Tuxedo - Number One

Anderson.Paak & Knxwledge - NxWorries

Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton (Stones Throw documentary)

Screening info at the official site: www.OurVinylWeighsATon.com

Jonwayne - Cassette 3: The Marion Morrison Mixtape

Download FREE or buy it on cassette via Stones Throw.

Serato Icon Series - Peanut Butter Wolf

In time for the second Serato x Stones Throw collabo pressing.

J Dilla - Last Donut of the Night Contest Winner

Peanut Butter Wolf: THANKS TO EVERYONE who entered. I watched every entry, wrote notes and put them in categories. I got input from the Stones Throw staff, artists on the label, friends and basically anyone I knew who had an opinion. Almost 2000 words of notes and countless hours of watching later and we have our winners.

I expected around 50 people to enter and ended up with 156. The original goal was to be able to find 15 “winners” to put on the Stones Throw youtube page (which I did), yet I ended up with 50 I felt were at least worth mentioning. Well, more than 50, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.

The top 5 were the hardest to put in order. I would’ve been happy with any combination of those ones, so my personal apologies to #2, #3, #4, and #5 for not winning first place. I hope to do a video in the future with each of you and others from the contest as well. (I’ve already approached a few of you).

Overall, lots of Doom, Dilla and Lord Quas in the contest. I think we could’ve made the contest strictly Donuts and the entries would’ve been just as cool.

Some guys got pretty intense with full cast and crew and others took found footage and did a great job on their own with editing. A lot of the songs like Lightworks, Fancy Clown, Strange Ways, Safety Dance, and Time (Donut Of The Heart) were chosen by multiple entries. And nobody made a Charizma video. L Glad a few of you made a Koushik video though. He’s still one of my fav Stones Throw artists.

Cast: Juha Ilmari Laine, Markku Laitinen, Rami Rusinen, Petra Lumioksa / Director of Photography: Jeremias Nieminen / Camera Operator: Antti Savolainen / Camera Asst: Sofia Palillo / Sound Engineer: Tuomas Vauhkonen / Sound Recording: Ilkka Kunttu / Gaffer: Jeremias Nieminen / Best Boy: Tuomas Peltonen / Runner: Petra Lumioksa / Catering: Petra Lumioksa. J Dilla's "Last Donut of the Night" is taken from the album Donuts (2006)

Guilty Simpson x Madlib = trouble

Another jawn courtesy of Urb magazine. This is from the forthcoming, highly anticipated and full-album collabo between Detroit's grimiest emcee and the heir to Dilla's throne (OJ Simpson, due May 18th from Stones Throw).

Guilty Simpson, "Cali Hills" (prod by Madlib)

Mayer Hawthorne: Dusty Fingers

You already know that I'm a fan of Mayer Hawthorne. Everything from his music, talent, style, record label and to the way he carries himself is so real. Now we get a glimpse into his record-collecting side. I'm in love.

Real talk: "Getting addicted to record digging is just as bad as any other drug out there. It's a little healthier for you but... it's not healthy for your wallet, though!"

What I'm Listening To

Besides tackling the stack of records I picked up from New York, here is what else I've been listening to lately.

Slap a "neo-soul" sticker on Mayer Hawthorne and you'd be missing out on genuinely heartfelt music that's is unlike everything else that falls under that current label and trend. You'd also be missing out on the rest of the story. Dude doesn't just have an uncanny ability to croon you back to the days of chivalry. He also plays every single instrument on the album with a funky demeanor that fits other Stones Throw label mates. Oh, and he's white. Go ahead and knock cats for riding everything that Stones Throw puts out. But you can't deny that Peanut Butter Wolf has crafted one of the most diverse and relevant labels of our time. Mayer Hawthorne is no exception. Want further proof? Check out Red's promo video below. Now tell me that you've heard something like this before that's HALF as dope! Cop this here.

Mayer Hawthorne, "I Wish It Would Rain" <----- my personal fave from his A Strange Arrangement LP

Did I mention that I picked up some vinyl recently? Well Ralph MacDonald's The Path blew my mind last night. I actually threw it in my satchel at the record store after listening to the first few smooth-ass bars of "Smoke Rings and Wine". Then I heard "The Path" last night and chalked it up to the beat gods shining down on me. I'm using this for sure. Don't bite!

Ralph MacDonald, "Smoke Rings and Wine"

Ralph MacDonald, "The Path"