My homegirl Leah Rose recently moved back to the Bay Area, and in our latest email correspondence she told me to check out this white rap chick Kreayshawn’s new song “Gucci Gucci”, which is supposedly making a lot of noise out there. Yo. This shit is ill. “Swag pumpin’ out my ovaries…” What?!?!? And she’s from Oakland, where I was born! I’m repping for this girl hard body from this moment on. Check the video, it’s b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Learn more about her HERE. Peace to all my family in California. Uno.

This kid Cuzzin Todd is my new favorite person. Please watch his NYC Cribs video above and you’ll see why. Follow him on Twitter too at @realtoddfather. Shout to Up North Trips for the introduction. Hollerrr.

California based rapper Blu, who quiet as kept is one of the nicest rappers out, just released a new album this week titled Jesus, and the song above “Lucky” immediately jumped out at me.  Maybe it’s because it shares the same sample as one of my favorite 90’s tunes, Showbiz and A.G.’s “Next Level (Nyte Time Mix)”, Produced by DJ Premier.  Do the knowledge…

And here’s where the sample is from.  Maynard Ferguson’s “Mister Mellow”, released in 1977…

To hear other songs that sampled “Mister Mellow”, click HERE (via the very dope and informative website Who Sampled).  Enjoy your Saturday.   I’m out…

My favorite rap song of the year now has a video.  Sir Michael Rocks featuring Trademark Da Skydiver “Livin’ It Up” (Produced by Ski Beatz).  Enjoy the visuals.  Another on the fly Westcheddar post courtesy of your boy Stan Ipcus.  Pardon the brevity.  Hollerrrrr.

There’s nothing like a good slow jam to set the mood for….sexytime!  The Weeknd, a guy from Toronto who is the latest craze on the R & B circuit, definitely has the slow jam of the year thus far with “What You Need”.  I’m digging the black and white video too.  Very artsy and…sexy!  Peep it above.  And below, let’s take a little journey back in time and revisit one of the classic slow jams that may have assisted you in doing some, as my man Tic likes to say, “stuff”.  H-Town “Knockin’ Da Boots”…

Download The Weeknd’s free album House of Balloons HERE.  Stay sexy Westcheddar.

This track is hot.  Danger Mouse teams up with Jack White (from the White Stripes).  Song is called “Two Against One”, from Danger Mouse’s latest project Rome.  Short but sweet, like this post.  Later.

Man, I’ve been waiting for some new Mayer Hawthorne music for a while now.  His first album A Strange Arrangement is incredible, and this is basically his first official release of any sort since it came out in 2009.  Impressions is an EP of cover songs, most notably a slow soul rendition of Chromeo’s “Don’t Turn The Lights On”.  Here’s MH’s track by track breakdown:

1. Work To Do
This one features my live band, The County: Quentin Joseph on drums, Topher Mohr on guitar, Quincy McCrary on piano, and Joe Abrams on bass. It was recorded live in a radio station studio somewhere during our Winter 2010 US tour. The tapes recently surfaced, but nobody can remember exactly where we were. The song is originally by The Isley Brothers, and that’s the only version I was familiar with until we started playing it in our live shows and people would come up to us and say “hey, loved your cover of Average White Band!”.

2. Don’t Turn The Lights On
My favorite track from Chromeo’s latest LP. On the surface it’s an electro-funk, dance floor filler, but underneath is a brilliant love ballad with lyrics that reminded me of something from Tyrone Davis. Dave1 (of Chromeo) told me the song is about a guy who falls in love with a ghost, so I wanted my version to have an eerie, ghostly feel to it. Quincy McCrary played the creepy piano solo at the end.

3. You’ve Got The Makings Of A Lover
Textbook Northern Soul from a little known Dallas, Texas group called The Festivals. I was digging for records in NY with my homey DJ Kurse, and the shopkeeper played the 45 in the store. Both of us immediately ran up to the counter and said “yo! what is THAT?!”. The original version was recorded in the late 60s, and the mix isn’t very good. I wanted a version that I could bump. Quentin Joseph played the drums and we recorded them at Sam Beaubien’s studio in Detroit. That’s Sam playing the trumpet as well.

