Thursday, August 23, 2007
Respiration
Monday, August 20, 2007
Lupe Fiasco x Straight Laced “The Cool” Tee
Although Lupe Fiasco’s sophomore album, “The Cool” won’t hit record stores until sometime in late November, New Jersey sneaker spot Straight Laced hooked it up with Lupe Fiasco to produce this limited edition t-shirt commemorating the album. The t-shirt was released over the weekend.
*Anyone in NJ, i'll pay you to cop me a tee.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Preview "Graduation" Tomorrow!!!
KanYe will be appearing on (and hosting) “The Friday Night Project” in the UK tonight, which has I've also heard he will be premiering "Champion". The show starts at on 10:30pm on Channel 4. He will also be on “The Album Chart Show” a little later. See here for more information.
On Monday Kanye played the entire Graduation album to a select few people at BBC’s famous Radio Music Theatre. For a complete run down of the tracks see here. Apparently the entire session including many world premieres will be broadcast on BBC 1 Extra on Saturday at 4pm. Don’t miss out - Listen online!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Yo! MTV Raps x Puma
About Yo! MTV Raps x Puma
Nobody can forget last years highly anticipated Yo! MTV Raps x Puma Clydes. Now, once again, they’re back for a second run. Each pack featuring Doctor Dre & Ed Lover, MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane and Doug E. Fresh includes not only a pair of fresh sneakers based on the Clyde/Suede silhouette but also matching apparel such as t-shirts, track jackets/hoodies and accessories. The collection will release on September 15th so be on the look out for this to drop.
Check out the rest of the collection over at Hypebeast.
Be Notorious
This should be pretty dope when it releases. I also like the idea that they are giving the opportunity to anybody to play the late great Christopher Wallace. So if you think someone got the skills to play Biggie send them over to www.biggiecasting.com.
Here are also a few Demo's I dug up:
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Doom - Mood
This might be the most slept on album in Hip Hop. Mood, who maybe most recognized for launching DJ Hi-Tek's career, at least outside of their core fanbase, are a group of cats from Cincinnati. The production is some of the finest I've heard on a hip-hop release, handled exclusively by Hi-Tek and Jahson. As the title of the album suggests, there is a lingering sense of doom, and danger throughout the album, and the two talented producers provide a musical loundscape which is similar to a horror movie score. The emcees themselves compliment these dope beats by dropping knowledge, and lyrical gems all throughout. Among their apocalyptic views, they clearly show a conscious side of them, longing for a better world before the one we're currently living in is extinct. If i'm not mistaken also they also launched the career of another great MC Talib Kweli as he appears on 5 tracks on the LP.
Download Here
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Indie Album Of The Year
Blu is the leader of West Coast Hip Hop. Since the days of Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, and Jurassic 5, there have been few wordsmiths that have grasped the attention of listeners worldwide. Introduced to NWA and Public Enemy by his father, Blu later was captivated by the likes of Black Star, The Roots, and Common, creating a unique balance that is displayed in Blu's personality and music.
Blu's first full length LP, "Below the Heavens" pairs Blu with producer Exile on the Sound in Color imprint. His first single, "Narrow Path" has rocked stages across the world, as fans begin to feel the impact of Blu's music. His delivery flows flawlessly, while the content reflects the joy and pain of working class youth everywhere. Since the release of "Narrow Path," Blu has performed alongside Slum Village, X-Clan, Platinum Pied Pipers, Lyrics Born, DJ Houseshoes, and many others, while participating in 3 high-profile nationwide tours alongside musical family members: Ta'Raach, Aloe Blacc, and Exile.
The buzz has fans salivating for new music. Worldwide, people are looking to put hope into the 'next' emcee that will give them the same feeling when they first heard Black Thought, Common, or Slum Village. Blu fulfills this need, but maintains something that is entirely new, while not recycled.
I can't wait for the 28th so I can go cop a hard copy at BB, but enjoy the advance for now.
