J rocc devastates

OMGoodness!!! Jrocc (of the World Famous Beat Junkies), one of my fav djs, just mercked the Benji B show- this is one for the ages right here. He played many an exclusive including unreleased J Dilla remix of Me' shelle Ndegéocello, Sa-ra's "Hollywood" w/ the Clipse, as well as a million other demos and exclusives that i had never heard. This mix defintely connected some dots to some unanswered questions for me as well. Thank You Jrocc!!!

Stream it here until next Sunday
or
download here

woot woot!!woot woot!!

Tony Allen Interview on Brownswood Basement(Gilles Peterson)

Great interview with Tony Allen, amazing Nigerian drummer, who played with Fela Kuti for 15-20 years and carved out the afro beat sound. Mr. Allen is amongst my favorite drummers and in this interview he waxes on various topics from the history of playing with Fela and Afrika 70, to his influences and current projects, and even his use of drum machine and accordion. Great stuff!

Check out/ dl(download) the podcast here

Mos Def on Letterman

Here's the Mighty Mos Def doing Quiet Dog (from new album, COP IT!) on Letterman

Daniel Merriweather - Love & War

So, for all you UK people, the Daniel Merriweather album Love & War is finally out and you should cop it. I am totally biased here because I've kicked it with the dude many times and just fucking love him. However, on a more even and objective level, I can also say that there are many choice tracks on here (Change, Impossible, Chainsaw come to mind right off the bat) and frankly Daniel is one of the most talented young singers on the pop scene at the moment. While I might sometimes come off as a music snob, I do still love good pop tracks.

Here is the (kinda weird) video EPK for the album. Try to ignore Mark Ronson's tics and gesticulations (wtf is he doing in this video? i think he wants to be getting outta dude's shine!) and get into Daniel's earnest goodness and talent. He will only get better with time and experience. Support the endeavours!

Daniel Merrriweather 'Love & War' EPK

True nuff : Mos Def back to form

photo credit

The other day I got a brief email from OKSG telling me that Mos was "back to form", there was a link attached but I didn't get a chance to click it. Skip to a few days later and I am on my second listen-through of Mos Def's new album The Ecstatic and I must concur that Mos is not half-steppin'. His flows are tight and the guests (Slick Rick, Georgianna Muldrow, Talib Kweli) and producers (Madlib, Chad Hugo, Preservation, J DILLA!!!) are top notch.

This album is heat and as much as OKSG hates me turning this blog into "hype of the moment" type blathery, I gotta big up it as already a 2009 classic -- fuck already a HIP HOP classic. It will be on steady BUMP this summer (and many other seasons to come) without doubt.


Stream it! Then cop it!

Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae

Just went to this AMAZING concert this weekend, Janelle Monae opening for Erykah Badu - 3 and a half hours of black music at its best!!! Janelle Monae is an amazing performer (do see her live if you get the chance)and Erykah Badu is the queen of this, yall already know.

Ignant Shit

Im just now hearing this song off of this Drake's So Far Gone Mixtape of late last year (early this year?) Anyways, dude is getting alot of hype really early on from media as well as current hip hop legends which seems to be the new trend, or perhaps maybe we are just all witnessing the passing of torch between two hip hop generations in a hyper technological world ? Allthe same, I really loved this Just Blaze produced instrumental (for Jay Z's American Gangster "Ignorant Shit") that Drake invites Weezy on here for his mixtape. Lovin Weezys verse, as for Drake we will just have to wait and see if the hype is merited.

Lee Perry x Kode 9

Hyperdub label head and accomplished artist and sound philosopher, Kode 9, goes in on this remix of legendary reggae producer and artist, Lee Perry, to great effect. Wind ya waste starting...now!!



Bonus: Lee Perry interview back in the 70s at his famed Black Ark Studio

Get to Know: Nancy Dupree

Check out this great piece on Nancy Dupree over at Snore & Guzzle. If you are like me (before i read the interview) and ask "who is Nancy Dupree ?," this indepth article (complete with some audio samples) will more than answer your question. Im going to keep it mysterious like that, and of course you know we dont lead astray here.

Dilla x Raekwon x Mobb Deep

The countdown to Dilla's Jay Stay Paid hits has begun and this new one is amongst the early joints to leak, alot of great unreleased Dilla beats now finally seeing the day of light, ,hallelujah.. sit back and enjoy the flow

24k Rap - j dilla ft. raekwon and mobb deep
(via thefullclip)