4. Fantasy Girl
This song was written and composed by an amazing man from Pasadena named Steve Salazar. He was born with a heart condition and passed away at the young age of 27. Before he died he recorded one incredible album of demos in the mid-70s with a band called Shorty’s Portion. Peanut Butter Wolf found a copy of the album and I loved it so much that he gave it to me (thanks Wolf!). The vinyl had a handwritten note tucked in the sleeve that was addressed to anyone who could help the band with management, a record deal, radio airplay, etc. I’d estimate there were less than 300 copies pressed. That’s my Dad playing pedal steel guitar and Topher Mohr shredding the guitar solo on my version.

5. Little Person
Jon Brion is not from this planet. He penned this song for the soundtrack to Charlie Kaufman’s film “Synecdoche, NY”. I didn’t get the film at all, but I really got the soundtrack. The original has only female vocal and piano, but I always heard a larger arrangement. Hubert Alexander played some of the piano and I did everything else.

6. Mr. Blue Sky
This one also features my band, The County, and was recorded live, in one take, in a tiny makeshift tent, at a festival in Dour, Belgium.  Watch the video of the recording session HERE.

Download Mayer Hawthorne Impressions Covers EP

Stay tuned, hopefully some Mayer Hawthorne originals are coming soon.  This EP should hold us over for the time being though, shit is hot.  Hollerrrrr.

Legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld is embracing the internet in a very cool way by posting three new stand up clips a day from his personal archives on his website (past appearances on Letterman, Carson, etc).  Here’s why:

When I was ten years old, I started watching
stand up comedians on TV.

I fell in love with them and I’m just as fascinated
with stand up comedy today.

When I started doing TV, I saved every appearance
on every show I did.

I thought it might be fun to go through all of it
and pick out three bits each day that still
amuse me for some reason or another.

I’ve also included stuff I’m doing now, and I’ll be
adding new stuff as I go.

Somewhere out there are ten year olds like I was
just waiting to get hooked on this strange pursuit.

This is for them.
I’m just hoping somehow it will keep this silliness going.

JS

Nice job Jerry.  Way to lace the youth with classic content.  And give us old timers a couple laughs too.  Link to his site is below, stay tuned in…

Jerry Seinfeld’s Personal Archives

Fleet Foxes new album Helplessness Blues is coming out in May, and their first video is now online for the world to enjoy.  FF is def one of the cooler and more talented new bands on the indie/folk/acoustic/rock scene (this will be their second full length release), and their video for “Grown Ocean” is a great glimpse into their world.  Watch above…

And in somewhat related music news, Frank Ocean is a young new soul artist who is part of California’s Odd Future camp (rapper Tyler The Creator is leading their movement with songs/vids like THIS).  Dude is buzzing heavy right now due to his OF affiliation and the high quality of his music.  He’s even been in the lab with Beyonce recently.  I’m digging these two songs off his solo release Nostalgia/Ultra, “Swim Good” (above) and “Novocane” (below).  Frank Ocean ladies and gentlemen!

“Brain like Berkeley”.  Great line.  Def watch out for more from Frank Ocean, he’s dope.  And of course, cop that Fleet Foxes when it drops.  Perfect for summer camping….

*BONUS*

Check out these three new acoustic (solo) songs from Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold, they’re very niiiiice.  Then, you have to watch this Nardwuar interview Tyler the Creator and Hodgy Beats from Odd Future.  These kids are off the yelzabar, as is Nardwuar…

Free Earl!

The latest book from Christian Lander’s Stuff White People Like franchise, Whiter Shades Of Pale, picks up where the first one left off, listing and breaking down all the stuff that white people like (short stories, hummus, ultimate frisbee, etc).  But it also analyzes the specific types of white people that dwell in all the major cities white people love, using line drawings to illustrate their spot-on stereotypes (see Portland, Oregon white people drawing above).  To view more line drawings from the book (with descriptions), hit the link below and click through the pictures:

Whiter Shades Of Pale LINE DRAWINGS

Cop the book HERE.  It’s a fun toilet read, which is definitely something that white people like to do, read while they’re taking a shit.  Am I right, or am I right?  Toodles.