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THURSDAY: Stop Smiling DC Release Party

I’m definately going to roll through to check this out, if only to grab a magazine.

Tags: Stop Smiling

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Album Review: Foreign Exchange - Leave it All Behind

Foreign Exchange
Leave It All Behind

Netherlands producer Nicolay, and MC, Phonte one half of Little Brother have come together for their second Foreign Exchange effort entitled Leave it All Behind. With Nicolay moving to North Carolina where Phonte is from and still resides, one would think studio sessions as opposed to the Internet and file sharing that occurred while Nicolay was stationed in the Netherlands would be more frequent. Wrong, the combo figured if it worked, why fix it? As well, with our current economic state where gas is $4.00 per/gallon even though they’re in the same state, money is money.

Lyrically we were all privy to Phonte’s singing qualifications on the first FE album in addition to the sample we received on the first LB album the Listening, and in this day in age where Andre3000, Pharrell, and as of recent Kanye West have flirted with expanding their lyricism to carry a melodic tune this is one of the best experiments from the aforementioned group of artists. Phonte delivers real time stories that everyone has or will experience and can relate to, the disturbing reality is since the disappearing acts of D’Angelo and until recently Maxwell there hasn’t been act[s] besides the usual suspects that have written vivid experiences of life and love. You won’t hear Tigallo talking about buying a drink or getting someone is his ride but you will hear stories with a clear, distinct and fresh Nicolay sound that is in the same vein as the debut FE album. Since his solo efforts and producing for other artists Nicolay meshes perfectly with the North Carolinian and they sound as if they’ve done this before.

FE also reintroduces the world to Washington, DC’s own Muhsinah, who was heavily featured on the album, if you don’t know her, she was recently on tour with Common as a background artist and singer and she has her own EP entitled Daybreak and she proves to play the perfect supporting role on tracks like “House of Cards” and “Daykeeper.” Overall, Leave it All Behind is more than an experiment but a work that stretches the possibilities of good music and makes people forget about the purpose of genres.

Tags: Muhsinah, Nicolay, Phonte, The Foreign Exchange

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Jay Electronica: Exhibit A (Transformations) Prod. by Just Blaze

Jay Electronica - Exhibit A (Transformations)

Tags: Jay Electronica, Just Blaze

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Kanye West “Heartless” Video

Heartless from kwest on Vimeo.

Tags: 808 & Heartbreaks, K. West

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Hip-Hop

Review: Murs and Kidz In The Hall at the Rock and Roll Hotel

Photo by Lady Glock

Say what you want about Kidz in the Hall, but the Ivy League duo puts on a good show. Even though the Zune posters that lined the venue made it look like they were the headliner, the duo played the VP role to the self proclaimed President, Murs. Even though the dudes are second string, they are very comfortable with their self described “Joe Biden” status. The combination of Double-O on turntables AND drum machine, and Knoledge on the mic, kept the crowd hype throughout their whole set. Even though tracks like “Love Hangover,” are on the chill side, the dudes kept their energy level high in times for Murs to take the stage.

The first thing you know about Murs is that the dude has a perennial smile. While other rappers try to “mean mug” for the cameras, Murs ALWAYS seems to be that dude that is always having too much fun on stage. Seriously, the dude was having more fun than many of the audience members.

This “funness,” marks a marked change from most hip-hop shows. Some of this isn’t surprising for a dude who famously rapped “I’m more Coldplay than I am Ice-T,” on his critically acclaimed album Murs 3:16 long before the UK band had any associations with rappers. Between songs, the dude talks about being in love, and experiencing heartbreak and revenge, in which he punctuated by lip-singing Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” to a puzzled crowd.

Even if his set did wander off into alternative rock, Murs is still a hip-hop artist though, and he kept his almost hour long set packed with a playlist that not only featured tracks from his latest album, Murs for President, but also had a healthy dose of Murry’s Revenge and the more popular Murs 3:16 (His song “Bad Man!” got the greatest response from the audience). He even dropped some tracks from his free summer mixtape with 9th Wonder. And of course, like most hip-hop shows, Murs debuted his sidekick/weed carrier Verses for a couple of songs.

The Murs/Kidz In The Hall tour has been successful so far, and their DC iteration proves that they can rock a crowd. See them in a city near you.

Remaining Tour Dates

11/11/08 Miami, FL Churchill’s Pub
11/13/08 Tallahassee, FL Platform 809
11/14/08 Orlando, FL Back Booth
11/15/08 Gainesville, FL Common Grounds
11/17/08 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
11/18/08 Austin, TX Emo’s
11/19/08 Denton, TX Hailey’s
11/21/08 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar
11/22/08 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
12/11/08 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre

Tags: Kidz In The Hall, Murs

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Be There

Tags: diplo

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Under New Management T-Shirt

(via Kanye and Selectism)

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South Rakkas Crew

South Rakkas Crew - Good Life MegaMix Vol 1

If you don’t know who South Rakkas Crew is google them or search around for their music on iTunes. Their single “Mad Again” is a pure banger and samples and even iller song. Anyhow this mix was made for a clothing store in Glasgow and runs the gamut from Jibbs to Mr. Vegas to the Refugees and Nikka Costa. Read more about the mix here and PLEASEEEEE download this shit….so much doper than anything Soulja boy is putting out.

