Possibly the tiniest wide screen imaginable was used for Kirko Bangz’ latest vid off of Progression 2: A Young Texas Playa. Mr. Boomtown keeps Kirko in a small location, flanked by supporters and friends who loft their Hs high in the sky while Kirko keeps things in perspective. Grab Progression 2 here.

A remix featuring the usual suspects for a delectable club single that has exploded on radio? Not a shocking move, at all. But, think how powerful this could have been if it were all YMCMB. Weezy, Drake & Nicki, the other golden lords of Birdman’s platinum nest? Alas, we’re getting this from Tyga’s oft-delayed YM solo album Carless World: The Last Prince which is set to drop in February.

Remember when everyone tried to bury the kid after he made “Coconut Juice”?

DOWNLOAD: Tyga – Rack City [Remix] (f. Wale, Fabolous, Young Jeezy, Meek Mill & T.I.)

A 2005 classic updated for 2012 with three of the Headwreckas most notable members. Off KAB Tha Don’s Bully On Tha Beat mixtape which if you’re still narcoleptic can cop here.

DOWNLOAD: KAB Tha Don – Still Tippin’ Remix (f. K Dogg & Doughbeezy)

“I wanna sell drugs.” – Joe Cool; “Cooley High”

Louisiana rappers are type cast in the same generalized bubble most Southern emcees are. This isn’t a moment to rehash the old “all Southern rappers are slow” rhetoric that has been disproven time & time again, it’s here to make a point. While he may not contain the accent and the easy to notice drawl, Joe Cool does establish something on his first full length mixtape to the masses, an identity.

Stuck in the vertigo that is success or failure, Cool displays trademarks of a well executed, well thought out tape on Cooley High, ranging from thoughts of pure exasperation on “Celebration” to being in search for the alcohol to cure all blues on the ambient “Cheeba”. To be so assure of oneself in the midst of growth while dealing with the weight of society is amazing. He can whip through 808s and traditionalist Southern bass on cuts like the synth warbling “MK Ultra” and the snare deafening “Ghetto Bass” but it all comes back to a singular defining moment: “I Wanna Sell Drugs”.

Over somber piano keys, the direction of an independent rapper/student/young male in America is stated with a blatant and direct statement. For all the success carved in trying to funnel your happiness in your dreams, the constant amount of loss, pain and financial undertaking rears its head at every turn. It’s the battle of temptation and possibly the moment of any man or woman in 2012 who realizes the way to your dreams is either treacherous legally or illegally.

As for Joe’s next step, it’s not hard to tell. Buzz has grown, the idea of he putting out more self produced projects like Cooley Hi remains and virally cuts like “I Wanna Sell Drugs” & “Ghetto Bass” are trading YouTube watermarks over your favorite hip-hop & pop culture blogs. Louisiana Cool, he would be called if he wanted to be known as an old school cigarette. Instead, he’s just Joe – a rapper with a common man appeal we can all get down with.

DOWNLOAD: Joe Cool – Cooley Hi

A FADER Label premiere, Yuna’s “Live Your Life” produced by Pharrell is bubbly, completed with the producers trademark percussion & subtlely powerful. Grooving, trilling quotes like “we’re something bigger than this” makes the track a star gazing winner.

DOWNLOAD: Yuna – Live Your Life

Rick Perry Is Now Less Popular In Texas Than Barack Obama [Gawker]

The Best Rihanna Twitpics [Buzzfeed]

Wanna Bet? The 10 Craziest Wagers Made By Rappers [The Urban Daily]

Pat Sajak Says He Hosted Wheel Of Fortune D-R-U-N-K [Loop21]

Dirk Nowitzki Should Just Announce Everything [With Leather]

The Return Of Young Jeezy [Grantland]

Five Reasons the XBox 720 Should Embrace Used Games [Gamma Squad]

North Korea Makes Cellphone Use A War Crime [Engadget]

Drake: “I Want To Play President Obama” [Rolling Stone]

Why 50 Cent Should Consider Retirement [Rocks Off]

Forbes: Kobe Is The Top Earner In The NBA [Yardbarker]

In the land of goon rap, you’re only as good as your last sale in the hood. Alley Boy might be drumming up buzz with his latest mixtape Nigganati and track numero nine, “I Want In”. Sampling Christopher Walken’s performance in King Of New York, Alley spares the feelings of no one, including those two men who previously “f*cked da city up” in T.I. & Young Jeezy.

The young eating its predecessors is nothing new in hip-hop these days. The bait & response technique has put some foots in the door and slammed shut on others. Yet, Alley keeps everything so not subliminal that you can easily see where his shots are intended. Whether or not they dignify a response from the OG trappers of Atlanta are another story.

DOWNLOAD: Alley Boy – I Want In

Feel free to invest in the Duct Tape Ent. member’s Nigganati tape now, which you can grab after the jump.

DOWNLOAD: Alley Boy – Nigganati

Shocking to think that twelve years ago today, D’Angelo gave us Voodoo. Overseas, D gave his first show in 11 years at the Filadelfiakyrkan in Stockholm, Sweden. Up top is an eight minute rendition of “Chicken Grease” while down below you can catch “Shit, Damn Motherfucker.”

[via okp] x [pds]

Slated to appear on the soundtrack to Steve Harvey’s Think Like A Man movie, John Legend gets a bit raunchy on “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” but thanks to plodding production that consists of guitar strings & chimes fels like Legend’s trying to be more than straight laced for the hell of it and not actually enjoy it. Ludacris delivers his usual R&B feature template of a verse and then we’re left wondering – remember when a collab between these two seemed like money on paper?

DOWNLOAD: John Legend – Tonight (Best You Ever Had) (f. Ludacris)

During the Dallas stop of Kendrick’s recent Texas tour, FTD got a chance to speak with the Comptown MC to discuss numerous topics including ScHoolboy Q’s recent album Habits & Contradictions, the HiiiPower movement and more.

[via FTD]