128 Oz. of Haterade: 'George Kush Da Button,' by Smoke DZA

'The connect's confidential and the weed's continental..."

If you're about to throw on the new Smoke DZA joint expecting political allegory about the Bush Years and the War on Drugs... well, you're in for some disappointment. George Kush Da Button is pretty much about weed.

No matter, though. What you do get from the Harlem rapper is a laidback mixtape with a bit of an executive-lounge soundscape... no surprise considering the primary producer is Ski Beatz, the architect behind much of Jay-Z's Big Willie sound on Reasonable Doubt.

Hints of this excellent sound were on display with DZA's April 2010 EP, Substance Abuse 1.5: The Headstash, and to a lesser extent on the original Substance Abuse, which came out in February 2010. Matter of fact, this Smoke DZA cat has been pretty prolific in the past 365 days!

George Kush, though, is his most polished effort to date, despite its mixtape status. Ski, along with Kenny Beats, G14, Big K.R.I.T. and Steve-O (not that Steve-O... at least I don't think so), provide a solid bedrock of lower-midtempo head-nodders, providing ample space for DZA to wax philosophic about smoking, and the things he does before and after smoking.

Big K.R.I.T.'s beats on tracks like "I'm Saying" and "The Secret" up the BPMs a little, and lean more toward the radio-friendly side of things, but it's Ski's loping loops on songs like "We On," "Continental Kush Breakfast" and "Etc Etc" that comprise George Kush's best moments. Additionally, Steve-O slows down the loop for Masta Ace Inc.'s "Turn It Up" to nice effect on the introspective "My Life."

Is it a perfect record? No. The weed theme starts to wear a little thin after a while, but it's more of a constant presence than a unified theme. After all, this is an MC who named his first two releases Substance Abuse, and who notes confidently in "We On": "I don't care about your problems, n****/I just wanna smoke my weed/And we on this year/Give a f*** what other n****s want this year/I just wanna smoke a zone this year/Roll it up/Take a flight and we almost there."

• Smoke DZA at Amazon.com

• Listen to tracks and download George Kush Da Button at DJBooth.net

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'Fresh,' by Shawn Desman

While I can't in good conscience recommend the "crooked mohawk" (above), nor can I endorse the eighth-grade-pube-'stache he's rocking on the album cover, I can recommend a good portion of Shawn Desman's Fresh, which combines the Black-Eyed Peas' future-techno vibe and Akon (without all the Auto-Tuning) into a pleasant, bouncy record.

Fresh is a head-nodder that exhibits the same flair Will.i.am seems to have for taking what could be a boring techno-based track and adding a few tweaks, bells and whistles to spice it up and keep it moving. And Desman achieves it without needing any cornball "raps" from Fergie, which is always nice.

Granted, the "Can I, can I watch? Keep on doin' what you do" chorus of "Moneyshot" is a little unnecessary, but hey? Let a Canadian-born, Italian/Portuguese player play, I suppose.

Fresh lays aside some of the rougher-edged drums of 2005's Back for More, opting for a cleaner, more-processed atmosphere. The first single, "Shiver," is about as good as modern pop R&B gets, a cascade of heavy percussion and harmony wrapped into a love song that doesn't need to venture into X-rated allegory to get its point across.

Desman leaves that to "Moneyshot," haha.

There's no need for me to go over the slow songs. You know how they sound; you know what they're about. Overall, though, Fresh is a solid step in the right direction for Desman.

More on Shawn Desman:

• Official website

• MySpace

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'InDRUpendence Day," by Dru Hill

The last time something meaningful came from the Dru Hill fam, it was a solo-minded Sisqo "releasing the dragon" and going whale-tailin' as he extolled the virtues of butt-floss (as if to drive home the irrelevance, Sisqo is battling the Jimmie Van Zant Band right now on Rock & A Hard Place, a.k.a. Washed-Up Rock-Star Jeopardy). And is Sisqo wearing motorcycle gloves on the cover? In the immortal words of Riley Freeman, "Pause."

In sheer spite of all that comes InDRUpendence Day, which veers from vaguely-cheesy '90s-ish R&B ("Back to the Future," "Love MD") to decent uptempo grooves ("She Wants Me," "Whatcha Do"). "Can't Stop" finds the gang personifying their smoking and drinking as lovely ladies named Chocolate Tye and Hennessey. An allegorical masterpiece if ever there was one... but I will say that it's couched atop a nice bed of vocoder, as opposed to Auto-Tune, which is used judiciously throughout InDRUpendence Day.

Do I need a cover "(Everybody Wants to) Rule the World"? No. With talented soul acts like Mama's Gun and Georgia Anne Muldrow out there, a reunited Dru Hill just seems kind of... old.

**Bonus points if you can name any other member of Dru Hill without Googling it first. I can't.

FREE DOWNLOAD! Redman Mix: 'Funk Doc vs. the Beat Doc'

Click here to download as a single MP3 (the link will likely expire on July 22):

TRACKLIST

1. Double Deuces (Madlib Mix) feat. Method Man

2. Check'n Me Out feat. Def Squad

3. Get Dirty (Beat Doctor Remix)

4. So Ruff

5. Pick It Up

6. Funkorama (Beat Doctor Remix)

7. Father's Day feat. Method Man

8. Lookin' Fly

9. Blow Your Mind

10. The Game (Beat Doctor Remix) feat. Def Squad

11. Yeah Yeah You Know It (Beat Doctor Remix) feat. Def Squad

12. Love Me Now (Doom Mix) feat. Beenie Man

13. A-Yo! feat. Method Man & Saukrates

14. A Million and 1 Buddah Spots

15. How High, Pt. 2 (Beat Doctor Remix) feat. Method Man

16. Can't Wait (Beat Doctor Remix)

17. 'NIN' Interlude

18. Soopermanluva, Pt. 3

19. We Run N.Y. feat. Hurricane Gee

This mix was created to promote Redman, and not for profit. Be sure to check out Reggie Noble 9 1/2, slated for a fall release date!

OHH! A Quick Sneak Peek at the New Madvillain Record




J-Rocc spins a few snippets from the forthcoming Madvillain sequel. Sounds pretty damn good to me.