| Dan "The
Automator"
Nakamura & El-P as Sammy's Romanians |
| 2005 | An
instrumental, heavy
beat oriented album. Automator's up to a million other things; to find
out what (as of January 2001), click here.
Finally, in 2003, it looks like this project is back on track, as it's
mentioned in El-P's official
list of current projects. According to a November 2002 interview,
the two are "legally bound to do the record" (with the now defunct 75
Ark,
so now they're doing it through Automator's label, "through MCA, or
whatever
it is"). |
| Graph Nobel |
|
2005 |
I received
emails from
the Black Corners label owner saying: "Coming early summer .produced by
Martin 'Doc' Martin" (90% anyway; you might know Doc from his work with
Esthero and Res) "Nobel has recorded with res, esthero, hawksley
workman,and
g.love ... we expect a first single by may." Now it's pushed back to "early 2005." |
| Gravediggaz |
| 2005 | Hiphopsite
alleges that the group has reformed with the following lineup: RZA,
Frukwan,
Shabazz The Disciple, Warcloud and Killah Priest. The next album will
supposedly
have Prince Paul production although in interviews he says Gravediggaz
are over. |
| Immortal Technique |
Middle Passage |
2005 |
Official, label-released debut. |
| Johnette
Napolitano
(of Concrete Blonde) |
| 2005 | Collaborations
with
Danny Lohner, four of which feature Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit
guitarist). |
| Kool Keith
&
H Bomb | 7th Veil | 2005 | HipHopSite
(4/6/04) posted this news, "look for Kool Keith and H Bomb's (AKA Jacky
Jasper) 7th Veil, which features cameos from Jewel, Flavor Flav
(Flav and Keith on the same track should be interesting, to say the
least)
and Mr. Smack a Bitch, Ike Turner. Some production will be added by
Lench
Mob's Chilly Chill. 7th Veil will be accompanied by a bonus
disc,
which dabbles in Keith's other fetish (besides rhyming) XXX porn." |
| Kush
Project |
| 2005 | B-Real,
Stephen Carpenter
(Deftones), and the former rhythm section of Fear Factory. At least
B-Real
is "being real" about all the record label red tape by saying this
won't
come out for a year (possibly not even till fall 2003). Check it: MTV
article. "Unstable" demo
= awful. Ugh! Talk about disappointment. Later this summer (2004),
B-Real "hopes to finally put the finishing touches on Kush." He told
MTV, "Everybody's labels have released everybody for that
particular record, so it's just a matter of us getting back into the
studio and finishing it up. But there's some very heavy material there
just waiting to be put on the grill."
|
| Melvin Van Peebles vs. Madlib |
Brer Soul Meets Quasimoto |
2005 |
Title and artist info are my best guesses based on this information: Melvin
Van Peebles - filmmaker, author, playwright, and ... believe it or not,
newest Stones Throw recording artist. Last night in Los Angeles, Melvin
Van Peebles publicly announced his next project - a double album with
Madlib to be released on Stones Throw. The first half of the album will
be his own "Brer Soul Meets Quasimoto" and the second half will be the
Madlib Invazion remix. This is being planned a 2 disc set released
together in one package.
|
| Nas | The Lost
Tapes Vol.
2 | 2005 | More
unreleased tracks
from Nas. Hiphopsite
promises Dr. Dre-produced tracks cut from The Firm LP, Pete
Rock's
remix of "One Love" (f/ Sadat X), a few Large Professor tracks, and
some I
Am/Nastradamus stuff. Finally, in September 2004, the
Japanese released a cover
and tracklisting. DJ Premier said in November 2004 that the track he did with Nas for Street's Disciple that didn't make it would be on here.
|
| Piano Overlord |
|
2005 |
New Scott Herren (Prefuse 73) album. Taken from RichDork, "Early in 2005, Chocolate Industries is
scheduled to release a Piano Overlord full-length, currently untitled,
that deals with political issues." Regarding the more organic style of the music, click here to read it in the artist's own words. I assume the singles compilation isn't the last from this project.
|
| Quincy
Jones |
| 2005 | Pasted from MTV:
Quincy Jones is reaching out to many hip-hop producers for help on his
next album. For the LP, Jones wants the producers to remix one of his
classic
cuts, and in turn he will rework one of their songs. Jones'
spokesperson
said it's too early to disclose the album's lineup, but revealed it
will
be hip-hop heavy. However, a rep for Alicia Keys said she will be
involved
in the project. |
| RZA | The Cure | 2005 | I first heard
about
this album in early 1998. I was excited about it for a long time but
around
2000 I just gave up on the album, assuming it was abandoned. The first
details I knew were from a RZA interview describing it as very deep and
innovative, and having songs featuring Rage Against The Machine and
Isaac
Hayes. When The W dropped with the "I Can't Go To Sleep" joint
I
just assumed that was a The Cure track re-worked. But anyway
RZA's
been talking about this album again lately in the press so it seems
like
it could come out some day. I doubt it'll be in 2002 though. Here's
a lot of great confirmed and unconfirmed info on the album courtesy
of the Okay Player boards. Damn, they deleted it. Oh well. RZA kinda
confirms
the album because he closed his last Bobby Digital album with "The
Sickness"
and hinted that what do you give someone who's sick? (Note: He fouled
up
by releasing more Bobby Digital songs on Birth Of A Prince but
if
you observe the changes in the music at the end it hints at The Cure,
the last five songs possibly being from those sessions). It was announced
on the official site in 2004 that more songs from those sessions will
finally be heard in the form of the limited edition CD The Formula For The Cure.
