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After making a splash with their debut single Hottest Time of The Day which included the hit 10 out of 10, boy band 2PM is back with their second release Presenting an upgraded 2PM style, their new single is produced by their manager and JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin Young. Featured songs on the 8-track release include the main track Again & Again, What Time Is It Now, “I Hate You” (Track 3), and “Maybe I’ll Come Back” (Track 4).

Release Date: April 16, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B/Dance
Artist: Male Group
*Recommended

Track List:
01. What Time Is It Now
02. Again & Again
03. 니가 밉다 Niga Mibda
04. 돌아올지도 몰라Doraoljido Molla
05. Again & Again (R&B Mix)
06. Again & Again (Inst.)
07. 니가 밉다 Niga Mibda (Inst.)

08. 돌아올지도 몰라 Doraoljido Molla (Inst.)

Instrumental album released in Japan but the featuring tracks are in English.

Release Date: April 2, 2009
Language: English
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B/Piano
Artist: Male
*Recommended

Track List:
01. Make You
02. Nothing Is (Feat. Oddisee)
03. The Script For Life
04. Little Star
05. Our Friends
06. Rewind (Feat. Aaron Phiri)
07. Good Morning
08. J.E.A.L.O.U.S.Y (Feat. Melodee)
09. Walk On
10. Now Or Never
11. Cosmic
12. Unchanged Mind

The Cradle Orchestra is a Japanese group “specializing and leading a beautiful revolution in mellow and jazzy Hip Hop track making”. Velvet Ballads is chalk full of dope features on top of equally as dope instrumentation. With guest spots from dudes like Talib Kweli, CL Smooth & Black.







Release Date: January 10, 2009
Language: English
Genre: Hip Hop
Artist: Group

Track List:
01. Talk it Out feat. Nieve & Jean Curley
02. All I Want In This World feat. CL Smooth
03. Mountain Top feat. Aloe Blacc
04. Live Forever feat. Black Thought (of The Roots)

05. Bubbles feat. Jean Curley
06. So Fresh feat. Talib Kweli
07. Nothin For Nothin feat. CL
08. Only One feat. Need Not Worry
09. Jag Jam Jazz
10. The World Outside In feat. Othello
11. Cheers feat. Asheru
12. Food For Thoughts feat. O.C.
13. Yin Stacks feat. Rakaa Iriscience (of Dilated Peoples)
14. Velvet Ballads

An MC never short on swagger (or dexterous rhymes), Mims seeks a junior bounce on his third record, 2009’s GUILT. With the clever, bass-riding, and insufferably hooky lead single “Move (If You Wanna),” it seems the Washington Heights rapper is right on track.

Release Date: April 7, 2009
Language: English
Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
Artist: Male

Track List:
01. Guilt
02. The Skit
03. On & On

04. Love Rollercoaster (feat. LeToya Luckett)
05. Move (If You Wanna)
06. One Day (feat. Ky-Mani Marley)
07. Chasing Sunshine (feat. Marco Bosco aka KVN)

08. Rock ‘n Rollin’ (feat. Tech N9ne)
09. Be My Hustla (feat. J. Holiday)
10. Makin’ Money
11. In My Life (Why Oh Why)
12. One Last Kiss (feat. Soler Mesh)
13. Heal Me (Outro) (feat. Soler Mesh)
14. I Do (feat. Nice & Smooth)

Finally, a new album from Malaysian R&B singer Z-Chen Chang. It has been 3 years now since his last album, “Tree of Love” in 2006 after dropping out from his previous record company. A talented but underrated singer.











Release Date: March 30, 2009
Language: Mandarin
Genre: R&B/Ballad
Artist: Male

Track List:
01. 迷魂陣 (Enchanted)
02. 愛來的剛好 (It’s Time To Love)
03. 暗戀 (Secret Love)
04. 愛與罰 (Love And Punishment)
05. 第四者 (Party Of Four)

06. 可愛可不愛 (To Love Or Not To Love)
07. 殘骸 (Pieces Of Love)
08. The Key Of Love (Bonus Track)

CunninLynguists are a hip hop trio from Lexington, Kentucky. The group currently consists of Deacon The Villain, Natti, and Kno. Strange Journey Volume One features appearances by Killer Mike, Khujo (of Goodie Mob), Skinny Deville & Fishscales (of Nappy Roots), Slug (of Atmosphere), Tonedeff, Substantial, PackFM, Mac Lethal, Mr. SOS, Looptroop Rockers, Hilltop Hoods and more!  Produced by Kno.





Release Date: March 24, 2009
Language: English
Genre: Hip Hop
Artist: Male Group

Track List:
01. Departure (Intro)
02. Nothing But Strangeness (feat. Looptroop Rockers & Hilltop Hoods)
03. Linguistics (Live In Stockholm)
04. Move
05. Inverse – Spark My Soul (feat. Substantial)
06. Never Come Down (the Brownie Song)
07. Hypnotized (feat. PackFM & Club Dub)
08. Dance For Me (Remix)
09. Mr. SOS – Die For You
10. White Guy Mind Tricks
11. Georgia (Remix) (feat. Killer Mike & Khujo Goodie)
12. KKKY (Remix) (feat. Skinny DeVille, Fishscales, Young Chu & Sheisty Khrist)
13. Don’t Leave (When Winter Comes) (feat. Slug of Atmosphere)
14. Tondeff – The Distance

15. Broken Van (Thinking of You) (feat. Mac Lethal)
16. Billy Joe’s Garage (To Be Continued…)

Celebrating the tenth year since her official debut, all-round musician Lena Park returns with her Vol. 7 release 10 Ways To Say I Love You. Continuing her musical path as a singer-songwriter and producer, Lena presents nine tracks including her self-composed principal song “A Person Like Me – A Person Like You” (Track 3), a duet with R&B singer Yoon Mi Rae (T). Besides this collaboration of the two divas, the album features other promising songs like “Secret” (Track 5), “Touch” (Track 4), and “Sad Song” (Track 7) also personally composed by Lena.

