Thank god hip-hop has gotten interesting again and acts like A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Odd Future and these guys, Flatbush Zombies, are part of it. No word on when a proper release is coming our way but as long as they keep dropping tracks that’s ok for now. If you haven’t checked out their first cut “Thug Waffle” you should.

Cali hardcore rap outfit Death Grips got a lot of well deserved buzz from last year’s Ex-Military, which you can download from Heavy’s Mixtapes page. New album and first release on label Epic, The Money Store is due at the end of April.

This Week: Swedish trio Miike Snow suffer an identity crisis; Wonder boy Brad Oberhofer’s debut; El Paso favorites The Mars Volta drop album number six; THEESatisfaction’s hip-hop / soul duo debut; Kickball Katy from Vivian Girl’s sophomore album as La Sera.

Make no mistake about Ice Cube, he may rap about bustin’ a cap in your ass and then stealing your woman while you lay on the ground bleeding, but the guy really just wants to drive your kids to soccer practice.

Several years ago DJ Food made a meticulous series of mixes based on Kraftwerk featuring covers, sample-heavy tracks or songs that clearly owe a debt to the quartet. Originally aired in January of 2005, it’s available for download now and features everything from Jay-Z to Bowery Electric to U2.

Why shoot a video starring yourself when you can get some tatted-up chicks to lip-synch it for you? From Scroobius Pip’s Distraction Pieces.

A dark and shadowy clip for the opening track to Schoolboy’s Habits and Contradictions which I haven’t stopped listening to since it came out in January.

The latest one off Danny Brown’s fantastic XXX is commercial hip-hop hatin’ track “Radio Song” (there’s some irony in that title). A deluxe version of XXX is out today on iTunes with three new tracks and “Grown Up”, another new track, will be available free online on March 20th.

A pretty fresh video from DeLaZoo, aka 18 year old Devin Harrison, who speed raps his way through this ridiculous song. Winner.