Karriem Riggins – 4Es’J & Oddness [Audio]

“4Es’J & Oddness” is taken from Karriem Riggins’ upcoming album “Headnod Suite”, due out 2/24 via Stones Throw Records. Karriem Riggins is best known as a jazz drummer and hip-hop producer for artists like Common, Slum Village, Talib Kweli and The Roots, but he doesn’t categorize himself as anything but an artist. “You don’t have to put yourself in a box…there’s so many different ways to go,” Riggins says. A student of late jazz bassist Ray Brown, he tours with another Brown protégé, Grammy Award winner Diana Krall. In 2011, he collaborated with former Beatle Paul McCartney in concert and on Kisses on the Bottom, McCartney’s first studio release in five years. Names of some of the jazz artists he’s backed reads like the genre’s hall of fame – Hank Jones, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Donald Byrd and Ron Carter.

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Freddie Gibbs & Madlib feat. Karriem Riggins – City [Audio]

Gary, Indiana, rapper Freddie Gibbs and Southern California MC Madlib might seem like a weird pairing, but the rugged MC and offbeat producer and rapper have collaborated for years, releasing two EPs together and combining Gibbs’ raw street sense and gifted technical abilities with Madlib’s quirky, adventurous production. They’re currently putting the finishing touches on their collaborative album Piñata, expected later this year, and in the meantime, they’re putting out their track “City” featuring Karriem Riggins as part of Adult Swim’s Summer Singles series. via Rolling Stone

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