Flippin' The Script

Ghostface Reveals The Wizard of Poetry Tracklist, Fall Tour Dates

2009-09-09T19:05:00.001-07:00

This month, two new albums will feature two very different versions of Ghostface Killah. Ghost is all over Raekwon's bleak and violent Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, which came out yesterday. But come September 29, he'll release his R&B-themed The Wizard of Poetry. As Ghost himself told me last week (in a Pitchfork interview that'll run soon), The Wizard of Poetry is his "mature" album. This is still Ghostface, though, and as this totally NSFW preview for "Stapleton Sex" makes clear, he's not exactly in Bill Cosby mode here.

We've already shown you the album's incredible Oz-themed cover art, and now we've got the album's tracklist, which you can check out below. Worth noting: The only other rapper on the entire album is Fabolous. (That's unless you count Kanye West's turn on the "Back Like That" remix, which already appeared on Ghost's More Fish and is included on Wizard as a bonus track). There are a lot of guests here, but they're mostly slick R&B singers. Still, "Stapleton Sex".

After the album drops, Ghost will spend October touring U.S. clubs. Ghostface has one of the most searingly intense live shows in rap, so take note. Those dates are below.

The Wizard of Poetry:

01 Not Your Average Girl [ft. Shareefa]
02 Do Over [ft. Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn]
03 Baby [ft. Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn]
04 Lonely [ft. Jack Knight]
05 Stapleton Sex
06 Stay
07 Paragraphs of Love [ft. Vaughn Anthony and Estelle]
08 Guest House [ft. Fabolous and Shareefa]
09 Let's Stop Playin' [ft. John Legend]
10 Forever
11 I'll Be That [ft. Adrienne Bailon]
12 Goner [ft. Lloyd]
13 She's A Killah [ft. Ron Browz] *
14 Back Like That [ft. Ne-Yo and Kanye West] *

* bonus tracks

Ghostface Killah:

10-02 Albany, NY - Northern Lights
10-03 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10-04 Carrboro, NY - Cat's Cradle
10-05 Charleston, SC - Music Farm
10-07 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
10-09 Oxford, MS - Lyric
10-10 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
10-11 Austin, TX - Emo's
10-13 Tucson, AZ - The Rock
10-14 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
10-15 San Diego, CA - Canes
10-16 Los Angeles, CA Key Club
10-17 Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones
10-19 Reno, NV - Club Underground
10-20 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
10-21 Arcata, CA - Arcata Theatre
10-22 Portland, OR - Berbati’s Pan
10-23 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
10-24 Seattle, WA - Showbox
10-25 Bellingham, WA - Nightlight
10-28 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
10-29 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
10-30 Denver, CO - Bluebird
10-31 Boulder, CO - Fox

Video: Raekwon: "Walk Wit Me"

2009-09-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

After years of speculation about whether the thing even existed, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II finally hit stores yesterday. Rae celebrated the occasion by taking to his Twitter and posting a link to a video for a song that's not even on the album.

It's not entirely clear why Rae spent what looks like a decent amount of money (by 2009 standards, anyway) shooting a video for "Walk Wit Me", an iTunes-only Cuban Linx II bonus cut. (At this point, though, Cuban Linx II is outselling Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 at iTunes, so Rae is doing something right.)

It's not too easy to follow the video's narrative, but it seems to center around Rae and his accomplices killing off a series of drug-trade rivals in Hawaii. Mostly, though, it seems like a great excuse for a series of badass images of Rae scowling hard against an electric blue sky. I love the shot at 2:11, when Rae hides behind a newspaper, waiting for a mark in an elevator.

Check it out below:

DOWNLOAD: Orikal "Organized Grind Vol. 1"

2009-09-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

(L-R: Orikal, Analyrical)

Get it here. I'm also featured on it.

EDITORIAL: Maia’s Descent Is No Laughing Matter By D.L. Chandler

2009-09-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

D.L Chandler is also Mash Comp of Dumhi and you can follow him on Twitter

Like many young men in the 1990s, I found actress Maia Campbell to be one of the more attractive young black starlets on television. Early on, I discovered that she hailed from the Greater Washington Metropolitan area just as I did and that factoid endeared me to her as well. Of late Maia Campbell has fallen out of the public eye, and has been unfairly ridiculed by her poor life choices fueled by her bout with Schizophrenia. The daughter of late bestselling author Bebe Moore Campbell, Maia found fame on the LL Cool J vehicle In The House. For 3 seasons, the show enjoyed some mild success and Maia Campbell was a prominent fixture of the sitcom. Once the show ended, Maia worked bit parts in television and small movies, but nothing more.

I am not going to play reporter here and try to guess what happened beyond that point. What I do know is that in the last three years, nude photos of an obviously inebriated Campbell and a very recent video of the actress has appeared on the Internet. The gossip blogs, Twitter, message boards and news outlets (such as The Examiner) have all had their say to the inner workings of Ms. Campbell’s fall. We don’t know what’s leading her down this path nor do we know if she’s ever had adequate help – at least as far as what’s been released publicly. However, what is quite telling is how much of my Twitter feed was filled with hurtful jokes about her condition. The blogs and their comment fields were also filled with the same insensitive and lame commentary found in the linked Examiner piece above.

