LISTEN: Yesterdays New Quintet - Julani

This has been my theme song for the past few days. It's something of a departure to hear a hip-hop producer try his hand at jazz, but this is the King of the Wigflip, the Bad kid, Mr. Beat Konducta himself, Madlib. Try this on for size, hot dog.

Listen.

LISTEN: Shaun Boothe feat. Kim Davis - Do It for You

Toronto-based artists Nineteen85 and Kim Davis deserve something for the beat alone. 
A bottle of beer on the patio at summertime maybe. Or possibly a good solid 3 minutes of your time to listen to one of the better examples of female singing with a hip-hop track. I gave 'em my ears, and it was while driving at night, listening to Flow 93.5 (our quote-unquote "urban" radio station in Toronto [it sucks]). I never listen to the radio, but, like, you know that feeling when a song comes on, and you simply have to find it?
Davis gets all 80's-diva (think-NY-jean-jacket-voice-type shit) with her voice, and I think is the real reason this song is tied together so finely. The flow of vocals between her and Toronto MC Shaun Boothe flipping about his ventures into a rap career; standard coming-of-age subject within raps outer edges, gets culled in a throwback beat boasting to hum-worthy melodies. The opening verse alone piques interest and is both a humbling self-reflexive and a playful poke at rap's rougher edges.
In short, this is one of those songs you come across, show to people, and is instantly recognized as the "other" side of hip-hop, where you forget all aspects of bullshit (or, even worse, auto-tune), in exchange for honesty of expression and stream-of-consciousness rapping. Boothe definitely deserves credit for that. The powerful vocals of Davis and the high-quality background of Ninteteen85, though, are reason enough for this one worth throwing on "shuffle", y'all. 
Listen.