"It will
contain seven new RZA songs, plus unreleased exclusives and original
versions of some old but released songs. It has exclusive RZA verses,
beats and him building about The Cure that nobody has ever heard
before... Some of the guests include Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder,
Beethoven and many more." Unfortunately, this CD turned out to be an
unauthorized bootleg and the collaborations were mostly just samples
and almost all songs were previously released. The next legitimate RZA
rap release may not be The Cure, but Digi-Snax (or Digi-Snacks), the Bobby Digital album he announced before BOAP and is now
7 songs into. RZA also mentions the possibility of reuniting with
Method Man for a new album (not the garbage he released as the
"prequel" to Tical). Red
Hot Chilli Pepper guitarist John Frusciante recorded five songs with
RZA in 2005. Daron Malakian, guitarist of System Of A Down, recorded up
to 10 songs with RZA around the same time.
|
| Slick Rick | The
Adventure
Continues | 2005 | A lyrically
ferocious
(hence the working title Ferocious) and more substantive new album. Beats by "unknown" producers at this
point
but eventually some big names may be brought in. In mid-2004, MTV noted, "Slick Rick has signed
with
Def Jam for his first album since spending 17 months in a federal
detention
center. 'It's gonna cater to the mature audience,' he said, adding he
hopes
to collaborate with Elephant Man." |
| Vinia
Mojica |
|
2005 |
A sure-to-be
ill collaborative
EP between Scott Herren (Prefuse 73) and amazing, extremely underrated
singer Vinia Mojica. Although it says "late spring" I bet it gets
pushed
back to summer (actually it never even came out in 2004!). Taken from Prefuse73.com:
"A collaboration with Vinia Mojica and myself is in full effect and
isn't
going to be what you expect it to be for those who know my music and
hers...
I don't want to ruin the outcome, so wait for the e.p. on East Dev when
we finish at the end of March... Which means it will come out in late
spring
i suppose? She's doing her own shit, that's why Señorita Mojica
is fresher than you!!!!!!" |
| Zack de la
Rocha |
|
2005 |
Expect a
massive departure
from Zack's work with RATM. Most of the tracks have been recorded
apparently,
and Zack is just choosing which to include on the album. It is to
feature
producers/collaborators: Muggs (Cypress Hill), DJ Shadow, ?uestlove
(The
Roots), El-P, Trent Reznor, Roni Size, DJ Premier, and Dan The
Automator.
The nine tracks recorded with ?uestlove (which have Soulquarian James
Poyser
on keyboards) have been described
by the drummer as "dangerous," very fast and scary drum 'n' bass,
with
weird Moog synth lines and even a theremin. Many years later (July
2004),
?uestlove wrote: "My shit was somewhat timeless (a jawn called 'carpel
tunnel') but it was like 4 years ago." The two or three tracks with
El-P
do not have El-P rapping. Muggs only recorded one song and he said
on his site that it will not be released because "it has lyrics
dissing
fred durst." The tracks with Trent Reznor were recorded at Nothing
Studios
in New Orleans in late 2002 and early 2003, featuring programming from
Atticus Ross of 12 Rounds. DJ Shadow said in mid-2003 that Trent is
producing
the bulk of the album. Automator once
described the production on the 8 songs he did for the album a long
time ago as "kind of like if the Country Bear Jamboree was angry" and
focusing
on Zack's "Judy Garland side." One of the many songs Shadow did with
Zack,
"Disavowed", is on Shadow's single/EP for "You Can't Go Home Again."
The
credits: co-written by Shadow & de la Rocha, additional production
and live drums by de la Rocha. So I guess Zack will be doing more than
vocals on this album. And apparently,
if an anonymous poster on the Internet claiming to have worked with
Rage
for six years is to be believed, Zack is doing a lot of rock singing
(not
rapping) on the album. Shadow said in mid-2003 that he completely
finished
three songs for the album. According to this interview,
"some" of the older songs Shadow did together will make the album.
While
this is heartening in a sense, it's also frustrating because a lot of
the
great music Zack's recorded since he began the project in 1997 most
likely
will go unheard. Listen to the March 2003 song "March Of Death" that
Zack
did with DJ Shadow at this
address.
In early 2004, DJ Shadow posted another song on his official
site (which you can find in the media player). He uploaded his beat
"Instrumental 3" fearing that it would otherwise never be heard, as he
earlier revealed that Zack has not been showing up at his recording
sessions
with other producers and won't return Shadow's phone calls (plain text here).
In April 2004, Shadow told
a fan that he thinks Zack is suffering from writer's block, the
same
thing he and others
attribute to Rage breaking up. As for the album, Trent confirmed what
Shadow
said in his answer
to my question on nin.com that he "worked on some interesting
material
with zack that had promise but got derailed for a number of maddening
reasons."
An anomyous poster on the Internet claimed in July 2004 that "the suits
arent feeling what he is doing. He is increasingly frustrated with the
music industry, doesnt wanna release on a major and is having a tough
time
coming up with ideas that stand the test of time." One of the
Reznor-produced tracks, "We Want It All,"
appears on a Michael Moore/Fahrenheit
9/11 compilation. A fan who
spoke to Zack
in person this past August (2004) said that the man told her his album
will be out "late next year" (i.e. late 2005) because he keeps writing
new songs he wants to record. Newest anonymous Internet rumor: the self-titled album, entirely produced by Trent Reznor, will be released in December 2005. Or maybe not. Here's a new (May '05)
quote from Reznor: "Over time, I think it was a matter of Zack not
knowing what direction to go. I know the feeling of fear." The MTV
article this quote is from says that as "for what will happen with the
other 19 or so tracks the two worked on together, Reznor has no idea
(nor did De la Rocha's spokesperson)." ?uestlove on Zack's whereabouts
circa 2005: he "is enjoying his life in brazil just..taking it easy.
plays in a local band. finding himself."
|
| Cee-Lo & Jazze Pha as The Good Time Guys | The Happy Hour | 2006 | A whole album together
was
to be released on Pha's Sho'Nuff Recordings (via Capitol) in November
2005 and then February 14, 2006 but it's been delayed again.