Clipse - Exclusive Audio Footage
Tracklist:
2, HEAR ME OUT
3, POWER
4, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW FEAT. KELIS
5, BREAKFAST IN CAIRO FEAT. NOREAGA & KURUPT
6, HOSTAGE
7 WILD COWBOY FEAT. MARKITA
8, GOT CAUGHT DEALIN'
9, TAIWAN TO TEXAS
10, STICK GIRL
11, YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME FEAT. LEE HARVEY & NAKO
12, FEEL LIKE ME
13, BODYSNATCHERS FEAT. MAGNUM
14, DIANA ROSS
15, WATCH OVER ME
16, THE FUNERAL
Download Here
Exclusive Audio Footage was meant to be the debut album of Clipse, after they signed with Elektra Records. The album's first and only single was "The Funeral". Due to poor promotion from the label, it failed to catch on in any meaningful way despite the substantial buzz it generated with fans, and was quickly deemed a commercial failure. Elektra then decided to indefinitely shelve the album.
The Funeral (one of my favorite Clipse joints)
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Tracklist:
1. Sittin' Here
2. Stop Dat
3. I Luv U
4. Brand New Day
5. 2 Far (Feat. Wiley)
6. Fix Up, Look Sharp
7. Cut 'Em Off
8. Hold Ya Mouf' (Feat. God's Gift)
9. Round We Go
10. Jus' A Rascal
11. Wot U On?
12. Jezebel
13. Seems 2 Be
14. Live O
15. Do It!
Download Here
Old Skool (off Math & English)
Monday, August 13, 2007
Talib Kweli - Ear Drum/More Drum
1. Everything Man (Produced by Madlib)
2. NY Weather Report (Produced by Nick Speed)
3. Hostile Gospel (Produced by Just Blaze)
4. Say Something (featuring Jean Grae) (Produced by will.i.am)
5. Country Cousins (featuring UGK) (produced by A Kid Called Roots & Sha-La Shakier)
6. Holy Moly (Produced by Pete Rock)
7. Eat To Live (Produced by Madlib)
8. In The Mood (Produced by Kanye West)
9. Soon A New Day (featuring Norah Jones) (Produced by Madlib)
10. Electrify (produced by Pete Rock)
11. Hell (produced by Terrace Martin & Battlecat)
12. More Or Less (featuring Dion) (Produced by Hi-Tek)
13. The Perfect Beat (featuring KRS-One) (produced by Swift D)
14. Hot Thing (Produced by will.i.am)
15. Oh My Stars (featuring Musiq) (produced by DJ Khalil)
16. Listen!!! (Produced by Kwamé)
I put this album up as a favor to my frat brother, but go out and SUPPORT Kweli on August 21st as the man continues to bless us with Quality music.
Downloads:
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Before They Soldout
Anyone remember when Black Eyed Peas were DOPE (pre Fergie era). These cats released two excellent albums (Behind The Front & Bridging the Gap), and made great Hip Hop party music without losing any of their musical integrity, and were sort of a modern day Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul. I'm guessing the pressures of the industry got to them and they were forced to go down the lane of what we call Pop music, which also let the departure of former member/backup singer Kim Hill.
We still see a glimpse of what could have been from time to time as their party anthem "Like That" on Monkey Business is one of my favorite records, and ironically doesn't feature Fergie. But lately I've lost all interest in them besides the occasional Will.I.Am side project, but hopefully Taboo's and Apl.De.Ap solo projects can bring back some of that old flavor.
Black Eyed Peas - Joints & Jam
Kim Hill - Interview about BEP
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Throwback Video
One of my favorite joints, and I think the video is brilliant.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
?uestlove: The History Behind The Circus
If you don't follow ?uestlove's blog than you should really get on the ball. Along with Phonte from LB, Quest provides the best reading material for any music lover. Here is his latest posting on Common's Electric Circus along with 4 instrumentals that didn't make the cut.
Questlove: "Common should be enjoying the fruits of his labor with his newest release Finding Forever. i think this will be his first number one pop album. its been a long time coming from him.
i decided to focus on an album that reflected a dark time for him.....
Electirc Circus
the newest issue of XXL magazine states that perhaps the publication was a lil too hasty in awarding Common's Be a "classic" rating. Not that i agree with a "classic rating" or not (i personally prefer that "close but no cigar" almost perfect and a 1/2 rating, that way your work wont be scrutinized in a jealous manner by your peers, but it still indicates that it is indeed a cut above the rest)....being as though that was the first review in many reviews ive read on post Electric Circus Common---i pretty much knew what i was in for: because the expectations were so low for him at the time, the fact that he managed to make an album that wouldn't alienate his contemporaries was seen a a damn miracle. not to mention the fact that the stupid notion that his then girlfriend Erykah was run/ruining his life through his music was damn near a laughable riot for if ANY runs Common's world....its Common.
a very shrewd smart businessman when it comes to decisions and the direction of where his career is going to go this week. don't get it twisted.
i came to his hometown in chicago for the weekend (lollipolooza) and a friend of mine slid me some long forgotten outtakes from the much dreaded/praised Electric Circus period.
besides Dangelo's Voodoo, i'll say that my second favorite project from the 1996-2003 Electric Lady Studio period was the Electric Circus album. i decided to share 4 of the outtakes with you.
The reasoning behind the albums experimental nature was simple: most saw the inhabitants of the Electric Lady period (Voodoo, Things Fall Apart, Mama's Gun, First Born Second, Black On Both Sides, REflection Eternal, Quality, Phrenology, Like Water For Chocolate, Worldwide Underground, Everybody's Got Their Something, Aijuswannasing, and many many others were created, nurtured, born, recorded, mixed, edited here during the 96-03 season) as the leaders of the left to center world. it took a good 4 years for the world to take notice, but once they took notice it was like "what are we going to do with it?"--the turning point started after the 2000 release of Dangleo's Voodoo and its encore album LWFC from our subject matter. The atmosphere was "we are going to try and push each other". all 3 studios had some sorta vibe to it: Dangleo/Common/Erykah took the master bedroom of studio A ;Com (for vocals)/Mos/and one time Soulquarian production cats would take studio B (Nikka, Bilal, Musiq); and Kweli and Mos loved the C room upstairs.
If Fela was the spirit over Like Water For Chocolate....then i would say Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information was the spirit over Electric Circus---despite the rock overtones.
The 4 SONGS on my front Page
1.The Selma Hyjak
ill say the main players for the entire album are James Poyser (keys and synths), J Dilla (drums, keys, synth, programming, bass), Pino Pallidino (bass, guitar) and Me on drums and percussion occasionally jeff lee johnson would come and bless us with his guitar playing.
James Poyser (a diehard Thrust and Sunlight student---go brush up on your Herbie 70s material youngins) was DYING for a reason to break out his dust filled Vocoder. i remember the day we did this we also had just cut EC's "Between You And Me And Liberation", and "Heaven Somewhere". i think a magazine was lying around cause all James was saying in his microphone was "hey dont you wanna? hey salma heyek?"---we were all cracking up while recording this one. Dilla was on Sleigh Bells, and Pino was on bass. i remember Com telling me we needed some fast energetic shit that would make him jump around onstage. So the "Selma" song was born.
2.The Dark
this was called "the Dark" for obvious reasons: we were trying to find the happy medium of a single and experimentation (this was months before we threw our hands in the air and asked the neptunes for assistance) the rhythm machine you hear on this track was a 70s staple in the work of Sly Stone, Norman Whitfield, and Shuggie Otis. I believe its owner was my engineer (then the assistant engineer) Crazy Steve. Dilla had sampled its nosies and programmed this rhythm. I drummed along to this afterwards and then James and Pino added their instruments. i remember Com frowning on the use of the piano for he felt it didn't feel "cutting edge" enough. Our good friend, Director Nzingah Stewert would dub Com "the king of "NO!!!!!!" for he would shoot an idea down way before you got to develop it.---the same way i shot down "The Light" before i heard the entire song some 2 years back. at least now he'd give us a half hour of effing around before he barked "go to something else". i think in my head i was going for Primo---i tuned my drums low and the piano line took me to the piano demos Primo did for LWFC's "6th Sense"---we almost had Com hooked for we processed and filtered and even strummed the open piano strings like a guitar (strrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrum!!!!!!") but alas he dismissed it as "too normal"
3.Show For Ro (Step Into The Ro)
