New York State of Mind
by mikeyfresh (06/30/2008 - 17:39)
That these producers don’t spring to Nas’s lips is, perhaps, not surprising: He has made his reputation not on hook-laden pop-rap and club bangers, but on hip-hop that sounds best in headphones, in which it’s possible to keep up with the flow of his detailed, controlled verses. He consciously chooses beats that are light on hooks, he says, so as not to distract from the lyrics. It’s a move that has brought him criticism—the weak-beats gripe—but while his beat selection has kept him from the top of the pop charts, it has also protected him from its whims. The rapper has enjoyed an unusually long career.
To say that Nas’s new album is one of the most anticipated of the summer is true, but it misses the point—every Nas album is highly anticipated, because no rapper is held to as high a standard. When a Nas record is about to drop, hip-hop fans cross their fingers and wonder: Will he change hip-hop forever, again? Will the new record be as good as Illmatic?
Released in 1994, when Nas was 20, Illmatic was a prodigious debut. No other rap debut, and few rap albums at all, are as lauded. It’s hard to quantify the album’s achievement precisely, except to say that rapping is a craft, and Nas was the first to discover how to do it right. Rap has two components—beats and rhymes. On Illmatic, the beats were mostly good, sometimes great; and there had been virtuoso emcees before Nas who’d moved the stylized rhythms of early groups like N.W.A toward the conversational. But no one had ever sounded as natural as Nas. “One Love,” which takes the form of a monologue to an incarcerated friend, exploits poetic devices like enjambment so subtly that it works as prose. Every rapper who hopes to be taken seriously—from Kanye West to the Game—must grapple with Nas’s discovery.
Discoveries only occur once. Still, with every new album, fans begin to fantasize about another Illmatic, and anticipation has run particularly high since last December, when it was revealed that Nas had decided to title his record Nigger. Not N, or Nigga, but the epithet in full. Giving an album a controversial title is a familiar buzz generator, but it seems to have worked: The outcry he’s ginned up is the stuff that blogs are made for, and even observers who didn’t know Nas from Nelly found themselves in possession of fervently held opinions. The album, which like most hip-hop releases has been delayed a half-dozen times (another surefire trick), is now set to drop July 15.
Nas wheels his chair over to the cabinet and sprinkles some weed into the paper cradled between two fingers. A yellow legal pad, across which are written lyrics for the new album, lies nearby. His script is whorled and glyphic, and is mostly uncorrected. “I think about what I want it to sound like,” he says. “No words come to mind really. I used to be the kind of guy that took notes in my head or my pager. But I kind of just wing it now. I like to be surprised by what comes out.”
He licks the glue strip and sparks up a tidy joint.
When he was young, he says, he used to take a tape recorder out into the hallway of the Queensbridge projects and rhyme over it to pass the time. “I’d just freestyle and have fun,” he says. “And if it made enough sense, I could play it to a group of people and they’d like it.”
Back then, rap was still largely confined to certain New York neighborhoods like Queensbridge. It was a tight community, and rap was a game. “Everybody who was doing music back then,” he says, “just wanted to keep on doing music, making beats, trying to make records. Anybody would hook up with anybody else.” That openness led Nas to reach out to a producer called Large Professor who, though still in high school, was no less legendary for it: He’d already provided beats for Eric B. & Rakim, the duo who released a string of immortal records beginning in 1986. These days, of course, a figure like Large Professor wouldn’t even reply to an e-mail from an unsigned youngster, much less provide him with three classic beats for his debut.
But times were different. “It didn’t matter that Large Professor had a record out and I didn’t,” Nas says. “Didn’t matter who it was, as long as you were working. He didn’t even know me, but he came down [to the studio] anyway. He was probably just bored that day. But I got in there and did my thing.”
Nas made such an impression on the Professor that he was introduced to Eric B. & Rakim—“the kings of the world,” as Nas remembers. He soon got to know other star producers, and when the time came to make Illmatic, Nas did something that hadn’t been done before: Instead of relying on just one production team, he hand-picked multiple producers. It’s a practice that is now de rigueur in mainstream rap. (This assembly-line approach is not necessarily good for the art; it’s the only ambiguous component of Illmatic’s legacy
Read the rest here http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2008/47971/index1.html
Damn Yellow, I missed this too... swagger-jacked from http://yellowrebel.blogspot.com/
America's Next Top Dance Crew
by mikeyfresh (06/30/2008 - 03:51)
So you think they can break-dance?
Forget the Bronx and South Central. If you want to find the best hip-hop dancers in the world look farther east, to South Korea.
By Jeff Chang
June 26, 2008 | This summer, the United States is reaching new heights of dance fever as TV shows like Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" and MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Top Dance Crew" have returned to the airwaves. MTV's runaway hit is considered especially cutting edge, showcasing hip-hop dance groups from across America. But if MTV really wants the best dance crew, it should be looking in South Korea.
"Of the top six or seven crews in the world, I'd say half of them are from Korea," says Christopher "Cros One" Wright, 33, an American dance promoter and b-boy who was recently in Suwon, South Korea, to judge the second annual global invitational hip-hop dance competition, called R16, that was held at the end of May.
The development of South Koreans' hip-hop dancing could be seen a cultural parallel to their sharp global ascendance in electronics and automaking. A decade ago, Koreans were struggling to imitate the Bronx-style b-boy and West Coast funk styles that are the backbone of the genre. Now, a handful of these crews are the safest bets to win any competition anywhere.
Certainly no country takes its hip-hop dance more seriously. The Korean government -- through its tourism board and the city of Suwon -- invested nearly $2 million in this year's competition. Two of the most successful teams, Gamblers and Rivers, have been designated official ambassadors of Korean culture. Once considered outcasts, the b-boys now seem to embody precisely the kind of dynamic, dexterous and youthful excellence that the government wants to project.
Although hip-hop dance goes back at least 35 years, the top Korean b-boys trace their histories back just 11 years, to 1997, the Year Zero of Korean breaking. By 2001, the first year that a Korean crew entered the Battle of the Year -- the world's biggest b-boy contest -- they won "best show" honors and a fourth-place trophy. Every year since, a Korean crew has placed first or second. Says Battle of the Year founder Thomas Hergenrother, "Korea is on a different planet at the moment."
The R16 competition, held at the Olympic Sports Complex, is broadcast live in prime time in South Korea and dozens of other countries. The government expects to gross $35 million from advertising and TV rights this year. And it isn't the only one profiting: Gamblers Crew, formed in 2001, may now be one of the most world's most lucrative hip-hop dance groups. The members regularly tour Asia, have endorsement deals with Fila, Kookmin Bank and Enerzen energy drinks, and will star opposite American teen idol Omarion in the $25 million movie "Hype Nation," the latest in the Hollywood dance-ploitation genre, set to open next year.
While some fans on the message boards for "America's Best Dance Crew" still don't know what a "b-boy" is, the word in South Korea has become synonymous with national pride. B-boy contests around the world attract mostly young males, but the R16 Sports Complex is full of grandparents, high school couples and teenage girls in their school uniforms. When one holds up a sign that reads "I (Heart) Physics!" she isn't referring to her college-prep curriculum, but to the 24-year-old, Bogart-faced, elbow-spinning star of the Rivers crew, Kim "Physicx" Hyo-Geun.
In South Korea, b-boying rules. The question even Americans are asking is, "How did this happen?"
During the 1970s, an array of dances practiced by black and Latino kids sprang up in the inner cities of New York and California. The styles had a dizzying list of names: "uprock" in Brooklyn, "locking" in Los Angeles, "boogaloo" and "popping" in Fresno, and "strutting" in San Francisco and Oakland. When these dances gained notice in the mid-'80s outside of their geographic contexts, the diverse styles were lumped together under the tag "break dancing."
The most physically demanding style -- the Bronx dance called "breaking" or "b-boying"/"b-girling" -- fueled a global fascination. In the mid-'80s, b-boys could be found spinning at the Olympics or at President Reagan's inauguration and promoting consumer products. But after the explosion, the dancers were cast off, the detritus of an exhausted fad.
Still, the dances took root around the world. While South Koreans have often been hostile to American imports, from Hollywood films to Washington beef (massive street protests against the government's lifting of the ban on U.S. beef broke out in Seoul the day before R16), hip-hop dance has been welcomed.
That may be partly because of South Korea's history of cultural repression of youth countercultures. During the 1970s, young Koreans in Seoul were being exposed to "Soul Train" and funk music via the U.S. Armed Forces Korea Network. A club scene arose in Itaewon to service American G.I.s. But as early as the summer of 1971, U.S.-backed dictator Park Chung-hee ordered his police to round up longhaired Korean men and cut their hair.
As the decade wore on, he escalated his "social purification" campaign, detaining artists, intellectuals and church leaders. In the first six months of 1976 alone, police reported checking over 600,000 men on hair length and possession of "obscene" T-shirts. Park's censorship committee blocked hundreds of American songs, from "We Shall Overcome" to "Me and Mrs. Jones."
