If I go to the movies, the last thing I want to see is a film about a regular person doing the things that I do day to day. That would be boring. I want a bit of escapism, and sure I want to be able to relate to the characters, but this is largely due to an emotional bond based on the fact that film characters usually have human emotions, no matter how extreme these may be.

So why is it, that many hip-hop fans seem stuck on the idea that everything must be “real.” Sure, sometimes this is good, however, not always. It’s like only watching documentaries; I’d personally prefer my entertainment to have more variation.

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­­­Last year saw the release of “MSTRD” the debut album of L.A. based (Chicago born) rapper TiRon. For an artist who only released 10 songs in the year he managed to build an incredible buzz, the project was very finely crafted, incredibly well thought out and completely cohesive. With all the recent talk of the “New West,” TiRon is set to blow up in 2011, and with his talent and grounded personality it is clear that he is an artist who will out live the hype.

I caught up with TiRon via Skype while he was in the process of recording his new collaborative project with Ayomari, entitled “Sucker For Pumps.”

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Stalley premiere’s the visuals, “SLAPP,” from his upcoming release, “Lincoln Way Nights (ITM,)” which drops on February 8th…

BluRoc’s Head A&R drops her new mixtape, as she works on recording her new album. Featuring production from Ski Beatz, Chuck Inglish and Sean O’Connell, with guest verses from Curren$y, Da$h, Wiz Khalifa, Stalley, Nicole Wray and more…

Tracklist and download after the jump…
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Reks comes through with the visuals for his brilliant new DJ Premier produced single. His album, “R.E.K.S (Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme,)” should be out soon….

XV takes on Lex Luger’s controversial production from Kanye West and Jay-Z’s latest single…

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Visuals for the single from Ghostface’s excellent “Apollo Kids” album which dropped late last year…

When the site first started I tried putting together a monthly mixtape which fizzled out. I have decided to begin a similar idea again for the new year, this time putting out a playlist (hence the title “M3U,” the filetype for a playlist) of tracks that I’ve particularly enjoyed over the past month (or so..)

All of the tracks included are ones that were free on the site anyway, and all of the tracks have been tagged with info on where to hear more from the respective artist (or where the track came from.) The idea is just to put out something that people can put on their Ipods on a monthly basis, with the hope of exposing them to tracks they may have missed, and to give some of the loose tracks somewhere to belong (eg. Ab-Soul’s “Titsenas,” or Terrace Martin’s “Pass The Mic.”) I have also attempted to cover a wide range of different artists, whilst hopefully keeping some kind of cohesion over the playlist. Included in the zip file is all 20 tracks (listed after the jump,) the cover art, and the M3U file, so that they can be imported into Itunes as a playlist if you wish.

Hope you enjoy! (Download after the jump!)
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Vonnegutt’s Kyle Lucas goes in over the Clipse’s “The Funeral” from their unreleased “Exclusive Audio Footage” LP. The track comes from his “It’s Always Sunny In Marietta” mixtape, which you can download here…

Visuals of Alchemist and OhNo playing the cut from their “Gutter Water” album, live at The Goodness in Chicago, courtesy of Ruby Hornet.