Ayatollah - Listen

I almost always post about old records but I wanted to take a minute to highlight a new album I just picked up - "Listen" by Ayatollah. As you may or may not know Ayatollah has been in the hip hop game for a while and known for his soulful and jazzy work with A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, Mos Def (Ms. Fat Booty!), Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killah, Pharoahe Monch, and many others.

This is definitely a hip hop producer's album and I don't think it will appeal to everyone. Parts remind me of Jay Dee, RJD2 and Pete Rock but dude definitely has his own sound and it's really soulful and fresh. Some of the beats sound gritty and street while others are zoned out, jazzy and others soulful. I guess this would be classified as a "conceptual" album because it doesn't fit neatly into any popular genres.

Preview the whole album and purchase in the itunes store or at hiphopsite.com .

--- BONUS ---

Check out the video for "Listen" here: