That Realness Is Now Closed!!!

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The New Jersey native known as DJ K.O. (Keenan Ormsby) has teamed up with Shaman Work Recordings to release the best hip-hop compilation to come out in years.

Picture This... matches a seemingly endless roster of hip-hop's hottest MC's with an equally impressive group of producers. The result is a tribute to hip-hop's past, present, and future.

Veterans like Diamond D, OC, Masta Ace, and Edo G bring back the past, while lyricists like Talib Kweli, Elzhi (Slum Village), Phonte (Little Brother) and Royce da 5'9" represent today's hottest performers, and newbies like Skyzoo, Kaze, Supastition, Silent Knight and Tiffany Paige set the bar for what's to come. Featuring tracks produced by Black Milk, Buckwild Analogic, 9th Wonder and M-Phazes (to name a few) the album definitely has something for everyone.

The man behind this masterpiece is DJ K.O., who kept one thing on his mind when creating the line up: "I approached this as a hip-hop a fan, he says. "I thought about my own ideal collaborations and took it from there."

K.O. used his connections from the college radio show he hosted at Rutgers, along with spinning and promoting parties in NYC to get the ball rolling. In 2004, he formed Elementality Productions. It wasn't long until K.O. shared his vision with John Robinson, (member of What's The Science? and President of Shaman Work Recordings). Three years later, the finished product exceeds even K.O.'s expectations.

"Most of the songs are good, old-fashioned hip-hop," he explains. "There's a raw, angry gutter sound mixed with more smooth, soulful tracks."

With Picture This... hitting stores in September, KO's eyes are already set on the future. "I'm a lot more focused on the behind-the-scenes stuff than dee-jaying", he says. "The aspects of A&R, management, and executive producing are most appealing to me."

He also hopes to continue to provide a platform for new performers to be heard on a large scale.

"Nowadays, it's so hard to break an artist", he says. "I knew there were so many dope artists who just needed a chance to be heard."

1. Here We Go feat. East & Silent Knight (Produced by 9th Wonder)
2. Best To Do It feat. Royce Da 5'9", Elzhi & Supastition (Produced by M-Phazes)
3. Get 'Em feat. Silent Knight, Skyzoo & Emilio Rojas (Produced by ILLmind)
4. Someday feat. Torae, John Robinson, Talib Kweli & Tiffany Paige (Produced by Analogic)
5. Ladder of Success feat. Phonte, Wordsworth, K-Hill & Masta Ace (Produced by Analogic)
6. It's Time feat. SoulStice, Eternia, Kenn Starr & Tiffany Paige (Produced by M-Phazes)
7. Nobody Like Me feat. Edo G, Diamond D, Kaze & Mr. Mohalyn (Produced by Buckwild)
8. Mind of a Genius feat. Chaundon, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Finale & Sean Boog (Produced by Analogic)
9. 3 In The Chamber feat. O.C., Torae & Kaze (Produced by Ayatollah)
10. This Land feat. Silent Knight, J. Siinastah & Archrival (Produced by Analogic)
11. That Knack feat. Wordsworth, Stricklin & Torae (Produced by M-Phazes)
12. Start It All Over feat. Skyzoo, Emilio Rojas & Median (Produced by Black Milk) - Someday (Remix) feat. Torae, John Robinson, Talib Kweli & Tiffany Paige (Produced by Khrysis) - Best To Do It (Remix) feat. Royce Da 5'9", Elzhi & Supastition (Produced by Marco Polo)

FILI-
One of the best compilations released this decade!!! You can't help but jump out your seat when you peep the guests and producers... probably one of the best lineups ever. You got the current crop of some of the undergrounds biggest stars and some of the best up coming artists, From Elzhi to Silent Knight and from Ayatollah to Analogic... mix in some Black Milk, M-Phazes, Buckwild, 9th Wonder, Talib Kweli, Royce Da 5'9"... the list is endless, I probably only mentioned about half! It's so refreshing to hear all this on one solid album and solid it is, from lyrics to beats, it will defnitely have you nodding in appreciating to how well this project came together. A special thanks has to go to DJ K.O., producer/A&R of Elementality Records and definitely has a bright future with his label if this is anything to go by. The only tiny little thing that got to me was that it only has 12 tracks and with all the talent on the album you can't help but wish there was more. If this was maybe stretched to 16-17 tracks, this would've been an unstoppable album, an instant classic, it still might just become that in a couple of years. For now, enjoy what is a superb release and solidifies the fact the real hip hop is here to stay!