Staten Island’s Wildin Golden Era rap soldiers The Wu-Tang Clan have been going for 20 years straight- bending but never breaking. Pretty admirable for such a large crew made up of amazingly creative and headstrong artists. To commemorate their two decades of destruction on the mixers and mics, they’ve strung together a series of tour dates. With almost every member back in physical form- just one in spiritual essence.

This is Execution in Autumn- produced by Frank Dukes. It hit the internet yesterday and it’s signature modern Wu-Tang music. The percussion punches hard over old organ flushes, electric guitar chords, and of course a small cut of soul vocals.

So, a leftover from 8 Diagrams? Soul Temple tells us it’s an unreleased track but knowing that they’re more or less reunified, and are due to release their fifth group project titled A better tomorrow, no matter when the joint was recorded I think we’ll see it on the final roster come July.

Crank the speakers up and get ready for your first taste of A Better Tomorrow. – Skylar Woodman

If you’re a fan of The Breakestra, Quantic Soul Orchestra, Menahan Street Band, or The Daptones, then you have an ear for classically, organically made funk and soul breaks that are modern made, but sound like they’re from decades past. Maybe the number one thing I miss about Golden Era Rap is the way beats were constructed and laid out. How some of those songs put me onto the amazing music that came before it. Sample sourcing.

The Apples weren’t quite on my radar until bay area MC Raashan Ahmad, featured them on his facebook page.. and I’m really glad that the kid put me on. All nine members are skilled supreme at what they do, if you peep the video I linked to, I’m positive you’d agree. What you get is a full, mighty, powerful horn section, standup bass, TWO fucking DJs and a drummer that would make Mark Ronson himself nod his head to the beat. The joint is from a year ago, but their music is timeless. This instrumental ode to You know that I’m no good is special indeed- I think I picked up an intentional New Orleans jazz style Death March intro to the beginning of it. Ms. Winehouse didn’t live long but she cranked out some excellent modern soul pop music for the time she had.

Peep the video and go hunt down some super quality music from The Apples. – Skylar Woodman

Boutique Beats: A Tribute to MCA by Chris Read (Musicofsubstance) on Mixcloud

Today marks the one year anniversary of the day that MC Adam Yauch lost his long battle with cancer- his body gave in on May 4th, 2012. Brooklyn Heights has newly-minted their Adam Yauch Park, Beastie albums are in heavy rotation, and mixtape tributes to the legendary Golden Era hip hop hero are pouring out over the net.

Enter Chris Read from musicofsubstance.com. I’m new to his music but after an hour of listening to bits of his catalogue, (as the brits spell it) the man is Manifest material to be sure, the kind of thing I’ll be writing up in the future, no question.

There’s a grip of Rest in Peace mixes to MCA out there, but this one stood out from a Digger’s standpoint- anytime a DJ, internet, house show club or all the above is willing to spend some extra time mixing in the sample sources, he or she’s got my attention. The result is a short but sweet sub-45 minute mixtape focused not simply on Adam, but really on the group as a whole, which is how I think MCA would prefer it. Like I said a year ago, this is a group that I always believed would stay together until illness or death.

Stream the cloudcast, liven up your weekend, and let’s listen back on how truly dope Adam Yauch was behind the mic. Thanks to Chris Read for such a nice tribute. Rest in Peace to my hero Adam Yauch. Long live the Beastie Boys. – Skylar Woodman

One of my favorite modern hip hop producers and Detroit’s native son Black Milk hooked up with artist Upendo Taylor to drop a 12-track EP/LP with beats only, entitled Synth or Soul. SoS is the first album in the new series Fuzz, Freqs, and Colors through Computer Ugly, a design and music firm.

Above is a two-track sampling of Synth or Soul- this is Computer Ugly Ugly paired with Why Worry, one cut lifted off of each side.

You can preorder the joint now at computerugly.com, or fight the quickstrike nerds and music hypebeasts on National Record Store day, April 20th. – Skylar Woodman

Staten Island’s finest Tony Starks aka The Ghostface Killah is back with a brand new full-length LP, in the spirit of the classic Wu concept albums like Rae’s Only Built for Cuban Linx- with cover art matched to the theme and Black Dynamite producer/composer Adrian Younge lacing every joint just for Ghost’s tenth studio album, 12 Reasons to Die.

Continuity and concept.

This is The Sure Shot Parts 1 & 2, and the joint’s exactly what we can expect from the 12 Reasons to Die LP when it drops on the 16th of April.

Quintessential Ghost. Fat snares, uptempo drum patterns and Toney tapdancing over the beat. Definitely gotta hand it to Adrian for bringing that raw throwback production that suits Ghostface’s flow so perfectly.

12 Reasons to Die is again, out on April 16th. Don’t sleep, and support that quality modern hip hop. – Skylar Woodman

West Philadelphia’s finest The Magnificient DJ Jazzy Jeff AKA Jeff Townes is creeping up on his 30th anniversary of a pivotal contributor in the world of hip hop- and he’s living typically large as you can see in the latest installment of Vinyl Destination: Episode 5.  The video tracks Jeff’s tour of Thailand to Tokyo, and when we got word from Manifest Family Professor Pipomix that Jeff was rocking one of our older Tribe themed designs, the Listen to Low End joint, we were pretty humbled that of the true deities of Rap beat production / DJ skill would like Manifest enough to wear it. Peep the video and watch for Jeff around the 9 minute mark. - Skylar Woodman

Fast forward to 2013, 2Na’s speaking candidly on a repaired J5 crew saying on the 10th of January :

For us, I’m sure we’re going to end up doing some shows (besides Coachella)

and when asked about a reunion beyond touring :

We’re definitely thinking about it.

The question now is can the 2013 version of the J5 coexist, will they put aside the personal differences and rebuild their chemistry?

Initially, it seems like all we’ll have to go off of is live shows where they’re performing old material. Dope old material. Hopefully with Chali 2Na back on the mic and I think most importantly Cut Chemist behind the boards and tables- new music will emerge.

You can catch Jurassic Five rising from the ashes Friday, April 19th. at Coachella. If you’re in the area or like road trips, I say do it. When I find out more about what the crew is planning or if we’re lucky enough to get some new music leaked, I’ll keep you posted. – Skylar Woodman

#RAGEISBACK serves as the soundtrack and audio companion piece Adam Mansbach’s new novel of the same name, which dives into the birthplace of Hip Hop and one of its’ founding elements : Graffiti. Rage is Back is a tale of hip hop graffkid B-Boy revenge, and safe to say that if you love Hip Hop like we do, you’ll check the book. This ain’t a review of the novel, though. Back to the mixtape.

With a narrator that sounds like Prince Paul, and tight freestyle work from Black Thought, Common Sense, Smif-N-Wessun, Sean Price, Styles P, The dopest Portishead sample there is, Q-Tip the Abstract (Of course!) loose Reggae joints strewn about and the sounds of the city… It’s more certified raw from Mr. Period who if you know anything about the man, you know that he blends with perfection, records instant classic tributes to the Golden era, and gets very fine talent to narrate, interview, and introspect on the past and present of hip hop.

This joint is no exception. You need this. Don’t just listen to me though, listen to the man himself:

J.PERIOD presents #RAGEISBACK, the official music companion to the acclaimed new novel, Rage Is Back, by best-selling author Adam Mansbach. Paying tribute to hip hop culture and its birthplace, New York City, #RAGEISBACK brings together an all-star cast of icons & rising stars for a first-of-its-kind hip hop storybook in the spirit of classic book-and-record sets. Featuring exclusive new tracks from Common and Talib Kweli produced by J.PERIOD, freestyles from Black Thought, The Kid Daytona, Blu, Homeboy Sandman, Shad and more! With audio book narration by: GZA & Danny Hoch.

Stream it here, or head to okayplayer.com to download it. Adam Mansbach’s novel is out. Support that real hip hop and buy a book while you’re at it. Neither of them are to be missed. – Skylar Woodman

Complex Magazine and their obessession with top 2x lists caught up with boostin Houston’s Scarface to run down his personal top 25 joints from his approaching 30-year career. Complex likes to dabble in the superficial and the stupid, but on the same token you gotta give them credit for reaching out to the right talent and having the brand cache to get guys like Brad Jordan to open up about his Golden Era Legacy.

‘Face drops serious knowledge dating back to the beginning of the Geto Boys – from the almost never mentioned original Geto Boys member DJ Ready Red’s (kicked out of the group because he was too light skinned, I bullshit you not!) sampling technique, Bushwick Bill supposedly never having written any of his lyrics! to Scarface himself spending “lots of time” in juvenile mental health facilities. That’s a priceless insight to the evolution of Scarface and his material, in my opinion.

Not gonna spoil the article anymore for you, I think it’s safe for you to assume it’s absolutely must read, rare material if you’re a Golden Era head like we at Manifest are. Head over to Complex and enjoy. – Skylar Woodman

Detroit’s Slum Village family is back at it with a new mixtape entitled Dirty Slums 2- this is one of the leaks off tomorrow’s tape, called The World is Yours. The track’s notable if for no other reason that Titus “Baatin” Glover makes an appearance with a recording from the past, and gets feature credit due to his incredibly unfortunate passing in Hamtramck in the summer of 2009. The roster’s changed almost as much as the Pistons’ has over the years, but Slum’s held on and keeps going with what they know. Dirty Slums 2 drops tomorrow, support that independent hip hop and peep the tape on Tuesday. – Skylar Woodman