Critically acclaimed rapper/singer K’NAAN  is back and gearing up to debut his new EP More Beautiful Than Silence on January 24th through A&M/Octone Records. The collection includes five new tracks including the single ‘Is Anybody Out There’ featuring Nelly Furtado as well as ‘Nothing to Lose’ featuring Nas and ‘Better‘ produced by Ryan Tedder. In addition to his EP, K’NAAN’s new album will be released in Spring 2012.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Download: The Musical Minority Podcast

Welcome to the Musical Minority. We are three unabashed music loves who can share a passion for both Mad Men and Rick Ross, for DMX and Little Dragon. We are highly opinionated and we won’t hold anything back. The panel consists of yours truly, Mary Pryor (aka @laydeefly), and Wes of the Oakademy lifestyle label (@oakademy). We all came together this week to discuss our dislike for BET, Rick Ross, Drake (Mary: “he sounds like someone is choking him in the throat”), the fall of the New York “sound,” and CMJ. Prepare to be offended.

The Topics

• (1:30) Why we did NOT watch the BET Hip-Hop Awards
• (2:15) How can you hate on Rick Ross??
• (4:57) Nasty Nas is BACK! But is he still relevant?
• (12:50) Should we drop the “B” in BET?
• (26:26) Has the New York “sound” fallen off?
• (32:00) CMJ Week discussion

The Soundtrack

• Brandon Crumbly – Air (Couch Sessions Theme)
• Rick Ross – I Love My Bitches
• Nas – Nasty
• Drake featuring Jai Paul – Dreams Money Can Buy
• Little Dragon – Ritual Union

Vico Ono is an 18 year old mash-up producer out of LA who appears to have a pretty impressive ear and taste for music. For example, his latest project called Heaven is a Bitch – is a thoughtfully put together mix featuring lyrics from the AZ and Nas’ collabo, Life’s A Bitch – fused with Led Zepplin’s awesome classic, Stairway to Heaven – put over beats by electro-influenced European producer, Gramatik. For someone so young, he did a dope job of tastefully blending music that for the most part came out waaaayyy before he was even born. This kid definitely deserves some props. Check it out below.

Heaven is a Bitch by Vico Ono

Putting an ‘at ease’ twist to hip hop inspired music may be the new trend to watch in 2011. Our friends DJ 2-Tone and Gerald Watson just released  their jazz infused tribute to Wu Tang – and now I’ve caught on to this Full Crate produced instrumental inspired by “Biggie, Jay-Z or Nas”

This project originally stems from an artist named Brian Elstak who currently has a book out called Mixin Book Vol. 1. Included with the book is an album called Memories of Axel Foley – a 10 track compilation featuring instrumentals songs (from different producers) influenced by the paintings inside of the book. These paintings are also on display at the MC Theater in Amsterdam. Check out Full Crates interpretation below.

Full Crate – Biggie, Jay-Z Or Nas by FullCrate ;

MIXIN BOEK VOL 1 – MAAK DINGEN OR DIE TRYIN’ (TEASER)

Levi’s has enlisted a dozen influential musicians of different genres to launch their 2010 Pioneer Sessions; a platform allowing ‘pioneering’ artists to re-craft a song that has inspired them(available as a free download). With a list consisting of Raphael Saadiq, Jason Mraz, John Legend & The Roots, The Shins, Colbie Caillat and Bomba Estereo – Levi’s asked rapper Nas to get things crackin’ first with a cover of Slick Rick’s classic “Hey Young World”.

Nas doesn’t possess Rick’s comic sensibility, but he did inherit from Rick a keen sense for the way precise detail and carefully chosen perspective can enrich a short story, the kind that populated Illmatic and his subsequent work. Nas’ re-crafting of “Hey Young World” is true to its source, though its harder, metallic edges suggest a bluntness caused by twenty-plus years without progress.

The remaining 11 artists will have their music released periodically throughout the rest of the year and each song is paired with exclusive photos, behind-the-scenes video and additional content celebrating the importance and influence it has across generations.

Download Nas Hey Young World Here

BUY TICKETS

On December 12th, National Geographic Live will present a panel discussion titled “Distrant Relatives” which will focus on the extensive ties between Hip-Hop and Reggae. Moderated by MTV VJ Sway, the panel will be led by Nas and Grammy-winning artist Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. In addition to these two powerful names, the dicussion will also include Kool Herc, Rakim, Daddy U-Roy, King Jammy, Jeff Chang, Moussa Lo and DJ Red Alert.

Following the discussion, there will be an afterparty and performance at Zanzibar nightclub.

