Shaun Boothe - "Concepts" (feat. Talib Kweli)

I love when two great emcees trade epic verses.  I love when the Beastie Boys or Dyme Def members deliver call-and-response lyrics, trading individual bars and words.  But there's something special about this song as Talib and Boothe go back-and-forth, each emcee spitting about four bars each before handing it off to the other.  The result is a very meta rapping about rapping about rapping track that, while making the listener feel trapped in a dream within a dream within a dream, sounds like a genuine conversation between two extremely talented emcees.

I'm lucky that this song came on shuffle today.  Off the Toronto-emcee's (upcoming?) Hip Hop in 3D mixtape, I've actually had this in my iTunes since it was released in December of 2009, but for some reason that I can't comprehend, let it slip through the cracks.  Given the laid-back sample and the rapport between Kweli and Boothe, I can honestly say that this is one of the best songs in months and I highly recommend the download.

Peace, Love, & Rap About Rap,
VoodooChild

The Physics - "Fix You" x "Ready For We" (feat. Miss Malice)

Is there a better way to finish up a midterm than having a Physics song quietly slip into your mailbox?  Don't answer that, it's rhetorical.  Composed of Thig Natural, Justo, and Monk Wordsmith, The Physics are one of Seattle's best hip hop groups.  While supremely talented, the trio of O'Dea grads have been notably prudent throughout there career when it comes to releasing their smooth, crisp songs.  Since their 2007 debut, Future Talk helped usher in the age of party rap to the 206, the trio has only released one FreEP (the critically acclaimed High Society) and one three-track download (fittingly named Three Piece).  While other party rap groups such as Fresh Espresso, Mad Rad, State of The Artist, have tried to follow in the groups' footsteps, only the duo of P Smoov and Rik Rude have come close to matching The P-H-Y-S-I-C-S in quality and creativity.