Looks like the summer isn’t quite done getting big named releases as 2 Chainz announced via Twitter that his follow up to the gold selling Based On A T.R.U Story would land September 10th via Island Def Jam. The rapper who has been spotted on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 2 Broke Girls and more has yet to announce a title for the album.

Still energized from releasing “Never” yesterday, Luke Duke continues to dig into what may or may not make his full length Lukemia project by dropping the guitar heavy “It’s On Me”. An underdog anthem in nature, Luke looks at himself in the mirror, telling himself almost in the same vein as Tracy McGrady’s promise to take the Rockets to the second round that if he doesn’t fulfill his prophecy, it’s on him. Lukemia is coming soon.

Stream: Luke Duke – “It’s On Me”

Birdman & Rick Ross were supposedly going to release an album in 2008 and it got shelved – for five years. With all of the new moves coming out of YMCMB, The H: The Lost Album arrives with 11-tracks, DJ Khaled hosting, a puzzling absence of Lil Wayne but features from Mack Maine, Gudda Gudda & Kevin Rudolph. Oh, and T-Pain who can be found singing the chorus to “Saturday Love” by Alexander O’Neal on one of these things. Plus, there a Ross sighting where he’s dropping more superficial raps than ever on a cut of The-Dream’s “Fancy”. If you needed a brainless, Memorial Day Weekend tape to keep you in line, here you go.

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Your eyes are not deceiving you. Booker T & The MGs lead man Booker T. Jones has teamed up with Mayer Hawthorne for the first single to his upcoming album. “Sound The Alarm” is just as funky as “Green Onions” as the sample and the album will feature help from Gary Clark Jr., Estelle & Anthony Hamilton.

Tonight Scoremore shows is presenting their first kinda-sortof festival in Jambalaya at Bayou Music Center. With a lineup that includes Big Boi, Earl Wolf (Earl Sweatshirt & Tyler, the Creator), RL Grime and more, it looked to be a pretty stacked lineup. Sadly, Odd Future fans, more importantly fans of Earl Sweatshirt will be saddened to know he won’t be in attendance tonight for undisclosed reasons.

Via Tyler’s Twitter account, “Sorry, I Just Found Out 3 Minutes Ago That EARL Will Not Be At The Houston Show Tonight. Its Not Looking Good For Dallas And Austin Either. Ill Keep You Updated, Sorry. Im Really Sorry Those Who Was Expecting Both Of Us Tonight. Trust Me I Will Make It Up Somehow In The Future.”

The rapper did offer free tickets for fans at the Screw Shop off W Fuqua. Tickets for Jambalaya are still available at the Bayou Music Center box office and online at LiveNation.com

UPDATE: Earl’s coming,

With less than a week to go until he drops his E36 mixtape, Le$ grabs smoking buddy Smoke DZA for “Autobahn”, a looping piece of work from the Boss Hogg & producer Thelonius Martin. DZA bats leadoff while Le$ plots on snatching up chicks and turning posers Nino Brown types into frauds and making flicks with their broads. I guess the New Jersey mantra of “O.P.P” rings true. The high vibes will continue when Le$ drops E36 on Tuesday.

Thank the Gods of Tumblr for new Jhené Aiko music. The sexy siren releases “Comfort Inn Ending” on her Tumblr page earlier, produced by No I.D. Her proper Def Jam debut Souled Out with help from Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, KeY Wane & the Fisticuffs is due later this year.

Stream: Jhené Aiko – “Comfort Inn Ending” (prod. No I.D.)

Crafting new tunes for a Thursday, Earl Sweatshirt goes dark and melodic on “Guild” featuring Mac Miller. “I hope the BasedGod hears my prayers,” Miller quotes while smoking weed on the White House lawn along the skitterish beat crafted by Earl himself (under the name RandomBlackDude) where both sound like they’re sleepwalking and slightly demonic. Earl’s Doris album is coming soon.

Over squelchy synths and drums, JT and A.Dd+ pregame for a night of craziness in the streets of Dallas on “What A Night”, produced by Trakboy. A easy to get stuck in your head chorus along with Paris & Slim pass the baton storytelling keep things moving as JT only needs a phone call from the skinny A.Dd+ member to set everything off in motion.

[via FlyTimesDaily]

There’s some supposed mythical story about Jack Freeman being some being who woos women at night, rarely ever sleeps and lifts weights like a mad man to become the first R&B singer you know you wouldn’t literally test off stage. It hasn’t reached Paul Bunyan esque levels of goofy fable yet but to his credit, Freeman does plenty to make a lot of it sound true. His velvety smooth vocals jump around to convey pieces of Donny Hathaway, his most obvious muse for a lot of his writings and on stage – they’re damn near pitch perfect.

Wednesday night at Jet Lounge, one of the city’s better bars for local music, Freeman kicked off his The Jack Freeman Experience tour by being himself – cradling the microphone with both hands, eyes closed and belting out notes left and right while rocking an interesting garb of an animal print Exclusive Doofus shirt, cuffed at the ankles pants and slippers. He looked more like Prince Aladdin than the man who your girl probably has erected a shrine of worship for but that’s him in his zone.

“I need y’all to dance to this one,” he remarked before launching into “Slow Dance” from his 2011 release Lynnie’s Juke Joint. He then started singling out folks from singer Lee-Lonn (You two because you’re the same height) and family members (“you two because … that’s my cousin!”).

Bianca Rodriguez/Photo: Peachez

While Jack had his friends and family, Bianca Rodriguez had herself. The Dallas singer was making one of her more prominent appearances following the release of Solitude, her “post breakup purification” piece. The girl whose hair billowed out and looked optimistic on the cover instead cloaked herself in a bun, a slightly revealing blouse and pants. She smiled before crowding the microphone, ready to release and explode. She openly wants to be the James Fauntleroy of her generation, a woman who pens the tales of heartbreak, love and its in betweens. But she definitely hides plenty of talent behind a mesmerizing look, almost Badu like.

If her melodiously golden vocals were what people were paying to hear, her visually striking appearance almost seemed like icing on the cake. Rodriguez captured the crowd as she cranked out a few original tunes such as “Lust” & “Heaux” along with her rendition of Anita Baker’s classic “Sweet Love” and a memorable cover of Floetry’s “Say Yes” as the crowd sang along with anticipation for her next move.

At least we left with the sense that R&B does indeed feel in a damn good place right now in the city.

Additional reporting from Monica Jones.