We highlight what should be seen. Not just because other blogs have it already (sound familiar?), or because the PR machines tell us... Simply because we like it and we want to share it with you. Music powered by Trackbreakers.com.
Game and DJ Skee follow up their 2 disc Purp & Patron mixtape that dropped recently with The Hangover. Featuring appearances by Birdman, Timbaland, David Banner, Ghostface, Marsha Ambosius and Joell Ortiz among others.
Quite the output from Game in the last week. Stream and download below.
Producer Soul Professa releases this 5 track EP featuring Roc C and Guilty Simpson a West Coast to Motown collaborative effort. All tracks produced by Soul Professa. "I Live This" thumps. Check it out.
It's hard to deny the music emerging from the West Coast's new wave of artists is refreshingly dope and stretches across the whole spectrum of hiphop, from the playfully perverse Based God, thugged out Nipsey Hussle, all the way to the true school sounds of Fashawn and all the guys in between (Blu, Ayomari, Odd Future,etc). It could be argued that the West is hip hop's most vibrant scene, for those who pay attention to what's next rather than what's currently big. Another Bloggeratsi two-piece episode. We submit to you fresh sounds from the West.
Shawn Chrystopher hits us with the fourth video from his You And Only You free album.
E.A.R.T.H (Everything Around Revolves Through Hiphop) is another emerging West Coast crew. This was sniped to us on twitter by group member Mr. No (really though kids, email works just fine). Not much more information on them, just enjoy this affirmative get money look from the West.
L-Boogie has been criss-crossing the US bringing her A-game (or not) depending on whatever her fancy is on that particular day. Here is footage of her from last week in Utah where she had gone to be part of the Sundance Film Festival activities at EXPRESS Rocks hosted by Skullcandy and Vevo at Harry O's.
This Bloggeratsi two-piece video event is sponsored by Harlem. First up one of 2010's standouts, Vado presents a two-for-one involving music from his Slime Flu street album.
Vado - "Wake Up" / "Beat Knocking"
Jim Jones' "Goin For the Kill" is just another testament to hip hop's undying romance with the La Roux hit record. Vado also makes an appearance. No official word on when to expect a new album from Jimmy but flurry of recent releases tells he's revving up.
Since we're pretty snow-weary in this part of the world - but we're thankful because other kinds of heat are just way more difficult to deal with (case in point: Egypt) - Stalley's slab salute is a welcome change of scenery. Makes us pine for May to be here already. That pearl white joint is gorgeous.
This is the first single off Stalley's Lincoln Wray Lights (Intelligent Trunk Music) arriving February 8th. Video is directed by Creative Control'sCoodie & Chike, purveyors of visual treats such as Erykah Badu's "Window Seat".
After the jump, check out a snippest from MTV Sucker Free as Stalley breaks down the Ohio Car Culture. And download "Slapp."
Star Trak artist Fam-Lay drops visuals for this song that leaked a while ago. You know it's getting crazy out here when trapper lifestyle artists like Fam-Lay have a website and tumblr.
Created by Brown Paper Dolls and executive produced by Idris Elba, Milk + Honey is a web series about four women in Los Angeles as they navigate through their personal and professional lives trying to achieve their dreams.
The production company Brown Paper Dolls consists of Chicago natives Jeanette McDuffie, Dana Gills, and Asha Kamali May.
Last year's "Head Of State" parody video was exceedingly funny and it's good to see the directorial team of Martin Usher & James Davis return with a new political spoof based of Tupac's infamous diss record.
This time it's Baracka Flacka Flames (played by James Davis) as Barackaveli going after The Party of No, Sarah Palin and George Bush. Jefandi Cato, who posed as Michelle Obama in "Head of State" returns as Michellaveli, doing some rapping of her own this time.
The story of Dr. Latif Yahia Al-Salihi who was forced to become the body double of Saddam Hussein's murderous son Uday in 1987, has brought movie distributors knocking trying acquire rights to the new violent dramatic adaptation directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, 1994 and Die Another Day, 2002). Relativity Media and Fox Searchlight have reportedly shown interest.
Dr. Latif Yahia has written three books about his experiences as part of the dictator's inner circle: I Was Saddam's Son (1997) co-written with Karl Wendl, The Devil's Double (2003) and The Black Hole: The Real Story Of The Man Who Was Forced To Become The Body Double of Saddam Hussein's Sadistic Son (2006). The last book is banned in the US as it depicts pre 9/11 secret CIA policies.
Below is a trailer for a documentary that will reportedly accompany the feature film.
The feature film stars Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Mimoun Oaissa, Raad Rawi among others. Early reviews hail Cooper's performance as commanding. He portrays both Uday and his body double.
After the jump, an interview with the director of the feature film that is adapted from the second book.