ahhh women. without em there would be no muse. there is nothing like a beautiful woman in a studio to show off your gifts. the greatest story ive ever heard was Marvin Gaye freestyling his political anthem "(Come On People) Let's Get It On" into the version we now know and love (about sex) once he laid eyes on his then 17 year old future wife Jan (legend has it that after struggling with the vocals for days he was about to give up when producer Ed Townsend's lady friend and her daughter (jan) came by to visit Ed....Marv was so taken aback by Jan's beauty he started showing off --much to the shock and chagrin of Ed who was seconds away from "the hell are you doing?" button stopping--but of course all the struggle Marv had with the political version of "Lets Get It On" went out the window once he had inspiration to sing to....and the very version we know now is said to be a one take freestyle.---well sometimes this method could work and or backfire---dangleo would freeze up the music if a girl came by the studio, for him the final product was a better presentation than "the getting there" part. it takes a confident person to let you see all the flaws the recording process takes. Com on the other hand thrived on female energy to get our juices flowing. So it was often encouraged for me to always invite my friends down to hang just to get some new energy. one said friend at the time was rosario dawson. she was at the screening and afterparty for her josie and the pussycats project and i told her to come by since she was already in the area. this of course was visual comedy for everyone involved---suddenly mofos are tucking in shirts, and throwing away 10 day old food on the counter, cleaning dirty fingernails (jokes)---but most importantly we were playing.
of all the songs in our arsenal....this is the jam that can describe a great day at the lady. just the swirl intro of the keys as the music creeps in was the soundtrack to our going home after a long night of work: usually we'd leave round 7am ---sun is out, and this is what is playing on the car stereo.
of course the king of "no!!" was singing me (in a quiet manner as to not embarrass us in front of mz dawson) my own creation from the roots "things fall apart" ("step into the realm you bound to get caught....." which was basically his nice guy way of saying "no sloppy seconds mofo....gimme my own shit!"---i still love this song.
4.The Electric Circus
prince took a liking to common in mid 2000, and let com use his studio while he was away on tour. he also agreeed to play some music as well. we took this opportunity to fulfill a lifetime fantasy: recording at paisley park. by this point P had pretty much shipped all his vintage gear from his classic period to the basement.---the same gear i begged engineer femi jiya to dust off and let me have a go at. we made this song shortly before "star 69" on EC--but because it sounded too much like a prince song....we thought it would deter him from contributing to the album so we passed.---but come interlude time i couldn't hold back and still put it on the album.
so there it is. 4 cuts from a long long time ago. im still holding my breath in which someone will properly place the EC project in the light it deserves. of course a hip hop publication run by middle class blacks (which is suspect enough) will scoff at such a notion as an art record---for the myth of "the streets" (when is the last time "the streets" brought shit?) would prove to be too risky in cosigning an album in which said mc confronts his homophobia, drug use, and marriage in less than an hour. not to mention mca going belly up 3 months after the album release halted all promotion on the project. which provides a very good alley oops shot for future common projects.
of course as executive producer of both Chocolate and Circus im too close to these projects and anyone's half ass dismissal of this work gets my ire---but more than that i want people to see the entire scope from where we were coming from in 2001:
a bunch of cats looking to push the limits of music as we saw it fit."
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Kanye West - Graduation [Cover + Tracklisting]
Tracklisting:
1. Goodmorning
2. Homecoming (Feat. Chris Martin)
3. Stronger
4. Champion
5. Goodlife (Feat. T-Pain)
6. I Wonder
7. Even More Broke Phi Broke (Skit)
8. Can't Tell Me Nothing
9. Drunk And Hot Girls (Feat. Mos Def)
10. Everything I Am (Scratching by DJ Premier)
11. Goodnight (Feat. Mos Def)
12. Big Brother
13. Graduation (Skit)
14. The Glory
Goodlife is scheduled to be next the single. But why T-Pain Kanye? But anyway i'm so glad my man Mos Def made it on two tracks. On another note Kanye was also nominated for 5 VMA's.
Interverview on TRL
TRL Performance
Watch Them Blame This On Hip Hop
I'm not very political by any means, but as a black college student myself I was very disturbed by this story. My condolences goes out to the family of the victims.
Here is the report provided by the NY Post: Four young people - all students at the same Delaware college - were lined up against a wall in Newark and shot in the head, three of them falling dead, police said yesterday.
