Ugly Heroes - Graves

Ugly Heroes, consisting of Red Pill (Michigan State alum and a native of Howell, Michigan of all places), Verbal Kent (Chicago MC), and Detroit produce Apollo Brown, are getting ready to release their 15-track album on May 21st. It's going to be some real blue collar type rap, and if you ask me that's what Detroit rap is about. Here's a free download for a taste. For details on the release, go to Mello Music Group.

Apollo Brown & OC - Prove Me Wrong

A little late on this one, but this is the first single off the album that OC and Apollo Brown are putting out title 'Trophies' that is set to release on April 24th. Be sure to check it out.

Mello Music Group Compilation

I posted one song from this last week from Finale and Apollo Brown and was able to dig through the rest of this compilation over the weekend. Plethora of Detroit artists do their thing on this and it only costs $7.99 so I recommend the purchase. If I had to pick, I would say the Boog Brown track is my favorite. She's been killing it lately. Check out the Detroit related tracks below. In non-Detroit hip-hop news, Kendrick Lamar has been steadily establishing himself as the preeminent rapper ever since he released 'Section.80' last summer, and the single off his upcoming Aftermath debut 'The Recipe' comes complete with a Dr. Dre feature and helps solidify his status.

Apollo Brown & Finale - Protocol

Apollo Brown is such an underrated producer and Finale is such an underrated rapper, particularly flow wise. This song is off the Mello Music Group compilation album 'Self Sacrifice'. I haven't checked out the whole thing yet, but there's some good Detroit stuff on there from the likes of Boog Brown, Black Milk, and some more Finale as well.

There's a nice Odissee track on there too titled 'Slow Down' that's definitely worth checking out. Check out the entire album here.

Mello Muve Compilation

More SXSW compilations are rolling in, this one centering around the fast-growing indie record label Mello Music Group. They feature a few really talented Detroit artists such as Boog Brown and Apollo Brown and also put out The Left's exceptional 'Gas Mask' album in 2010 which was a pleasant surprise concerning its success. They also feature some great artists from outside of the Mitten, my favorite probably being Oddissee. If you haven't checked out his 'Rock Creek Park' album you are really missing out and it's a perfect spring time jam. Here's the compilation.