BTH 2012 Freshman List

No matter what artists XXL chose for their always scrutinized Freshman cover, nobody's going to be completely happy. I'm sure even those who were choosing artists for the cover weren't even completely sold on some of the finally choices. To each his own right? Rather than complain about their 2012 Freshman cover, we went ahead and made our own list of hip hop artists on the rise this year. Ready...and...debate! Hit the jump for our list.

Emilio Rojas - Rise Above ft. Laws & RacQDolo

New music from Emilio and Laws is always a treat. This one will be featured on Emilio's upcoming BBC-sponsored Breaking Point mixtape. It would be dope if these two got together for a collaborative project. #justsayin.

PUMA & DJBooth.net Present: Uncontested EP

Tracklist and download underneath...

Emilio Rojas - Champion (remix) ft. Rittz & Laws

One of the nicest tracks from Emilio's Life Without Shame gets a remix with Rittz and Laws. Emilio kills this.

Rapsody - Top Five ft. King Mez & Laws (prod. Amp)

Ok, Rapsody's grown on me quickly with her last few leaks and now I'm getting pretty excited to hear her Thank H.E.R. Now project that's set to drop June 21st.

Laws - Yesterday's Future (A Dedication to Paul McCartney) [Mixtape]

The newest project from the Brazilian-born rapper is a dedication project to none other then the great Paul McCartney. With production from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, you know the mixtape is nothing less then dope. Hit the jump break for the tracklist and to stream/download.

I can't believe how much great music has dropped already today!

Laws - Homeland [Video]

Laws gives us a visual to his version of Sir Paul McCartney's group Wings song "Love In Song" from their 1975 LP titled Venus and Mars. Laws version titled "Homeland" can be found on his project Yesterday's Future hosted by Mick Boogie & Don Cannon. Directed by Omar Sheik.

Laws - Momma Miss America [Video]

Keep a look out for Laws' Yesterday's Future project to drop sometime soon.

Below The Heavens Catchup Post 2: Graduation Edition

After a long (very long) weekend, I have fallen behind on some dope new music that has dropped between Thursday and today. I'm going to try and promise that I stay as updated as possible for the remainder of the summer, but we all know how that goes and that can all change. Just be on the look out for us to make a few moves and acquisitions during the next month or so. For now, take a listen to some new music from Drake, Mac Miller, J. Cole, Blu, Wiz Khalifa, Chiddy Bang, and more under the jump. Also, be sure to download our summer mix, Heatwave, if you haven't already.

Hip Hop vs. Miami Horror

After listening through XV's latest Zero Heroes mixtape, I found myself playing the song Foreign Exchange Student over and over again. Featured on this song was the electro-pop group from Australia known as Miami Horror- whom I had never heard of before (I'm not really into the electronic scene). The track didn't really seem like something XV would usually do, so I did some research on the group and was able to find the original version of the song. While searching through some of their discography on Grooveshark, I also heard quite a few of their other songs that sounded very familiar to me and noticed immediately where I had heard them before. Well, XV isn't the only artist to recently work his own song onto a Miami Horror track. What great way to reach out to different fan groups. I love finding things like this by mistake. Hit the jump to check out some of their other songs that were transformed by hip hop acts.