Nate Dogg, Keith Sweat, Aaron Hall, and Mannie Fresh are guests on the
album. Ciara appears on "Lose Your Cool" and the Pussycat Dolls help
with "Disco Bitch," dedicated to Rick James. According to Cee-Lo's interview with MTV, "It's 60 minutes of well-dressed drama," where along with co-producing, Jazze and Cee-Lo both sing and rap. Also, rumor has it that Cee-Lo is doing
a whole album with Plantlife as Love Stink and he has reunited with Goodie Mob.
|
dead prez
|
Hood |
2006 |
According to M1's interview with ThaFormula.com, the next dead prez album is called Hood,
though they have no distribution presently. They are officially off Sony, but we've heard that before. Also, a fan wrote, "I spoke w/Stic
recently at a show in Jersey & he said they were working on an LP
w/Goodie Mob,Bone Thugs & Outlaws." |
Deltron 3030
|
| 2006 | Automator and Del are recording this now (late summer
2004). Automator told Billboard,
"I have done about 12 sketches. I'm going in with Koala on Oct. 15 and
we'll start putting some cuts down." In May 2006 Kid Koala said he had finished his part. Finally an update:
"Del says a new Deltron project he has going with Dan the Automator
will be totally unpredictable. 'Dan said he has all the beats and
samples done and it's time for lyrics... It's going to be different.
The first one was in the future, this one's afterward. Have you seen Fist of the North Star or Mad Max? Like that. Everything's broken down.'" In a new (fall 2006) Hiero podcast, it was revealed that new Deltron tracks have been made and are waiting for Del to write to them.
|
| DJ Premier | A Man Of Few
Words | 2006 | This may be
one of
those albums that gets talked about but never released, but DJ Premier
is recording a solo album with a variety of influences, including rock
and pop. Old rumored guests include Scarface, M.O.P., Devin The Dude, a
duet with Gladys Knight & Jill Scott, AC/DC, and a track featuring
Big L, 2Pac, Big Pun and Notorious B.I.G. (source).
His friend Dr. Dre may also contribute. According to HipHopSite (6/12),
he expects a November 1st (2nd would be a Tuesday) release of an album
with guests like Ghostface, Redman, Nas, 50 Cent, and Roberta Flack
(not
Gladys Knight) with Jill Scott. Update: On 11/9/04 Jill Scott replied
to something I wrote, saying she has no idea about any kind of
collaboration with Gladys Knight on a Primo solo album. D'oh.
Allegedly, Fat Joe said that this album fell through and Primo
confirmed it, adding that he's now looking to negotiate a deal with
Jay-Z at Def Jam instead. DJ Premier, as of late 2005, plans to release
it on his own indie label, Year Round, and it will indeed feature Jill
Scott, Roberta Flack, and Nas, as well as Mary J. Blige (source: Remix, where he also said "I'm gonna make a DJ Premier instrumentals album").
|
| Guns n'
Roses | Chinese
Democracy | 2006 | People who
have recorded
for it since the '90s include Buckethead, Brian May, Robin Finck, Brain
of Primus, and some programming by Billy Howerdel, though without any
other
original members, it's more or less an Axl Rose solo album. "After
having
worked with a long list of producers — including Roy Thomas Baker, Bob
Ezrin, Sean Beavan and Moby [he didn't actually record with them] — Axl
Rose has taken over production duties for the album" (source).
Delayed repeatedly for years. According to Axl it will include 18
tracks,
with "10 extra tracks on top of that." Axl
adds, "There will be elements of blues-based things on the new Guns
record. It's a very diverse record. There's a lot of hip-hop beats,
there's
straight-ahead rock." He clarifies that he means "Radiohead style"
hip-hop
beats. You can download "new" songs from live sets played in 2001-2.
New
bassist Tommy Stinson said
in mid-2004 that the reason the disc isn't done yet "is because
Rose
is a methodical perfectionist who wants to make the creation of Chinese
Democracy as democratic as possible. 'He likes to take all the
members
of the band and get the best out of each guy for each song... It's a
brilliant
process that gets everyone involved so everyone owns a piece of the
song
because they've put themselves into it. That way you don't have people
going, "Well, I'm not gonna play on his song if you're not gonna sing
on
my song." And that's a lengthy process because you have to get eight
people
to basically write a song together that everyone likes.' Stinson added
that he thinks the record is finally almost done, and the only thing
that's
holding back its completion is legal issues." Axl Rose says people will hear "music" this year, 2006, and it now sounds like Queen. Info about the leaked songs and so-called album listening parties. The comprehensive Wikipedia page claims the album may come out on November 21, 2006 (riiiiight).
|
| Jay Dee aka J. Dilla | Dilla | 2006 | Another album, this one due November 2006 according to his manager.
Promised guests: D'Angelo, Q-Tip, Common, Talib Kweli. This was not
confirmed to be finished before Jay Dee passed away so it's unknown
what will happen to any recordings. The title of this last album might have changed recently to All ID.
|
| Jega | Variance | 2006 | New album on Planet
Mu. Former flatmate µ-ziq describes the album as bringing
together
"all the digital techniques learned producing Geometry with
some
old-skool ragga rave'n'bass action." Also, Jega's message titled "Parp" in this
thread implies that Variance will be a multimedia affair,
with
the other media created by Jega himself. Update from Jega: "Variance
is as close to finished as it could be... It's taken a while. But now
I've
got over 40 tracks to pick through, written in Manchester, here in
Brooklyn,
some in Rekyjavik, some in Amsterdam. I loved writing them all." Update
from Planet Mu artist Tim Tetlow: click here
(it explains that Jega had to take a day job and gives a run down of 10
tracks). Apparently one of Jega's friends leaked an early draft of the
album which can now be found online, although fans are trying to keep
it
unshared out of respect. One person claims they first saw the leak in
May
2003. A tracklisting for this version appears at Discogs.
In late spring 2004, Planet Mu promised a new Jega album was coming:
"Lots
of new stuff. It's so NOT the album on slsk." In December of the same
year they claimed it may come out in July 2005. What a
joke. Fellow artist edIT said in July 2005,
"the Jaggaman is close to releasing a new record. the history of
Variance goes is that it was basically done, but unfortunately pirated
and leaked to the net. so he scrapped most of those cuts and started
over hence the hundred some odd releases since ZIQ024. be patient it is
on the way. even his lady doesn't have a copy. it is top secret. the
videos for it are grade A 100% high class." So if you haven't
downloaded it already... Live reviews found in that thread say it's
nothing short of phenomenal and on the drill 'n' bass tip.
|
| Madlib |
| 2006 | Beat Generation album on BBE, not Stones Throw.
|
| Madvillain | Madvillainy 2
| 2006 | Madlib and MF Doom have said since before the release of their first collaborative album that there would be a Madvillainy 2.
