My Mental State's More Great Than The Lakes...

..."I'm Superior, it's Erie how I breaks."

Today's title and quote come to you courtesy of none other than Masta Ace. To hear my friend Boogs at The Sole Life tell it, this man is one of the most criminally underrated MCs in the history of hip-hop. Read his argument here, and download the two mp3s he presents as evidence---"Sittin' On Chrome (Rockaway Ave Mix)" and "4 Da Mind" (w/ The Cella Dwellas).

Berkeley Place also recently posted several tracks by Masta Ace as part of a series of posts paying tribute to "conscious" hip-hop artists. Other artists featured include The Coup, Lupe Fiasco, and Saigon.

Download "Angel of the Morning" by Nina Simone at Keep The Coffee Coming.

Ratatat remixes of songs by Jay-Z ( The Rich Girls Are Weeping), Ghostface (callmeMICKEY), and Kanye West (disco-not-disco)are available at various locations on the internets.

Visit Looking at Them to download a few quality mp3s---"What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)?" (Junior Walker & The All Stars), "Bring It on Home to Me" (Sam Cooke), and "The Blues Had A Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll" (Muddy Waters).

If you like soul, gospel, and/or the blues, you can't be without "Trouble" by Dorothy Love Coates. Fortunately, all you need to do is Get On Down With The Stepfather Of Soul!.

An abundance of sites are offering tracks from Game Theory, the upcoming LP by The Roots. Spine Magazine posted "In the Music" and "Clock With No Hands". I'm On Next is featuring their tribute to J Dilla---"Can't Stop This". Lastly, head over to Straight Bangin' to cop the album's title track. This record will be coming out next month---buy the damn thing!!!

Hear this---an audio interview with Boots Riley of The Coup via Minnesota Public Radio.

Yet another great post is up at Chasing Red. Download tracks by John Coltrane, RZA, Charlie Parker, Jaylib, ATCQ, BT Express, Digable Planets, The Jackson 5, and more.

This has to be one of the best online museums I've ever seen: Blue Note: Over 1000 Great Jazz Album Covers.

A few Talib Kweli mp3s are available by way of Metro Distortion. Download "Around My Way" (w/ John Legend), "I Try" (w/Mary J Blige), "A Game", and "Ghetto Show" (w/ Common and Anthony Hamilton).

Cop "Raspy Shit" by Pharrell, "Money Maker" by Ludacris (w/ Pharrell) and "What It Do (Wamp Wamp)" by The Clipse (w/Slim Thug) at Am I High?.

At disco-not-disco you can download "Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)" by The Chi-Lites. This song should be familiar to everyone and their llama, thanks (?) to Beyonce/Jay-Z's "Crazy in Love".

I felt favorably towards John Legend's song "Save Room" when I first copped it at Analog Giant. However, after reading Mr. Wang's perspective on the track, my listening experience has been...well...tainted.

DJ Premier Planet is featuring Bahamadia's joint
"True Honey Buns (Dat Freak Shit)".

This week's Sample Wednesday at Palms Out Sounds featured songs sampled in joints by Redman and Method Man. Download mp3s by James Brown, The Dramatics, Silver Connection, Jerry Butler, Gloria Gaynor, Keni Burke, The Emotions, and more.

I wasn't familiar with Carmel until this post at The Number One Songs In Heaven, but I've been listening to "Bad Day" ever since.

Al Green's "Love and Happiness" has been sampled on countless hip-hop joints. You can currently download it at Miblog Weighs A Ton, along with several tracks that it inspired---"Painkillers" (Cannibal Ox), "The Bush" (Special Ed), and "Go Out and Get It" by (De La Soul).

Props to Fletch at Rebel To America for blessing us with Large Professor's "Out All Night". Perfection.

Ben at The Mark Out impressed the hell out of me by posting those live Wu-Tang Clan/El Michels Affair tracks. Do not be to stupid to cop these...please.

Finally, Ian at Notes from a Different Kitchen proposes the question of the hour: "Holy smokes...have we in fact entered the beginning of World War III ?".