[PLAY THE PLAYLIST] BEST FUCKING MORNING ☕️

Recently I’ve trying to be more thoughtful with how I start my day. With all of this time in quarantine I’ve taken the opportunity to observe how impactful tiny thoughtful adaptations can be. Not just on a daily basis either, as I’ve found that sometimes the change can be so swift it’s often within an hour or even a matter of minutes, depending on the situation.

We all know music is a major mood shifter. Unfortunately, sometimes it feels like because we’ve gotten so accustomed to the habit of recklessly consuming things to make us feel better that we do this with music a lot more than any of us would like to admit. I know I’ve certainly been guilty of that myself. Additionally, when you’re already not giving too much thought of what you’re consuming, it’s hard for me to believe that it means that all that unused thoughtful energy is shifting to what you’re putting out into the world and any subsequent side effects, either positive or negative.

I intend to take more ownership of how this space factors into this consumption habit equation for everyone, so of course I felt the need to make a fucking playlist about it. 🤪

I took some time thinking about not just what makes me feel good, but exactly what makes me feel my ⚡️fucking best⚡️. IMO, there’s truly nothing better in this life than the opportunity to identify how your talents/strengths can help people, throwing all of your energy into that thing, and then witnessing the magic that comes from those efforts. To be clear, I’m not just talking about ways that earn you money from doing this either. It can also be little things like knowing you’re a good personal cheerleader and being able to notice when someone could need some pom-poms waved in their direction and seeing their reaction. It’s ✨ literally the fucking best✨ ESPECIALLY when all parties involved decide that shit is going both wayyysss.

Community.

Connection.

Intention.

These are the things that BEST FUCKING MORNING☕️ is made of to the best of my ability. Sometimes you’ll get ✨a feeling✨ from the music, but as often as I could, I wanted the words ringing through your ears to make you feel fucking great, too. Additionally, I wholeheartedly believe that it’s equally important that the people making the good vibes you ingest should absolutely coming from good fucking people and I can say with a great level of confidence that these are all really good fucking people. I took a lot of care to make sure that even if one were to treat this playlist like a LoFi Chill Beats To Study To kinda deal where it’s mostly going to be background noise, that the few times that your brain decides to focus in on what’s actually happening that hopefully in that moment you feel empowered to remember that you always have the opportunity to choose happiness in spite of whatever bullshit gets thrown at you.

Let me be very clear that this is not me tryna shove some toxic positivity on your ass. That shit is annoying as fuck and not welcomed in this house. You always are entitled to however you feel, absolutely.

BUT

When you wake up feeling meh and decide you deserve to feel at minimum a little bit better.

Or you wake up feeling fucking great and want to hold onto that feeling as much as you can, possibly even going next level with that shit.

I promise you this shit will take you there, wherever that may be.

Although this collection of vibes was arranged in a way to be uplifting incrementally, feel free to let The Algorithm™ move you and shuffle this shit if you are so inclined. That said, I def invite you to see if you can notice a different if you listen both ways. Additionally, I intend to honor the inspiration behind this playlist and occasionally implement tweaks every now and then, hopefully to further enhance this vibe. Mostly likely additions only, no removals or substitutions.

As long as this playlist is in your life may you never forget that you deserve the fucking best. 💖

[Download] Joey Bada$$ Drops Free New Mixtape, 'Summer Knights'

Joey Bada$$ took to Twitter on Monday morning to unveil his latest project, the Summer Knights mixtape. The mixtape includes tons of guest spots and producers, including Pro Era members and friends. Pro Era's Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution and Dirty Sanchez drop verses throughout. So do frequent collaborators Chuck Strangers, who also help out with production. Lee Bannon, Oddisee, The Alchemist, DJ Premier and more were also tapped for production, leading to a solid 17-track album. This is definitely a big step up for Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era. Download and stream Summer Knights via Joey's tweet, and check out his new video for "95 Til Infinity" below.

here it is yo.. my 2nd project “Summer Knights” #summerknights #proera #beastcoast http://t.co/mAvidrytAs

— oG $wank. (@joeyBADASS_) July 1, 2013

[Download] Check Out a Free Mixtape Featuring the Samples from Kanye West's 'Yeezus'

For those who haven't heard Kanye West's new album Yeezus, stop what you're doing right now and listen to it. Yeah, you might hate, or you might love it. Either way, it's a definitive moment in his career, an anti-pop album from a very mainstream artist. Amidst all the craziness that is Yeezus are a slew of samples, from TNGHT to Snoop Dogg to Marilyn Manson and many more. The folks at Babylon Cartel have been kind enough to compile every song Yeezy sampled into a free 55-minute mixtape. Stream or download it below.

