After teaming with Skyzoo and Havoc on “Welcome to America” and Roc Marciano on “The Professional,” NZ beatsmith P-Money is back with yet more lyrical monsters in tow for “Break It Down,” the latest release from his forthcoming Gratitude album. Freddie Gibbs and Fashawn helm the uptempo percussion here. No prizes for guessing what it is they’re breaking down, exactly.

First off, this has probably been the most eventful week of the year (if you’re a celebrity, anyway). Within the space of seven days, we’ve celebrated the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, mourned the passing of Bronx rapper Tim Dog, grit our teeth through the cheesy annual routine known as Valentine’s Day and are currently capping off the week by watching the best basketball players in the globe do their stuff on the court for the NBA All-Star Weekend.

Main stream Hip-Hop media aside, we’ve also put our hardhats on and done some digging round these here Internets to bring you the five best audio and visual gems which you may have missed. This week we’re thankful for Maffew Ragazino, Mike Posner, Ill Bill, Murs and Fashawn, and The Black Opera. As per usual, hit the jump and get to diggin’..

Given the turkeys we all feasted upon this past week, it’s only right that this week’s post rant shows a little gratitude to the things us hip-hop heads often overlook. We’re thankful for Danny Brown’s stories (this one is just the best); the decline of “YOLO” (thank God); SoundCloud, Audio Mack and other good quality music sharing sites which keeps this engine we call music running; independent talents-turned-mega music superstars like Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean; and the frequency of old school legends teaming up with some of the new school’s finest. Just take our first pick of this week’s best-releases-you-might-have-missed after the jump. Shouts to Rah Digga, The Game, Fabolous, Captain Murphy, Jabee and more.

Exile has history with West Coast MCs Blu and Fashawn–he’s teamed with the former for two acclaimed albums, Below The Heavens (2008) and Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them (2012), while producing the entirety of the latter’s 2009 LP, Boy Meets World–but today the trio collaborate in a different manner. Ex also forms the Dag Savage duo with San Diego up-and-comer Johaz, and the pair recently put out their first joint mixtape, Salvation, which includes this little gem: “Growing Pains.” You can argue all day about how the beat could have been tailored for each of the three MCs, or you can press play below, crank the volume and nod to your head like nobody’s looking.

via: 2DBZ

SoCal spitter Fashawn finally blessed us with his much-discussed Champagne & Styrofoam Cups mixtape yesterday–and it doesn’t disappoint. Take a sip of the Wiz Khalifa-assisted “Medicine Man (Drug Free)” cut below and hit the jump for the full stream and download.