Outkast: Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac)

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Outkast’s ATLiens. Considered by many to be their greatest album, the anniversary is being celebrated across the scene, including with the release of a brand new video from the duo. Two Dope Boyz is the track the kicks the album off and is arguably one of their most iconic tracks, but until now there has never been a video to accompany its greatness. In keeping with the album artwork that became almost as iconic as the releases themselves, the video for Two Dope Boyz features some psychedelia tinted animation. As well as the new video, there is also a new deluxe vinyl edition of the album, which features 14 previously unreleased instrumentals, as well as all the original music.

Big Boi & Sleepy Brown ft. Killer Mike: lowercase (no cap)

A year after the announcement that they were working on an album together, yesterday Big Boi and Sleepy Brown treated us to a brand new single. lower case (no cap) features plenty to be happy about, from DJ Swiff’s bass-heavy production to Big Boi’s verse, which is laced with plenty of Outkast references. And to top it off, Killer Mike blesses the track with a feature. Check the lyric video to catch all the references for yourself. Streams are also available.

Two Orange Tecs, A White Camouflage Suit & Some Silver Boots

If you follow Lee Scott on Facebook, you might have noticed he’s recently started posting up some of his favourite classic rap albums and urging his younger fans to go and explore them if they’re not already familiar. Me and Lee have had a few little rap related chats of our own in the past and so I thought I’d use the current situation as an opportunity to pick his brains about his favourite rappers from back in the day, plus a few other little questions here and there. So via Twitter DMs, we delved into a whole bunch of original talent, including Redman, Likwit Crew, Company Flow and The Cenobites (the title of this piece is a reference to their track, How The Fuck You Get A Deal). To be honest we could have gone on a lot longer, so maybe we’ll try and squeeze another one out before normality returns. For now though, get stuck into this geek sesh.

Andre 3000 & Madlib: Otis Benjamin (Stream)

As far as mash-ups go, this is one of the ones that you thought would already have been given life by now, judging by how popular the two main players are. The geniuses over at Altered Crates have blended some of Andre 3000’s best features, with a selection of Madlib’s forever on point instrumentals, resulting in Otis Benjamin. The speculation over Andre’s solo project is likely to continue for a while, but in the meantime this release will do nicely. You can stream it below and downloads are available via Bandcamp.

Big Boi ft. Killer Mike & Jeezy: Kill Jill (Video)

I already posted the audio clip for this joint from Big Boi’s latest album, but now he’s dropped a ludicrously slick and extravagant video to give it even more shine. Featuring Killer Mike, Jeezy, a suit of armour and a lion. The album, Boomiverse, is due out on 16 June on Epic Records.

Big Boi ft. Killer Mike & Jeezy: Kill Jill

Big Boi has a new album in the works and this week gave us another glimpse of what we can expect from the Dungeon Family OG. Kill Jill features Killer Mike and Jeezy. No release date for Boomiverse yet, but you can buy this single here.

The Art of Organized Noize

I’m not sure how you would have got through life as a rap fan without hearing about Organized Noise, but for those that aren’t too familiar, they are a pioneering record label from Atlanta.
Responsible for a slew of releases from the likes of Ludacris and TLC, as well as Outkast and Goodie Mob, they have been a huge influence since their inception in 1992.