To all the unaware people out there, Kanye's Yeezus officially released today.

Yeezus: The Samples:
01. Intro ( Prod By Gianni Lee )
02. Holy Name of Mary Choral Family – He’ll Give Us What We Really Need (On Sight)
03. Marilyn Manson – The Beautiful People (Black Skinhead)
04. Capleton – Forward Inna Dem Clothes (I Am A God)
05. Omega, Omega – Gyöngyhajú lány (New Slaves)
06. Rahul Dev Burman, Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey – Are Zindagi Hai Khel (I Am A God)
07. Kenny Lattimore – Lately (I’m In It)
08. Nina Simone – Strange Fruit (Blood On The Leaves)
09. TNGHT – R U Ready (Blood On The Leaves)
10. Snoop Dogg – Down 4 My N’s – (Blood On The Leaves)
11. Lords Of The Underground – Chief Rocka (Guilt Trip)
12. Pusha T ft Popcann Travis Scott – Blocka (Guilt Trip)
13. Beenie Man – Memories (Send It Up)
14. Wee – Aeroplane (Reprise) (Bound 2)
16. Ponderosa Twins Plus One – Bound (Bound 2)
16. Brenda Lee – Sweet Nothin (Bound 2)

[SKOA Presents] We Found Sasquatch! Mixtape

The drive to Sasquatch! is a lengthy trip for most of the attendees, and what better time to get familiar with the bands you'll be seeing at the festival? That's where we come in. We've plucked 36 artists from the festival lineup and chosen a song by each, resulting in two-and-a-half hours of fantastic music. This is SKOA's essential Sasquatch! mix. This is the We Found Sasquatch! Mixtape.

The mixtape features plenty of amazing talent, including Vampire Weekend, Disclosure, Tame Impala, Alt-J, Surfer Blood, Dirty Projectors, Father John Misty, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, Bloc Party, Empire of the Sun, Toro Y Moi, Holy Ghost!, The xx, El-P, P.O.S, CHVRCHES and more. For your convenience, the mixtape is available to stream below via 8tracks, or you can download all 36 songs in one, two, three parts. Check it out and hopfully it makes the journey to Sasquatch! a little bit easier. The full tracklisting is after the jump.

SKOA presents We Found Sasquatch! Mixtape from skoablog on 8tracks Radio.

We Found Sasquatch! Mixtape Tracklist:

1. CHVRCHES – “Recover”
2. Odesza – “How Did I Get Here”
3. Baths – “Aminals”
4. DIIV – “Past Lives”
5. Surfer Blood – “Take It Easy”
6. John Talabot – “When The Past Was Present”
7. Toro Y Moi – “Rose Quartz”
8. Holy Ghost! – “Dumb Disco Ideas"
9. Youth Lagoon – “Dropla”
10. Azari & III – “Into The Night”
11. Kid Cudi – “Pursuit of Happiness” (Steve Aoki Remix)
12. The Postal Service – “Clark Gable”
13. Vampire Weekend – “Hannah Hunt”
14. Sigur Rós – “Varúð”
15. The xx – “Swept Away”
16. Arctic Monkeys – “R U Mine?”
17. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – “Man On Fire”
18. Empire of the Sun – “Alive”
19. Bloc Party – “Octopus”
20. Andrew Bird – “Eyeoneye”
21. Grimes – “Oblivion”
22. Alt-J – “Matilda”
23. Disclosure – “You & Me” feat. Eliza Doolittle
24. Tame Impala – “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"
25. Father John Misty – “Nancy From Now On”
26. Danny Brown – “Grown Up”
27. Earl Sweatshirt – “Chum”
28. P.O.S – “Wanted/Wasted” feat. Astronautalis
29. Death Grips – “I’ve Seen Footage”
30. El-P – “The Full Retard”
31. Twin Shadow – “Five Seconds”
32. Dirty Projectors – “Dance For You”
33. Japandroids – “The House That Heaven Built"
34. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – “Garden”
35. The Presets – “Fall”
36. Porcelain Raft – “Unless You Speak From Your Heart”