Tracklisiting (posted for doubters):
Pop Lock An Drop It - Huey
Party Like A Rockstar - Da Shop Boyz
What You Know - T.I.
Shut Up - Trick Daddy
Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It - Dem Franchize Boyz
Hard Knock Life - Jay Z
Rubber Band Man - T.I.
You Don’t Know - Jay Z
Chain Hang Long - Jibbs
Walk It Out - Unk
This Is Why I’m Hot - Mims
This Is Why I’m Hot - Mims feat. Junior Reed
Fireman - Lil’ Wayne
I just Died In Your Arms - Jay Z
It’s Ok (One Blood) - The Game feat. Junior Reed
Good Times (I get High) - Styles P
Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay Z
So Fresh, So Clean - OutKast
Breath - Fabolous

SECTION 2 (Retro Dancehall)
Mash It Up - Super Cat
Sim Simma (Payground) - Beenie Man
Fire Burn (Bellyass) - Beenie Man
Romie - Beenie Man
How The Girl - Buju Banton
No Retreat No Surrender - Terror Fabulous
World Dance - Beenie Man
Action - Terror Fabulous & Nadine Sutherland
Heads High - Mr. Vegas
Vitamin S - Cham
Dude The Remix - Bennie Man Feat. Miss Thing
Bad Man - Elephant Man
Ting A Ling - Shabba Ranks
Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus & Pliers
Who You Wanna Dis - Beenie Man
Everyone Falls In Love - Tanto Metro & Devonte
Up Close And Personal - Buju Banton

SECTION 3 (Hip Hop)
Good life - Kanye West
And Then What - Young Jeezy
Whoa - Black Rob
Umbrella - Rihanna feat. Jay Z
Izzo (H.O.V.A.) - Jay Z
Like This - Kelly Rowland feat. Eve
Straight To The Bank - 50 Cent
Bad Boy For Life - P. Diddy, Black Rob and Mark Curry
No One / Like a Feather (Mash Up) - Alecia Keys / Nikka Costa

SECTION 4 (Rakkas Riddims & Remixes)
Chico’s Dutty Whine - Chico
Mad Sick - Predator
Never Leave U Lonely - Mr. Vegas feat. Irish Man
Hot Like We - CeCile
Real Hot - Capleton
Real Hot Remix - Capleton
Twelve - Geefus & Ninja Kid
Test Me Nuh - Kid Foreigner
Under Mi Sensi (Retro Remix) - Mr. Vegas, Alozade & Hollow Point
Keep The Vibes Pumpin’ - Jigsy King
Poison Dart Remix (Rock And Come In) - The Bug & Warrior Queen
+81 Remix (Cell Bill Riddim) - Deerhoof
Clappin’ (Clappas Riddim) - Capleton & David House Crew
Part Time Lover (Clappas Riddim) - Irish Man
LDN Remix (Crack Whore Riddim) - Lily Allen
Wait A Minute/Shout Out (Mash Up) - Ray Jay/Lil’ Lim/Beenie Man
Love Warlord - Bounty Killer
Hotter Than Them (Extended Mix) - Kid Foreigner
Get Mad Again - New Kidz

SECTION 5 (OLD SKOOL Hip Hop)
Vocab - Refugees
Come Clean - Jeru The Damaga
My Melody - Eric B & Rakim
Flava In Ya Ear - Craig Mack
Hypnotized / If I Ruled The World - Biggie Smalls/Nas
Guess Who’s Back - Rakim
I Got It Made - Special Ed
South Bronx - Boogie Down Productions
Step Into A World - KRS-1
Gucci Time - Schooly D
Check The Rhyme - Tribe Called Quest
Strictly Business - EPMD
Can I Kick It? - Tribe Called Quest
Erick B. Is President - Eric B & Rakim
Rock The Bells - LL Cool J
Hip Hop Junkies - Nice & Smooth
Breath & Stop - Q-Tip
Vibrant Thing - Q-Tip
Been Around The World - Mase & Biggie
P.S.K. What Does It Mean?/I Need You (Mash Up) - Schoolly D/B.V.S.M.P
Saturday Night - Schoolly D
You Gots To Chill - EPMD
I Know You Got Soul - Eric B and Rakim
Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love - Barry White
We Run This/Beat Box Mash Up - Missy Elliot /Art Of Noise

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Video: Gnarls Barkley - Mystery Man

Mystery Man is a previously unreleased cut which will be featured on their Who’s Gonna Save My Soul EP, dropping on November 11th.

On an unrelated side note, someone tried to say that Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreak is going to be better than Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple. I then accused him of being the lovechild of Amy Winehouse and Marion Barry.

Tags: Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple

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House/Electronic

Video: M.I.A. vs Blaqstarr - Down In The Hole

Having M.I.A. on cover Tom Wait’s Down In The Hole (which we all know is from the Wire) sounds like its ripe for disaster. However, this track is simply brilliant.

I’m really liking this song, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because of its utter simplcity? Maybe because the video cost $9.95 to make? Who knows. All I know is that it is a very dope track. I don’t know if this song is official or if its of the “f’ing around in the studio” varitey but I will definately let y’all know. (via Imageyenation)

Tags: Blaqstarr, M.I.A.

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