Vado and Raheem DeVaughn make some gangsta Quiet Storm hip-hop with It’s You. Check it out.

This one is surprisingly dope.  Vado and Raheem mesh much better than you would expect.

Click here to download.  It’s a fine line between corny and laid back, but when a hip-hip ballad is done properly it’s a good look.  Here are a few others that have straddled the line well:

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Respect your roots. Hip-hop was built on jazz, soul and FUNK. Tonight hip-hop lost funk legend Teena Marie.

Teena Marie: 1956 – 2010. There will be many tributes to Ms. Marie, who was known to bring the funk both solo and with her longtime partner in crime, Rick James, but tonight we will let the music do the talking. Tonight, we celebrate Lady Tee:

Behind the Groove

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Square Biz

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Lovergirl

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Fire and Desire

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And, of course, her classic Ooh La La La…

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…which spawned these hip-hop classics:

The Fugees – Fugee-La (the sample starts at 1:07):

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Grand Puba – Fat Rat (the sample starts at 1:32):

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Props to whosampled.com for the sample info.

This is the second joint we’ve posted from Stalley. Dude is really dope. This one is called Monkey Ish.

The song samples the mighty Pimp C (R.I.P.) from UGK:

Click here to download.  You can find more Stalley here.  And, here’s a classic joint from UGK:

There’s been a lot of heat around Pusha T since he linked with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music but Malice has always been my favorite half of The Clipse. Check out his verse on Ab Liva’s Where Do We Go.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the brothers Thornton, aka The Clipse.  Who do you think is nicer on the mic?

Rick Ross’ 9 Piece ft T.I. sounds like the third part of a trilogy that started with MC Hammer and B.M.F. What do you think?

Click here to download.  Here are parts 1 and 2 of the “trilogy”:

Ab-Soul is cool like that. Check out how he handles the classic Digable Planets track on his new song Titsenas

That’s cat’s range has impressed me.  He dropped All Feelin’ earlier in the year and it was a totally different sound but still dope.  Props to NahRight.com.

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Click here to download.  Here’s Digable Planets’ Rebirth of Slick:

 

DJ Quik is one of the most underrated producers of all time. He is the best producer from the West Coast not named Dr. Dre. Check out how newcomer L.E.$ just murders this Quik track.

Real talk, these 2 sound like they’ve been music together for years. RIDICULOUSLY hot G-Funk:

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Click here to download.  And here are 2 of my favorite DJ Quik joints of all time:

While we’re celebrating dope producers from the 90’s, check out this new track Large Professor did for this Nas verse.

This is a remix to Nas’ No Ideas Original.  The drums Large Professor used for the remix are reminiscent of those he used for Nas’ Halftime.

Click here to download.  Here are some of Large Professors classic joints:

And of course the song that launched Nas’ career:

Ever heard of Mr. Brady? He gets major props for doing a song with Blu and Diamond D called Get Choze. Check it out.

Blu has been making a comeback as of late.  He and Exile supposedly have another project coming out next year.  In the meantime, here’s how he gets down with Mr. Brady:

Click here to download.  And in case you forgot how Diamond D gets down, check these out:

Swizz Beatz’ Monster Mondays have almost made up for the lack of G.O.O.D. Fridays. Almost…Check out We Keep It Rockin’ with Maino, Jadakiss, Jim Jones and Joell Ortiz.

They go in on the classic beat used by the Ultramagnetic MCs on Funky and then 2Pac and Dr. Dre on California Love.

Click here to download.  Here’s California Love for the West Side:

…and Funky for the East Coast OG’s: