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Hip-Hop

New Music: Marv Ellis and Cosmos - Highs and Lows

The Best Things in Life Indie Hip-Hop Are Free:
Download Highs and Lows (Zip File)

Highs and Lows might be one of the best albums of 2006.

There haven’t been many CDs this year that I have played repeatedly and played often. In fact, I can count them on my hand. However, there is something about Highs and Lows that is making this stand out a little further. Oregon MC Marv Ellis and Cosmos Corbin’s Highs and Lows proves that psychedelic hip-hop can be done. It doesnl;t try too hard to be different like Electric Circus. Beats are minimal, yet complex. Ellis has a downright incredible flow (for a white dude, of course), and on songs like “Electropimp” its almost like he’s playing hopscotch with the beat.

The standout track is the opener “When It Hits,” which uses a screwed and chopped guitar chord from Jimi Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” performance from Woodstock. The song itself is a soulful depiction of what happens after a heroin trip, or at least that’s what I think (i’m sure its just about cooking chicken). The other standout songs on the release are “Slide off My Back,” “She Needs To,” and the end song “Until Then.”

Highs and Lows sounds like the soundtrack for Requiem for a Dream. It’s almost like a drug trip of sorts and the best legal high you can get right now.

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Art/Graf Culture

All Day Err Day

Even though I’m not the biggest Outkast fan out there I will help y’all who are downloaders fans. Hurr you go. Is it the movie? Album? Both? A new Jay Z song? Maybe its cool J rhyming on a toliet…go for it!!!

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Crunk/Hyphy, Hip-Hop, New Music

The Pack - Vans

This is one of my favorite tracks of the year. Is hood skateboarding the new hotness this year?

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Art/Graf Culture

Only One Can Win

Jay Loves Japan (promo)…HEAT!!

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Hip-Hop

Rhymefest: What do first week sales in Hip-Hop really mean?

Rhymefest only sold 15,000 copies of Blue Collar in its first week, and this week, the CD dropped out of the top 200. Even by Allido standards, this is a disappointment by far.

However, Rhymefest tries to make the argument that sales don’t matter:

This is something that rap artists today have yet to fully understand the importance of. Just look at it: 9 out of 10 rap concerts are wack. After one or two singles, the rest of the album is intentionally trash, but we, as the artists, do not care because we have our singles. Also, some rappers are so insecure that if anyone gives us constructive criticism, or [in some cases] is just a little overzealous as a fan, we are ready to spaz out on them. Rappers have become divas (bitches), and the rap industry, radio, DJs and journalists have become complicit, spineless cowards.

Do not get it twisted; I am not heartbroken over my first week sales because I understand that through my appearances on shows like Jimmy Kimmel, Carson Daly & David Letterman, my forthcoming tours with Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest as well as many opportunities that are opened for me through the Creator ALL afford me the chance to do what no other rapper has done: truly earn fans that stick with me because of the quality of the product and not the smoke & mirrors of marketing & promotion.

Sounds like the rantings of a bitter man.

Unfortunately, first week sales do matter. It encourages bookings, video play, radio play etc. Mass media isn’t going to pay attention unless you have a solid sales record. You can’t have a sold sales record unless you have mass media. It’s a vicious cycle, but unfortunately that’s how it is until we can change the game.

Unfortunately, for Rhymefest, the dude didn’t have solid promotion from J Records. The dude made a terrible decision when he picked Allido/J over G.O.O.D. music. If you only hung around the Internet, then you wouldn’t know that “Brand New” got zero radio play in the top markets and I’ve yet to see a video for the dude on MTV or BET. Also, CD sales in general are on the decline, especially in Hip-Hop, where even Bussa Bus is struggling to get Gold. Let’s not forget that, the album was pretty wack, but in today’s industry, that means nothing.

Update: My bad…it wasn’t J Records. Bol blackballed Rhymefest’s career. (There might be some truth to this so don’t front)

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Hip-Hop

Fonzworth - Everybody

Fonzworth Bentley - Everybody (Feat. Andre 3000, Kanye West & Sa-Ra)

When Puffy’s Cartier carrier gets an album you know something is wrong with the industry.

Bentley signed a deal with Kanye’s G.O.O.D. music, so of course West and SA-RA are on production. Its always good to see Andre 3000 rapping again, and now I wonder if the dude really does want to rap.

(Props Honorable Media, OKP)

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Beck + Timbaland?