"Black music was considered illegal because it was not good for the youth. The only music allowed was folk music," said Lee "MC Meta" Jae-hyun of the influential Korean rap group Garion, through a translator. "The music scene itself died. Influential music makers left the country." When he and his peers became enthralled with images of b-boys at the 1984 Olympics, they had no outlet for their creativity.
It was not until opposition leader Kim Young-sam became South Korea's first civilian leader in 1992 that youth culture seemed to flower again. At first, dance-friendly pop imports like Bobby Brown and MC Hammer spawned a host of Korean copies. "Up until then, it was all ballads," said Choi "DJ Wrecks" Jae-hwa, a pioneering Korean DJ who now spins for the Rivers crew, through a translator. But, Lee added, "the curiosity began and people became hungry for the real thing."
In just five years, Koreans would have their own thing.
You can read the rest of the article here http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2008/06/26/korean_hiphop/index.html
Introducing Philly's Own - C.H.A.S.E.
by mikeyfresh (06/28/2008 - 16:48)
Jacob is a Stand Up Guy
by mikeyfresh (06/25/2008 - 21:17)
By DAVID N. GOODMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 24, 4:28 PM ET
DETROIT - The New York businessman known in the hip-hop world as "Jacob the Jeweler" was sentenced Tuesday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for lying to investigators looking into a multistate drug ring.
Jacob Arabov, 43, pleaded guilty in October to falsifying records and giving false statements as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.
"I feel ashamed that I broke the laws of this country, a country that has been so good for me," the Soviet immigrant told U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn. "I will carry this shame for the rest of my life."
The plea deal called for a recommended sentence of three years, one month to three years, 10 months in prison. Cohn shaved seven months off the minimum term, citing Arabov's extensive philanthropic work and noting many letters of support.
"He's a very charitable man," Cohn said, ruling Arabov would remain free on bond and report to prison Jan. 15.
Cohn also fined Arabov $50,000 and ordered him to make a $2 million forfeiture payment to the government. A defense lawyer handed an Internal Revenue Service agent a cashier's check for $2 million.
U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said people who sell jewelry and other expensive goods "are in an easy position to help narcotics dealers hide their assets."
"Today's sentence should be a strong warning that such conduct carries serious consequences," Murphy said in a news release.
Arabov immigrated from Soviet Uzbekistan at 14 and built a successful New York jewelry business. He was arrested in 2006 on accusations that he and others conspired to launder about $270 million in drug profits.
Prosecutors dropped the money laundering charges in the plea deal.
Authorities accused Arabov and others of conspiring to launder drug profits for the "Black Mafia Family," a ring that operated out of the Detroit area from 1990 to 2005. They say he tried to hide the ownership of part of $5 million worth of seized jewelry.
The seven-year investigation resulted in the indictments more than 100 people nationwide, federal authorities say.
They say about 1,100 pounds of cocaine and $19 million in cash, cars and jewelry were seized beginning in 2000.
The men the government says led the Black Mafia Family, brothers Terry and Demetrius Flenory, pleaded guilty last year and are awaiting sentencing.
Arabov, also known as the "King of Bling," became popular among hip-hop and R&B artists in the mid-1990s.
He launched a line of religious-themed jewelry with Kanye West, who later named him in songs including "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," in which he asked, "These ain't conflict diamonds, is they Jacob? Don't lie to me man."
He also manufactured Lil' Kim's line of Royalty watches.
Taken From : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_en_ce/people_jacob_the_jeweler
Takin Over WBAI 99.5 FM
by mikeyfresh (06/23/2008 - 20:52)
Live From New York
by mikeyfresh (06/22/2008 - 20:49)
Crooks & Castles Illuminati 08' Summer Collection
by mikeyfresh (06/21/2008 - 21:14)
Crooks steps it up
Umma Do Me
by mikeyfresh (06/21/2008 - 02:44)
DUB MD PROMOTIONS & M.I.C. RECORDS PRESENTS
ROYCE DA 5'9"
"I'M ME FREESTYLE"
OFF THE BAR EXAM VOL. 2
"NEW EXCLUSIVE"
http://www.zshare.net/download/1372280755e92e94/
Brand new exclusive freestyle from Royce Da 5'9" over the Lil Wayne beat for "I'm Me" off his highly anticipated new mixtape "The Bar Exam 2" coming soon! Lookout for Royce's up coming official mixtape "The Bar Exam Vol. 2" coming soon, along with his new studio album "Street Hop" executive produced by Hip Hop legend DJ Premier!
Freshen Up
by mikeyfresh (06/20/2008 - 06:42)
A little late, but better then never. Sigh, it sucks waiting for slow publishers...
New York is a city that requires its residents to uphold a certain standard when it comes to fashion, your sneakers are no exception - footwear must be up to par. Yuppies, hipsters, and so-called sneakerheads can be put to shame by school-girls riding the subway to school. As the weather heats up, try to avoid beastin’ up the block.
This summer looks to be like another retro filled saga by surprise releases from Nike, Visvim, New Balance, and Puma. Harlem’s very own Atmos boutique is gearing up for a pack of limited edition sneakers with Puma that will be released in June and more wet dreams for re-sellers with collabos with DC and K-Swiss also dropping later this year. Atmos has made their mark in the sneaker game by releasing immaculate product while incorporating their own personal messages
Urban market conquerors, Nike is looking to score big by paying tribute to some of the sneakers that put them on the map. The Air Jordan 1 has been revamped yet stayed true to it’s roots, a military themed series of releases will be hitting stores in May which include a “walnut/white” colorway and medium brown with earth-tones inspiring another AJ1. Also hitting stores this summer are more releases of the Dunk Hi in classic color ways with a vintage- worn in look. Earlier this year Nike released their Be True Series wich featured the original color schemes of the Dunk Hi. The summer wouldn’t be complete without Nike staying true to the streets (cough. Nike’s Urban Jungle Pack will consist of Huaraches (leather/nubuck/mesh), the Sky Force mid, and Court Force Hi (patent leather) – this pack contains accents of vibrant tribal patterns.
For those looking some worthy alternatives to the swoosh, Japan’s underated lifestyle brand Visvim is releasing loud colors of its FBT model, labeled the “G-Line”, the collection being aimed at international audiences - the FBT will be available this Spring. As the dog days of New York’s summer sets upon us, the city streets will be the only place you can really take in the trendsetting tendencies that NYC’s dwellers encompass. Demonstrating its eclectic taste the Urban community has green lighted the acceptance of skateboard culture, young n’s in the hood now got their skateboards and vans to match. Step it up with your Vans x Neckface collaboration featuring models in Chaukka, TNT 4, No Skool Mid, and a SK8-Low hitting stores in July, don’t sleep!
God Bless The Dead
by mikeyfresh (06/17/2008 - 19:25)
Tupac would of turned 37 years old yesterday.
Words of Pac -
"Only God can judge me."
"They got money for wars but they can't feed the poor."
"I know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing.
Through every dark night, theres a bright day after that.
So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.... and handle it.”
"The american dream wasn't meant for me, cause lady liberty's a hypocrite she lied to me, promised me freedom, education, and equality never gave me nothing but slavery but now look at how dangerous you made me callin me a mad man because im strong and bold."
"I am societies child, this is how they made me, and now im sayin what's on my mind and they dont want that. This is what you made me America."
"Since we all came from a women, got our name from a women, and our game from a women. I wonder why we take from women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think its time we killed for our women, be real to our women, try to heal our women, cus if we dont we'll have a race of babies that will hate the ladies, who make the babies. And since a man can't make one he has no right to tell a women when and where to create one. "
"I believe that everything that you do bad comes back to you. So everything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer from it. But in my mind, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'm going to heaven. "
Your Kid Sister
by mikeyfresh (06/16/2008 - 22:37)
With her debut LP, Koko B. Ware, out this summer, the Chi-town MC gets inside the male mind.
As told to Saidah Petrie
Men say:Girls who hang around a lot of dudes are promiscuous.
Kid Sister says:
Girls who hang out around a lot of dudes can kick your ass! [Laughs.] I had nothing but male friends throughout high school and college, and I didn’t lose my virginity until I was 20. Usually when a girl has a lot of guy friends it means just the opposite. She’s a tomboy, and you don’t see tomboys ho-ing around.
Men say:
Women who have dealt with weight issues tend to be passive in relationships.
Kid Sister says:
At one time I was 215 pounds, so I’ve definitely dealt with weight issues, but I’m not passive at all. Being overweight doesn’t equate to being passive. When a woman has weight issues it tends to have nothing to do with weight. It has to do with self-esteem. I’ve been thick my whole life, and I’ve always had good self-esteem.
Men say:
My girl has no reason to distrust me, but I’d never give her access to my e-mail or my phone.
Kid Sister says:
When you reach a certain point in a relationship, you automatically have access to those things. I wouldn’t want anyone in my shit until after six months. My boyfriend and I have nothing to hide, though, so we’re all up in each other’s stuff—not investigating, but he has access if he wants, and I have access if I want. For instance—this is ghetto—but I didn’t get a
computer until about six months ago. So when I was on the road, I’d ask him, “Baby, can you check my email and add my MySpace friends for me so I don’t look like a loser?”
Men say:
It’s not a good look to work in the same industry as the woman I’m seeing.
Kid Sister says:
That’s true. If you’re working in an office, it would suck to break up with someone in the cubicle next to you, and then you’re like, “Hey, do you want to go get lunch?” [
Laughs.] Then again, if you’re
dating someone who works in your industry, you probably run in the same social circles anyway. The risk is the shame, but what are you going to do? Just go for it and get a little booty if you can.
He's defintely not a square from Delaware
by mikeyfresh (06/16/2008 - 04:50)
New exclusive from Fred Knuxx aka The King Of Grind aka The Big Deal entitled "Do What I Does" produced by Heartbeat. Lookout for this track to feature on Heartbeats new album "Spotless Mind" and the new King Of Grind mixtape which is droppin' soon as an exclusive free download!
Fred Knuxx is floodin' the streets and online this year with a whole host of new projects including his new compilation album Delafornia, the new mixtape "King Of Grind", and the digital distributed EP "On The Verge" plus the new video for his new single "Get Lost".
Download:
In support of the new album, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (In stores July 15th), David Banner has released "The Greatest Mixtape Ever Sold" and right now it's exclusively available ONLY ON LOUD.COM! register, login, and cop it now.
Maino is real live New Yorker, get to know him... For those that live outside the Tri-state area the name may sound unfamiliar, but not for much longer. Hi Hata.
Justus For All
by mikeyfresh (06/13/2008 - 19:12)
“When it’s time for the next Little Brother album, we definitely want to own our masters. I want to own all of my records, it’s not even an arguing matter anymore; I done gave up enough records already – 3 group and 1 solo album.” – Little Brother
The ability to connect and relate to your listeners is an attribute which helps classify musicians that check Hollywood egos and arrogant personas at the door to the recording studio. Since releasing their debut single in 2002, the newly formed duo of Phonte and Big Pooh collectively known as Little Brother have garnered fans with the spirit of De La Soul and the attitude of EPMD reformulated to bring the soul back to the new school generation. Now a globally recognized name amongst hip-hop purists, the group is gearing up to release an album strictly for the streets, “Our next release is a re-issue of our last mixtape Justus for All which was released about a year ago, and the reasoning is simply that the response from the fans was just so much more then we anticipated. Everywhere we’d go fans would be asking for DJ free versions and singles from the mixtape, so we are just giving the people what they asked for”, explains Big Pooh.
After three albums with group producer 9th wonder the North Carolina boys have parted ways with their prized beatsmith. 9th has continued his career as a well respected producer and currently teaches a hip-hop history class at NC’s Central University. Even with the media; more specifically hip-hop websites and bloggers trying to stir up a much fabled beef amongst the crew, Phonte and Pooh cite creative differences and not personal reasons for the split. Fans will certainly miss the masterpieces constructed by the trio but the NC natives didn’t stray far from their family tree to find new musical backdrops for their rhymes, “We got production by Khrysis, Odyssey, DJ spinna and more of our extended family. There a few new songs that we added and a lot of things we tweaked to make it more of a complete album”, says Phonte in a raspy tone. The emcee is still a bit sick from a hectic recording schedule and a slew of random concert performances that have kept his live show in-tune.
Currently, Little Brother is working on solidifying their solo careers and both emcees have albums scheduled to be released this year. Phonte is working on a best of both worlds inspired project with songstress Nicolay. Using the moniker Foreign Exchange the pair’s debut album promises a blend of harmonious and lyrical collaborations of hip-hop soul. “Because we’re not focusing on Little Brother right now, it’s hard to say what direction we’ll go in for the next group project, but we’re always building the Little Brother brand. We just needed time to learn different business aspects and experiment on our own,” says Phonte who has recently appeared on tracks with Playaz Circle and Kidz In The Hall. Flexing their strong willed personalities and contrasting rhyme styles, Big Pooh and Phonte are each standing tall respectively without compromising their original North Cack-a-lack sound. “I understand that I’m in the business to sell music but at the same time I got to be satisfied with the type of material that I put out,” says Pooh without hesitation and a strong assertiveness.
Support The Culture
by mikeyfresh (06/11/2008 - 19:57)
Back with the fifth instalment of Sha Stimuli and DJ Victorious' mixtape series "12 Mixtapes In 12 Months", this time around he's hitting you all with collaborations with artists like Maino, Torae, Kel Spencer, Sic Osyrus, Royce Da 5'9", Jae Millz, Sam Scarfo, Murda Mook, Ras Kass, Grafh just to name a few. Look out for the next mixtape in the series dropping later this month!
01. Gotta Get Mine (feat. Jaz-O)
02. Its A Massacre (feat. Tools & Pumpkinhead)
03. O.D. (feat. L.G. & Jae Millz)
04. Go In (feat. Shabaam Sahdeeq & Haph of The Ranjahz)
05. That's How We Do (feat. Cash Kittens)
06. Rocking Wit The Best (feat. Flash Da Biskit)
07. I Dont Care (feat. Maino)
08. Who? (feat. Sic Osyrus)
09. Save The Day (feat. Torae & Kel Spencer)
10. We Are Here (feat. Chaundon, G.O.D. & D.V. Alias Khryst)
11. Hershation (feat. Hershe)
12. 125 Grams (feat. Joell Ortiz Ras Kass Grafh & Gab Gotcha)
13. Rock On (feat. Famoso)
14. Style Changer (feat. Royce Da 5'9")
15. Never (Remix) (feat. Scarface)
16. Exercise U (feat. Gucci Mane)
17. Lords of Flatbush (feat. Q Da Kid & Marz Money)
18. This Is Life (feat. Cory Gunz)
19. S On My Chest (feat. Sam Scarfo & Straps)
20. That's Right (feat. Nickelus F)
21. Say I (feat. Sam Scarfo)
22. Dead Ringer (feat. Murda Mook)
23. Real Talk (feat. Ghostwridah)
Jim Jones Presents Byrdgang Debut - M.O.B.
by mikeyfresh (06/10/2008 - 18:58)
Rhyme For A Reason
by mikeyfresh (06/05/2008 - 20:47)
Kidz In The Hall - “Rhyme & Reason”
Album: The In Crowd
“Blackout feat. DJ GI Cole”
Naldege: Double O wanted to make a record influenced by the Juice movie era, that really inspired Double O to start Djing. I always wanted to play with some cadences similar to what Rakim and Kane used to do. I don’t think people really flow like that anymore, not necessarily even bragging or boasting – or even telling a story, but just styling on a track and playing with the way you ride the beat. I’m using my voice as an instrument on this beat andwhile it has the an old school feel, everything I’m talking about is current- best of both worlds.
“Drivin’ Down the Block (Low End Theory) feat. Masta Ace”
Double O: This was actually more Masta Ace inspired then Tribe – it’s almost a subliminal message because I knew that young kids would just love it for very specific, superficial reasons like “the beat is hard” and its sounds like it’s chopped and screwed, something you can dance to and all that. That was for all the cats who really know about Masta Ace, and him even shouting out A Tribe Called Quest on “Born to Roll” just showed the unity the artists had back then. It just so happened that we were on the same plane and same bus with Masta Ace in the Czech Republic last summer and go to play it for him, and he just jumped on it.
“Lucifer’s First Joyride feat. Travis of The Gym Class Heroes”
Naledge: I wanted to make a party record that was a bit more abstract and with just the way we are – we don’t like to be straight forward with the way we approach records. Being a lyricist I like to challenge myself to really paint a picture, and with this record I painted debauchery, but in an ill way. It’s not a beat, I would normally rap on, matter of fact our manager wouldn’t allow me to rap on the beat. I had to steal it off Double O’s laptop and took it back to Chicago and made the song. So one day they asked me for a certain song and it just happens I used that session to record “Lucifiers First Joyride.” – when they got it back - they couldn’t say shit. It’s not the normal party song We were vibin’ with Travis at the MTV Campus Invasion and were into a lot the same things and I just picture’d him on it, so it just made sense. He’s a very underrated emcee.
Double O: This record is 2am at a frat party.
“The Pledge featuring Sean Price & Buckshot”
Double O: The Pledge was actually the record that got us the deal with Duck Down, when we initially started making the album it was going to be an EP – with people that we respect and our friends on it and we were just going to throw it on the net’. Naledge came back with the record real quick, and originally I had already sent the beat out to Memphis Bleek, but he was taking way too long. My man Andy from Baseline was the one who was like “ yo you need to get Sean Price on there”, and it just went from a conversation with Dru-Ha to us getting our deal.
