[caption id=”attachment_1657” align=”aligncenter” width=”400” caption=”Kiss My Ass (The Champ Is Here PT. 2)”][/caption]

The Evil Genius (DJ Green Lantern) and Mr. “Top 5 Dead or Alive” reunite to release something that hip hop fans across the globe have patiently waited several years for; A healthy serving of raw, unapologetic lyrics ala Jadakiss (The LOX, D-Block*).

As the raspy voiced Yonkers, New York native and recent Def Jam signee prepares to release his highly anticipated third album, titled “The Last Kiss“, on March 10th, 2009, he decided to offer something sure to wet the pallets of his hungriest fans. The Kiss My Ass - (The Champ Is Here 2) Mixtape provides 18 tracks that should definitely hold you over until the album drops.

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This week in the Mixtape Mondays segment we have one of the more interesting albums of late. New York-based producer Minty Fresh Beats has created Jaydiohead, an album that mashes up the best of both Jay-Z and Radiohead. It’s garnered much attention since it’s release, and has been featured on MTV.com, NME.com, and Last Call with Carson Daly, among others. A few of the must-listen to tracks include “Wrong Prayer” and “99 Anthems.”

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Dick Flink and Nick Fenmore - or the Super Mash Bros - describe their group as “Girl Talk’s Hot Cousin.” Despite the abundance of family terminology, they manage to put together some extremely danceable stuff, with samples ranging from MGMT to Death Cab for Cutie to Nelly. With a few of these samples, it’s tempting to write off the group as a Girl Talk knockoff, but once you begin going through the album, listening to tracks like “Meet Me at Fantasy Island” (which samples Blink 182), or “Stop that Booty” (sampling Modest Mouse and Bubba Sparxx) you begin to understand that the Super Mash Bros sample sources much more diverse than Girl Talk. Spanning the spectrum from indie rock to Top 40 to european electronica,_ Fuck Bitches, Get Euros _should be the next mixtape you download.

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Just released earlier this week, Sky High, by DJ Benzi and Plain Pat features remixes of 18 well-known Kanye West tracks, including “Good Morning,” “Champion,” “Get ‘Em High,” “Love Lockdown,” and “Stronger.” The tracks on Sky High were plucked from all four of Kanye’s albums (The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreak) as well as Estelle’s Shine. After giving this mixtape a couple of listens, it definitely ranks above some of the other Kanye West remix albums floating around out there. The best tracks on the mixtape are A-Trak’s remix of “Get ‘Em High” and “Stronger” as well as Discotech’s remix of “Homecoming,” which features Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

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For this week’s Mixtape Monday, we’re stepping back in five years time to 2003 for Ninth Wonder’s classic mixtape, called God’s Stepson. Every track on the album is a remix of a corresponding track from “God’s Son,” NaS’ seminal release from 2002.

Fans of MURS might recognize Ninth Wonder’s name, since Ninth produced beats for MURS’ 2004 LP MURS 3:15: The 9th Edition. Ninth Wonder also produced a song on the Viva La Hova mixtape, which (coincidentally) was featured on last week’s Mixtape Monday.

Like a lot of Ninth Wonder’s other releases (like “Freak these Tales,” with MURS) this album contains many samples from classic soul recordings. One of the best stand-alone samples comes at the beginning of “The Cross,” which samples “Beautiful Man of Mine” by Phyllis Hyman. All of Ninth’s samples enhance the original recordings of each song, especially the “Ether” remix, which features an amazing sample from “Hey, What’s That You Say” by Brother to Brother. The original recording of Ether (NaS’ infamous diatribe against Jay-Z) is a great song in its own right, but Ninth Wonder’s sample choice and production really transform it from a energetic battle rap into a much more nuanced assault on Jay-Z’s character and accomplishments. Many of the other tracks perform similar acts of transformation, like the upbeat Thugz Mansion that falls somewhere between the original track and the later acoustic recording from Better Dayz.

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