Kendrick Lamar was tasked with creating a soundtrack to the recently released Black Panther, and the results aren't exactly surprising. It's great. It's varied in sounds and production yet stays cohesive, and Kendrick pastes hooks, verses, and his imprint over most of the songs. Featuring appearances by Future, The Weeknd, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, SZA, Schoolboy Q, Khalid, Vince Staples, Anderson .Paak, James Blake, and Travis Scott, it's like rap's All-Star Game. The album is one of my fave soundtracks I've heard in quite some time. Check it out!

I was watching (the movie) Whiplash again, and it prompted me to get on a jazz kick last week. I stumbled upon this track from John Coltrane and Duke Ellington, a beautifully rhythmic song strolling through a wintry evening.

And finally, MGMT released a new album which goes way back to their pop-like ways. I still need to digest it, and I'll get a couple more tracks.

If you haven't heard, the legendary trio De La Soul opened up a Kickstarter to make a new album. The album will feature collaborations with Little Dragon (!), David Byrne, 2 Chainz, and Damon Albarn (of Blur and the Gorillaz), and possibly more! Their last album was over a decade ago, so needless to say this will be quite anticipated for all hip-hop fanatics of new and yore.

De La Soul turned to kickstarter (in their words) "to help pay for recording, mixing, marketing, and everything else. Your support will keep us in the studio, help us continue to sample and manipulate the music we’ve recorded, will help us get additional production work done; and will help us design, package, market, and distribute the album. The whole thing. We literally cannot do it without you."

They asked for $110,000 and they've gotten a total $514,000 from almost 10,000 people! Amazing.

They've been getting fans excited with some releases, including this jam featuring Nas (who refuses to age or fade and is still killing it) providing the hook. This track will not be on the album, but for all of us waiting in eager anticipation for it to drop, this will certainly quench our thirst.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 94

Singles - De La Soul feat. Nas - God It