A woman, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and two men, Terrence Aeriel, 18, and Deshon Harvey, 20, were killed at the basketball courts of the Mount Vernon School at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, officials said.
Aeriel's sister, Natasha, 19, survived and staggered about 30 feet away from the others. She was in fair condition yesterday.
"They were shot at close range in quick succession," said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura. "We're looking for more than one suspect."
All four students were headed for bright futures at Delaware State University:
* Harvey was entering his junior year as a business-management major. He was elected "Mr. Junior," a position on the homecoming committee.
* Hightower had spent the past two years working and saving money for college, friends said. She had received her acceptance letter to the historically black college Thursday and planned to join her three pals there this fall.
* Terrence Aeriel was an incoming freshman and planning to major in business administration. He was hoping to join his sister in the marching band.
* Natasha Aeriel is entering her junior year, majoring in biology.
"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families of students who were murdered," said Delaware State President Allen Sessoms.
Cops did not know the killers' motive.
Cops and prosecutors appealed to Newark residents for help, offering a $20,000 reward for information. Tipsters can call Essex prosecutors at (973) 621-4586 or Newark police at (877) NWK-TIPS.
Mos Love
Here is some RARE great quality live audio of Mos Def w/Band at his recent performance at the Highline Ballroom in NY:
Downloads:
Bonus: For My People Ft Black Jack Johson
Monday, August 6, 2007
Jutus League To The Rescue
9th Wonder - The Dream Merchant 2 [Releasing 10/9/07]
Tracklist:
1.) Mr. Dream Merchant Intro
2.) Shots f/Big Dho & Sean Price
3.) Merchant Of Dreams f/The EMBASSY, Skyzoo & Torae
4.) Brooklyn In My Mind f/ Mos Def, Jean Grae & Memphis Bleek
5.) Sunday f/Keisha Shontelle & Chaundon
6.) Baking Soda f/Big Treal
7.) Reminisce (Take Time) f/Big Remo & The Great Novej of the A.L.L.I.E.S.
8.) No Time To Chill f/Little Brother
9.) It Aint Over ft. Jozee Mo & Tyler Woods
10.) The Last Time f/ Royce the 5′9, Naledge & Vandalyzm of the MIDWEST WRECKIN’ CREW- The D, The Chi & The Lou
11.) Saved f/Saigon & Joe Scudda
12.) Milky Lowa ft. Camp Lo
13.) Backlash f/Sean Boog & Buckshot
14.) Thank You f/ D.O.X & O-Dash
15.) Let It Bang f/Ness & Skyzoo
16.) What Makes A Man f/Rapper Big Pooh & Buddy Klein
(All Tracks Produced By 9th Wonder)
Little Brother - The Getback [Releasing 9/25/07]
Tracklist
1. Sirens feat. Carlitta Durand
2. Can’t Win For Losing
3. Breakin My Heart feat. Lil Wayne
4. Good Clothes
5. After The Party feat. Carlitta Durand
6. ExtraHard
7. Step It Up feat. Dion
8. Two Step Blues feat. Darien Brockington
9. That Ain’t Love feat. Jozeemo
10. Dreams
11. When Everything Is New
Produced by Seven Niggas and a Bad Ass Filipino
Downloads:
- Little Brother - The Chitlin Circuit 1.5
- Little Brother - The Chitlin Circuit
- Little Brother - The Listening
- Little Brother - The Commercial Free EP
- Foreign Exchange - Connected
- Darion Brockington - Somebody To Love (Advance)
- Darion Brockington - The Feeling
- Joe Scudda - The Authentic
- Median - Path To Relief
- Little Brother & Mick Boogie - And Justus For All
- DJ Drama & Little Brother - Seperate But Equal
- Little Brother - The Minstrel Show
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Lupe Fiasco performs 2 new tracks off "The Cool" at Lollapalooza
The Lollapalooza festival in Chicago went down this weekend. Hip Hop headliners were The Legendary Roots Crew and Chi-Town's own Rhymefest & Lupe Fiasco. With this said Lupe premiered 2 new songs today during his set. I'll try to get the video up later, but for now ENJOY!!!
