Over the first half of this year it’s been my pleasure to hang out with DJ Wordy in his Sanlitun studio as he collaborated with Soulspeak on the aptly named Wordy Soulspeak instrumental album. The release party is this Friday, May 27 at Yugong Yishan – be there or be square. All I can say is that the beats are DOPE, and many of the tracks are getting lots of play on my iPod (check out this posting for shootouts for the album from Pete Rock, RZA, Kidd Koala and more). DJ Wordy and Soulspeak are really trying to step up the quality of hip hop production in China. This album is a great first step in the direction of trying to get together the best producers with the best MCs in the country. Hopefully there will be a remix of some sort with all the Beijing heads spitting rhymes over it. Right now I feel the big thing holding back hip hop in China is the lack of collaboration between the beat makers and the freestylers as well as a lack of impetus to get things out on a consistent basis. People are starting to wake up though, and I hope to see a bunch of new hip hop albums released this year. Check out the Wordy Soulspeak video promo I put together below, complete with interview and studio tour. Stay tuned for more.