MIXTAPE LOOKOUT - TELL YA FRIENDS

[Chip Tha Ripper]

Its a new week, and with that comes new releases. One release I've been particularly looking forward to is the new mixtape by Chip Tha Ripper, and it's finally here! The mixtape features twenty two new songs from the Ohio artist, with guest appearnces from artists such as Kid Cudi, Wale and Bun B. Whats the tracklist like? well, here's an image of it so I don't have to type that out.

Tell Ya Friends is definitely nothing we haven't seen from Chip before, which isn't saying anything negative. Tell Ya Friends really kicks off with "Passin Out Money", and ego booster track with a catchy hook that would seemingly set the tone for the rest of the album if this wasn't a mixtape. I was particularly impressed with "Soothing", "Out Here" and "Ride 4 you" featuring Kid Cudi. This mixtape is hopefully going to set the tone for Chips next album, and if so I'm really looking forward to it.

When looking at a mixtape you can't take the same approach you'd normally take for a full album release. Each track in this mixtape is it's own entity and needs to be singled out and looked at that way. Overall, while some tracks were hit and miss, I had a good time listening and would definitely recommend to any hip-hop fan.

If you want to check the mixtape out for yourself you can grab it HERE

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - ROYKSOPP

[Royksopp]

Electronic music duo Royksopp has quite a large following in their native Country of Norway, but the reason they get the artist spotlight today is because they are fairly unknown in North America.

Royksopp started in 1998 and has had just the two same members, Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland (a mouthful I know) since it's inception. The duo's music can be described as downbeat electronica with influences from house music and drum and bass (or more recently known as dubstep). they have many accomplishments, including a 2009 Grammy nomination for best remixed recording of the track "The Girl and The Robot". Their most succesfull album to date is Melody A.M. which happens to be their first album.

Of the 4 albums the duo has released, all of them reached #1 on the Norway charts, with Junior reaching 136th in the american charts (and reaching up to 4th in the american electronic charts). It's not hard to see that this small duo from Norway has been somewhat of a breakout hit.

One song i'd like to show you guys is the 2010 track, "The Alcoholic". It starts off with a can opening of all things (maybe in relation to the title?) and then is accompanied by a funky drum and bass line that transfers into an amazing guitar noise with birds in the background.. it really is one of my favorite songs from them. Don't take my word for it though, see for yourself.

Ill end with a link to royksopps own blog so you can check them out if you like what you hear.

http://royksopp.com/

ALBUM PREVIEW - WZRD

[Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius]

Alternative Hip-Hop artist Kid Cudi and newcomer Dot Da Genius are set to release the bands first album, titled WZRD on Feb. 28, after falling short of the previous release date, Jan. 30th 2012.

The track list was recently released though to make up for it, so have a look.

1. The Arrival
2. High Off Life
3. The Dream Time Machine
4. Love Hard
5. Live & Learn
6. Brake
7. Teleport 2 Me, Jamie feat. Desire
8. Where Did You Sleep Last Night
9. Efflictim
10. The Upper Room

From what weve seen of songs that have been released already, "Teleport 2 me, Jamie" and "Brake" the album seems to be going in a similar direction weve seen before with Kid Cudi (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing). The question here is what will Dot Da Genius bring to the mix and how will his presence effect the album?

Heres one of the released singles, "brake".

Check Eight Plates in the future for the full review!