mixes everyone should hear: amerigo gazawa – fela soul

This is so genius that I am smacking the side of my head right now for not thinking of it sooner.

Gummy Soul artist Amerigo Gazawa took a slew of Fela Kuti samples and mashed them up with a handpicked selection of De La Soul accapellas to create “Fela Soul.” 8 tracks and 33 minutes of musical awesome sauce. Here’s what the man had to say:

“I came up with the concept for this project in fall of 2010. I wanted to follow through with it not only because it was a good idea, but because of the powerful impact both these artists have had on me and my music. Afrobeat, jazz, funk, and hip-hop are already so interconnected, and I always thought it would be exciting to work on a project that combined all of these elements together.”

“I hope this project will help to bridge the gap between hip-hop and afrobeat, and serve an introduction for hip-hop fans and music fans alike who are unfamiliar with Fela Kuti or De La Soul’s music.”

-Amerigo Gazaway

So if you are having a shit week, and you were quietly asking yourself what could possibly make things better AND you also had a deep love of both Afro-Beat and De La Soul…well then, dear listeners, this one goes out to you!

And do you know what puts the cherry on top of this musical sundae?  It’s fucking free!

That’s right, thank you internets…free music for all!  Download it HERE.  You will need to sign up your email for the Gummy Soul mailing list, but the worst thing that could happen is that they send you music news and maybe more mixtapes.

artists everyone should follow: dj neil armstrong

You may remember I posted Neil’s monster mix Original a long time ago…and with good reason.  Many Dj’s had taken the concept of mixing original songs withe the hip hop songs that sampled them, but none of them had pulled it off with as much flair as DJ Neil Armstrong of the infamous 5th Platoon.

But that isn’t to say he is just a hip hop DJ.  In fact, from listening to any of his many mixes, a portrait emerges of a man who just loves music…all kinds of music.  Rock, funk, pop, soul, R&B, electro, 80′s music and comedy skits.  Many of his mixes revolve around a theme…Warmfuzzy contained songs that would make you feel good, Bittersweet was all break up songs while Filthy was almost all rock and roll.  Below is a sample of what you’ll get.

But what all these mixes have in common is the quality of his selections and the care he takes in putting a mix together.  These aren’t mixes done in an hour on a laptop, he puts a lot into them…which is why he doesn’t release them as often as I’d wish.  I currently have them all…as well as a few other radio shows I’ve picked up as they’ve come along, but Neil is smart enough to ask you to pay for the work he’s done  and he has a little store where you can pick up the more ambitious titles in his catalog (they are worth it if you are wondering.)

But on a recent perusal of his website the other day I discovered a neat little page titled podcasts, which contained a wealth of mixes I hadn’t seen before.  Most are radio shows or live club shows, but also a great copy of Warmfuzzy(one of my favorites) a wedding mix he did for one of his crew and a couple of remix projects too.

He is currently the tour DJ for Jay Z, and is doing promotions for Adidas because he is a bad ass.  So if you love all music too, and want to get some ipod food for the weekend, you could do a lot worse than checking in with DJ Neil Armstrong.

Website HERE.

Mix store  HERE.

Podcasts HERE.