I immediately felt sorrow for Maia Campbell after viewing the video and wanted nothing more than to protect her. It triggered an almost instinctive brotherly reaction. It was if I saw my little sister on that screen and just wanted to snatch that camera away from her antagonist and whisk her away. There wasn’t anything humorous about this scenario. There wasn’t a reason to make this a Twitter topic of the day. It didn’t have to become this ugly display of humanity – anonymous keyboard cowards levying all types of hurtful, insensitive words towards Maia. I’ve just read that there’s a prayer campaign for Maia Campbell and that’s great. I’m not a religious person but this is obviously a step in the right direction so I support it fully.

Many of us know a Maia Campbell, a young person lost to their own devices and lacking the help, love and care needed to rise above whatever demons ails them. Are we to look at Maia Campbell with pity or are we to act when we see this pattern in our respective cities and towns? What did you truly feel when you saw Maia in that state? What would you do if you saw it? Are you witnessing something of this nature now? Are you out there helping to prevent more lost souls? Are you content with reading the insensitive comments and hashtags on Twitter? I know I’m not. I know that any time I can help a person – young or old – I’m going to give whatever time I can spare. I don’t see how we can look at this as a laughing matter. Moreover, for those of you that I know who choose to see humor in such a sad situation, you’ve lost a huge chunk of my respect.

VIDEO: A.R.M. (Manifest & Krukid) "Heaven Only Knows" (featuring Brother Ali)

2009-09-02T12:05:00.001-07:00

MUSIC: Raekwon "10 Bricks" (featuring Ghostface Killah & Cappadonna)

2009-08-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

While expectations for Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 have steadily dwindled, expecations for Raekwon's forthcoming Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II has shifted in the opposite direction. Following the leak of "House of Flying Daggers" we get another J Dilla production, "10 Bricks", a hard-grinding get-money knocker with verses by Ghostface Killah and Cappadonna that plays like an uncut dose of lay-low street magic. Like "Daggers", everyone here seems to be well within their comfort zone, hitting the track Wu-Tang attack-style, armed to the teeth with hard-nosed revenge vignettes and bruising spit. Most of the real burners we've heard off this thing have played it pretty close to the chest in this respect: the features are almost exclusively Shaolin-affiliated, with the content and delivery brimming with grimy panache. But on more and more of these Cuban Linx II cuts, Raekwon himself ends up walking away with top honors; he doesn't always nab the big one-liner, but his presence on these songs is irrefutably huge.

"Meanwhile, back on the block we see two trucks/ Then the windows roll down, we see these two fucks/ As soon as they jump out, see these tools bust," Cappadonna sneers over Dilla's vintage snares, gaunt orchestral flourishes, and a whiny guitar loop that imitates a tortured Chinese harp suite. Cap's in rare form, bookended by Rae's trademark blow blow-by-blow (almost impenetrably slung) and a ferociously-amped Ghost. What's great about "10 Bricks" is how fearless and energized these bars are, transforming otherwise lightweight-jabs ("Knock the ash off the blunt for front-niggas who cunt") into something potently formidable. This music is confident, not cocky: Ghost's admission of having "a team of niggas movin' my furs" should be obtusely funny, not tangibly intimidating. How does that work? Underestimate Cuban Linx II at your own peril.

The Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s

2009-08-31T12:56:00.001-07:00

Go check out the hotness.

VIDEO: The Foreign Exchange feat. Muhsinah "House of Cards"

2009-08-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Foreign Exchange feat. Muhsinah - "House Of Cards" from The Foreign Exchange on Vimeo.

From the album "Leave It All Behind" out now.

AWESOME: Ghostface Killah Unveils Absurd Wizard of Poetry Cover

2009-08-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

The leaks we've heard from Ghostface Killah's forthcoming R&B-themed album The Wizard of Poetry haven't exactly been encouraging; first single "Baby" straight-up sucks. But I have to say, I'm considerably more amped to hear the finished product now that I know it's going to take place in some futuristic utopian Oz.

The Wizard of Poetry comes out September 29 on Def Jam. Buy the vinyl so you can stare at that cover all day.

Blackalicious's Gift of Gab Readies Solo LP

2009-08-28T07:57:00.001-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

The Cali rapper Gift of Gab has put in well more than a decade of work with the backpack-rap institution Blackalicious, but up until now he's only released one solo album, 2004's awesomely titled 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up. On October 27, he'll finally drop the follow-up LP Escape to Mars via Cornerstone Recording Arts Society.

That's the album cover above, and for some reason it looks almost exactly like the cover of the forthcoming album from metal supergroup Shrinebuilder if Dr. Manhattan teleported it to Mars. Seriously.

Anyway, Escape 2 Mars will feature a collaboration with fellow underground rap heavyweights Brother Ali and Del the Funky Homosapien. Gab's Quannum compatriot Lateef the Truth Speaker will also stop by. You can download one track, the vaguely Latin-inflected workout "El Gifto Magnifico", right here, and the tracklist is below.

Escape 2 Mars:

01 E2MTRO
02 El Gifto Magnifico
03 Lightyears
04 Dreamin' [ft. Del the Funky Homosapien & Brother Ali]
05 In Las Vegas
06 Escape 2 Mars
07 Electric Waterfalls
08 Richman, Poorman
09 Someofthepeople
10 Spotlight
11 Rhyme Travel
12 Dreamin' (Aqua Sawtooth Remix) *

* Vinyl-only bonus track

VIDEO: Raekwon "House of Flying Daggers"

2009-08-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

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Kraftwerk Announce Massive Eight-Disc Box Set, Reissue Series

2009-08-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Kraftwerk, the German legends that pretty much invented electronic pop music as we know it, are due to reissue eight of their albums in a massive box set called 12345678: The Catalogue. Five of the albums will also be reissued as individual titles.

