Marco Polo – Storm Comin [Audio]

Fat Beats Records is proud to present the sixth installment of “Baker’s Dozen“, an exclusive vinyl series that shines a light on the best minds of instrumental hip-hop, ambient, and electronic music. Each installment gives one artist carte blanche to capture their signature sound. “Baker’s Dozen” heads back to the East Coast where veteran producer Marco Polo brings a welcomed boom bap flavor to the series. New York City is the birthplace of Fat Beats (and as many would say, hip-hop in general) and current NYC resident Marco Polo is true to form in representing our roots. As always, every volume of BDZ features one artist and twelve tracks (with limited random copies including the Baker’s Dozen bonus track on a flexidisc) and comes equipped with a 5×7” postcard insert that features a photo of the artist’s workspace along with the equipment used in their music making process. A personal narrative of how they got into beat making in the first place is featured on the back of the jacket. Visually cohesive and packaged with the utmost attention to detail, Baker’s Dozen is a series that speaks up for artists whose craft renders voices superfluous, and whose instrumentals alone suffice to make a statement. “Another nerdy thing I dig about these versions is most of them are the OG raw MPC versions before they got all mixed down and separated. My fellow producers can relate to the agonizing process of “chasing the demo sound” in the final mix…we wanted to

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J. Period feat. Black Thought, Posdnuos, Pharoahe Monch & Joss Stone – Rise Up! [Audio]

What does it mean to “RISE UP”? What does it mean to RESIST? Produced by J. Period, this epic single brings together an historic lineup of artists — Black Thought of The Roots, Posdnuos of De La Soul, Pharoahe Monch & Joss Stone — to explore the meaning of “resistance” and the state of our Union. Additional production and instrumentation from Stro Elliot (Playlist Retreat), Larrance Dobson (1500 Or Nothin, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland) and Jesse Blum (Misterwives). “RISE UP” EP available May 2.

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Jennifer Hudson On Sway In The Morning [Video]

The lovely singer and actress, Jennifer Hudson joined us on Sway in the Morning and trust us you won’t want to miss her intro. She had the crew singing along to “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls – we can’t think of a better way to start the day. Hudson rose to fame after coming in as a finalist on American Idol in 2004 and after making her film debut as Effie White in Dreamgirls. Hudson has quite a body of work: she’s dropped three albums, worked on various films, and has had guest roles on Smash, Empire, and Inside Amy Schumer. The Grammy Award-winning artist talks about the difference between being a vocalist and finding your own sound. She breaks down the making of her new album Remember Me, which is due out at the end of summer. Hudson also speaks on her role in the Netflix original Sandy Wexler and what it was like to work with Adam Sandler.

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