Jay
Cam from Okayplayer
claims that "DOOM will have up to 5 beats on the album too, with Madlib
actually laying a verse as himself on one (as well as Quas of course)."
Another poster on the board said in early 2006 that all tracks were
produced by Madlib with 2-3 skits produced by MF Doom. Right now
they're not sure if a track that Madlib produced with Doom and
Ghostface Killah will be on Madvillainy 2 or Swift And Changable. At any rate, the finishing touches are being put on this followup now.
|
| MF Doom & Count Bass D as Count Paper |
|
2006 |
Count
Bass D leaked track "Josephina DrakeMan" on his web site in March 2005.
The mp3 was attributed to Count Paper, not Count Fingers as many
expected.
|
Pharrell Williams
| Voltron: Defender Of The Universe OST | 2006 | Soundtrack to live action version of the old cartoon Voltron, to be written and produced by Pharrell Williams. No further details,
such as Chad Hugo's involvement and an approximate time of release, are
known. Here's a little more about Pharrell and the album though from tv.com.
|
The Pixies
|
| 2006 | Unsurprisingly,
the reunited Pixies are have begun
recording a new album. Frank Black says it's almost finished.
|
| Portishead |
| 2006 | Beth has not
left the
group despite her solo album. They were at one time said to be recording an album in
Australia
of all unlikely places. Few solid details have ever been known about the third album, though some people
once believed hip-hop producer Madlib was contributing. The Alien album rumor
was officially put to rest by the band. After roughly five
years of unconfirmed and scattershot reports of studio sessions, Geoff
Barrow told NME
in January 2005 that the album is near completion and that "We're
actually into it as we speak. We took some time off for Christmas, but
generally we're doing another record." The band broke another year long silence, speaking to MOJO for
their February 2006 issue. Choice quotes: "Piecemeal recordings had
been made over the years, but they began work in earnest in June 2005
in Utley & co-producer/drummer Geoff Barrow's studios in Bristol.
Seven tracks have been completed, minus Gibbons' voice, which will be
recorded in the early part of this year. Keyboard player Johnny Baggot,
drummer Clive Deamer & bassist Jim Barr are also scheduled to
play." Barrow claims the album will be "colder than the first two
albums, but in a different way... The warmth amd the jazziness isn't so
apparent, there's a bleaker quality... but, Beth has to come from a
real place in her life, and she does like to touch people with what she
does, so there will be warmth." He confirms that they're not using
turntables this go-around and says he wants the album to be more
"extreme" than "middle of the road," music they hate. No promised
release date. In mixdown stage now, October 2007.
|
| Praxis | Profanation: Preparation For A Coming Darkness | 2006 | Though
a brand new album was expected September 27, 2005 from Praxis, it's been
delayed until 2006 and may get shelved altogether. Rumor has it,
the label "is one inch away from bankruptcy, therefore this release may
be indefinitely shelved in limbo, till picked up by another company."Bill Laswell's
"rock-metal-electronica adventure, featuring Iggy Pop, Serj Tankian
(System Of A Down), Killah Priest and many others." This is just one of the
many exciting releases Laswell was planning to put out in 2005 as part of
his new six-album label deal with Sanctuary Records. |
| The Randy
Watson
Experience | (various)
| 2006 | Sad Libs will be ?uestlove and
James
Poyser's group's tribute to Madlib's tribute to Stevie Wonder, ?uestlove said
on
Gilles Peterson Worldwide in May 2004. "Hopefully that will be out in
mid-September." It will include a cover of "You've Got It Bad Girl" as
aired
on the show. Official album to follow in early 2005: Good And
Terrible. Apparently this
will be ?uestlove's long-awaited BBE/Beat Generation album. Asked in
September 2005 what he thought of doing an instrumental album, he said
a solo from him would be more of a concept album with emcees than that.
"that is gaggy. i didnt like petestrumentals." According to this old interview,
don't expect any emcees. "It's gonna be singing. We have our background
singers called The Mighty Sharps. I can't reveal them, but basically
it's three very high profile women that I work with. ...As soon as I
finish the Phrenology album, then I'll move on to that." Ha! A BBE founder interview promised a 4-track EP. RWE songs like the beautiful "Be Still My Beating Heart" can be heard on ?uestlove's MySpace page.
|
| Reload |
| 2006 | Mark Pritchard says
a new Reload album is due out on Warp this year and Beans does spoken
word on one of the tracks. Additionally, Global Communication releases
are being reissued in expanded form. The album has been delayed due to a studio move to Australia.
|
| Various
Artists | Soul
Assassins III | 2006 | Latest
Muggs-produced
comp, to be released on his new label Angeles Records. Co-produced by
DJ
Khalil and The Alchemist. |
| 12 Rounds |
| 2007 | Produced by
and featuring
Trent Reznor. Gigantic problems with distribution and management. A
version
was finished early to mid 2002 and it was worked on some more in 2003.
Will most likely never be released (Trent confirmed it in his
answer to my question on nin.com). Uncovered promo artwork: click.
Jerome Dillon revealed
in late 2005 that he played drums on a couple tracks on the album,
which he said is "beautiful" and he was "heartbroken" that it was
shelved. Interestingly, as of mid 2006,
the band acquired the masters for their third album. Officially, "the
band are currently busy with other projects, but hope to be able to
complete the material in six months to a year. Claude has written many
new songs since the album was last worked on, and will be incorporating
some of those new works into the final mix." Click on the link for a
list of songs contending for the album.Atticus Ross and Claudia Sarne also scored the USA Network show Touching
Evil along with Atticus's brother Leopold (together the two
are
in the band Error).
