burr also has an LP right around the corner, The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted - You can find the first track down below.

- I thought the latest Bun B album was decent enough. Full of lovable guests (Drake, Gucci, Jeezy...), the record doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it has its charms and could soundtrack a night or two of drinking. Get it here.

- The Game really, really surprised me with the quality of his latest mixtape, Brake Lights. The samples are all over the place in the best way (I'm looking at you, Sufjan Stevens sample) and his flow is so good, it actually sounds like he's trying. Snag it up by clicking here.

- Freddie Gibbs is slowly, surely working his way up to the top of my favourite rappers list. He dropped a mixtape and an EP at the end of July/Beginning of August and they're both must-hear efforts. Get the mixtape by clicking here. Get the EP by clicking here.

- What would a round-up of mine be without a Lil Wayne mention? In five days (Sept. 27), Mr. Carter is releasing an EP, on his birthday, from behind bars. Awesome. I've got the first two singles down below. Both feature Drake, one is awesome ("Right Above It"), and the other is called "Gonorrhea." The track's biggest takeaway? Weezy wants you to be STD-free: "Wish I never met ya / Wouldn't wanna be ya / Pussy ass nigga / I don't want your gonorrhea."

- And finally, let's just take a moment to recognize the ridiculous/catchy/entertaining "Teach Me How to Dougie." I'm sure my own horrible rendition is only a few weeks away from showing up on YouTube...

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Runaway (feat. Pusha T) - Kanye West

Lil Friend (Bun B) - Gucci Mane

Gonorrhea (feat. Drake) - Lil Wayne

Right Above It (feat. Drake) - Lil Wayne

Teach Me How to Dougie - Cali Swag District

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New Flying Lotus EP + Single (Boo-Yah)

On September 21st, Flying Lotus will release a new (and let's be real, probably awesome) EP titled Pattern+Grid World and I want to know how the hell this is possible. Clearly, he's just too talented. After releasing one of 2010's best LPs, Cosmogramma, it's hard to believe that the Californian producer could put out another solid batch of songs -- Pattern+Grid World is seven tracks long -- but then you hear "Camera Day" and slap yourself in the forehead.

The EP's first single is less dubstep than Los Angeles, less free-jazz+Dilla than Cosmogramma, and a lot more reminiscent of his early electronic experiments. A little more upbeat and 16-bit than what we're used to hearing, yeah, but "Camera Day" is still definitively FlyLo.

And it's just begging for a Lil Wayne verse or two. Someone get on that.

EDIT:// The very fine EP is out now and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Right-Click + Save Link As:

Camera Day - Flying Lotus
Kill Your Co-Workers - Flying Lotus
I Feel Like Dying (feat. Lil Wayne) - Flying Lotus

Previous MP3s...

...And the World Laughs With You (feat. Thom Yorke) - Flying Lotus
Do the Astral Plane - Flying Lotus
Massage Situation - Flying Lotus

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