Free Music Friday: The Cool Kids - Gone Fishing Mixtape

Don’t you just love free music? The Blot definitely does. It’s the second Free Music Friday blog post on The Blot Says… today and I’d do another one in a heartbeat if I knew of another cool full album release out there on the ‘net. So, if you hear of one please hit me up.

The Cool Kids - Gone Fishing Mixtape
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Gone Fishing is the second free mixtape from Midwestern rap duo The Cool Kids in the past 12 months. Last July they released That’s Stupid! The Mixtape and are following it up with their latest mixtape, Gone Fishing. I haven’t gotten to listen to this one yet, but I’m a big fan of The Cool Kids and have really enjoyed their last two albums. So I’m sure Gone Fishing will be getting some heavy rotation as we enter this holiday weekend.

The Cool Kids - Gone Fishing Mixtape Track List
01. Introduction to Ice Fishing
02. Hammer Brothers
03. Champions
04. Gold Links
05. Cinnamon
06. Premium Blends
07. Step Back
08. Jump Rope
09. The Last Stretch
10. The Art of Noise (interlude)
11. The Light Company
12. Popcorn
13. Wise Words by GLC
14. Pennies (the updated rosters remix)
15. Broadcasting Live
16. Taking A Break (interlude)
17. Tune Up
18. Weekend Girls (interlude)
19. Summer Vacations
20. Words of Wisdom by GLC (cont.)
21. Knocked Down

Cadence Weapon - Separation Anxiety Mixtape

The Blot hasn’t done a Free Music Friday post in a while, but that’s mainly because there hadn’t been a really great free release to talk about. That changed this week when The Blot’s favorite Canadian indie rapper Cadence Weapon released his Separation Anxiety mixtape. Now I have to warn you that this isn’t a purely free release, it actually follows the Radiohead model where fans are allowed to name their own price to download the album. So you have the option of donating as much or as little as you want to hear a really talented artist’s music.

Separation Anxiety features 20 new Cadence Weapon tracks, remixes and collaborations, and can be downloaded here. And, if you dig the album make sure you go back and donate a little something to help an up and coming artist hit the big time!


I’ve never had the opportunity to see Cadence Weapon perform live, but I’ve listened to his debut album Breaking Kayfabe a ton and really enjoy it. Plus he went on tour with The Blot’s favorite Canadian indie violinist Final Fantasy (a.k.a. Owen Pallett), so you know he has a great appreciation for all types of music. If you can find a bootleg of the 2007 CBC Radio performance where Cadence and Final Fantasy perform in concert together it’s a must download!

The radio performance included a 6 song set (three Cadence Weapon songs and three Final Fantasy songs) featuring the two Canadian indie artists blending their very unique styles in a really fresh way. Let me just tell you, this bootleg was in heavy rotation on The Blot's iPod for a really long time. Needless to say, The Blot expects some really big things from Cadence Weapon in the very near future.

The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale and Thats Stupid! The Mixtape

This is a busy time for the Midwestern rap duo The Cool Kids, who have produced two new releases for the summer of '08. First up from Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish, a.k.a. The Cool Kids, is a 10 track EP entitled The Bake Sale. Released by Chocolate Industires/C.A.K.E. Recordings, the EP can be found online at both iTunes and eMusic.

The Cool Kids’ second release of the summer is their long rumored first mixtape, That’s Stupid! It’s hosted by Mando Fresco of L.A.’s Power 106 and only has 7 tracks, but it’s definitely worth a listen. Best of all its 100% free! The Blot loves passing along the latest in legal free music, and this is an offering that shouldn’t be passed up. You can download the entire That’s Stupid! the Mixtape in one .Zip file by clicking the link below. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The Cool Kids – That’s Stupid the Mixtape (link to download)

If you’re interested in seeing The Cool Kids in concert this summer, you can find them performing in cities around the U.S. on the 2008 Rock The Bells tour.

Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing

The Blot has been waiting for this latest release from Washington D.C. rapper Wale for what seems like forever. This Seinfeld themed mixtape was announced a while ago, and while the release date kept being pushed back, the anticipation for it kept rising. Well, while I was out of town Wale finally released The Mixtape About Nothing for free through his website Elitaste.com.


I haven’t gotten to listen to it yet, because I am downloading it as I type this, but the reviews I’ve read have all been really positive. Wale is definitely the next hip-hop artist primed for a big breakthrough. Wale’s well deserved hype was brought to my attention when he started to work with UK producer Mark Ronson, who put a verse Wale recorded on a remix of Lily Allen’s “Smile.” Since then he’s performed at the 2007 MTV Music Awards and had his single, “Nike Boots,” selected by iTunes to be given away as a free single. Wale was even selected as one of the “Eight New Faces To Watch In ‘08” by Entertainment Weekly. (link) Since then Wale was signed by Interscope Records and now releases his highly anticipated album, The Mixtape About Nothing.