Until they're removed there are mp3's from the TV show and pilot movie here. |
| Andre Benjamin | Kind Of Black: Benjamin On Davis
| 2007 | An updated tribute to Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue album. The personnel is listed by USA Today
as Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 of Outkast for those who don't know)
along with "acclaimed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and popular Roots
drummer/producer Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson." However, this earlier AllHipHop.com article
talks about an earlier version of the project, provides additional
details on this one, or describes a totally different release. The site
says that "Nas collaborated with guitar god Santana for a track on the
album, titled Evolution of the Groove," possibly an album coming out in fall 2006. The day after the news about Andre version leaked, ?uest posted,
"Nas Lost[...] dre has REALLY gotten dope on his keywork. wynton must
really be desperate for a check[.] i thought he woulda rejected the
notion. but he was more excited than ever."
|
| Big Boi |
| 2007 | The MTV interview says that fans "can expect something similar to Speakerboxxx"
and Andre "will contribute production. 'I'm going to try to keep it
in-house,' Big Boi said, noting that he's also producing along with
Organized Noize."
|
Black Thought
| (various) | 2007 | ?uestlove and The Roots/Okayplayer
management confirmed that a Black Thought solo album produced by Danger
Mouse is something being discussed for 2007. BT talks with MTV about
the album here, noting that it's an album utilizing personas instead of a conventional MC album with beats from one producer. XXL online confirms that the duo is called Dangerous Thoughts. If Karriem Riggins' MySpace page is to be believed, you can also expect a Black Thought album with Karriem Riggins (D.Troydelphia) and another with both Karriem Riggins and Madlib (Jay Dee's Revenge).
|
Company Flow
| Funcrusher Plus (reissue) | 2007 | Billboard recently divulged that Def Jux has obtained the masters of Company Flow's album Funcrusher and plan to reissue it. It is meant to be a 10th
anniversary celebration and there are tentative plans for the
group to record new bonus tracks. Bigg Jus confirms the recording of new songs for an album. Someone who interviewed El-P confirmed that the reissue is Funcrusher Plus and that the final Co Flow concert DVD will come with it.
|
CRS (Kanye West, Pharrell Williams & Lupe Fiasco)
|
| 2007 | Lupe Fiasco told Billboard "there's also a 'top secret' project in the works with
'another superstar rapper and someone who is a rapper/producer,' but
Fiasco declined to reveal details, including whether the pairing was
for a full album or just a handful of songs." A little while later, a
song surfaced called "Us Placers" (Lupe leaked the snippet with just
himself on it the previous year) that samples Thom Yorke's "The Eraser" featuring Kanye West
and Pharrell together with Lupe as the group CRS, allegedly standing
for Child Rebel Soldier. Lupe told Billboard
later on that so far this is their only song but an album is probably
coming on a to-be-determined label. "Whoever is going to pay is going
to pay a whole hell of a lot. Everybody is excited," he said. Also expect production from Q-Tip according to his interview with AllHipHop.com.
|
| D'Angelo | James River
| 2007 | D is
recording songs
with Raphael Saadiq in L.A. this year (2003). Apparently there's some
beef
between D and ?uestlove that needs to be resolved (update: they
worked it out so expect them to work together soon!). The two of
them
along with Musiq are all separately contributing their songwriting
skills
to the new Earth Wind & Fire album as well. Asked February '04
about
the current direction of this album, ?uest said, "well--he said that
the
demos are all guitar and bass---no keys. his guitar playing is wicked.
i know i will bring in some of my deepest snare funk this side of
'head'." A fan lucky enough to have heard over the phone a song and a half that Russell Elevado (refresh...)
just finished wrote the following, heavily emphasizing the funky guitar
element: "the beat was ridiculous, the keys were crazy, and i haven't
heard any current artist play a funky ass guitar like that. i mean
damn. then when the lyrics began, i got excited with whoever was
whoopin' it up....couldn't hear the words but heard the melody. it was
such a big, complex sound - i admittedly didn't know what to pay
attention to (in addition to the others talking). but it sure was funky
as hell, people aren't ready for this. definitely an evolution to a
whole nother sound than whats around today. i was listening to Sly last
night, and this fit in perfectly, but with more funkadelic. the guitar
was what struck me the most." ?uestlove himself later posted, saying:
he was drumming, 11 songs are done, most of them are 7-9 minute epics
in need of a "haircut," the market is not ready for it, and there will
be no radio-friendly single. For "newbies" he gave a list of names to
study. In full: funkadelic,
maggot brain, america eats its young, cosmic slop, standing on the
verge of getting it on, let's take it to the stage, tales of kidd
funkadelic, there's a riot going on, on the corner, inspiration
information, smile, abbey road, revolver, electric ladyland, nevermind
the bullocks here comes the sex pistols, dirty mind, ego, tony willaims
emergency. According to AOL Black Voices 8/3/06,
D'Angelo recently "took meetings with Virgin Records urban music honcho
Jermaine Dupri to explore ways to re-ignite his once thriving career.
Veteran music executive Gary Harris (with whom he created magic with
1994's groundbreaking 'Brown Sugar') is said to be working closely with
the two-time Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter. High powered music
industry titan Irving Azoff (Christina Aguilera, Lenny Kravitz, Seal)
is also in the mix." Blender Magazine says D'Angelo is in NYC recording with Dr. Dre on as producer for his new album ?uestlove
wrote, "he is back in new york. we spoke last week. he is hungrier than
ever, wants to start fresh. thinks the last 16 joints that woulda been
on the James River album bit are Evil and Tainted and too dark to go
to. i say he is too married to that shit and lived with them too long.
shit is brilliant to me. my solution? release the DARK and LIGHT cds.
we deserve an overblown makeup disc: 40 songs. guess i gotta get to
work huh? lol" According to D'Angelo engineer and mixer Russell Elevado in his March 2007 Q&A,
"we have been working on it (on and off) since 2002. [...]we were in
the studio last november doing some o/d's and rough mixes on about 5
new songs that we could play for the label. but besides that, D has not
worked on the album for about 2 years or so. we do have plans to head
in the studio in may to finish mixes on some live material from the
voodoo tour[...]