The box is due October 6 in the U.S. from EMI. That's the cover art above. It'll feature the following discs: 1974's Autobahn, 1975's Radio-Activity, 1977's stone classic Trans-Europe Express, 1978's The Man Machine, 1981's Computer World, 1986's Techno Pop, the 1991 remix comp The Mix, and 2003's Tour De France. (The band's first three albums are not included.)

We can argue about those last three LPs all day, but the first five are total pantheon material, huge influences on everyone from David Bowie to Afrika Bambaataa to Daft Punk to basically anybody that ever made dance music in the past four decades. Kraftwerk have remastered these albums themselves, so they should sound great.

Licensing issues prevent EMI from reissuing Computer World, Techno Pop, or The Mix in the U.S. as individual titles. So if you want those, you'll have to spring for the full box. The other five albums will be available on CD, vinyl, or digital download. The box set will be available on CD only.

Gargantuan Miles Davis Box Set Due

2009-08-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

During his tenure at Columbia Records, Miles Davis recorded an awe-inspiring 52 albums. Pretty soon, you'll be able to own all of them in one gigantic box that will probably be heavy enough to kill someone.

On November 10, Columbia/Legacy will release The Complete Columbia Album Collection. The box will include (seriously) 70 CDs and one DVD, and somehow it's that one DVD that makes the whole thing look like overkill.

The DVD is Live in Europe '67, which will be on DVD for the first time ever with this set. The set will also include a previously unreleased live recording of Davis's performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.

According to Legacy, the CDs will all come in "Japanese-styled mini LP jackets", which sounds cool. The CDs will include bonus tracks that have been tacked on to Davis reissues over the years. There will also be a 250-page book.

The whole massive brick of a thing will be available exclusively from Amazon, and it'll run you $369.98, which is kind of a bargain. That's about five bucks a disc!

Dizzee Rascal Reveals Bonkers New LP

2009-08-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Grime veteran Dizzee Rascal has a British hit right now with the unbelievably goofy Armand Van Helden collab "Bonkers", so it's no surprise that his new album is right around the corner. Tongue N' Cheek, the new LP, will come out September 21 in the UK via Dizzee's own Dirtee Stank label. The cover, which looks like Dizzee dreaming cartoon clouds of cotton candy, is above. Dizzee just revealed the tracklist on his MySpace, and it's below.

None of this colorful silliness is exactly what we've come to expect from the guy who made some of the fiercest, most desperate music of the past decade. There is, after all, a reason why Def Jux released his last album in the U.S. But Dizzee's given us three great albums already, so if he wants to cut loose a bit, who are we to quibble?

Dizzee will spend the rest of the year on tour around the UK. The new single "Holiday" will be out August 24 in the man's homeland.

Tongue N' Cheek:

01 Bonkers
02 Road Rage
03 Dance Wiv Me
04 Freaky Freaky
05 Can't Tek Me No More
06 Chillin Wiv Da Man Dem
07 Dirtee Cash
08 Money Money Money
09 Leisure
10 Holiday
11 Bad Behaviour

VIDEO: Busdriver "Me Time (With the Pulmonary Palimpsets)

2009-08-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

GZA, Bun B, Talib Kweli, Wale on Peter Bjorn and John Hip-Hop Mixtape

2009-08-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Ever since Kanye West blew blog minds by rapping over "Young Folks" two years ago, Peter Bjorn and John have become the go-to indie band for rappers looking to cross over to the indie rock world. Cue mixtape maven Mick Boogie, who worked with PB&J directly on the forthcoming free mixtape Re-Living Thing.

The mix pairs MCs including Bun B, Wale, Rhymefest, GZA, and Three 6 Mafia with reworked versions of tracks from the Swedish band's latest LP, Living Thing, according to an MTV report. Remixers include Jazzy Jeff, the Kickdrums, and Apple Juice Kid. Get a taste for the project with a remake of "Nothing to Worry About" featuring Wale right here.

Re-Living Thing hits this thing called the internet on August 27. Check out a partial list of songs and guests to be included on the tape below:

Re-Living Thing:

J. Cole and GZA: "The Feeling" (remixed by Marco Polo)
Kardinal Offishall, Donnis, and Heno: "It Just Don't Move Me" (remixed by Jet Audio)
Big Sean and Black Milk: "Just The Past" (remixed by nVMe)
Wale, Young Chris, and Rhymefest: "Nothing To Worry About" (remixed by the Kickdrums)
Bun B: "Losing My Mind" (remixed by 6th Sense)
Freebass 808 and Amanda Blank: "Living Thing" (remixed by Apple Juice Kid)
Talib Kweli: "I Want You" (remixed by William Russell / Good Life Mike)
Three 6 Mafia and Trouble Andrew: "Lay It Down" (remixed by the Kickdrums)
Big Pooh, Chaundon, and Phil Nash: "Stay This Way" (remixed by Jazzy Jeff)
Naledge and Mickey Factz: "Blue Period Picasso" (remixed by nVMe)
88 Keys, Outasight, and 6th Sense: "4 Out Of 5" (remixed by 6th Sense)
U-N-I: "Last Night" (remixed by Remot)

RJD2 Launches His Own Label

2009-08-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

It's been a minute since we've heard anything from the Philly-based indie rap producer and (more recently) singer-songwriter RJD2, but that doesn't mean the man hasn't been busy. In a mammoth post on his MySpace blog today, RJ lets the world know exactly what he's been up to. RJ now has his very own record label, RJ's Electrical Connections. And the first artist on the label is RJ himself, which probably made for some easy contract negotiations. Writes RJ: "I am now a free agent, working for myself."