New double disc mixtape offering from Game. We suspect some of these records may date back to 2007-08, leftovers from previous albums. Standout bangers on here include LA Times, Soo Woo, The Kill, Ferrari Lifestyle and Taylor Made.
Currently screening at the Sundance Flim Festival is a documentary on the unsung civil rights and humanitarian work of entertainer Harry Belafonte. Director Susanne Rostock shares some insight into the film.
Ever since Janet Jackson's nipplegate fiasco, the advertisers on TV's biggest annual draw continue dance around the G-Rating atmosphere of the Superbowl while attempting to generate water cooler fodder and media frenzy with racy, edgy ads. Clearly Doritos is playing no games with these ads that might ruffle a more than a few feathers, which fuels all those other buzz-worthy things they are looking for.
At around $3million for a 30 second spot, residual discussion about the ads is better than actually airing the ad once for those prices. And curious viewers will flock to youtube to check them out. Just saying you're going to air these potentially controversial ads might generate enough viral attention that you don't even have to air them on national TV. What do y'all think about these ads?
Buckshot hosts Hof creator of popular urban blog OnSmash (now known as FreeOnSmash) for a short Q & A about online promotion. It goes without saying that blogs are the new A&Rs, weeding out the gems from the mass of content continuously being generated by artists. Cultivating blog support is a key facet of any promo campaign.
There is no place to be in late January that at the Sundance Film Festival. Currently showing is the upcoming Cop Thriller starring Al Pacino, Channing Tatum, Tracy Morgan & Katie Holmes.
Remember when Kanye West would sprinkle social commentary in his bars? We miss that Kanye too. Connecticut artist Zee Santiago's puts the Rza & Kanye production for "Dark Fantasy" to good use.
Perhaps the only people who can legitimately claim to love Wiz Khalifa's runaway hit more than him is the front office at the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're pretty sure there is a series of charts that show an uptick in Steelers merchandise sales and general positive Steelers chatter that follows the growth in popularity of "Black & Yellow" over the fall and winter.
Wiz got the Terrible Towels going early and the buzz probably helped with Pittsburgh's rout of the New York Jets. Prepare to see something similar in Dallas in the coming weeks.
Rare footage of the original Slum Village line-up of J. Dilla, Baatin & T-3 surfaced recently via Soulasis Music. Dilla's anniversary of his passing (Feb 10 2006) is coming up soon, and we salute the Late Baatin (July 31 2009) as well.
As one of hip hop's most revered beatmakers, anything new featuring Dilla is highly appreciated. Plus a little mundane madness showing the rigors of touring is welcome. No groupies, no butler service, no penthouse suites, just the regular grind for one of hiphop's most critically celebrated trios.
Welsh vocalist Adele gives a song by song summary of her new album 21. The album is doing damage on the charts across the pond. Note to artists, if you are pushing an album, sell the whole package, not just the single.
The self-proclaimed Punch Line King releases the video for his new single off the highly entertaining Hunger For More 2 album. Jeremih continues to impress on the appearance tip. He also shined on Sheek Louch's "Party After 2" record.
Known for his production work at the House That Diddy Built and his alter-ego rap persona The Mad Rapper, D-Dot presents a second volume of music featuring himself and other artists. Featured artists include Skyzoo, Black Rob, Ras Kass, Sauce Money, Statik Selektah, DJ Premier and Scram Jones.There is also certain curious record featuring Lil Kim & Nicki Minaj which must date to a few years back, before Barbie's meteoric rise to stardom and their current cat fight.
Amy Poehler gives Jay Leno a tongue lashing after Jay teases her about the New England Patriots getting kicked out of the playoffs. That Boston twang is good for something. She also spouts her vast knowledge on onion remedies.
The next project out of the Dame Dash's BluRoc imprint is UK soul singer Terri Walker. This is the teaser to the forthcoming single from her fourth studio album. She has been working hard with Ski Beatz, we can't wait to hear the full version.
The Washington DC Metro region, also popularly known as the DMV, is slowly coming into its own as a hotbed of refreshing new True School voices in Hiphop. The more well known acts from the area Wale, Bossman, Diamond District, Kev Brown Oddisee, Clipse etc. have all paved the way for a new wave of artists. In this edition of the Bloggeratsi Two-Piece, we spotlight young spitters in Phil Ade and Toine from DTMD.
The first rap act to emerge from Raheem Devaughn's 368 Music Group, Phil Ade made noise with the Don Cannon hosted mixtape The Letterman in 2010. Here he airs out a classic Lords Of The Underground instrumental.
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Dunc & Toine Making Dollars, known by the acronym DTMD, were introduced to us by the good folks at Put Me On It, who also put this profile together at last fall's CMJ Music Conference in New York. The producer and rapper duo released an EP, The Basics early in 2010. Now working on their first album, expect these dudes to drop work that is beyond their young years.