Snob Hop feat. Camp Lo
Naledge: I didn’t even want to put it on record if we couldn’t get Camp Lo on it because I already heard them on it in my heads but basically I invented a term called Snop Hop through out all the interviews we do, journalists would always ask us what kind of hip-hop do we feel we make. I feel like it’s Snob Hop, musically we are art-ists; when you see a real piece of art in a gallery – it’s not flim-flam we don’t make picture books or comic books, we make something that’s supposed to be taken very seriously. This song was a way for me to be very abstract and leave it to the fans for their own interpretation. There’s always going to be that super hip-hop head that says he understands every single line I’m saying and that’s the definition of musical snob to me. It’s an exercise where I write a whole verse with out picking the pen up, really just a snapshot where I am at during a certain time.
“Love hangover” feat. Estelle
Double O: This one a record that came together in the clutch because we originally had another idea for a feature and it was a completely different record, but it never happened. So I totally restructured the song and was going to send it John Legend for his album. Right at the time Estelle invited us to her video shoot, and we all jus decided to record together. The song is a feels good , but it’s subliminal at the same time because there something’s that feel so good but really are bad for you. Estelle’s pen game is crazy, she helped on the concept and we just banged it out in the 11th hour. This was one of the records that just came together.
“Inner Me”
Naledge: This is my personal favorite Inner Me is the only song that doesn’t have a feature and it’s me having a conversation with myself about the trials and tribulations I face with being in the industry. It’s a very dark record record and I think it’ll surprise a lot of fans that I actually went into that realm of music. Usually I just use Kidz in the Hall records as ways to speak on generalities and society as a whole and I don’t always dig in too deep and say I am feeling. Inner Me is stream of conscious conversation that I’m having with myself from everything from my girl, parents, fame, addiction, being on the road, school and where I want go with my life. Certain things just go through your mind, like can I still be doing this ten years from now and even certain friends that changed up on me.
Bossman
by mikeyfresh (06/05/2008 - 03:37)
Yesterday L.A. Reid announced that Shakir Stewart had been promoted to executive vice president of Def Jam Recording.
He's been credited for signing Young Jeezy and Rick Ross to Def Jam.
He recently told sohh.com :
I'm up for the task," he said. "I'm up for the challenge of it. I'm not caught up in, 'I'm replacing Jay-Z.' I'm here to deliver and work for my artists and build and expand on the brand. That's my goal."
"Jay-Z's shoes would be hard to fill in any fashion," he added. "So, my focus is really to come in and do my job and help build and create my legacy as well expand the legacy that's already there."
I found this new trend in Japan pretty disturbing.
LALALA Means I Love You
by mikeyfresh (06/03/2008 - 21:17)
LALAH HATHAWAY STRETCHES HER MUSICAL CANVAS WITH HER STAX RECORDS DEBUT “SELF PORTRAIT” OUT TODAY!!
Album’s June 3rd Release Reunites Hathaway with Long-Time Collaborators Producer Rex Rideout, Sandra St. Victor & Rahsaan Patterson.
SELF PORTRAIT is the critically acclaimed vocalist and song stylist Lalah Hathaway’s newest musical offering which is set to be released on June 3rd. This release is Lalah’s fourth solo project, and marks the beginning of her new affiliation with the recently revived Stax Records label which is distributed via Concord Music Group. It also brings Lalah together once again with noted producer Rex Rideout. Rideout served as the producer of the 2004 Grammy-nominated all-star tribute album dedicated to the music of the R&B balladeer Luther Vandross, “Forever, For Always, For Luther”, for which Lalah achieved her first #1 single for Forever, For Always, For Love.”
SELF PORTRAIT also calls upon the talents of co-writers and vocalists Rahsaan Patterson and Sandra St. Victor, and producers Terrace Martin, who has worked on several of Snoop’s recent releases, Kenneth Crouch, and Paula Gallitano.
Stax/Concord Music Group’s Vice President of A&R, Collin Stanback, is very enthusiastic about SELF PORTRAIT. “This is basically a dream come true for me as an A&R person,” stated Stanback. “The reason I got into this game is to work with artists of Lalah's stature. I have been a fan of hers ever since Heaven Only Knows, and I am proud to be associated with her project."
The first single, “Let Go,” is a mid-tempo track that will be shipped to radio on March 20th with the label going for adds on April 21st. Lalah co-produced “Let Go” with Rideout, which was written by Lalah, Rideout and Patterson, who also does “double-duty” on background vocals. “’Let Go’ is a song that came out of a need for me to let go of the worry, a few pairs of old jeans, and old ideas as well as some people who were taking up too much space in my life. I had to let go in the most literal and metaphorical sense, and breathe through it all with a goal of moving toward peace,” says Lalah of the first single.