To celebrate his new label's existence, this week RJ digitally reissued a ton of rare material. On Tuesday, Your Face or Your Kneecaps, In Rare Form, and Things Go Better Instrumentals, three comps' worth of B-sides and rarities that RJ previously put out on his old imprint Bustown Pride, were released digitally for the first time via RJ's Electrical Connections. Your Face or Your Kneecaps features two previously unreleased bonus tracks. Right-click here to download "Find You Out" from Your Face or Your Kneecaps.

On October 20, RJ's Electrical Connections will drop a huge vinyl-only box set on the world. RJD2 2002-2010 will include the LPs of vintage RJD2 releases Deadringer, The Horror EP, and Since We Last Spoke, as well as The Tin Foil Hat EP, which contains seven new, unreleased songs. (No The Third Hand, but maybe that's for the best.) RJ also promises "a hand silk-screened, signed and numbered poster, a download card for exclusive treats, plus a beautifully printed box." That's a lot of RJD2!

Finally, RJ also reports that he's done recording his next full-length, The Colossus. He says it'll be out "early this winter", but he hints that this means 2010, not 2009.

VIDEO: Jay-Z "Run This Town" (Featuring Kanye West & Rihanna)

2009-08-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Jay-Z's "Run This Town" single didn't exactly send the world into frothing Blueprint 3 anticipation. But director Anthony Mandler's video, while no "Big Pimpin'", is a lot of fun in that old-school MTV spectacle sort of way.

Rihanna in a ninja mask and garter belt! Kanye West spinning around! Molotov cocktails! Bullet belts! Flaming torches! Castle hallways! Smashed car windows!

Also, Jay's bandanna/trenchcoat combo makes him look like a Juggalo, which is funny. Check it all out below (Via OnSMASH).

VIDEO: Pharoahe Monch: Pitchfork Music Festival Performance

2009-08-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm back once again.

Beirut, DOOM, Frightened Rabbit Added to Pitchfork Music Festival

2009-05-03T11:45:00.001-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Also added: Lindstrøm, DJ/Rupture, Ponytail, the Mae Shi, Dianogah

Just when you thought the lineup for the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival couldn't get any better... it just did! We're proud to announce the addition of a whole bunch of excellent artists to the fest, which goes down July 17-19 in Chicago's Union Park. And they are: Globetrotting wunderkind Beirut, masked MC DOOM, Scottish heartbreakers Frightened Rabbit, space disco master Lindstrøm, shape-shifting beatsmith DJ/Rupture, Baltimore art-punks Ponytail, spazz-poppers the Mae Shi, and Chicago post-rockers Dianogah.

As you know, previously announced 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival artists include the Flaming Lips, the National, Grizzly Bear, M83, the Walkmen, Yeasayer, Pharoahe Monch, and many more.

Also, on Friday, July 17, we'll launch the "Write the Night: Set Lists by Request" series, in which four bands will all play fan-selected set lists. Here's how it works: You, the audience, vote on which songs all four bands-- Built to Spill, the Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo, and Tortoise-- will play. When you buy your ticket, you'll get a confirmation email. That confirmation email will include a link to a page where you can vote on which songs from each band you want to hear. The bands will tailor their set lists accordingly. (Also worth mentioning: This will be the Jesus Lizard's first American show in a decade.) Voting ends June 12.

Plus: There are still many more bands to come.

Tickets for the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival are on sale now.

2009 Pitchfork Music Festival schedule (so far):

Friday, July 17

"Write the Night: Set Lists by Request"

Built to Spill
The Jesus Lizard
Yo La Tengo
Tortoise

Saturday, July 18

The National
Beirut *
DOOM *
Yeasayer
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Fucked Up
Plants and Animals
Matt and Kim
Lindstrøm *
Wavves
Ponytail *
Charles Hamilton
The Duchess and The Duke
Disappears*

Sunday, July 19

The Flaming Lips
Grizzly Bear
M83
The Walkmen
Pharoahe Monch
Blitzen Trapper
Frightened Rabbit *
The Mae Shi *
Black Lips
The Very Best
Mew
Vivian Girls
Japandroids
DJ/Rupture
Women
Dianogah *

* Just added

Beasties Reissue Campaign Continues With Check Your Head

2009-03-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Last month's 10.0 Paul's Boutique reissue made a lot of sense considering it was the album's 20th anniversary and all. But the upcoming tricked-out revamp of Check Your Head isn't quite as traditionally timely-- it's been, er, 17 years since the Beastie Boys' return-to-instruments funk fest hit Tower Records locations across the country.

This seemingly hasty, multi-tiered release-- expanded digital editions out March 30, expanded CD and vinyl editions out April 7, super duper expanded vinyl edition out soon after that-- continues Capitol/EMI's apparent 2009 business strategy, i.e., re-release everything they ever put out in any and all ways possible (see: all those Radiohead repackagings coming your way). They already redid last year's Coldplay album. I'm shocked they haven't gotten around to a Katy Perry reboot-- what are you guys waiting for?