This is an AMAZING opportunity for the DC and it’s one of the few times that you will get to see such hip-hop talent on the same stage. LIMITED tickets are available for $25 and will cover the discussion AS WELL as entrance to the afterparty. Don’t SLEEP!

Nas is going on an extensive club tour in support of his new album Nigg Untitled and is bringing Talib Kweli along for the ride. Jay Electronica and DJ Green Lantern will also perform on select stops. These dates are in addition to Nas and Kweli’s appearances on the Rock The Bells tour.

Tour Dates

*Sat 7/19 – Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
*Sun 7/20 – Toronto Arrow Hall
Tue 7/22 – Montreal, QC Metropolis
Thu 7/24 – Burlington, VT Higher Ground
Fri 7/25 – New Haven, CT Toad’s Place
*Sat 7/26 – Boston, MA Comcast Center
*Sun 7/27 – Washington, DC Merriweather Post Pavilion
Tue 7/29 – Charlotte, NC Amos’ Southend
Wed 7/30 – Charleston, SC Music Farm
Thu 7/31 – Atlanta, GA Center Stage
Fri 8/1 – New Orleans, LA House of Blues
*Sat 8/2 – Miami, FL Bicentennial Park
*Sun 8/3 – New York, NY Jones Beach Amphitheater
Fri 8/8 – Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
*Sat 8/9 – Los Angeles, CA Glen Helen Pavilion
Sun 8/10 – San Diego, CA House of Blues
Thu 8/14 – Reno, NV New Oasis
Fri 8/15 – Chico, CA Senator Theatre
*Sat 8/16 – San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Fri 8/22 – Park City, UT Harry O’s
*Sat 8/23 – Denver, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
Sun 8/24 – Austin, TX Emo’s
Mon 8/25 – Houston, TX Warehouse Live
Tue 8/26 – Dallas, TX House of Blues
Thu 8/28 – Cleveland, OH House of Blues
Fri 8/29 – Detroit, MI Chene Park
Sat 8/30 – Champaign, IL Canopy Club
Wed 9/3 – St. Louis, MO The Pageant
Thu 9/4 – Milwaukee, WI The Rave
Fri 9/5 – Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
*Sat 9/6 – Quincy, WA The Gorge Amphitheatre

*Rock The Bells tour dates.

Nas dropped the Rik Cordero directed video for his “controversial,” song titled “I’m a nigger too.” I put controversial in quotes because I still don’t know why people are so worked up over this. I think the song is good, and even if Nas’ album sucks (which it may, if all the songs sound like his first single Hero), it has at least ignited an interesting and much needed discussion.

Having that said, I don’t think the video is anything special. What do y’all think?

So I’ve been out of town for the past 5 days, so I’m slowly catching up on music news from the blogs and such (da Beach was off the chain, I’ll post about that later). Anyway, I’m hearing that Def Jam changed the title of his album from Nigger to simply…Nas.

Is anybody really surprised??

I was never for or against the title. I was giving Nas the benefit of the doubt that he would drop a game changing political rap album, especially in light of the Jena 6, Sean Bell other infringements against the Black community. But lets face it, Def Jam is a business and no major chain was going to stock this album with that title. I’m reading some blogs now that are giving Nas a hard time for letting Def Jam have its way. But when it comes to having an album released or letting it sit on a shelf, what are you going to do?

The dude should’ve just released a mixtape and called it a day.

Nas – Be a Nigger Too

I don’t know if this is the first track off of Nas’ upcoming album, Nigger (highly unlikely), but it does seem like Nasir is bringing the pain with this one.

MP3 Download: The Couch Sessions Podcast – Random Ish Radio 016

Yes, I know that it’s been a while since I posted a Random Ish Radio for y’all, but of course, I have my default excuse: work. It’s the same excuse that I used for not going to the Lupe show on Tuesday, and said excuse will be used until February 15th. Don’t front.

Getting to the show, I put together another quality mix for y’all. The Jay-Z Vancore remix is quality. I also drop some unreleased N.E.R.D. a Nas Remix, and some K-OS, as well as our favorite rapper AZ and Ghostface and Amy Winehouse. It’s quality all around.

1. Jay-Z – Vancore (Remix)
   White Label/Remix
2. Kidz In Da Hall – Cruise Control
   School Was My Hustle
3. Nas – Hope (Legit H Remix)
   Unreleased
4. AZ – Rise and Fall
   The Format
5. Ghostface feat. Amy Winehouse – You Know I’m No Good
   More Fish/Back to Black
6. **INTERLUDE**
7. Tabi Bonney – Escalator
   A Fly Guy’s Theme
8. Amerie – Take Control Take Control
   Mixtape
9. N.E.R.D. – What’s Wrong With Me
   Unreleased
10. K-OS – Jealous Guy
    Unreleased