1 MORE HIT - THE MOVIE (J Swift)

Peace fam…

This was absolutely not a planned post from me, but there’s no better timing than this after my last week’s post about people - especially artists - struggling with addiction.  I was surprised and really saddened by the (now old) news that J Swift had had a serious bout with crack, and that there was now a reality show/indie film to prove it.  For those who don’t remember he was the man behind the Pharcyde when they were making music history with Bizarre Ride.  He wasn’t the only member of the group to go through this - Fatlip had his own run in’s with cocaine.

So about this movie:  In short, J Swift was found some years later by an old friend, strung out on the streets of Hollywood.  She convinced him to do a reality show (I’ll be honest and tell you she seems like a “philanthropical opportunist”), making a deal with him that if he came clean, the show (and a paycheque) would happen. What’s worse is that in one clip from this trailer J Swift says that he was asked by the people behind the show to “hit the drugs again so they can get more takes.”  Really?  Messed.

Selah,

Bess

This had to go up!

Thuggin!!

-THE BLAST

Madlib即將推出Medicine Show系列的最新13集Black Tape，與12集一樣都是混音專輯，這張總共收錄了35首歌，總長1個小時的hip hop set，他將別人的饒舌配上自己的beats，這是最早公布的橋段Doom VS Jadakiss，這張專輯的內頁是限制級的變種A書，未滿18歲不能購買喔(好想看)，另外他將Medicine Show全系列包成1包，成為一個磚頭(The Brick)販售。

posted by DJ @llenblow

來自羅德島的MC Cesar Luciano推出了最新MV “Ready To Go”，收錄在他與DJBooth合作的免費下載mixtape Catch Me If You Can。

Download this mixtape here

posted by DJ @llenblow

來自荷蘭阿姆斯特丹的女MC Melodee之前在Mac Miller的單曲”Genius”嶄露頭角，製作人是來自西班牙的製作/DJ三人團隊Cookin` Soul，這支MV “Up In The Clouds”在去年底就已經推出，收錄在她與Cookin` Soul合作的mixtape中，這MV是用iPhone 4所拍，真是超省錢。

Download “Genius” here

posted by DJ @llenblow

Mos Def改名為Yassin Bey後的最新MV “N.I.P. (N**gas In Poorest)”，以Jay-Z & Kanye West的合作專輯Watch The Throne中的名曲”N**gas In Paris”為beat，填上自己的歌詞表達對於社會議題的看法。

posted by DJ @llenblow

Rhymesayers旗下大將Atmosphere的最新MV “Became”，這支MV請來Minnisota School of Business共同合作，視覺的部分很屌，收錄在他們的最新專輯Family Sign中，這張走溫馨路線，這首講的是他們最關心的下一代。

posted by DJ @llenblow

Brand Nubian之一員Sadat X的最新MV “Fake Out”，音樂與scratch的部分都是交由DJ Premier打理，Sadat X藉由這首歌跟大家講述他的街頭生活，收錄在他即將發行的專輯A Day in the Life of Sadat-X。

posted by DJ @llenblow

東岸傳奇製作人Pete Rock與東岸傳奇團體Smif-N-Wessun去年合作的專輯Monumental推出了最新MV “Top Of The World” ft. Memphis Bleek，不過這張入選了去年Pitchfork選出的最爛封面之一…。

posted by DJ @llenblow

You all make some fucking awesome music! Any upcoming shows near Toronto or Montreal? — Asked by mattrlr

Comin up in March will be some LEO37 dates in T.O. and Montreal with his Jazz combo, WPBE.  He’ll only be on the Turntables this tour though, the FANFARE promo tour will be coming later this year.  For all upcoming dates, you can check LEO37.com for info! 

Album drops NEXT MONDAY!  2/27!!

LEO37 - Fanfare


I ♥ Tuesdays

After using last week’s Tuesday column as an outlet to express my endless love (no Lionel) for hip-hop music, it’s time to return to the script for this week’s edition.  This week, I give you my thoughts on a perplexing and unexpected drop courtesy of two of Cali’s chronic connoisseurs, Blu and Madlib, who, on Sunday, suddenly blessed the Interwebs with a free stream of their collaborative effort, ucla.

Not that sporadic and out of the blu (pun alert) releases are anything new for this pairing; Madlib’s staggering productivity has led to a series of impulsive dispensations, while Blu’s highly-anticipated follow-up to Below the Heavens with Exile was liberated in Decmeber via Bandcamp, with literally no warning of the pending release.  And both cats have certainly developed a reputation for their off-kilter charisma, regularly displaying complete disregard for industry traditions and trends.

Still, a collaboration between one of the West’s most respected loop diggers and an emcee at the helm of arguably the best sleeper project of the past decade, one would expect some publicity and promotion in hopes of improving prospective financial gain.  Nope.  Nada.  Unless you count a track that leaked back in November, nothing was even known about the project besides that it may have been in the works.

So how does the collaboration’s final product fare? Disappointing, to say the least.  As you might expect - due to both Blu’s inconsistencies as of late and the project’s random emancipation - the tracks are poorly mastered (when mastered at all) and sound nowhere near finished.  Both Blu and Madlib hold up on their respective end of the collaborative union - Blu providing his usual thought-provoking lyricism by means of his ultra-comfy delivery, Madlib lending his never-boring orchestration in typical fashion, no two tracks sounding alike, all the while maintaining cohesion and the definitive Beat Konducta sound - but at no point do the two sounds merge together effectively given the overwhelming engineering issues.