Lex Luger shares with MTV how he got into the beatmaking game. 2010 was a phenomenal outing for the young producer. He tooled perhaps the biggest club jam of the year in Rick Ross' "BMF," is currently enjoying heavy rotation on the new Kanye & Jay-Z record "H.A.M." and his soundprint is all over new mixtape offerings by Juicy-J and Rick Ross.
Raphael Saadiq shaves off another layer into his new offering Stone Rolling arriving March 22nd. The Nu-Soul sound is retained for this slow turning tune. Another Saadiq classic.
One of 2010's better releases, this selection from Skyzoo's and Illmind's collaborative album Live From The Tape Deck gets visualized. Directed by Kenneth Price.
This snippet comes from the getway Oprah awarded her viewers to Australia, which is a show on her new TV network OWN. Jay-Z makes an unannounced appearance at a All-Boys' School bearing gifts. N Original Video- More videos at TinyPic
We loved the two-piece California video post, we figured why not try it again. This time, we find ourselves in Chicago enjoying the lenswork of Will Gates.
Not much more info was available about JP aka Stemcells and this song "Freedom" that was sniped at us from JP's twitter. Our mantra of showcasing the dope stands. So be blessed by Chi-town's own.
Mikkey Halsted also teams up with Will Gates for a visual for this knocking one-verse-special taken from his recently released album The Darkroomthat is available on iTunes. An experienced music industry journeyman from the fabled Wild 100s, Mikkey is definitely a sharp-spitting Chicago artist to keep an eye on.
We generally tend to listen when Bay Area tastemaker and Bumsquad DJ Legendgary speaks on something. So we had to check out this new video by Netta Brielle he recommended.
Netta Brielle is California Bay Area based singer whose new mixtape Love, Pain & Music is available for download. Video is directed by Terrance Banks.
Stream and download Love, Pain & Music and get familiar.
Chris Brown, shares his insights into dance and shows us his love for it. In an era where dancing is seen as a more flighty and effeminate pursuit among the hordes of the stonefaced, thugly inclined folks, Breezy is comfortable allowing the rhythm to express itself through his movement.
The fourth in a series of Webisodes he did for his culture and lifestyle brand Mechanical Dummy, Brown also introduces us to his dance crew.
These dudes peddle hilarity of a unique kind, with a musical twist, preferably hip hop. In this episode they make the startling revelation that Santa Claus is Anti-semitic.
Check out ItsTheReal on their tumblr for more doses of TheReal. My Girl's A Republican, done in the run-up to the Midterm elections in November was dope.
A divergence of views in these two videos from the new sound emerging out the West Coast. The first, sent in by Young Streetz captures a street soldier repping for his turf and the lifestyle he is immersed in, while the latter is a feel-good salute to the good times to be had on Melrose Boulevard. If that profile that hits at the 2:32 mark in the second video doesn't want to make you hit online travel site Orbitz and book the next thing smoking out to LA, all that sunshine will.
Young Streetz -"G Sh*t." A selection from the album Streetz of America. Directed by Erick Lee
Indie mainstay Murs and producer/rapper Terrace Martin have a collaborative album arriving February 8th called Melrose. Video directed by Van Styles.
Currently playing online at California Newsreel and only limited to the next two weeks is a documentary on the folkorist and author famously associated with the Harlem Renaissance, and celebrated for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Virginia rapper and ghostwriter of note Skillz gives some background about his very popular year-end wrap up songs that he has been faithfully cooking up since 2002. They have become part of the tradition in Urban music. Skillz puts all the notable events of the year relevant to hip hop culture into a seamless rap performance that is perhaps his biggest claim to fame, since he's such a pro and won't tell who he's written hits for.We do know he's working on Willow Smith's forthcoming project on Roc Nation.
2010 seemed like the year he would finally interrupt the series, but public pressure and business sense prevailed. Better late than never.
Skillz' album The World Needs More Skillz is out now. 2010 Rap up is now available on iTunes.
New Year's Day 2011: Lady Gaga announces the coming of her new project Born This Waywith a meatless bare bum.
New Year's Day 2011: Kelly Rowland gets more coverage than Beyonce for once, flossing her augmented ta-tas in a sheer top at a performance in Vegas.
And here we are. Cash-strapped Toni Braxton, hours after the announcement of a new reality show "Braxton Family Values" on We TV debuting in April, declares she's mulling a potential "tasteful" cover and spread in Playboy via twitter. And perhaps, to the loud, collective, disappointed groan of the hetero malesphere (and femalesphere, excuse our manners ladies), intimates it will be "just be a lil T and A."