The death of the compact disc (and, you know, the notion of paying for music in general) is sorta depressing, but it brings us this reissue, which should at least satiate those annoying Check Your Head=Best Beasties Album die-hards for a few months. Check Your Head isn't Paul's Boutique, but it still holds up well-- a vintage "Arsenio Hall Show" performance of "So What'cha Want" currently streaming on the trio's site reiterates a fact current high schoolers may not be aware of: these dudes were mean on the microphone. Very mean. Super mean. Especially Ad-Rock.

Some details on the Check Your Head relaunch: The crown jewel of this campaign is a limited edition quadruple 180 gram LP version with a "fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case," according to a press release. They're calling it the "ultra-deluxe" version and it will cost a lot of money. For those of us not profiting from AIG bonuses, there's the standard double vinyl, digital download and double CD versions, each featuring a host of B-sides. A deluxe digital edition offers videos and video commentary, too.

All of these new products put the Beastie Boys in an odd position between reliving the past and trying to stay present, especially since they're due to release their first (real) album in five years this fall. They'll attempt to strike a balance when they hit Bonnaroo June 12 and headline the Hollywood Bowl for the first time September 24.

The Roots to Back Public Enemy Playing Nation of Millions at Philly Festival

2009-03-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

When Jimmy Fallon announced late last year that the venerable rap band the Roots would serve as the house band for his late night NBC talk show, he set off all sorts of alarm bells. The Roots arguably remain the most dependable live act in rap, and their last album, 2008's Rising Down, was a taught, simmering workout, a great sign that the band would remain adaptable in a changing rap climate. What, exactly, would they have to gain in playing backup for this giggling cheeseball?

Turns out we shouldn't have worried. Fallon's tenure on "Late Night" so far has been a bit awkward, but it's also been more consistently entertaining than anyone could've hoped, and the Roots are a huge part of the reason why. Fallon's found ways to integrate them completely into the fabric of the show, building bits around their limber chops. And when Ludacris stopped by the show, holy shit.

And even if the Roots aren't tearing up the road the way they did for years, it's not like they've put a stop to their regular activities. As we reported last month, they're still holding down a regular residency at New York's Highline Ballroom, bandleader ?uestlove has a regular DJ gig at (Le) Poisson Rouge, and, if ?uesto's Twitter is to be believed, they're also working on a new album called How I Got Over. If that wasn't enough, Billboard has just revealed the lineup of the band's second Roots Picnic festival, and it is no joke.

The Roots Picnic will go down on June 6 at Festival Pier in the band's native Philadelphia. The band will play two sets at the festival, opening and closing the festival. And as Billboard reports, along with Antibalas, they will also back Public Enemy-- another one of the greatest live rap groups ever-- as they do their masterpiece It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in its entirety.

P.E. has done Nation of Millions straight through at a few previous shows, including last year's Pitchfork Music Festival, but they've never done it with the Roots playing behind them. Considering how hard both groups bring it live, it boggles the mind to think about what they'll be able to do together. At the very least, it'll be fun to see the Roots' human beatboxes replicate the Bomb Squad's siren noises.

As Billboard reports, on March 16, Public Enemy will also stop by "Late Night" to perform with the Roots, so we'll get some indication of how that'll sound.

The rest of the Picnic's lineup is also ridiculously strong. TV on the Radio, the Black Keys, and Santigold will all perform on the main stage. And as Billboard reports, so will the Pipes, a new band that apparently features both Lenny Kravitz's daughter Zoe and the great L.A. speed-rapper Busdriver. Should be weird! Two great old-school Philly DJs, Jazzy Jeff and Cash Money, will spin records between bands. There will also be a second stage with Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Busdriver, Making Time, Back to Basics, and Writtenhouse.

Bun B Talks About the Final UGK Album

2009-03-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Two years ago, the beloved Texas rap duo UGK released Underground Kingz, their first-ever #1 on the Billboard 200. It was their first album since rapper/producer Pimp C had finished serving a lengthy prison term, and Jive Records, the group's label, had pushed its release back so many times that at many points it felt like it would never come out. So the album's success felt like a vindication, a happy ending.

It didn't last.

Six months after the release of Underground Kingz, Pimp C died in a Los Angeles hotel room, after the cough syrup he'd been drinking reacted badly with his sleep apnea. Bun B, Pimp's partner in UGK, soldiered on after his death, releasing the solo album II Trill last year. And last month, we reported that Bun was putting the finishing touches on a final UGK album. Jive will release that album, 4 Life, on March 31.

We spoke with Bun about the final UGK album, his forthcoming barrage of guest appearances, and the UGK goodbye shows he's planning in a select few cities. He is, as ever, a hell of an interview.

Pitchfork: I interviewed you about a year ago, and you'd mentioned that you were going to do this UGK project. That was the first I'd heard of it. What's it been like getting the album together?

Bun B: As far as putting it together, I didn't have to do too much running around and chasing around. A lot of the music-- and all of Pimp C's vocals, naturally-- had been laid prior to his passing away. Some of the songs were fully recorded, like from top to bottom, mixed and mastered. Some of them were done only halfway, maybe a verse from him and a verse from me. Some of them were just the Pimp C structure, and we had to build the rest of the song around it.

Pitchfork: Did he leave behind a lot of unfinished work?