Release Date: March 2, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: R&B/Ballad
Artist: Female

Track List:
01. Chika Chika
02. Cheongsungaryeon Lena Park (Innocent Lena Park)
03. Na Gateun Saram Neo Gateun Saram (Person Like Me, Person Like You) (feat. T (Yoon Mi Rae))
04. Manjyeojwoyo (Touch)
05. Bimil (Secret)

06. Sunday Brunch
07. Biga (Sad Song)
08. Sarangeun Ireonge Aninde…(Love Is Not Like This…)
09. Mannareo Ganeun Gil (On The Way To Meet You)

New album release from Joe Hisaishi including “Departure,” “Turandot,” “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea,” new song “ten end of the world” and more. Limited edition includes bonus DVD featuring recording footage.
Bonus Track: piano theme of the film “Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai,” “I’d rather be a Shellfish” and insert tune of the TV spots, “I will be”

Release Date: February 18, 2009
Language: Japanese
Genre: Instrumental
Artist: Male

Track List:
01. Woman
02. Love Theme of Taiwangsashingi

03. Les Aventuriers
04. Departures: Prologue – Theme
05. Departures: Prayer
06. Departures: Theme of Departures
07. Departures: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
08. Departures: Destiny of Us (from Musical Turandot)
09. The End of the World: I. Collapse
10. The End of the World: II. Grace of St. Paul
11. The End of the World: III. Beyond the World
12. The End of the World: IV. The End of the World
13. I’d Rather Be A Shellfish (bonus track)
14. I Will Be (bonus track)

*Track 2 is another version of Sujini’s Theme/Approval from the soundtrack of Korean Drama The Legend.

Without any doubt, the most anticipated Korean drama of 2007 is Four Gods (a.k.a. The Legend) starring Bae Yong Joon (Winter Sonata) as Korea’s legendary Gwanggaeto the Great, the 19th king of the Goguryeo Dynasty whose legacy of territorial expansion extended beyond Manchuria. Four Gods caused a major uproar in the media from the very beginning with its A-list cast of Bae Yong Joon, Moon So Ri (Oasis), Choi Min Soo (Holiday), and Park Sang Won (Sandglass). The 24-episode drama’s staggering $40 billion won production costs are rumored to have even exceeded the budget benchmark of sci-fi blockbuster D-War.
After numerous postponements, Four Gods finally exploded onto small screens nationwide on September 10, 2007. Viewer response has been positive, with some even placing the drama’s CG work in the same league as that of Hollywood film Lord of the Rings. After its airing, radio programs and internet sites were inundated with inquiries about the drama’s soundtrack which features majestic surround sounds that complement the grandiose scale of the drama.
Presiding over the scores of Four Gods is Japanese master composer Hisaishi Joe, best known for his work on Miyazaki Hayao films like Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. Hisaishi Joe brings a world-class presence and high esteem to the drama. He also collaborates with K-pop sensation Dong Bang Shin Ki for “Eternal Love” (Track 19), the ending theme to Four Gods.
Four Gods OST includes a 19-track CD and a DVD that contains music videos of “Eternal Love” and “Damdok – MainTheme”.

Release Date: October 22, 2007
Language: Korean
Genre: Instrumental/Ballad
Artist: V.A.

Track List:
01. Opening
02. Sacred War
03. Damdeok’s Theme (Main Theme)
04. Sujini’s Theme (Loneliness)

05. Kiha’s theme (Destined Meeting)
06. Destiny
07. Hwacheon Clan
08. War of the Gods
09. Damdeok’s Theme (Bravery)
10. Geomeul Village
11. Attack from Enemy Force
12. Unity
13. Victory
14. Approval – Jun Suh (DBSK)

15. Time Flows By
16. Unachievable Love

17. First Love
18. Sujini’s Theme (Piano Solo)

19. Thousand Year Love Song – DBSK

* I did not intend to make a post about this OST initially as it is not a recent album. However, I changed my mind since I am going to introduce Joe Hisaishi’s latest album in my next blog entry and there is another version of Sujini’s Theme (Track 4 and 18) / Approval (Track 14) in that album.

Epik High has built their own musical paradigm by experimenting with diverse styles unique to each work. [魂: Map the Soul] (2009) combines music with literature, birthing a new cultural code: the ‘book-album’. The album portion of the work contains raw hip hop music reminiscent of Epik High’s early works, while exhibiting unprecedented poetic lyrics that make the entire sound refreshingly new. Also, the songs on this album are bilingual and showcase collaborations with foreign artists, allowing greater connection with fans worldwide. The book portion of the work, themed around ‘creativity’, documents the entire creative process involved in the making of an album, as well as showing-through essays, pictures and notes-how artists can acquire and use inspiration. The book portion is also bilingual (English and Korean). This work hopes to inspire and encourage aspiring artists all over the world by showing how worthwhile creative work can be, and by whispering these simple words of wisdom: you, too, can do it.

Release Date: March 27, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
Artist: Male Group

Track List:
01. Believe
02. Cipher featuring Beatbox DG
03. Map the Soul featuring MYK
04. Customer Service (Skit)
05. Top Gun
06. Scenario (피해망상 pt. 2) featuring MYK

07. London
08. Free Music Tablo and MYK
09. Map the Soul (Worldwide Version) Tablo, MYK & Kero One

10. 8 by 8, Part 2 (Bonus Track) featuring MYK, Minos, Paloalto, the Quiett, Verbal Jint, 
Kebee, E-Sens, Simon Dominic