it will be a different album than voodoo, that much is definite. to me
it's leaning more in a rock direction. like funkadelic meets the
beatles or something. he hasn't given up his soul roots by any means,
but he is growing and exploring a new genre. he's writing quite a bit
of music on guitar rather than the keyboard this time as well. it will
have a different sonic quality as well. [...]my
contributions wil be (more than ever) in the old school production
techniques and style. but this time it will come from a slightly more
rock prespective...slightly. and heavier."
|
Dabrye
|
| 2007 | KFresh, of Renaissance Soul Detroit, said in February 2007 that "there's going to be a two/three
remix album this year." Some tracks are already popping up on artists'
MySpace pages (e.g., Black Milk and Flying Lotus, although only the
remix by the former is probably official).
|
| Dan "The
Automator"
Nakamura | Omakase | 2007 | Automator
album with
guest artists and a story line. Confirmed in January
2003: Maceo from De La Soul, Black Rob, Beenie Man, the Neptunes,
Mike
Patton, Beck, DJ Q-Bert, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, John Medeski, the
Blue Man Group, Mos Def, and frequent
collaborators
Damon Albarn and Kid Koala (additional sources: Wired Oct.
2003, this
article, and a mid-2004 feature in Billboard). NME details here. MTV
says he'll tour with a full band in support of the album. The
biggest
story for the album is probably the pair-up of LeAnn Rimes and Busta
Rhymes
for a song. Apparently long finished (2002) and now sitting around
collecting
dust while MCA rethinks and gets bought out (it is or was to be his
major
label
debut). The album "was pushed back from the summer to early next
year when MCA recently folded into Geffen Records." Dan The Automator told Billboard "I'm really proud of
that record, but to think about it too much is frustrating." Also,
"Damon and Mos Def do a beautiful duet called 'Lonely Man.'" Years later, in August 2006, Automator told Billboard
what happened with the album and that he still plans on releasing it
but will now redo it because it's old and stale to him. He's unsigned
right now but has promising offers from other labels who want to
release this album.
|
| Del Tha
Funkee Homosapien | (various) | 2007 | Del has working on several albums simultaneously including 11th Hour (apparently the top priority right now for Hiero as of late 2006) and
the long rumored album Achilles Heal. HHS (8/22/04) says that The
11th Hour will be produced "entirely by Del with the assistance
of one producer, Casual... Also in October a project with Del, Motion
Man, Abtract Rude, EMC, Myka 9, Bukue One, and Ammbush will be
released. The big news is the announcement of a Deltron 3030 II. During the Q &
A after the screening Del announced that he is indeed back in the lab
with Dan the Automator." That hasn't come out yet but the album of Del with Motion Man produced by TOM C3 is apparently due soon. Bad news: "Del's computer hard drive crashed last year [2005] with all his new material on it."
|
| Dr. Dre | Detox | 2007 | This album
was considered scrapped, now it's back on. HipHopSite said at the time that many of the beats Dre recorded
would "find their way on 50's sophomore LP, Game's
debut
and Busta Rhymes' AfterMath debut." When it was announced in early November that the album was back on, MTV quoted Game
as saying, "After he got me out of the way, Busta's album is almost
wrapped, Eve is working her album, Dre is feeling vibrant. Dre got his
groove back, and he's ready to do the Detox." Dre admitted in
Scratch
Magazine's summer 2004 debut issue that he needed the time to put out his new artists and
that
the collaborations with Nottz will also be reused elsewhere. That issue of Scratch
also
revealed that Denaun Porter was set to work on the album also. DJ Khalil (of Self Scientific) is producing on Detox, according to Rhettmatic,
who adds that "Khalil also said that Jay-Z was doing a lot of
ghostwriting for Dre." Wikipedia has some additional random info I don't have here. Dr. Dre's "final album" is a hip-hop musical
concept album, reminiscent
of Prince Paul's A Prince Among Thieves, only with mainstream
guests.
Details here.
DJ Quik says "Dre is using a lot of strings and brass," and according
to
Truth
Hurts, Dre is working with other producers on the album as well. They
might
include Raphael Saadiq, SA-RA Creative Partners, Hi-Tek, and Just Blaze. Stat Quo is on it and he describes
the music he heard from it as amazing. HipHopSite
said on 11/19/03 that the recording had been put on hold because of a
fall-out
with Mel-Man and backlash over Rakim and Truth Hurts being dropped, and
that, incidentally, he has 3-4 albums worth of unreleased material
recorded
in just the last two or three years. Scott Storch, who is all over this
album as a co-producer, says
this will be "the most
advanced
rap album musically and lyrically we'll probably ever have a chance to
listen to." Dre "usually does more than 100 records and then picks his
favorites." Songs that are currently beats and rhythms are being
fleshed
out right now. "Storch said Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and
Knoc-Turn'al
would record parts as well as newer names like Lloyd Banks, Guvner and
Game." According to a March 2004 Jay Dee interview with Power 106, he
and
Dre had plans to work together in the future. A long Q&A with Mel-Man,
who apparently was at the time back in the fold, contains way too much new
information for me to paste here. Choice excerpts: "We are striving for
100% live instrumental tracks built completely from scratch... Dre
pushes us to dig deep and put our own ideas into the skeleton
instrumentals we have made alongside him for Detox over
the last couple of years. ...the dilema is how complex of tracks will
the listening audience want to hear. Do they want orchestra like pieces
or the tightly focused, yet simple beats you are used to from Dre.
