Kaila / Kaila Yu
Pretty model singing pretty music? Not possible, you say? You be the judge. Kaila Yu was one of our cover models back in the day. She's still a hot topic in the import car industry and I'll tell you she may become hotter. Kaila, through her eleven-cut album (plus one remix), gets down with her funky self on cuts like "What I want," "Whatcha gonna do," "Get down," and "Don't need your money." She explores the realm of dance and R&B. It's kind of expected that she do the dance thing but it's the R&B side of her that impressed me. The girl has some soul in her bones. If you don't like the music just appreciate the shots of her on the cover and sleeve of the jewel case. Mmmm, love me some Yu.-www.Kailayu.com
Soulmatic / Nas
Soul Supreme releases his take on Nas cuts through his remakes of "Stillmatic," "Ether," "One Mic," "Got your Self A..." and many others, to round up and complete this 11-track-er. "Who is Soul Supreme? Well...his origins can be traced to a vast mountainous range in Sweden, where his affinity for chopping obscure 70s and 80s soul samples has lead him to producing for many of hip-hop's most beloved emcees. And in an industry that demands mass exposure, he prefers to be heard rather then seen, as he is transported to the Danger Room in Boston with the aid of a direct feed, where Supreme orchestrates and monitors the progress of each session via high-speed modem connection and webcam. Fresh off of producing his Grit Records debut, The Saturday Night Agenda, Soul Supreme is the next producer in-line to remix perhaps the greatest lyricist of our time, as Supreme tries his hand at remixing the accapellas from Nas' Stillmatic; now appropriately re-dubbed SOULmatic."
The Conspiracy / The Weathermen
The Weathermen are: Cage, Camu Tao, Yak Ballz, Copywrite, Vast Aire, Tame One, Breeze Brewin, El-P, and Jakki Da Motamouth-The Eastern Conference All-Stars. Here's a mixtape laced with jacked tracks from everyone like Nas, Missy, Red and Meth, Ludicris, 50 Cent, and others. It's a fine way to cut on track production especially if you are just an MC. Their track titles say tons about the album cuts: "Made you shit your pants" and "Missy Done Justice," "What happened to dat toy," " Every rapper in the house shut the fuck up". They're a skilled bunch of rapping mean people that will eventually punch you in the face if you give 'em the opportunity. -www.Easternconferencerecords.com
Dance Divas / Louie Divito
Featuring a slew of Divas like Deborah Cox, Angie Stone, Gloria Gaynor, Aria, Nikki A., Amber, S club 7, Ultra Nate, Toni Braxton, Sandy B. and Leann Rimes, Divito mixes cut to cut nice and precise. Although all these cuts are a little out of date they still get you up and dancing the same way you used to do at the clubs you can't go to anymore. That's OK, don't feel like you are an old clubber-just tell everyone you know classics when you hear them. This one might be one CD you pull out every once in a while to reminisce.