Mixtape Mondays: Aloe Blacc, Q-Tip, Rich Medina + Lamin Fofana

Get Angry

Don't be the laughing stock of the internets cause you weren't down with the absolute latest in mixtapes. As a public service, Okayplayer once again brings you the best in what you may have missed over the past week or so. This week we have an incredibly strong line-up comprising Aloe Blacc, Rich Medina, Q-Tip and Afro-star Lamin Fofana repping for Okayafrica's Earbuds series. Get started with Rich M. and find the rest after the jump.

Rich Medina x Tatyana Fazalizadeh - Get Angry

Get Angry is a collaboration between Rich Medina and painter Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. Inspired by the fervor of protest that threatened to boil over in 2011, Tatyana created a series of paintings to illustrate the various movements - from Tahrir Sq to Wall St, from London to Troy Davis, from Slutwalk to the demand for gay marriage rights - while Rich created a mix of songs that represent the spirit and energy of revolution. He throws in artists like Public Enemy, Syl Johnson, J Dilla, and even Dorothy Ashby (for that, Rich gets extra credit). Good for getting angry and funky at the same time. Stream below and download the whole thing to cop the accompanying .pdf booklet with Tatyana's art + descriptions.

>>>Download

Paris DJs - Paris DJs Soundsystem Presents Aloe Blacc

Paris DJs in collaboration with the good people over at Stone's Throw posted this mix that spans Aloe Blacc's career, starting in the late 90s. Anyone who is familiar with his music prior to the explosion of "I Need a Dollar" from the HBO series How To Make It In America knows how diverse his range is. He seems genuinely unconcerned with genres or styles, going in on hip-hop, jazz, soul, latin, Brazilian, and reggae with abandon. So weaving his tracks together into a cohesive mix is no easy task, but Paris DJs make it work.

>>>Download (via Stone's Throw)

Q-Tip - HOT 97 Black Fist Fridays Mix

Q-Tip represented for the final installment of Mr. Cee's "Black Fist Friday" series, a weekly tribute to Black History Month on HOT 97. Previous guests include Pete Rock, ?uestlove, and DJ Premier. Based on the theme, The Tipster was an obvious choice. He sets it off with Big Daddy Kane's "Young, Gifted an Black" and then launches into a positivity-filled hour full of artists like Black Star, X-Clan, Roy Ayers, Poor Righteous Teachers, and a few members of the Native Tongues. Another primetime, commercial radio palette-cleanser (cause rap is not pop. If you call it that then stop.)

>>>Download (via 2DB)

Lamin Fofana - Africa In Your Earbuds 12

Possibly the New York area's most erudite selector of Afro-sounds, Dutty Artz crew-member Lamin Fofana cut together a brilliant sonic jounrey through the diaspora, ranging from Ethiopia (Sophia Shibabaw) to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean (Drexciya). True Story. See the tracklist below and get audio and cover art direct from OKA.

>>>Stream/Download (via Okayafrica)

TRACKLIST

- Remi Kabaka / Black Goddess // Nigeria

- Sophia Shibabaw / Oh Enie Man Negne // Ethiopia

- Mark Ernestus Meets BBC // Germany, South Africa

- Selia And His Accordion / Tondo Muya // Sierra Leone

- Cesaria Evora / Sodade // Cape Verde

- Sade – The Sweetest Taboo // England, Nigeria

- Drexciya / Unknown Journey I (Lamin Fofana Original Autorail Edit) // Somewhere deep in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Mali, West Africa

- Bembeya Jazz National / Petit Sekou // Guinea

- Sekouba Bambino with Kandia Kouyate / Doumaya // Guinea

- Lamin Fofana / A Room in Brooklyn // Sierra Leone, sometimes Guinea

(Come back next Monday for more).