The Barrel Brothers chime in for DJ Premier’s Bars In The Booth series.

Termanology links up with Skyzoo, Torae & Reks. Billy Loman provides the beat, DJ Deadeye on the cuts & Fancy Baby on the chorus vocals. A Fan favorite off Term’s new Shut Up And Rap album. Video Directed, shot & edited by CS Films.

From Hitler Wears Hermes3. Produced by Camoflauge Monk.

From the album, Barrel Brothers, available now.

Diamond D’s long-awaited album, The Diam Piece, is available today.

Inspired by the WWE, this new EP From Loyalty Digital Corp links the worlds of Pro Wrestling and hip-hop. Artists featured include Skyzoo, Torae, Sadat-X, Livin Proof, Punchline, Fokis, Cortez, Maffew Ragazino, and more.

Last week while on his European Tour, M-Dot dropped his highly anticipated mixtape “Jake LaDOTTA” and this week he drops off the 2nd Single, “Chances & Change” ft. underground favorite Skyzoo, his EMS counterpart, Revalation and Mass rhyme vet, Krumb Snatcha with melodic production by DJ Nefarious & cuts by DJ Decepta.

Loyalty Digital Corp is prepping THE WWE-P, a project that is a compilation style EP with beats made up of Wrestling theme songs. The 1st single “City Of Giants” features Torae, Skyzoo, Fokis & Cortez. The EP is slated for releases this summer and features Sadat X, Ro-Spit, Punchline, Stryfe, Livin Proof & More. Production was handled by Local-Mu12 Members James Moore, MoodsandVibrations, Real McKoy & Fokeezy.

Much has been made about the current rap scene in New York City. The birthplace of Hip-Hop has been criticized in recent years for losing its way, but that’s not quite the reality. Hip-Hop has evolved and progressed, and those that still crave it’s essence in the city that birthed it should look no further than Skyzoo and Torae. The two MC’s have been waving that Yankee flag proudly their entire careers, and continue to do so with the release of their first joint album, Barrel Brothers.

From the very beginning you get a sense that this album is going have a nostalgic feel to it. The album opens with an excerpt from the movie New Jack City in the “Intro”, placing an emphasis on the question “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” The opening intro is followed up with “Talk Of The Town” and doesn’t disappoint. The two underground MC’s let it be known that their providing their brand of lyrical brash talk that’s so distinctively identifiable with where they’re from. This is made even clearer with the lead single “Blue Yankee Fitted”, a modern day ode to the city that made them.

Having worked together on separate tracks in the past, the two artists are certainly no strangers to each other. The complimenting of their flows is on “4 Bar Friday” is a prime example of the two reaching their lyrical peaks. Their chemistry meshed from the start of the album, but it truly shined on tracks where guests join them. “All In Together” is a posse cut featuring Sean Price and Guilty Simpson, and even a scene stealing verse from Price didn’t take away from the contributions of Skyzoo and his partner in rhyme. The bond between these two is brought to life perfectly over the track “Rediscover”. As the gem of this album, Torae and Skyzoo combine witty wordplay with nonchalant flows over a standout soundscape.

If there was ever a question if the production of the album would measure up to the rhymes, it was answered almost immediately. Skyzoo and Torae find themselves spitting lyrical poetry over a selection of beats that perfectly compliment their styles. Despite using an assortment of producers, the cohesiveness of the sound allows everything to blend together to varied results. Illmind provides an assortment of hard knocking soundscapes with “Tunnel Vision”, “Blue Yankee Fitted”, and “Triangle Offense”. The smooth and soulful soundscape of “Rediscover” was produced by Marc Nfinit, and was perfectly placed on the album with a guest verse from Blu that is worth more than a few spins. There was clearly a vision for how the Barrel Brothers wanted this project to sound, and contributions from Oh No (“Talk Of The Town”), Black Milk (“All In Together”), and Antman Wonder (“Memoribilia”) all fit the format.

If there was one fault with the album that stood out, it’s surely the redundancy of the songs. Despite providing a lyrical exercise that is surely missed in Hip-Hop releases these days, the similar sounds of the song tend to drag out the session. An album that focuses on the art of rapping well is always appreciated, but it’s hard to ignore the lack of concepts. “Make You a Believer” and “Albee Square Mall” serve their purpose, but could have easily been left on the cutting floor all the same. Given the track record of the two artists involved, they have proven that they are more than capable of applying creative twists to a record; this project just falls short of that.

Those that questioned whether New York was still able to produce high quality results from its natives need to look no further than this album. Barrel Brothers is everything that fans of the nostalgic days will appreciate, and what newer generations could just as easily learn from. Torae and Skyzoo didn’t give us a modern day masterpiece, but what they did create was a body of work that stands the test of playability with the best of their peers. If nothing else, consider this a job well done.

From Ruste’s Ready To Juxx album, available now on Duck Down Records. Rodolfo Duran directs, VSTheBest produces.

In promotion for their new Barrel Brothers LP, Skyzoo and Torae drops some rhymes up at Sway In The Morning on Shade 45.

When you think of Australia the first thing that comes to mind isn’t Hip-Hop. Well if you leave it up to the young spitter from the suburbs of Perth city, Western Australia known by his peers as KNOE, He will change that perception.

KNOE is an integral part of the Perth music scene, he has opened up shows for Action Bronson, Himanshu Suri from Das Racist, David Dallas, P-Money and Skyzoo for the west coast leg of his Australian tour,‘ A Dream Deferred’.

Now, KNOE is ready to build his name in the USA with a new single called “End Of The Beginning” Ft. Skyzoo & Torae Produced by DJ Prince. This is a High energy record with a lot of wordplay coming from all parties involved. “Young White Australian kid arrogant as F**K now / writing with some hero’s I look up to from Bucktown” is how KNOE sets it off then Skyzoo & Torae manhandle the landscape like they normally do. This is some rugged Australia meets Brooklyn Hip-Hop that is sure to make some noise.

Stream Skyzoo and Torae’s new album, Barrell Brothers, which is on iTunes now, courtesy of DJBooth. Sean Price, Guilty Simpson, Sha Stimuli, Blu, Jahlil Beats, Illmind, Black Milk, DJ Premier, each join in the fun.

The new street single from Skyzoo & Torae: “All In Together” feat. Sean Price & Guilty Simpson, produced by Black Milk. The album Barrel Brothers hits stores and itunes on 5/27. And if you’re in NYC make sure to catch the album release party at SOBs the night of 5/27 as well.

From DJ Prince’s Test My Sound LP, hitting May 13th.