a-Tunes

A few weeks back, our friends over at Asian Hip-Hop Times dropped a new mixtape called the Asian Hip Hop Connect Vol.1.  It features talent from all over the world including some folks that are frequently featured here at a-Tunes. You can find tracks from Kato, Triangle Offense, Doc Whisper, Virus44, IZ, Jackie Chain, ND, Kenji Astro and more! The quality varies but there are definitely a few gems on here. And since it’s free I recommend you check it our for yourself and keep the track’s you’re feeling!

Back cover, tracklist, and download link after the break.

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Friday, June 18th has arrived and Kato’s follow up to the mixtape This Is My Everything has officially dropped. The second volume in the series features a couple of his own solo joints along with a ton of music that’s all produced by Kato himself. This mixtape is filled with previously released and unreleased music and at 16 tracks its enough to get you through your new music appetite for a little while. You can listen and DL the entire thing for free at the official Bandcamp page or via the widget below.

It’s been a few month’s since Kato dropped his last single, “Love” but he’s back with a new one entitled “Take You Away”. He continues to show his versatility and his production game is only getting stronger. It’s a dope track and I recommend you cop it at one of the following digital distributors: Amazon, iTunes or CD Baby.

Also, he’s announced the official release date of T.I.M.E. Vol II, so mark your calendars for June 18th! It’s slated to have 15 tracks of material and will be a free download. It’s less than two weeks away!

The ATLien producer Kato is continuing work with his 2nd production mixtape entitled T.I.M.E. Vol. 2 and he’s just shared the 3rd single from the mixtape entitled ‘Bananas’. The song has The Canz behind the mic with featuring contributions from Young Lyxx, Niko Villamor and FKi. It’s got a southern feel to it with a pretty interesting beat. When you hear it you’ll know what I mean… the title is perfect for this track. You can DL it for free from Kato’s website!

Unfortunately the a-Tunes team isn’t nearly as large as we’d like to be just yet, so we can’t quite cover all the major events taking place around the country. One example was Kollaboration ATL, which went down a couple weeks back. Thankfully, OMGKPOP had someone on scene and has shared with the rest of us what we all missed out on. Head on over there to see what took place complete with videos!

As a spoiler, these were the two winners:

Coming in first place was Lost in the Gym who took home $1000 and Persuasion & TNT took home $500 for coming in second.

OK, so when a-Tunes was first started I made a promise to myself to never use this platform as shameless promotion for my own music and to use it an impartial manner as I would for any other artist that we support here. With that said I looked at today’s date… April 8th, 2010 and realized wow, it’s been exactly two years since I dropped my debut mixtape In Transition. I’m sure the vast majority of you are unfamiliar with my work, which is understandable but considering that it’s the two year anniversary of this project I thought it’d be appropriate to share with you all for this Week’s Thursday Freebie.

Front Cover

The mixtape was recorded all throughout my college years  and for about a year afterwards as well. As you can imagine from the lengthy time frame there’s going to be a wide range in quality and growth on this project, it was all a matter of transition, hence the title. The tape features guest appearances from Albee, RK, Shinobi, Jacqueline Chun, DCho, and Kato along with some behind the scenes help from Jinny Kim, Johnnyphlo & Kevin Hotography. For what it’s worth, I felt like I grew a lot as a person and artist during the duration of this mixtape, and I also feel like I’ve grown a lot more since. Love it or hate it I present to you In Transition, happy two years old!

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In more Kato news, he’s revealed the album cover for his upcoming mixtape T.I.M.E. Vol II.

This is the follow up to the launch of the production mixtape series released last year. According to the ATL based musician…

You can expect more great music on vol. 2, which showcases more of a wide range of styles and sounds compared to vol. 1.

Also, he’s leaked a track off the tape entitled ‘I Go Hard’, featuring Grady & Roscoe Dash. Check out the single, available as a free DL over at Kevin Nottingham! Kato is a guy who never seems to let off his grind.

ATL based musicians Kato & Akademikz want to remind you to come check out Kollaboration ATL. They are one of 7 competitors all vying for that top price and bragging rights. It’s all set to go down April 17th so if you’re in the South East don’t miss it! Check out the flyer below for more information.

Kevin Nottingham has got a new interview with Atlanta based producer/MC Kato. It’s another quick one but if you ever wondered how Kato ended up in ATL, what’s in his secret music equipment locker, or what collaborations are on deck then this is the read for you.

Here’s a little glimpse for you:

Why the name Kato?

Growing up, I was heavily influenced by Bruce Lee. He was the coolest man I’d ever seen so I stole his name from the role he portrayed in the 60’s ‘Green Hornet’ TV series, Kato. I still have a giant poster of him hanging in my studio and bedroom.

You can check out the rest over at KN or after the break!

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It’s always great to hear Kato step up from behind the production gear and bless the mic. This time around he’s completely switched things up and though it’s different I think it’s a refreshing change of pace for the producer/MC. In honor of Valentine’s Day he is releasing the single ‘Love’ and I can promise you you’ve never heard anything like this from him before. Smooth synth sounds, chill beat, and love-oriented raps… Kato did this one right.

You can grab the single here as a free download or here if you’d like to cop it as a ringtone.