Downloads:
The Alchemist
Nas And Wu-Tang Rock Bells, But Mos Def, Common And Kweli Steal The Show
Support Rock The Bells when it hits your town!!!
On a night when Nas and Wu-Tang Clan headlined the biggest hip-hop event Miami had ever seen, it was mid-carders Mos Def and Talib Kweli, along with their special surprise guest Common, that stole the show and received the most “ruckus” reaction from the crowd.
Talib Kweli entered the stage at Bayfront Park just as the scorching Miami sun began setting behind Downtown’s high-rise-condominium-laden skyline. After performing his bigger solo hits “Move Something” and “The Blast,” along with songs from his upcoming Ear Drum, like “Listen!!!” and “Hot Thing,” he was finally joined onstage by his partner-in-rhyme Mos Def for the fan favorite “Get By.”
With the energy already at a fever pitch, the duo launched into their Black Star collaborations “Definition” and “Supreme Supreme,” before Common ran out onstage. With the hip-hop-show-deprived Miami crowd of several thousand whipped into a frenzy, the trio jumped into “Respiration,” followed by Common’s new single, “The People.”
Unfortunately, when Kweli and Common left Mos Def onstage alone, the show quickly spiraled into a low point. Although Mos eventually tackled classics like “Mathematics,” “Ms. Fat Booty” and “Umi Says,” the anxious crowd was subjected to almost 40 minutes of what essentially was Mos Def’s iPod playlist of favorite songs, as he danced around and told us why he loved hip-hop. Many of the same people who excitedly sung along to every Black Star song just minutes before, began filing out for the concessions as Mos wasted away his set time.
Headliners Wu-Tang Clan closed the show with an hour-long set focused heavily on pre-1998 classics. Masta Killah was absent, but nobody seemed to mind as GZA and Ghostface filled in for him on the set-closing “Triumph.” Method Man, who was vocally displeased with last week’s New York Rock the Bells crowd several times, said Miami was the most energetic crowd on the tour thus far, and rewarded the crowd with a pseudo-encore performance of “Gravel Pit.”
The most touching moment of the set came when Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s son joined the Clan for a dedication performance of “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.”
Nas gave a crowd-satisfying performance that touched all facets of his career. What he lacks in stage presence and breath-control, he makes up for with his deep catalog of classic songs. He performed everything from smash singles (”If I Ruled the World,” “Made You Look”), to album cuts (”Shoot ‘Em Up,” “Black Republicans”), to songs that only die-hard fans would know (”Doo Rags,” “No Idea’s Original”). It was a bit jarring to hear most of Illmatic and “Oochie Walley” performed in the same set, but Nas rewarded his varying fanbase handsomely. Pharoahe Monch, along with half of his backing band (his guitarist and keyboardist were mysteriously absent) and his backup singers, provided an entertaining performance of newer songs like “Desire” and “Free,” along with his more well known “Oh No” and “My Life.” The set-closing “Simon Says” was the closest a hip-hop show could get to a mosh pit.
Immortal Technique, never one to shy away from his highly political opinions, shied away from most of his usual Republican-bashing (maybe since Miami is a very Republican city), but chose to address social and racial issues that plague Hispanic people living in the United States. Joined onstage by Diabolic, his most energetic performance came with “Peruvian Cocaine.”
Philadelphia collective Jedi Mind Tricks received a surprisingly rousing response, with a set focusing heavily on their 2000 release, Violent by Design.
Miami acts Fresh Air Fund, and ¡Mayday!, of mtvU “Groundhog Day” fame, opened. Scheduled performers David Banner and UGK both no-showed.
The Alchemist
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Artofficial - Stranger
ArtOfficial consists of Danny Perez on Keys, Manny Patino on Drums, Ralf Valencia on Bass, and Keith Cooper on the Saxophone with the vocals provided by emcees Newsense and Logics.
The set up alone beckons the questions “What does a live band with two emcees sound like?” Well, imagine Soulive with a harder edge or The Roots, but jazzier, denser, and more spontaneous. Envision blending your favorite groups from Hip-Hop’s Golden era and replacing their sampled beats with Jazz musicians. Now, what if those Jazz musicians have a knack for creating that boom-bap sound that made us all fall in love with Hip-Hop in the first place? In reality, such a mixture doesn’t have to be imagined. It exists. It’s a living, breathing entity that lives in Miami, but thinks universally. It speaks in a language that is both familiar and unknown. Its name is ArtOfficial and its here to make you remember the past and embrace the future.