The mixtape is 19 tracks long and can be downloaded for free as a .zip file below. If you like the album you should hit up 10Deep.com, where a t-shirt commemorating the release of Wale’s The Mixtape About Nothing is being sold. The 10.Deep x Wale: Serenity Now t-shirt sells for $40.00 and every order comes with a hard copy of The Mixtape About Nothing.

Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing (.zip file)

The Mixtape About Nothing Track Listing
01. The Opening Title Sequence
02. The Roots Song Wale Is On ft. Chrisette Michele
03. The Feature Heavy Song ft. Bun B, Pusha T and Tre from UCB
04. The Freestyle (Roc Boys)
05. The Perfect Plan
06. The Kramer
07. The Crazy
08. The Vacation From Ourselves
09. The Remake of A Remake (All I Need) ft. Tawiah
10. The Grown Up
11. The Manipulation
12. The Artistic Integrity
13. The Star
14. The Skit (Untz Untz)
15. The Cliche Lil Wayne Feature (It’s The Remix baby!)
16. The Bmore Club Slam
17. The Chicago Falcon Remix ft. The Budos Band
18. The Hype
19. The End Credits

Rhymefest and the King of Pop

While most of you probably don’t recognize the name Rhymefest, I am sure most of you have heard his work. Rhymefest co-wrote and won a Grammy for his work on the song “Jesus Walks” from Kanye West’s 2004 debut album The College Dropout. In 2006, he released his first album Blue Collar on J Records/Allido Records. The CD while underperforming in sales was truly a great album and Rhymefest is one the most gifted hip-hop artists to come around in a long time. It really surprises The Blot that Blue Collar did as poorly as it did considering how many great songs it had on it and guest appearances by Kanye West, Q-Tip, Mario and O.D.B. along with songs produced by Mark Ronson, Just Blaze and Kanye West. Many of you may recognize the name Mark Ronson from The Blot’s Favorite Albums of 2007. Ronson produced the hit records for Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen before releasing his own album, Version, last year. If you haven’t heard Blue Collar and are a fan of catchy, intellectual hip-hop you should pick up the album on iTunes. I think you will be happy you did.


I bring all of this up because Rhymefest dropped last week what is sure to be one of the best concept mix tapes of the still extremely young year. In anticipation of his latest album El Che, Rhymefest has released Mark Ronson Presents: Man In The Mirror, a Michael Jackson dedication album. Now I know what most of you are all thinking, who wants their name associated with Michael Jackson anymore? And I can’t quiet blame you for asking that, but the truth is the man’s The King of Pop and his music from the 60’s to the 90’s is still some of the best music around. With that being said I was pretty weary of the mix tape’s theme because most people that try to recreate or remix an artist of Jackson’s caliber usually aren’t that successful. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised and found that the mix tape wasn’t much of a recreation or a remix but really exactly what Rhymefest claimed it to be, a dedication album. It’s hard to explain but I enjoyed it and thought some of you might like it as well. The mix tape is free and you can download it here, but be aware it has a lot of expletive language in it:

Download Rhymefest’s Man In The Mirror Mix Tape
(right click and choose Save Target As to download the entire album in .Zip file)

It seems like good timing for this mix tape’s release considering this year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest albums of all time, Thriller. If you hadn’t heard already, to mark the occasion Jackson is going to be rereleasing a 25th Anniversary edition of Thriller with six 2008 remixes of the most popular songs off of the album by some of the biggest names in pop music. I want to actually apologize to the biggest names in pop music here and now because that might have been exaggerating. Instead the album features Will.I.Am, Fergie and Akon and a remix by Kanye West. The songs have already been leaked on the internet and to no one’s surprise aren’t really that good. I’d think these “remixes” are a tad unnecessary and are going to be pretty dated five to ten years from now. Hopefully by then Fergie and Akon will have been wiped clean from the music landscape only to be remembered for their brief reign over the pop music. That being said, I’m a sucker for all things old school Michael Jackson and will probably have to pick up this 25th Anniversary edition of Thriller much like I purchased the Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection box set a few years ago.

Rhymefest talks about his mix tape and the new 25th Anniversary Edition of Thriller on his blog at his MySpace Page. You can read the entire entry here, but be aware it, like the mix tape, has some choice words in it. I thought I’d include some of his thoughts (edited of course) for you to read below:

This album was made because I am a fan of not only Michael Jackson, but of great music, in general. I have been listening [recently] to some of the remixes of MJ's 25th anniversary of THRILLER, and my analysis is that they're...aight...but personally, as a fan, I expected a bit more. I put my heart into this s**t and took a risk to bring you an edgy, creative, refreshing perspective of Michael Jackson in rare form.