Exile at it again

As tired as "A Milli" is, this is probably my favorite of the recent Exile MPC tapes floating around.  I've seen some of my friend's photos from the album shoot and they only make me that much more eager for the inauguration day drop. But I swear Radio better not be sold out of Fat Beats and Virgin before I get my copy like Below the Heavens was or I'll hate myself for the New Year.  

And while we're on the subject, it's about time I stopped sitting on these Blu and Ex tracks.  It's been a good year for both artists independently, but an even better one for people like me who love finding them hidden in mixtapes, collaborating with other artists I love (Muhsinah! Dela!), or just finding some other way to make their rounds in the blogosphere. In all honesty, Blu and Exile are probably the only reason I didn't stop listening to hip hop after 2007. 

For. 

Serious. 

Though.  

But enough sentiment, let's git 'er done.

To make things easier for all you lazy mugs (like myself), I'll start putting direct download links up. Thank P.o.Ballard for that idea. Anyway, first up is Exile's instrumental "In Love," seen on FSdotnet. [Sidebar: I "accidentally" had this one on repeat during my shift at the campus grocery store in the hopes that the chopped and semi-hypnotic moaning would gradually replace the sounds of Hot Chip in the head of the lanky guy humming to himself over by the vegan snacks.] Next is "Stay Tuned/Stay Here (vocal remix) feat Muhsinah." As usual, Muhsinah graces the track with her soulful vocals and lyrics that are complemented by Exile's pulsing rhythms and a beat made to resemble a tuner being constantly tweaked.

Blu does his thing on a number of projects, including the aptly titled "Spacejive," a song on 10.Deep and DJ Benzi's The New Deal. The mixtape features artists like Wale, Common, Kanye, Kid Sister, Charles Hamilton, Joel Ortiz, Kidz in the Hall, Jay-Z, Santogold, and anyone else you can think of being on a mixtape in the age of the blipster. The project is available for free download on the 10.Deep website.  

(Not actual album art, but much funnier...)

Add to the hype, two songs on separate releases by up-and-coming French producer Dela.  If you've been riding economy on the late plane, trust me when I say Dela's got a lot of promise...if his music would just make it to the U.S--or better yet, France. The first of the two songs featuring Blu is "Vibrate," a tribute to De La Soul/Jay Dee's "Stakes Is High" with vocal and flipped instrumental samples from the original that are recognizable enough without making "Vibrate" sound like a groupie producer do-over. The song is a part of Dela's Changes Of Atmosphere. You can also hear his signature jazz and early 90's hip hop-influenced production on "Mars," also featuring your girl's favorite color. This one's due out in January on Atmosphere Airlines Vol. 2, but you can just download it here on Dela's myspace blog. [Edit: I left out one last song by Co$$ feat Blu, spotted at DJ Low Key's blog.  Called Angelic.]

Preview all songs.