1. Pete Rock & Camp Lo – 80 Blocks from Tiffany’s Pt. 2
This project features 26 brand-new beats from Pete Rock (a.k.a. Soul Brother #1, a.k.a. The Chocolate Boy Wonder), which alone should already have you hitting download. But if you need more convincing, the project is packed with top-notch Camp Lo bars. Camp Lo’s masterpiece Uptown Saturday Night was produced by one of my other favorite beatmakers (Ski Beatz), and I would highly recommend that project if you’re not already familiar. 80 Blocks from Tiffany’s Pt. 1 was a mash-up of Pete Rock beats and Camp Lo acapellas but this time, everything’s official and original and based on interviews it sounds like this partnership will be ongoing. Pete’s beats are great. They sound classic but still original, hard but still smooth, funky but never sloppy. Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede are a great duo (flow-wise they are all-time greats) and they haven’t lost their touch. My biggest criticism would be that most of the time Sonny and Geechi are just talking nonsense, but they still sound pretty good doing it. Throw in nice guest spots from Talib Kweli and Ab-Soul (among others) and you’ve got the best tape of the month. (Download)
2. ScienZe – Ella: The Prologue
In July, ScienZe released his full-length project Ella and this mixtape serves as the prequel. It pulls a few choice cuts from the full-length and mixes them in with some bonus gems. I hadn’t heard anything by this guy until this month, but I’m loving this tape. Some of the tape’s many highlights include King I Divine’s brilliant beat on “Under the Bleachers”, the intro (Which is just ScieZe rapping over a hot vocal loop), Dom O Brigg’s verse on “Level Up”, Lord Quest’s bonkers sample chopping on “The Quest(ion)”, and ScienZe’s perpetually amped-up flow that never falls off beat. (Download)
3. Joey Bada$$ – Summer Knights
I had high expectations for this tape. 1999 was one of my favorite projects of 2012 and Joey had killer guest verses on tracks like “America” and “1 Train”. 1999 was the sound of an energized prodigy who was in love with Hip-Hop. On Summer Knights, Joey’s immense talent is still very evident, but some of the energy is missing. On 1999, Joey sounded like a golden-era rapper. On Summer Knights, Joey sounds more like a golden-era influenced rapper. That’s not to say that this isn’t a fantastic tape (Easily one of the best of the month). “Sweet Dreams”, “Trap Door” (which features a dope Alchemist beat), and “#LongLiveSteelo” are all essential listens. (Download)