I’m genuinely confounded by the decision to release ucla in its current form.  Could it be a case of Blu knowing that he couldn’t secure Madlib’s permission for an official release? Does Blu view the quality issues as an accessory to the lo-fi, analog charm that is so often associated with Madlib’s production? Is Blu looking to continue his string of erratic behavior in efforts to establish his reputation as a “true” artist (much like former Madlib collaborator DOOM and the DOOMposter bullshit)?  Whatever the reason(s) for the decision, I disagree with it wholeheartedly.  As a fan of both dudes, I was excited when rumors that they were working together began to surface.  Shit, Blu and Madlib were both involved in projects I would rank in my top ten of the 2000s (Below the Heavens and Madvillainy, respectively), and I consider both to be among the best the genre has to offer.  Naturally, the idea of them coming together for a full-length had me licking my chops.  And after seeing the cover art, I was convinced I was in for an auditory treat. 

After a few spins?  Chop licking has been reduced to head shaking. On a few occasions - “Give M Up,” for example - when the vocal distortion isn’t overly grating, we get a glimpse into the true potential of the collaboration.  Unfortunately, those moments are few and far between.  I’m left hoping that an engineer somewhere hears the project and comes through with a mastered version at some point in the fucture.  Otherwise, as disappointing as it is to admit, ucla will be doing little more than collecting dust on my shelf iTunes playlist.

The release schedule for next Tuesday looks stacked.  And that’s not even including LEO37’s Fanfare EP which is scheduled to hit record store shelves Bandcamp next Monday. Here’s hoping that at least one of those projects inspires some positivity in Your Humble Narrator.

Until then, it’s The Blast, ya’ll. 

— Noakes

magnolius:

Classic hip-hop photos by New York based Dana Lixenberg (Andre 3000, Biggie, Jay-z, A Tribe Called Quest, Gil Scott-Heron)

magnolius

The Other Side of the Game

Oh Whitney.  Why you gotta go and do that, love…huh? 

This article isn’t really about Whitney.  

Some people think an addict gets what she deserves - that is, if you are stupid/weak enough to get hooked on shit, you deserve what you get.  The addict is a mess, one that can’t figure himself out, can’t break the chain.  He’s the person so imagined by the public but known by few – cuz it’s the side you DON’T want to be on.  S/he’s the person that we imagine being talked about when our favourite artist romances his real/side/back in the day hustle. 

This is a gigantic elephant in the middle of the Hip Hop room that too few will ever acknowledge, because it ruins their fantasy urban legend superhero.  To be alive and well and (supposedly) living off the weaknesses of other people fuels half of the lyrical content of the rhymes we hear - myself included.  But it’s getting more personal as I see more people who just can’t leave whatever alone (using and selling).  And I think because it’s personal to so many who don’t want to offend their loved ones and family members who sell (or lose legitimacy with folks in the streets), it doesn’t get called out much - at least like it used to when it was a movement in the late 80’s.

This is the other side of the game – the junky, custy, crack ho, whatever – whose desires to flee their present insanity feed a nation of desperate people who are just hungry to leave their bad situation.

 

Famed ex-dealers (or claimed ex-dealers maybe?) riddle our top 10 lists.  We hear endless tales of crack slung to wicked, deserving fiends we see in our imagination. They are heralded by funny images on the Chappell show and In Living Color and as the face for the “indomitable human will” in every movie where a dope fiend finds salvation and turns their life around.  That side is entertaining and has an easy outcome – just say no and turn your life around!  Easy story, all of them, because that story is not the one that digs up hundreds of years of oppression, familial abuse, or multi-generational post-traumatic stress. 

The other side hurts.  You’ve been had - by dealers or pimps, society, your weaknesses.  Everything has triumphed over you in every hit you ever had or cut a corner for.  Or lost a job and a family for…or your life. 

Whitney was on that side. 

Gil Scott Heron, who single-handedly revolutionized a Hip Hop generation before it was even born, was on that side.  He was a rare bird indeed, because he unabashedly put his weaknesses out for all to see, and told the world that he had a crutch, needed help, but couldn’t shake his dependency.

If he and Whitney are on that side of the hand, who does the hand belong to?  Kool G Rap?  Jay Z?  Biggie?  M1 or Stic Man from Dead Prez who used to hustle?  The CIA? 

I’m not demonizing anyone, I’m just looking at the cause and effect.  Parents who are addicted to crack have children who watch them die, and some parents outlive children who are unable to cope.  And somehow I feel that most people who sell are in the same position as the ones they sell to, sadly, even if the closest they get to the stuff is bagging it.

I’m going to leave you with this video, which was the catalyst for this article.  It’s Wendy Williams on her show February 13, making her only comments on the death of Whitney Houston.  Few remember Williams as Hip Hop’s first gossip shock-jock on Hot 97 in the 90’s – for better or worse she was the TMZ of the scene back in the day, and became notorious for outing everyone’s drama and telling the “truth” (even if she wasn’t always correct).  In this clip she becomes the face of “the other side” – admitting her own crack addiction as well as the fact that she was one of the lucky few who were able to move on.


Selah,

Bess


來自芝加哥的饒舌歌手G.L.C. (Gangsta Legandary Crisis)在2004年被Kanye West的G.O.O.D. Music簽下，並在Kanye West的作品中出現過，他日前推出了最新MV “Mack On Mack Strong”，收錄在他去年發行的免費下載mixtape Eternal Sunshine Of The Pimpin Mind。

Download here

posted by DJ @llenblow