Ideally all of us and Dre want the most mindbending and complex
original music experience ever heard on record. ...In the end i think
you will hear elements of these complex beats but you won't hear the
way they originally were created... I know there are rumours out there
that Detox will not be 100%
Dre produced. Dre is accepting tracks for consideration from a limited
amount of producers, but the goal is for Dre to either produce or co
produce the entire album. If Dre is having a hard time getting 16-18
quality tracks together of his productions that he likes he may look to
someone else's production to fill in the needed tracks. Dre is humble
enough to use someone elses track (like Lord Finesse's The Message
beat) if it is dope enough to match the 'classic level' of the Dre
tracks on the album. Interscope is breathing down Dre's neck to get Detox out by year end. But Dre refuses to release it until he is ready." Dr. Dre told Big Boy's Power 106 radio show in Los Angeles, "I'm
trying to get everybody that I've ever worked with over the years to
appear on the records... There are gonna be some new guys that I'm
working with, Bishop Lamont and Slim the Mobster... I'm tryna put 12,
13 songs on thealbum. I'm not totally sure about the month but it will be definitely be out this year." According to former Aftermath artist G.A.G.E., "he just got Mel Man back with him." According to Bishop Lamont's interview at thaFormula.com, Hittman is back. Hi-Tek says don't expect Detox until 2008.
|
Ghostface & MF Doom
| Swift And Changeable
| 2007 | An article in Hip-Hop Connection #189
interviewed a Nature Sounds label rep who acted as the go-between for
the project. Ghost and Doom have been fans of each other's work and
sent each other CD's back and forth. In addition to the
CD's-in-the-mail route they have worked with each other in the studio
during downtime. Ghost will do most of the rhyming while Doom will
produce the whole album and contribute some verses. It seems
like most of the beats will be brand new, not from Special Herbs (as was the case on some tracks on Fishscale). The album was to be out in late summer 2006 according to Lex Records,
who will distribute the album in the UK. Now it's 2007, according to
Nature Sounds (though it was once said to be finished by early or mid-2005). Nature Sounds' Devin Horwitz told hiphopsite,
"All production will be handled by DOOM. With the exception of one
Dilla track. Right now there are no guest features recorded, although
some interesting ones are planned." Also, as of January 2007, several
years after the project was begun, "I'd say they are about 75% done.
All the songs are sounding incredible. This was originally gonna be an
EP (we have enough material for that), but both guys were so excited
about the way the project was coming together that they decided it
needs to be a whole album!" He also said there is no official album
title yet.
|
| Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno & Squarepusher |
| 2007 | I'm not sure what to make of this. These three had a jam session
(click for story and pictures) and allegedly an album may come of it by
"mid-2007" (that's already now). Don't get your hopes up though. Other
session musicians were apparently Steve Jones and John Hopkins, but I
don't know who they are.
|
| Isaac Hayes |
| 2007 | New music to be released in 2007 on Stax, seriously.
|
| Ike Turner & The Black Keys |
| 2007 | RichDork Media
has an interview with The Black Keys where they say that they are
"working on a project right now with Danger Mouse and Ike Turner." They
are "writing and recording an album that Ike Turner will sing and play
on with us. Danger Mouse put this thing together and asked us to be
part of it, and we agreed. He's going to produce the record, and he
wants it to be a return to form for Ike Turner." Although he's not
going to be involved in the songwriting process, "Ike is going to sing
on it and also play guitar and organ and piano." The album is being
recorded with the basic "two mics on the drums and guitar" so it will
still "sound like the Black Keys."
|
Kool G Rap
| Half A Klip
| 2007 | EP produced by DJ Premier, due soon.
|
Marsha Ambrosius
|
| 2007 | Marsha from Floetry just signed
a solo deal with Aftermath Records. She has been recording songs with
Dr. Dre and would also like to work with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams,
and Dre & Vidal. A song with 50 Cent has been recorded and may end
up on the album. "It's Dre at his most genius, plus my melodies and song concepts. I did all the writing," she told Metro Philadelphia. The article says that "Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, Scott Storch, and Just Blaze also contributed work to the album."
|
| Massive
Attack | Weather Underground | 2007 | Info.
A more "thrown-together" album was said to be recorded and released within a
year after the fourth album came out. This album was to feature Mos Def
and Tom Waits, and probably the songs they recorded with Dot Allison
and
Liz Fraser that didn't make the last album. Daddy G was also going to eb a lot more
involved with this album than 100th Window. Years later, all NME knowsis
3D has been in the studio working on a "gothic soul" album and "five
songs are nearing completion" although 15 more were expected to be done
by Christmas 2005. Another DVD was once said to be in the
works. More comments from 3D over the years: "We almost did something
with Bjork
as well, and with Tom Waits, but probably what Bjork does is already
too
close to the Massive Attack sound. And Tom Waits, that's might be a
very
long winded thing. There were also some plans with Thom Yorke, and we
worked
together with Lupine Howl, but the result was sub-standard. But most of
all, I would like to cooperate again with Liz Fraser." As of late 2004,
3D and Neil Davidge are sampling again. The fifth album is (still) in
writing and initial recording phase now, although they admit to wanting
to finish some older things. New songs they did on the last tour are "Speed Of Dark" and "Bullet." The band has a new member in Gloucester's Town Crier. Current expected guests: TV On The Radio,
Mos Def, Mike Patton, Horace Andy, Liz Frazer,
Beth Orton, and Leslie Feist. Title may have changed.
|
N*E*R*D
|
| 2007 | The
band is back on with plans for a third album in the near future. As of
July 2006 Pharrell has dismissed his previous claims as just empty
threats.
|
Nine Inch Nails
| Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
| 2007 | Seemingly oblivious to the fact that Linkin Park used the 133+ h4x0r naming scheme themselves years back for their remix album, NIN posted the cover
to its own remix album with this ridiculous lettering. Besides
selections from (if not all of) the previously released remixes from
the Year Zero album,
The Faint has done a remix and so has Bill Laswell. I've
read a rumor that this album is fan mixes or rather remixes done using
the multi-track files that have been provided online regardless of how
well-known the remixers are. Stay tuned to The NIN Hotline as they post all the names of the remixers (sounds good so far).
|
Nottz
|
| 2007 | Hip-hop producer and sometimes rapper has a solo album coming out, he tells ThaFormula. "I've been working on an album like (Dr.) Dre working on Detox.
...You know I started out rappin' first like I said man. My manager
keeps telling me don't do a whole album rappin', but to do some
features and stuff like that. But I was rapping first so I'd rather
rap. I'm a few joints into the album already. Me and Pete Rock got a
joint together. Me, Denaun Porter and Hi-Tek got a joint together.
