I wonder if this is how parents feel

It's strange to have a creation out there, a deeply mutated version of yourself, running loose and screwing everything up...

I wonder if this is how parents feel.
[Dexter, Season 2]

FIRE: Homeboy Sandman x Nneka & Nas x Ron Artest (FREE AUDIO/VIDEO)

[If you think Nas's Illmatic is a classic, click the image above.]

Get Your Mind Right: FIRE

If you're at all familiar with GetYourMindRight, you know we are not like most hip hop blogs.

• We do not publish every day (hint: subscribing won't bite you in the ass).
• Not only do we NOT post trash and apologize for it (don't take it personal), we actually reject 99.9% of the music submitted to us for posting.

And that's NOT because we are elitist -- it's just that we (1) are very busy; (2) take this very personally; and (3) feature a lot more here than traditional 'hip hop' fare.

Take this, this or this, for example.

Every once in a while, however, we do hear a song that, for one reason or another, really sticks with at least one of us. And in those cases, we have featured here Sha Stimuli, Copywrite, dead prez, Crooked I, J the S, yU (Diamond District), Mistah F.A.B., General Steele, and REKS & Ron Artest.)

In continuing that tradition of spreading good music, today we offer new joints from Ivy League-educated emcee Homeboy Sandman, Nigerian-German hip hop/soul singer Nneka (ft. the God Emcee Nas) and NBA basketball player, sometimes rapper and Queensbridge representative Ron Artest. All three songs were leaked in the last week.

Enjoy...

Homeboy Sandman



A tragic, beautiful ballad for an angel, from one of the few emcees you could bring home to dinner...

Song: Tyshae
Producer: Lotus
Album: The Lotus Effect
Download: HERE

Wanna hear more from Homeboy Sandman? Click here.

Nneka



Born in Nigeria, Nneka relocated some 10,000 miles to Hamburg, Germany, at 19, to pursue a career in singing alongside a degree in Anthropology. Today, she has a critically acclaimed album, a song on the official 2010 FIFA World Cup album and this powerful collaboration with Nas. We should all salute artists like beautiful Nneka, now 28, whose passion, strength and vocal range shine on this remix.

Song: Heartbreak (Remix)
Featuring: Nas
Download: HERE

Wanna hear more from Nneka? Click here.

(We here at GetYourMindRight have always held the highest regard for Nas, and this was only heightened after AWKWORD spent a couple hours kicking it with Nas's legendary bluesman father Olu Dara.)

Ron Artest



So, AWKWORD's uncle has known Ron Artest for more than a decade. Dude can play ball. No disputing that. Dude's nuts -- and often dangerous. Unfortunately, no disputing that either. But dude can also spit. I doubted it until I heard this... So I wasn't so surprised when I heard the new one, released June 19, 2010, two days after Artest scored 20 points in his team's NBA Championship game 7 win.

Song: Champions
Download: HERE

Wanna hear more from Ron Artest? Watch this!...

AWKWORD (@AWKWORDrap) x Judah Friedlander (@JudahWorldChamp) in the East Village

AWKWORD and Judah Friedlander (of 30 Rock), shot outside AWK's ex-girlfriend's restaurant... Swear they didn't color coordinate on purpose...

Click the pic to visit the official Judah Friedlander site.

Don Meehan Gets It In!

Two hours of makeup and another half hour to take it all off -- an all-day affair for a split second on video... But at least College Humor recognizes what it is...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

(See below for other vids from the homie Don Meehan -- this guy is hilarious!)