Make sure and check out the homie DJ Moody’s new Clean Hands Mixtape Vol. 1 for the all new Clean Hands! Here is a link to listen and download.

This mix is a collaboration with the Clean Hands store out of Tulsa, OK. Located at 1315 E. 6th St., CH offers a variety of original and vintage apparel, artwork, graff supplies, records, and much more.

I began this mix with the mindstate that i wanted to showcase some new non-radio rap that some may not be familiar with. When I first started DJing in the late 90′s, my focus was strictly on golden era and indie rap records, so this is coming full circle so to speak. Nothing too fancy on the mix, I wanted the records to shine. Two 30 minute sides are split up old school mixtape style. The mix is also available on cassette and cd at the store. Enjoy and feel free to share!

TRACKLIST:

SIDE A

Action Bronson ft. Evidence – Bitch I Deserve You

Jabee – Stephanie

Killer Mike – Ghetto Gospel

Show and AG – You In Trouble ft. DJ Premier

Murs and Fashawn – Stone Cold

Ras Kass – Judas ft. Planet Asia + Chace Infinite

Audio Two vs. Large Professor – Top Billin Barber Shop Chop (DJ Moody Blend)

House Shoes – Dirt ft. Greneberg (Oh No, Alchemist, + Roc Marciano)

Method Man, Freddie Gibbs, + Streetlife – Built For This

Large Professor – Focused Up ft. Cormega and Tragedy Khadafi

Fugees – Ready Or Not (Wood n Soo mix)

SIDE B

House Shoes – Sweet Noodles ft. Danny Brown

Common ft. J. Period – The Next Chapter (Still Love H.E.R.)

Natural Elements – doNE

Pacewon + Mr. Green – My God

Joey Bada$$ – Unorthodox

Sadat X ft. N.O.R.E. – The Location

DJ Nu-Mark – When You Sleep ft. Large Professor

Lumin – One More Day

Meyhem Lauren – The Laurenovich Angle (Fuck Pitchfork)

Wu Block ft. Inspectah Deck – Bust Shots

DJ Premier + Bumpy Knuckles – Fake

A long time ago at the Recordbar I went to see the band Hearts of Darkness with Jessica. Hearts of Darkness are a pretty well known and very popular band that make music in the vein of Fela
Kuti…..Afrobeat rhythms played by a big band, like barely fit on the stage big, headed by three female vocalists and Les Izmore. Watching them perform was a great time. All the parts of the band really make it what it is. Most impressive to me was the lead man Les. Coming from a Hip Hop background, Izmore’s participation really showcased his versatility. Talking to him after the show I ended up volunteering to do an album cover for him for an upcoming project he called Heartfelt Anarchy. He sent me the first track, I listened to it, and began to work on this piece with the very simple idea of an explosion, but a “good” one, one that made the space it exploded into more full, kind of like the title he told me, Anarchy but with good intention, Heartfelt.
With time the piece evolved to me, as I was, and still am to a certain extent, thinking about the death of Jon Sims. I sometimes sit and think about him, his talent and his plight, his life and his death, and something always sticks with me…. Chris relayed a story about how before Jon died he was with his Dad, asking questions until the end. “What is going to happen, Where am going to go?” When I think of this I am full of hope that he experienced something transcendent as he passed on to wherever, something worthy to be called the end of his life, an actual event. So I began to imagine what I refer to as “a painter’s death’.

I’ve always imaginedsome sort of explosion of colors and forms with a central point that viewer is receding into, as if the forms and various colors are rushing past them, cloaking them in memories from the past that held by these colors and forms as sort of visual abbreviation to the most important experiences of their life. And that began a series of paintings I’m still working on now.
So anyways, recently the album was finished. And it is great, I saw him perform some of the tracks live at record bar recently and left impressed.

for the record though, I did NOT do the lettering. If you have a chance try and get a copy or check him on the interweb. Heartfeltanarchy.com

Jabee dropped this track “Stephanie” (Super Ugly) ft. Carlitta Durand some time ago and me sleeping on my blogging I never posted it, just selfishly jammed to it all by my lonesome. The track is produced by El-p, has a nice sound and Jabee’s on point. He dropped the video for it yesterday and it came out nice. Little artwork from the homie Rhak in the background too. Make sure and support Jabee he is doing big things for OK.

Jabee “Stephanie” (Super Ugly) ft. Carlitta Durand from Steve Jones on Vimeo.

Oklahoma State Fair Graffiti Art from James Harber on Vimeo.

So holy fucking shit I’m pretty much done with this commission I’ve been working on for about, I don’t know, 7 months. I got the whole thing sealed and all that’s left is connecting the top and bottom. Seems like a great time for a great beer. So what I’ll do here is review this beer like I do on super nerdy beer rating sites while flashing pictures of my piece. Jake, I know you got super excited there, but by piece i totally am referring to my art commission. Here we go….

Nebraska Brewing Company
Apricot Au Poivre Saison
Chardonnay Barrel Aged Saison with Apricot Purée and Black Pepper
6.8%

So its worth mentioning first that this beer is so delicious and composed of so many variants that I drank half the motherfucker while just typing out all that explaination for yous. Out of a Boulevard smokestack tulip as pictured.
So with this beer I recommend kind of holding it upside down and letting the sediment seap into the top half of the brew. In this case that sediment seems to be the harbinger of delicious apricotness. So trust me, you want that all up in all of this shit.
Letting this guy foam up all rocky on the pour like every good Saison should be, aromas of funky, buttery, musty Chardonnay, some good wood (from the barrel jake, don’t get excited), the apricot is a best supporting actor here on some Scottie Pippen shit.
The beer is unfiltered golden orange, holding the apricot densely as I’ve gotten close to the end of the bottle cause my typing speed is no match for my drinking speed.

This beer just has that glow, kind of like a pregnant woman in the movies. Foamy honey.

The taste here is just magnificent. I immediately question how much better Hill Farmstead saisons truly could be as this beers intimate mix of funk, apricot, tropical fruit, and ever so slight barrel dryness just fill me up with some much happiness.

This beer is bright and full of pleasant apricot with good framing barrel and funk edges. Well played Nebraska Brewing Company, well played.

In this beer, while confessing to usage of pepper, the role played is hidden, offering only an additional hand to the yeast in insisting upon a dry finish. The Belgian yeast and pepper are barely recognizable separate from one another, but are both apparent on the dry back end of the palate here.

All in all, I probably like this beer so much cause it’s right in my wheelhouse. I like fruit beers that are week considered, I like barrel aged beers, and I like inventive saisons. Haters gonna hate, fruits saisons always highly rate. Ugh.