So Drake announced a tour, a new track, and a release date for “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” all on a Monday. On Twitter, he announced the 6-city Jungle tour where he will be hitting the stage with Future. The dates for the tour are:

5/24 Houston, TX – Toyota Center
5/27 Detroit, MI – The Palace of Auburn Hills
5/29 Chicago, IL – United Center/All State Arena
5/31 Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre
6/02 Toronto, Ontario – Air Canada Centre

Drake also announced that his Number 1 album “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” will be hitting shelves on April 21st. The album dropped digitally on iTunes in February, and is now being released physically with two additional tracks. The bonus tracks, “How About Know” and the newly released “My Side”. Drake sings of relationship woes as he croons to his lady and tries to tell his side of the story. Get into the track below.

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Drake put aside his ego and materialistic raps for the dark and introspective short film, “Jungle.” The film begins with Drake dodging flashing lights by hopping into a chauffeured Rolls Royce and venting to his driver about balancing fame and the fast life with his “sanity.” The rest of the film is open to interpretation, especially the end, which leaves the viewer to make his or her own conclusions as the final cut leaves Drake engulfed in smoke and red lights.

Could this be the sneak preview to new music dropping soon? According to hip-hop journalist Elliot Wilson, Drake might be dropping some new tracks today to go along with the two featured in “Jungle.” Stay tuned and check out “Jungle” below in the meanwhile.

DRAKE ~ JUNGLE from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

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Judging from the picture above, with Nas’ brother Jungle standing, Nas writing and AZ inspecting some work, it wouldn’t be far fetched to think that a project with these two is being cooked up. Could a new set up of The Firm be in the works? We can only pray so.

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You may remember Jamie N Commons from “Desperation” on Eminem’s latest album. Well, he got together with X Ambassadors and created the hit single “Jungle,” which now has a remix featuring Jay Z. The anthemic record scored a Beats By Dre TV spot and this new version is sure to do nothing but boost its status. Stream it below.

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Despite a long history of beats being standalone songs, especially in genres such as jungle and ragga, which were often made using the same technologies and methods as hip-hop songs (sampling, digital manipulation, drum machines, synthesizers etc), hip-hop fans still largely view beats as static receptacles, pre-loaded canvasses. In other words, until vocals are added beats are thought of as parts of songs rather than as songs themselves. This strain of thought is slowly dissipating, especially as the supergenre, EDM, finds itself increasingly in bed with hip-hop (See: Trillectro), but this dissipation is not self-perpetuating. There are catalysts actively driving this phenomenon, preventing it succumbing to its own, stifling inertia.

YellaFingizZillaJamz VOL. 5, the latest beat tape from producer CrackZilla, is one of those catalysts. Mining pop culture and his own creative mind for compatible and even incompatible sounds and images, CrackZilla gives us a beat tape that could easily be appropriated by some [adventurous] rapper (or singer), yet is perfectly autonomous without vocal interventions (besides the obligatory recurring producer tag: “Craaaaackkk….Zilla, Zilla).

The songs are variously menacing (“Only Smellz”), haunting (“Prometh Gator”), soft (“When Pigs Fly”) and spacey (“Got 2 Like Rambo”), taking listeners on an opaque, yet engaging sonic journey. Opacity is often avoided by both rap consumers and producers, but CrackZilla revels in it, beckoning us to enjoy the ride despite not knowing who exactly is in the driver’s seat. There are glimpses of personality in the strange song titles and in the gaudy artwork, but there’s no need for transparency here. The lack of knowledge does nothing to stifle one’s musical experience. In fact, it possibly enables that experience. Presented with just disparate sounds, the listener is forced to notice their myriad little flourishes. The strange wail at the beginning of “Russian Breakfast” and the odd vocals on “Jala Gah” become characters.

In the end, YellaFingizZillaJamz VOL. 5 is a fun opportunity to rethink how to listen to hip-hop and to engage with the weird mind of another mysterious internet producer. Even after 10 listens, you won’t be able to figure out what exactly CrackZilla listens to for fun (other than Danny Brown. See: “Wit Da Goud”), but that makes your listening experience even more enriching. Check it out below.

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Nas takes it back to Queens for his latest video for “A Queens Story”. The hard hitting Salaam Remi produced track is featured on Nas‘ latest album Life is Good. The video is comprised of footage that takes you back to several local spots in Queens as well as clips from Nas‘ album release party, and him just celebrating with his people. The video was directed by Nas‘ brother Jungle and SnackSO. Get your glimpse of Queens in the video below.

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Styles P and Royce da 5’9″ have come together with the help of DJ Absolut to put together a new single.  The track, Jungle, starts out with a piano intro a lá 2Pac’s Changes.  Nevertheless, Styles P and Royce put together some good verses picking up where Royce left off on his most recent mixtape, Hell: The Sequel.

Check out Jungle HERE

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