Continuing with Rome’s Negrotronix theme:

Beck - ” Diamond Dogs” (produced by Timbaland)

I don’t understand why Timbaland still has haters. I’m convinced that the dude can do almost anything. Beck’s cover of David Bowie’s ” Diamond Dogs” is old as molasses (the picture looks like something out of a high school yearbook), but I had no idea Timbaland produced this remix for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. I thought his pop/negroclash phase was a recent thing, and honestly, it dosen’t even sound like anything else in the Timbo catalog. Rumor has it that there there is another Timbaland/Beck track (which was nixed for as well as a Timbo/Coldplay track out there as well.

(Via the Scattermish Blog)

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Hip-Hop

Wordsworth: Mirror Music

I have to admit that I’ve strayed the path of what the Couch Sessions is supposed to represent. We started out as the “opposite of mainstream,” promoting unsigned and underhyped artists. A year later, the whole “promoting unsigned artists” part seemed to go out the window for a while. But since I’ve promised you guys more independent hip-hop music, I’m trying to make good on it. Here goes.

Wordsworth is a Brooklyn MC that has been making a buzz on the underground scene for a while, with guest spots on Masta Ace and A Tribe Called Quest records, and his co-creation of the highly underrated Lyricists Lounge show on MTV. Unfortunately, he’s not associated with any mixtape kings or weed carrying syndicates (Dipset, G-Unit), so you might not have heard about him. He did make a lot of noise during the 2004 elections when he digtally went head to head against George W. for a poetry slam promotion.

Wordsworth has been laying low since he released his full length album, titled Mirror Music in 2004. Mirror Music is one of those albums that sounds like it was dropped in 1994 rather than 2004, and according to the MC it was crafted that way intentionally. At over 20 tracks, Mirror Music is a beast, with the MC effortlessly flowing from one track to another. His moniker of Wordsworth is true, because I’ve rarely heard an MC craft words the way this dude does.

Wordsworth is currently in the middle of a European tour. You can get Mirror Music here.

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Random Ish: Monday, August 7th, 2006

First up, check out Rome’s Negrotronix project. Good look on all of the suggestions coming in so far. This is real people. Also peep two new mixes over at Better Than Yours.

Second, vote for The Couch Sessions in this year’s Black Weblog Awards. I don’ t think we got a chance in the best hip-hop category, but we got the Best Podcast and Best Web Design on lock. Right?

Mos Def - Boogie Man - Saw this track a couple months ago and thought it was a discarded track from The New Danger but its actually the first single off of Mos’ new release True Magic.

Think the our heat wave and 100 degree temps are unusual? Get used to it. Watch An Inconvenient Truth. It will definitely open your eyes to the climate change that’s happening in the world right now.

Oh, and Bush is rewriting welfare rules to dissuade welfare mothers from going to college.

Guys is it ok for us to call a female a b*tch when she is being lewd, spiteful or overbearing? Society says no, but I know too many women who love to live up to that term.

Why does the Outkast Big Boi video for “Morris Brown,” look like a rejected skit from Pee Wee’s Playhouse?

Flavor of Love: Never have I seen a show so quickly reverse the gains made in the women’s rights movement and the civil rights movement in less than an hour. But is entertaining television though.

And when will the Weather dude and the Traffic lady from Fox 5 morning news get it on? Seriously, every morning when I want to see weather and traffic I have to sit through those two flirting like a bad first date.

I can’t afford custom kicks, but if you got the money like that, check out
My Air Shoes.

RIP Phil (Katrina is a b*tch)

RIP Junior (Never got to know you until it was too late)

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Rock/Alternative

Negrotronix: In Search of the Black Hipster

This is what it is people…Negrotronix: In Search of the Black Hipster is a project that I’ve wanted to create for the past 8 months. This essence of the project is a musical complilation with music collected from black artist that push the boundaries of hip hop, r&b, soul, etc. Or as Jay Z would say “some other sh-t”.

People who read this site faithfully (or those who are similar to myself and have exqusite taste) I am asking for your suggestions, mp3s, vinyl recommendations, whatever it may be to put this project together. So far I have everything from Sa-Ra to Spank Rock to Aloe Blacc and tons of other artists on deck, but hey you can never have enough to pick from and other people can always put you onto something new.

Get at me people and lets make this happen!!!

Stone can I get a Couch Sessions co-sign?

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