BB: I can't really speak to the number of it because-- I think this is key for me to mention-- I don't control the music. I don't have the Pimp C catalogue. The estate owns, controls, and chooses how to distribute everything that's Pimp C's, that has anything to do with Pimp C. So with this album, most of these songs were supposed to go to UGK anyway. It was just a matter of getting it all there for the UGK situation because there were songs for UGK, there were songs for a solo album, there were features he had done that were outstanding. It was just a matter of getting everybody the right music.

Pitchfork: Was it a concern to make the album fit together cohesively as an album? Every previous UGK album has been planned out with a kind of narrative arc.

BB: Yeah, absolutely. The theme for this album had already been set-- pretty much everything except the title. It was going to be a continuation of the themes and context we were trying to get across from the last double album. It was really about re-shaping the thinking of the way cats is doing what they're doing. Somewhere along the line, the G-Code got twisted, so it was really just about implementing the basic rules of the street back into the game and just being smart about how you move forward. A lot of that is basically what this album is about. For me, UGK has never been the kind to just make two good singles and that's it. We've always relied on the album to sell the group, as opposed to a single. It definitely was a concern for me that if I couldn't make an album... I didn't want to just put 12 songs out, you know what I mean? I had to make an album that was going to sit on the shelf next to the other albums, or I wasn't going to do it.

Pitchfork: Yeah, you guys have absolutely never half-assed it in terms of full-lengths. Underground Kingz is an album that I love, but the one thing that was jarringly different about it was the amount of production that didn't come from Pimp and wasn't necessarily of his aesthetic, if that makes sense.

BB: Absolutely. One thing that Pimp used to always talk about was that he felt selfish. And I never understood that because I always felt like I was getting the best beats from the best producer. But Pimp always felt like he was being selfish to the point where, if I kept rapping to Pimp C beats, I would never be able to evolve as an artist. So he would go out of his way to try and incorporate other music to help me branch out more and expand myself more as a lyricist. The whole point of getting the Swizz Beatz track was not my idea. It was Pimp C's idea, because he wanted to hear me on a Swizz Beatz track. He was like, "Man, I just want to buy you a Swizz Beatz track; I know you'll kill that shit." All the dudes that are considered great rappers, they all eventually go in on a Just Blaze or a Swizz Beatz track, making those monumental records. He just wanted to give me the opportunity to make a monumental record.

Pitchfork: Is the new album put together in a similar way, with a bunch of different producers?

BB: Not so much with the different producers. The people who produced this UGK album are all the proteges that Pimp C was working with, his own production collective. A lot of them produced on the last album, so you have Cory Mo, Averexx-- who co-produced with [Pimp] on the last album-- and DJ B-Doe as well: People who he was trying to pass his sound along to to be the next generation of production from our team. It was the best chance I had of trying to keep the UGK sound intact.

Pitchfork: Did Pimp do "Da Game Been Good to Me"?

BB: He co-produced it.

Pitchfork: That is a beautiful song. It just sounds so warm and full. I didn't realize until Pimp died and all these articles about him came out, how musically involved he was with every beat he did, to the extent that he would get members of the Meters to play on songs when he didn't like the way the sample turned out.

BB: The thing was, he wanted to do things with the utmost respect. And it got to the point where he was trying to find someone to recreate the sound but he couldn't find anybody he felt was doing it justice. We happened to have people who were connected to people who had a line to the Neville family. So using those connections, we were able to actually reach out and make contact, and [Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli] was actually willing to come-- and not just play on the album, but play his world-famous guitar licks, recreating them for us. It's almost unheard of. That's only a testament to Pimp C's dedication to-- and passion for-- music and knowledge.

People do not give themselves or their intellectual properties over to the younger generation, especially the hip-hop generation. A lot of times they assume a lack of knowledge as to what they're choosing to use. Most kids will just say, "That's a nice keyboard," but it takes a real musician to know that he's using a Hammond B-3 organ. It's the subtle differences like that that musicians respect. If you're going to approach these people, that's the kind of context you need to have, and Pimp was very good at letting people know that he understood their sound and their music, had a great respect for their catalogue, and wasn't trying to rape their catalogue, was trying to create something unique through what they had created. People understood that.

Pitchfork: Just looking at the tracklist of the new album, there are songs on here that I cannot wait to hear. Like the song with E-40, B-Legit, and 8Ball & MJG-- that's a titantic lineup. I hope it's like 12 minutes long.

BB: [laughs] We had to cut it down. I think it tops out at about four or five minutes. Actually, you know what? I think that song might be six minutes. It's not a little song. It's a big boy song. You know, if you've been following UGK for the past 15-17 years, then you're probably fans of E-40, B-Legit, and 8Ball & MJG as well, because we all come from the same era. To me, that's just a little bit extra for you. If you're fans of UGK, you're probably fans of these guys, too. Wouldn't you like to hear us all on one record? This has been a dream. Everyone involved with the record wanted to hear this record. It just all came together.

Pitchfork: Also, to hear Lil Boosie and Webbie on a UGK record, that's also something I'm really excited about. They're proteges of Pimp's...

BB: Oh, absolutely. The only reason I wouldn't say that that they could possibly be UGK is they don't produce. That's the only thing holding them back from being one of the great tandems. But just the same, they're still incredible talents, and they're going to leave with footprints in the hip-hop sand.

Pitchfork: When this album is out there in the world, what's next for you?