Kardinal Offishal is up there with me. Corey Guns, I'm trying to get
Cee-Lo on a joint on a hook with me and Corey Guns. Busta is gonna do
something up there."
|
Peeping Tom
|
| 2007 | Mike
Patton says the Avalanches are collaborating with him on the next
Peeping Tom record. He has said before that there is enough material
already recorded for at least two more albums.
|
| Rakim | The Seventh Seal | 2007
| Currently expected in the first quarter of 2007. Rakim left
Aftermath
before dropping his album Oh My God, after being signed for three years! Musical
differences with Dre. Dre wanted him "to bring the guns back out" but
Ra
wanted to stay true to himself and be different from everyone else.
Check
out this interview, parts one
and two.
Original details here and
here.
A version of the album was completed, but then Alchemist was
going
to pitch in with some production. Dre and Ra recorded over fifty tracks
together (this may be bogus info, as Rakim
says he only did 16 songs on Aftermath and only 3 were with Dre).
DJ
Premier (Dre rejected most of his tracks...), DJ Hi-Tek, DJ Quik,
Xzibit,
Eminem (who wrote a song for Rakim to jump on that didn't make his 2002
album The Eminem Show), and
Nas were to be included on the album. It was originally to
be released summer 2002, then it was being retooled for "stronger
choruses."
(Update: Mel-Man's 2005 Internet Q&A
explains this in detail, saying that Interscope wouldn't let Dre and
Rakim do the album they wanted and were doing. Mel-Man also says
"Common thought is that only a few tracks were recorded for Oh My God.
That is false. We may not have got a lot of full songs with vocals
recorded (altough we did more than has been reported)but we created a
lot of instrumentals with Rakim in mind. Like Dre rakim is very picky
in the beats and sometimes he would pass on beats that we thought were
perfect. However the shit Ra and Dre did do together were mind
blowing.") Dre's beats were to be the opposite of what's expected; DJ Premier had
been giving him inspiration to play with his old SP-1200, making retro
and gritty sounding tracks instead of polished productions. After
leaving
Aftermath, Rakim was said to be linking up with Dreamworks (after
almost
signing with them before Aftermath), but the truth is he's started his
own imprint, RA Recordz, on an indie label. The just-begun,
self-released
album will have Premier and Large Professor producing. According to HipHopSite
(1/27/04), Rakim told MTV2 "that he has recovered some of the Dre
tracks
from the Aftermath sessions, and has other collaborations with
Timbaland"
and R. Kelly, but he didn't mention DJ Premier or Large Pro. According
to Rakim
himself, "Dre promised me a track" for Rakim's new album
he
wants ready for this summer. In other words, he's starting all over,
this
time with his own label deal. The Neptunes have reached out to him and
Rakim promises "a couple of duets, something I haven't really done in
the
past. There's going to be a couple of surprises on the album." Also,
expect
the album to have "at least 15 to 18 records," music visualizations,
and
video footage of him "chillin' in the hood, chillin' in the studio,
chillin'
with my kids, you know just chillin'" (ThaFormula). Rakim said in concert in January 2006 that his new album will be out in the summer. Rakim and Nas announced in a joint interview with MTV
that they plan to work with each other on one or both of their albums.
Rakim's new independent label, Ra Records, is releasing this album,
allegedly on 07/07/07, a Saturday--this, of course, didn't happen.
|
Róisín Murphy
|
| 2007 | This would be a followup to the terrific solo debut, Ruby Blue. Mark de Clive-Lowe said,
"yep, seiji smacked that one up properly. he's got some shit in the
pipeline at the minute with rosin murphy (ex moloko). havent heard all
the tracks yet, but no doubt, a quality project that we're all well
happy to be involved with." From another discussion board: "This is ill Factor, I worked with rosin murphy on her upcoming album along side with Jimmy Douglas
mixing the tracks produced by myslef and roisin. (had her come down to
Miami at our studio for a couple months) Let me jsut say you will most
not be disapointed. I myself must say working with the lovely roisin
was a striaght up Gangsta of a time. and just dropping knowledge about
the album to some loyal fans of hers.. So sit tight andenjoy Cheers."
|
The Roots
| Rising Down
| 2007 | Expected some time between October 2007 and February 2008. Formerly known as This Too Shall Pass. ?uestlove has been playing The Roots' "I Will Not Apologize" MP3 on his last.fm page.
Additional Roots MP3s have included "Vertigo," "Jonze," "Raj," "Radj
with Drums," "Birthday w/Fall Out Boy," "Malik Is Nuts (Rock With Us),"
"Malik Jawn," "Roxanne, The Seed, I Can Understand It" (all together; he's also been playing a J. Dilla song called "Roxanne," and there's always the famous Police song, so this may be some kind of remake),
"Swirl Smurf," "Robo Cop," and "?uest meet Patrick of Fall Out Boy." On being in
Jon Brion's studio working on the new Roots album, ?uest wrote "damn
damn damn we aint even track yet and i hear the texture of 1974 in a
way that i could NEVER approximate." And elsewhere, "Malik B is on this album more than he was on Game Theory.
Peedi just dropped his and he set a bar so high I don't even know if we
can follow it. I don't want to use the cliché, 'It's crazy!,'
but I'm excited about it. [...]For this record, I'll say the prominent
instrument is the synthesizer, even though it's the same
instrumentation. Kamal's utilizing more actual keyboards and synth
stuff than he is the Fender Rhodes. I will call this the synth record.
But thematically we still don't know where we're going," ?uestlove told
Allhiphop. They're still on Def Jam.
|
SA-RA Creative Partners
| Black Fuzz
| 2007 | SA-RA
signed a deal
with Kanye West's GOOD Music imprint to produce for the label and
release this artist album. The album name has changed from Set-Ups & Justifications to this, there are two albums due for release soon, or that was just the name of the sampler, who knows. The album sampler cover can be viewed here. Here's the tracklisting (a lot of old favorites). Supposedly they have a song with Iggy Pop
called "Big Fame." The recent Vibe review not only confirms the old |