Started from the remains of two bands, one Jazz and one Hip-Hop, ArtOfficial has taken the local music scene by storm by implementing their previous musical experiences to achieve quick results. In the words of Danny Perez, “After having minor success in our other bands we were able to use all those years of experience to get the outcome we wanted out of this one.” Part of that experience is seen in their stage shows. ArtOfficial’s live performances have earned them a reputation as extraordinary showmen that according to the Miami New Times “get butts moving!”
Today ArtOfficial is constantly performing and expanding on an already growing fan base even finding time to organize a monthly event dubbed State of The Art where local musicians and visual artists can display their works. “We’ve been running this event for about seven months with a great turnout every time. It gives us a chance to develop the local art and music scenes and also to become part of something bigger than the music. We want to create a vibe, an atmosphere that goes along with the music.” says Logics in regards to State of the Art.
ArtOfficial’s ever growing presence caused them to hit the recording studio with a vengeance. They have currently finished their first recording, a 5 track EP titled Stranger. And according to the band, it’s everything you’d expect from their energetic live shows, but expanded and executed to perfection. When asked about their run-ins with record execs the DIY band says, “We’ve been very successful at handling ourselves so far. We’re going to work this record and plot our next move like a game of chess.”
1. Big City Bright Lights
2. Gone
3. Clockwork
4. Eyes of A Stranger
5. Remember the Days
MySpace Here
Download Here
The Alchemist
Friday, August 3, 2007
Median’s Relief In The Making mixed by DJ Low Key hosted by 9th Wonder
Produced by 9th Wonder, Nicolay, Khrysis, Von Pea, Forty, M-Phazes & Marshall Law
Words by Median
Mixed by DJ Low Key
Hosted by 9th Wonder
1. 9th Wonder Intro
2. Median - Comfortable (prod. by 9th Wonder)
3. Foreign Exchange - All That You Are feat. Median (+ Remixes) (prod. by Nicolay)
4. DJ Low Key - Mixing In Action #1 Freestyle feat. Median
5. Median - Doing Dances (prod. by 9th Wonder)
6. Median - Rize feat. LaDehra (prod. by Khrysis)
7. Big Pooh - Scars feat. Median (prod. by 9th Wonder)
8. Median - Golden Ticket feat. Tanya Morgan (prod. by Von Pea)
9. Von Pea Guarantees A Classic
10. Median - Powershift (prod. by Nicolay)
11. Median - M.A.D. (Median Alleviates the Drama) (prod. by 9th Wonder)
12. Cesar Comanche - Get Ready feat. Median (prod. by 9th Wonder)
13. Edgar Allen Floe - The Great Adventure feat. Median & L.E.G.A.C.Y. (prod. by 9th Wonder)
14. Spectac - Life Ain’t Easy feat. Median (prod. by FortyI)
15. Median - Personified (Remix) (prod. by Khrysis)
16. Median - How Big Is Your World? (prod. by 9th Wonder)
17. Little Brother - Shorty on the Lookout feat. Median (prod. by 9th Wonder)
18. L.E.G.A.C.Y. - I’m A Star feat. Median, Chaundon & Joe Scudda (prod. by Khrysis)
19. Kenn Starr - Back At It Again feat. Median & M-Phazes (prod. by M-Phazes)
20. Median - Balance (prod. by Khrysis)
21. Median - Yeah Right (prod. by Khrysis)
22. Jean Grae – Stories feat. Median (prod. by 9th Wonder)
23. Median - What Would You Do? (prod. by Ant B)
24. Median – Straight N Narrow (prod. by Marshall Law)
25. Foreign Exchange - Be Alright feat. Median (Easy Breezy Sunday Afternoon Remix) (prod. by Nicolay)
26. Median – Maglite (prod. by 9th Wonder)
27. Median - Visionary (prod. by 9th Wonder)
28. 9th Wonder Outro
29. Median – If Then Statement
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