BB: The next thing for me is lending my support to the Pimp C solo album, which comes after this. And then once that's done, I'll start recording my next solo album.

Pitchfork: Are you going to tour solo on this album or anything like that?

BB: On the UGK album? Not in the traditional sense. We're going to put together a couple of tribute concerts in the top couple of markets to try and bring a celebration to the people who have been supporting UGK all this time in the very truest sense ... No disrespect to everyone else. It's not like just because ten people bought it in a small town that those ten people don't love us any less than 50,000 people who bought it in Houston. We're going to try and bring it to the biggest selection of people that we can at the same time who support the movement.

Pitchfork: Where are you going to do these shows?

BB: Probably Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and then two more cities picked out of Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, and Cleveland.

Pitchfork: I hope you do one in Chicago.

BB: Chicago's looking pretty good-- I'll be honest. They've always been really strong supporters of UGK.

Pitchfork: When Pimp was imprisoned and you were working by yourself to keep the UGK name alive, you went on this incredible tear of guest appearances that didn't really seem to abate for years. In the past year or so since II Trill came out, you haven't been doing quite as many verses on other people's records. Do you miss that?

BB: No, I really just devoted myself more to [4 Life]. I didn't take too much time giving myself over to other projects. I tried to devote as much of myself to this album as possible; I felt that it deserved my utmost attention and that it should be top priority. The best way for me to keep UGK going in this sense was to make the best UGK album I could possibly put together, whereas in the past, the best way to keep the UGK movement going was to expose myself to as many major markets as possible.

Pitchfork: Is that something you want to get back into?

Bun B: I'll be all over the place in about five minutes. I'm on [Raekwon's] Cuban Linx 2 album, I'm on the Blackout 2 album with Red and Meth, I'm on the X-Clan album, I'm on the new Drake mixtape, I'm on Currency's new mixtape, I did two songs with Uncle Murda, I'm doing something on Reflection Eternal's album, I'm on Shawty Lo's album, I'm on... Fuck, I can't even think of all the shit I'm on.

Pitchfork: You're on the new X-Clan album? How did something like that come together?

BB: I met Brother J when X-Clan opened for Public Enemy on their tour last year. We're both mutual fans of each other. He's an incredible songwriter, always has been. He asked me if I'd be interested and it was my honor.

Pitchfork: Wow. What newer rappers are you liking right now?

BB: That's a good question. There's so many great young talents that I hate to just pick one. I deal with a lot of them. If there's anybody I felt had potential to be a legend right now, I'd pick Killer Mike. I think Killer Mike has the potential to make some of the most impactful music that anybody is going to make in the next couple of years.

Pitchfork: Wow. Are you going to do some work with him anytime soon?

BB: Oh, yeah-- I'm on that album, too.

Pitchfork: I wanted to ask you about appearing in the video for "My President Is Black". That's obviously a huge song, and my friend pointed out your moment in that video, the way you look at the camera. I hope you don't mind if I ask this, but were you close to tears when you filmed that? Because it kind of looks that way.

BB: You're probably the first person to have noticed that. Your friend actually is, I guess. That's very acute. Yes, it was emotional. You have to understand, Jeezy and I have a very long friendship. And just being very real about everything with him, the complications between himself and Pimp, it caused friction in our relationship as well, by due process. Not that I had issues with him or he had issues with me, but it was obvious that something was in the middle. He's made a very sincere effort to try to... I don't want to say reconcile, because we didn't have a problem, but he's made a very real effort to reach out and show that he's never any different about me, regardless of what has happened. I hate to even bring it up, because it's really a dead issue, but it's the reality of it, and there's no sense in acting like it didn't happen.

What happened between him and Pimp happened, but the situation was being squashed between them when [Pimp passed away]. There's no bad blood; there's no grudges. Pimp would always say he never had anything personal against Jeezy; it was just something that he felt about something. Pimp was known for sometimes saying very honest, very outlandish shit in the moment; he'd normally have to come back and apologize for it. This was another one of those instances. Because of the people involved and the level of intensity, it just seemed like a really big issue. At the end of the day, we're all grown men. None of us are small; none of us are petty. Prior to his passing, Pimp was talking about making peace and moved on. Jeezy was talking about making peace and moved on. It's all good, and for us to make a video and stand together and acknowledge Pimp was a beautiful thing for people to see. I really do consider Jeezy one of my close friends. I'm really happy for everything that's happened for him and all his success.

Pitchfork: So the emotion of that moment was more about Jeezy's acknowledgment of Pimp on that song than it was about Obama?

BB: People don't understand that that's very real, what he's talking about when he says, "It's all love, Bun / I'm forgiving you, Pimp C." It's very real. People know what he's saying and know what it's attributed to, but they don't understand how real that is. Very few people nowadays, especially in the urban community... Very seldom do you see people forgive people and leave it like that. It's usually protocol to try and hold a grudge forever. He was a very big man for trying to acknowledge that he wasn't. Because he didn't have to, especially on a song like that which was bound to be a major song. But that shows the effort he wanted to make to show everyone it wasn't an issue. God bless him for it.

VIDEO (WTF): Rappin' For Regulatin' Genes

2009-03-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

(Reuters) Mar. 12 - Combine two biologists with mad love for rap and you get "Regulatin' Genes" - a parody of Jay-Z's "Money Ain't a Thing" with a highly specific explanation as to how we evolved.