[Listen] Major Lazer - 'Workout Mix'

Summer is almost upon us and people want to be looking their best for the beach. With that in mind, Major Lazer have offered fans a 'Workout Mix' as a part of the Potato Mix Series perfect to aid you in your cardio sessions or while trying to push out that one extra rep on your new personal best. It features many a remix from the guys along with tracks from PSY, Diplo and M83 too. Hit play play below and enjoy the added bonus of a Hulk Hogan intro, brother!

[News] Major Lazer Delays 'Free the Universe', Releases Mixtape in the Meantime

Bad news for Major Lazer fans, as Diplo has announced that Free the Universe has been delayed. The Diplo-led project was supposed to deliver their sophomore LP on February 26th—it was previously delayed till that date from November 6th—but now the album is without a firm release date. In a statement to fans, Diplo said:

We never want to disappoint our supporters but circumstances out of our control have made us unable to keep the intended date. For anyone disappointed, we are truly apologetic and we promise that this hiccup has only made what we have planned for the album stronger. We tried extremely hard to keep the date but it was ultimately decided that rushing the album would have been unfair to you and everyone who worked so hard on it."

In the meantime though, Diplo and co. will offer up three free mixtapes made up of unreleased and rare material. The first, Lazers Strike Back Vol 1., is available now, and you can grab it here. As well, the next single from Free the Universe, titled "Watch Out for This (Bumaye)", will be offered up for free to those who pre-order the album through iTunes. Pre-orders start on February 26th.

Major Lazer will be hitting the road soon, so make sure to check out their full tour docket here.

[Download] Mixtape of Samples used on Kendrick Lamar's 'good kid, m.A.A.d. city'

Kendrick Lamar's major label debut good kid, m.A.A.d. city has been sifting through our eardrums for a few days now, and it becomes apparent that the Compton rapper uses a diverse array of samples going into each of his songs. Gianna Lee and Mike Blud of Babylon Cartel are making things easy for you, though, as they have put together a mixtape of the songs that Lamar sampled. Whether it's Beach House or Kanye West, Ohio Players or Janet Jackson, it's pretty clear how vast Lamar's spectrum of influence really is. Download the compilation for free here (via IllRoots).

Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city – The Samples Tracklist
01. Prologue
02. Dreamscape Interlude (Prod. by Gianni Lee)
03. Boom Clap Bachelors – “Tiden Flyver” (“Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”)
04. Suspekt – “Helt Alene” (“Art of Peer Pressure”)
05. Beach House – “Silver Soul” (“Money Trees”)
06. Janet Jackson – “Anytime, Anyplace” (“Poetic Justice”)
07. Kanye West – “We Major” (“M.A.A.D City”)
08. Ohio Players –  ”Funky Worm” (“M.A.A.D City”)
09. Grant Green – “Maybe Tomorrow” (“Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”)
10. Formula IV – “What’s This World Coming To” (“Compton”)
11. Kool and the Gang – “Summer Madness” (“Compton”)
12.Twin Sister – “Meet the Frownies” (“The Recipe”)

[Listen] Teen Daze - "The Heart of God" & ‘The Inner Mansions (Inspired)’ Mixtape

Teen Daze has two gifts for us this week, the first coming in the form of "The Heart of God", the latest track from his upcoming second album of the year, The Inner Mansions. The second sees the music blog Hard Candy tapping the Vancouver producer for the latest edition of their Hard Candy X series, resulting in an hour-long mixtape comprised of tracks that inspired Teen Daze's forthcoming album. Stream the full mix, along with "The Heart of God", below.

The Inner Mansions is out on November 6th via Lefse Records.