Garth Trinidad, the noted host of KCRW’s “Chocolate City,” said of Let Go: "Lalah continues to fortify her legacy as a modern day vocal priestess. This album is her most personal, laden with severe emotional voodoo and sublime passion."
Standout tracks on SELF PORTRAIT, include Breathe, On Your Own, Learning To Swim and That Was Then, where Lalah’s phrasing and skillful playfulness are reminiscent of the classic works of her iconic father, Donny Hathaway.
“I’m very excited about this album. It’s very introspective,” states Hathaway. “I’m also excited about being at Stax Records because it is truly the home of soul music in this country.”
In addition to embarking on a U.S. promotional tour, Lalah will also be performing at the Billboard Live clubs in Japan in May, as well as domestic dates in Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Oakland, New York, Atlanta and Vienna VA.
She will also serve as a “Circle of Promise” Ambassador for the breast cancer non-profit organization Susan G. Komen. As their Ambassador, Lalah will help motivate and encourage African American women to take charge of their health. She will help the organization mobilize women to join “Lalah’s Circle,” and encourage them to come to Washington, DC on June 7th to participate in the National Race designed to promote breast cancer health.
RIP Yves Saint Laurent
Crooks x Vans Coming Soon!
Worldwide
by mikeyfresh (06/03/2008 - 02:46)
Espo takes it to Dublin
A New York City Art Legend
LEFTFOOT Taiwan recently played host to controversial pictorial journey titled West End Girls Meets The East End Boys, featuring the West End girls of Taiwan's Xi Men Ting area. The photos shot by Maco Hsu (aka MCP) also included a small number of t-shirts and a book. Next up for the exhibition is a showing at King Store in Xi Men Ting.
Spotted at www.slamxhype.com
Brooklyn Zoo
by mikeyfresh (06/01/2008 - 19:44)
KRS ONE, DJ Premier. Tickets available at Fat Beats New York 
May 28, 2008
Brooklyn, NY
The headliners of the Main Performance Day of the 2008 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival have finally been announced. Legendary MC KRS ONE and DJ Premier will be leading the charge this year on July 12th along with Brooklyn's own Buckshot.
KRS ONE is widely recognized as one of the greatest MC's of all time with a career spanning over two decades. From 'Criminal Minded' to 'Edutainment' to 'Return Of The Boom Bap' KRS has delivered hit after genre defining hit. Also known as 'The Teacha' KRS has served as Hip-Hop's conscious and intellectual barometer while earning respect from every corner of the Hip-Hop Nation. This summer KRS will be re-launching the Stop The Violence Movement, his initiative to combat inner city violence. Brooklyn Bodega and The Brooklyn Hip- Hop Festival will also be working with the Stop The Violence Movement on their Summer calendar.
DJ Premier is one of the most celebrated and accomplished DJ's and producers in Hip-Hop. From Gangstarr to Nas to Jay Z to Janet Jackson to MOP to Dilated Peoples Premier has been a cornerstone of the culture. He has influenced a generation of beat makers with his trademark style and staying power. Premier's ability to make hits for pop stars, rap stars, trap stars and backpackers has made him one of the most sought after names in the business.
"I have always maintained that KRS ONE is the greatest MC of all time. Content, lyricism, cultural impact, longevity. There is no one better. KRS's views on metaphysics and philosophy which birthed the once controversial statement, 'I am Hip-Hop' shaped my view of the culture and my place within it. It was Kris who told us that one day there would be a Hip- Hop president and here we are with Barack Obama who is a fan of [Jay Z's] 'American Gangster.' The addition of Kris and Primo to this year's lineup is a great honor and a personal pleasure," Wes Jackson, BHF Executive Director.
Mr. Jackson also went on to say that the remaining lineup and details on additional events on July 11th and the official after party on July 12th will be released next week.
Tickets for July 12th are available online at www.brooklyn bodega.com as well as Fat Beats
406 Ave Of The Americas (6th Ave between 8th and 9th Streets) in Manhattan.
More official BHF retailers will be announced next week on June 2nd.
Tickets for July 10th at the Masonic Lodge with Bilal and Ladybug Mecca are also available at www.masonicboom. com
The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival 2008 calendar:
July 10th at the Masonic Lodge in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
July 11th in DUMBO, venue and talent TBA
July 12th Main Day including Brooklyn Hip-Hop Family Day
July 12th Official after party
Stay in touch via brooklynbodega.com for details on artists, vendors and more
Do your part and SUPPORT CELEBRATE and REPRESENT
Make a donation now - Keep Hip-Hop Alive
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Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
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This is the remix.
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