Just Blaze Appreciation: A-Team Theme Song

Just Blaze produces his own version of The A-Team theme song, and he absolutely kills it! I can listen to this shit all day!

Download: Just Blaze - A-Team Theme Song

Just Blaze Appreciation: Lil Wayne - "Million Dollar Baby"

"Million Dollar Baby" is another great banger produced by Just Blaze, and the beat really brings out the best in Lil Wayne. Weezy goes hard with his signature wordplay, hitting us with punch line after punch line, and with Blaze's production sounding like the theme music for an epic boxing match, the combination of lyrics and beat is just about perfect. Enjoy!

Just Blaze Appreciation: Game - "I'll Find You"

"I'll Find You" is a fresh new track by Game, and I'm loving the beat from Just Blaze. Apparently this song is destined to be on Dr. Dre's "upcoming" album, Detox, so maybe Dre will be adding a verse later. For now though, I'ma have this tune on heavy rotation on the iTunes. Enjoy!



Download: Game - I'll Find You (prod. Just Blaze)

Just Blaze Appreciation: Fat Joe - "Safe 2 Say (The Incredible)"

It's time for another banger from Just Blaze, and this track is up there with the best of 'em. Now Fat Joe isn't exactly the best rapper in the world, but he sure knows how to pick a beat, and this one's a beauty. With "Safe 2 Say", Blaze makes his best beat since Ghostface Killah's "The Champ" and Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement", which is quite an achievement, but exactly what we have come to expect from this legendary producer. I noticed that they didn't have a video for this track on YouTube, so I made one myself. Enjoy!

Just Blaze Appreciation: Talib Kweli - "Never Been In Love"

"Never Been In Love" doesn't demonstrate your typical Just Blaze beat, but it's still the best track to come off Talib Kweli's 2004 album, The Beautiful Struggle. Instead of making another one of those banging beats that Blaze is famous for, he decided to tone it down a bit and created a soothing, soulful beat that sounds like something Kanye would normally produce. Just Blaze pulls it off brilliantly though, and Kweli flows over the track with ease. Here it is for y'all to enjoy:

Just Blaze Appreciation: Kanye West - "Touch The Sky"

First, I want y'all to check out this little known song by Curtis Mayfield, called "Move On Up":



Sound familiar? Of course it does, because it's the sample used for Kanye West's hit single, "Touch The Sky", from his second studio album, Late Registration. Now the reason I file this blog entry under Just Blaze Appreciation, is because this is the only track on the whole album that was not produced by Kanye West himself. Just Blaze was brought in for the production of only one song, which in my opinion, turned out to be the best track on the entire album. Blaze simply took the Curtis Mayfield sample, slowed it down, added his own horns and drums and created one of the best beats that Kanye has ever used. You already knew the song, but now you know the story behind it as well, so here's "Touch The Sky". Enjoy!

Just Blaze Appreciation: Joe Budden - "Pump It Up" & "Fire"

When it comes to creating Hip Hop club bangers, no producer does it better than Just Blaze. In 2003, for Joe Budden's self-titled debut album, Blaze produced not one, but two great Hip Hop bangers, which both became successful singles and featured in several Hollywood films at the time. Just Blaze gave Joe Budden a great start to his career by supplying two banging beats, which y'all can now listen to right here. Enjoy!

Joe Budden - Pump It Up


Joe Budden - Fire (feat. Busta Rhymes)

Just Blaze Appreciation: Jay-Z - "Kingdom Come"

"Kingdom Come" is a fantastic track, if only for the fact that Just Blaze took a ridiculous sample and made it work brilliantly. Everyone's heard "Super Freak" by Rick James, and will be quite familiar with it's catchy beat. If you need a quick reminder, here it is:



Well Just Blaze took that beat, chopped it up, added his own little flavour to the production and turned it into the best track to come off Jay-Z's 2006 album, Kingdom Come. This is another classic Jay-Z/Just Blaze collaboration and it only gets better with every listen. Enjoy!

Just Blaze Appreciation: Jay Electronica - "Exhibit C"

"Exhibit C" by Jay Electronica was consistently rated the top Hip Hop song to come out of 2009, so it should come as no surprise that Just Blaze was the man behind the beat. It should also come as no surprise that the beat he created is an absolute BANGER, proving once again why Just Blaze is still one of the best Hip Hop producers in the game.

As soon as the song begins to play, we already get a sense that we're listening to something special. But when the beat truly kicks in at the 28 second mark, it becomes quite clear why this track was such a smash hit within the Hip Hop community. Of course, a track doesn't become the song of the year from the beat alone. Jay Electronica brought his "A" game as well, spitting some great rhymes and showing everyone why he's the one to watch in 2010. So now, without further adieu, "I present, Exhibit C"! JUST BLAAAZE!!!

Favourite line: "They call me Jay Electronica. Fuck that! Call me Jay ElecHanukkah, Jay ElecYamaka, Jay ElectRamadan Muhammad Asalamukah Rasoul Allah Supana Wata Allah through your monitor!"

Just Blaze Appreciation: Jay-Z - "Public Service Announcement"

Time for another banging beat from Just Blaze. Jay-Z has the honour of providing the vocals for this track off The Black Album, titled "Public Service Announcement". The song starts off with a gentle piano and some introductory words from Jay-Z, leaving no indication that we are listening to a Just Blaze production so far. Suddenly, as the song hits the 20 second mark, Jay-Z shouts out "Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is HOV!" and Just Blaze unleashes hell. The beat kicks into top gear and doesn't let up until the end of the song, while Jay-Z turns in an impressive performance of his own. A great song off a fantastic album and another classic beat from JUST BLAAAZE!!!

Favourite line: "Whenever there's a drought, get your umbrellas out because, that's when I brainstorm!"

Just Blaze Appreciation: Ghostface Killah - "The Champ"

In the same vein as Premo Appreciation, this feature will pay tribute to the amazing production styles of Just Blaze, another one of my favourite Hip Hop producers of all time. In case you don't know, Just Blaze was behind such popular hits as T.I.'s "Live Your Life" and Kanye West's "Touch The Sky", so you may already be a fan of his work whether you know it or not.

I'm gonna start off this feature with a track that best demonstrates what Just Blaze is all about: insane, mind-blowing beats! "The Champ" by Ghostface Killah is exactly that. It might have something to do with it's Rocky-type theme, but if you don't feel like punching the nearest person in the FACE when you hear it, there must be something wrong with you. This is definitely my fight song, because it always gets me fired up whenever I listen to it. In fact, I'm getting fired up just thinking about it. JUST BLAAAZE!!!