I'm not having a conference of any kind without a quarter-mile long, marble top Congo Mahogany frame with handmade arabic relief etching, boardroom table, set in a room with a ceiling like Grand Central Station neither. Not happening.
Urban video aggregator World Star Hip hop basically decimated this low budget effort from Brooklynites Piffy Da Don and Money Maine and shot them into web prominence over the weekend. The caption read:
Unsigned For A Reason Artists Of The Week: This Shxt Is Mixxie! (No Budget, Liquor Pouring On They're Own Carpet, Rockin Aeropostale Hoodies, Gucci Belts & Hittin The Funky Chicken)
And with that, the masses gave the video tens of thousands of views. It spawned a trending topic on Twitter, #mixxie and by mid-afternoon Sunday, Mixxie apparel was available.
In an era where people like 50 Tyson can parlay their simple no-talent, low-production-value aesthetic into widespread notoriety, we would not be surprised if this song, re-recorded and mixed in a pro setting, and a more ambitious video (plus a dance to go with it), did become the next popular radio sensation a la Cali Swag District last year.
Hip hop has always been about utilizing available resources for the art. If you can't spill Ciroc at some darkly lit swanky tavern with bimbos carvorting around sensually, Grandmom's carpet will suffice. Just have the Arm & Hammer carpet cleaner ready after the shoot is wrapped. No dancers? Break out the jig yourself. Their set design needs some work though. The baby hoop should've been swiped and they should've thrown up more artwork on the walls. Hang up a Mixxie Tee or something, product placement. And please guys, stop knocking the hoodies, Aero needs love too, plus, it's chilly in New York. And if you're going to diss, at least make sure you can spell.
More power to Do-It-Yourself. Technology has blessed us with the tools to get it done. That's mixxie.
In a stunning announcement via Twitter on Sunday, Jazmine Sullivan said she's taking a leave of absence from Music.
i’m making an official announcement that i am taking a break from music. i’m trying to figure out who i am… w/out a mike, paper or pen. i promised myself when it wasn’t fun anymore i wouldn’t do it. and here i am.
i’m not saying i wont ever sing again in my life becuz i dont believe that. but in this moment… rt now… i got some things to figure out.
i love u all and appreciate u soooooo much. u have no idea how much u’ve inspired me and fed my ego. but the truth is that i have to believe in me whether you all do or not. and thats what i’m lookin for. that belief in myself. me. I. i love us. thanks for being here for me and riding with me on this journey. let us continue
We can only speculate as to why it wouldn't be fun anymore for one of the most refreshing Soul acts to get
Talib Kweli breaks down his current situation playing the game as an Indie artist. His next album Gutter Rainbows will released independently in late January. He gives props to artists like Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa who are mobilizing their fan bases largely outside the major label marketing machine. Towards the end he laments the current award etiquette that only seems to salute the big sellers in Urban music as opposed to the best music. His mother was "upset" that Eminem won a Soul Train award recently.
Atlanta based Bangladesh (Shondrae Crawford) has ran below the radar for years, but finally his genius cannot escape the limelight anymore. Since Carter 3 dropped in 2008 with the banger "A Milli" he's been making the rounds doing production for Hiphop's ruling class, but we remember him from very early on in the last decade producing sonic masterpieces like Ludacris' debut hit "What's Your Fantasy." And you know that jam knocked. In 2010 he was named one of the top 6 producers by publishing entity BMI.
The Des Moines, Iowa born producer and DJ always had that southern crunk mentality in his beats before it became the standard hip hop motif but he's also got a left-field approach. His beats always have that out-there element about them. Gucci Mane's "Lemonade" is a prime example with that jumping bassline. He's also proving a genius at the stripped down approach (see Beyonce's "Diva"), and we're glad him and Cash Money sorted out their outstanding issues.
Quincy Jones recently drew a distinction between himself and MPC assassins like Kanye West, but like Just Blaze said, the accomplished Mr Jones may be good with sheet music and orchestras, but he'd fumble trying to do what Bangladesh does in this video.
He is reportedly hard at work with G.O.O.D Music's Pusha T and slew of other notables in 2011. Plus expect forays into the Pop arena.
Jay-Z, Coldplay's Chris Martin & Kanye West perform "Homecoming" at the New Year's Eve Concert at Las Vegas' new Comsopolitan Hotel. Off the cuff, it's a bit raw and we safely assume the leading performers were in some stage of tipsy, but Kanye kicks that second verse with gusto.
Rick Ross delivers a 2-for-1 music video for two selections off his new mixtape Ashes to Ashes. "9 Piece" is another bone-jarring Lex Luger-produced trap escapade, while "Even Deeper" is more of that Rozay High Life talk sponsored by a lush Barry White sample.
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