Tom McFadden, an instructor in the human biology department at Stanford University and Derrick David, a junior, strut around the campus replete with poses while wearing baggy khakis, hoodies, baseball hats and sunglasses while singing about how a fertilized egg develops into a complex organism.

VIDEO: Big Zach In The Lab

2009-03-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

You can check Zach @ Last of the Record Buyers on 3/19 at the Dinkytowner.

More can be found here.

The 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival Starting Lineup!

2009-03-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Last week, we announced that the fourth annual Pitchfork Music Festival would jump off at Chicago's lovely Union Park July 17-19. If the mere fact that our festival is happening again wasn't enough to convince you to save the date and book any necessary flights, this should. We can now announce a few of the bands who will play this year's fest, as well as a truly badass new feature.

First, the schedule:

Friday, July 17

Built to Spill
The Jesus Lizard
Yo La Tengo
Tortoise

Saturday, July 18

The National
Pharoahe Monch
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
+ many more!

Sunday, July 19

Grizzly Bear
The Walkmen
Vivian Girls
+ many more!

OK. Now. In past years, we've booked our Friday night lineups by teaming up with All Tomorrow's Parties and their "Don't Look Back" series, presenting bands playing classic albums all the way through. Last year, Public Enemy performed It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and Sonic Youth performed Daydream Nation in 2007.

This year, we're doing something different.

Starting on Friday night, we're kicking off a new series called "Write the Night: Set Lists by Request." You, the audience, vote on which songs all four bands-- Built to Spill, the Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo, and Tortoise-- will play. It'll work like this: When you buy your ticket, you'll get a confirmation email. That confirmation email will include a link to a page where you can vote on which songs from each band you want to hear. The bands will tailor their set lists accordingly. Oh, and did we mention this is the Jesus Lizard's first American show in a decade? Righteous, yes?

Tickets go on sale March 13, and voting starts the same day. Voting ends June 12.

Of course, we'll announce a ton more bands in the coming months.

VIDEO: Big Quarters "From The Home Of Brown Babies & White Mothers" Album out 5/5!

2009-03-03T20:41:00.001-08:00

Get yours.

VIDEO: P.O.S. "Optimist (We Are Not For Them)"

2009-03-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

Never Better in stores now!

Get that.

VIDEO: More Kanye VH1 Storytellers Videos

2009-03-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

See You In My Nightmares

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Robocop:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Flashing Lights (Hot):

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Amazing:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Touch The Sky:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Say You Will:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Good Life:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Heartless:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Love Lockdown:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Pitchfork Music Festival 2009!

2009-02-28T12:05:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Drum roll: The fourth annual Pitchfork Music Festival will take place in Chicago July 17-19. So cancel that "screw the recession" European vacation ASAP-- it's not worth it. The Pitchfork Music Festival, on the other hand, is definitely worth it. Not like we're biased or anything. The three-day fest will once again take place at Chicago's lovely Union Park, so get ready to gawk at the coolest sunglasses you've ever seen while soaking in the finest music known to man...on earth...and in space. It will be mega.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 13.

I know what you're thinking: "So which incredibly awesome bands are going to be there this year?" Slow down. We can't give everything away at once. Stay tuned to this space for a regular stream of festival updates in the coming weeks. While you're waiting, go ahead and check out Deerhunter's Bradford Cox performing with Spoon from last year's show or Girl Talk doing that thing he does with special guests Grizzly Bear at the '07 fest over at Pitchfork.tv.

But feel free to circle and/or highlight July 17, 18, and 19 on your cat-a-day calendar this very second.

Kanye West Bashes Thom Yorke, Defends Chris Brown

2009-02-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Man, Kanye West's episode of VH1's "Storytellers" is going to be so awesome. When you combine this guy's passion for eye-popping stagecraft with his tendency to say insane things, you end up with some real appointment viewing. We've already seen the version of "Stronger" that'll air, and it wrecks. And we still have high hopes, even though Reuters has reported on some amazing stuff that won't make it to the air. According to Reuters, VH1 has cut a couple of classic Kanye tirades: One dissing Radiohead and another defending Chris Brown. (Via Stereogum.)

One of Kanye's anecdotes concerned Thom Yorke, who West loves. As a Radiohead fan, West puts half the Pitchfork staff to shame. On the mixtape track "Us Placers", Kanye, alongside Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell, rapped over a sample of Yorke's solo track "The Eraser". And when he talked to The Fader last fall, Kanye described the sound of "Love Lockdown" as "Thom Yorke in the strip club," a truly hilarious image. But according to Reuters, "West was aggrieved that Radiohead singer Thom Yorke had allegedly snubbed him backstage at the Grammys five days earlier. That hurt, West told the audience, because he idolizes the British band, and considers it one of his few creative rivals." Kanye told the "Storytellers" crowd, "So when he performed at the Grammys, I sat the fuck down."

Another of West's rants revolved around the subject of publicly maligned celebrities, most notably newly minted public pariah Chris Brown: "Can't we give Chris a break? ... I know I make mistakes in life." Um, right.

Also, on O.J. Simpson: "O.J. Simpson, amazing. Is he not? What he did, when he did, what he did. Was he not amazing though?"

And on Michael Jackson and Michael Phelps, the latter of whom probably isn't thrilled at being included in this company: "Michael Jackson, amazing. Michael Phelps, amazing ... He's a real fuckin' person; he makes mistakes."

Incredible. According to Reuters, VH1 has actually left that second rant relatively intact, even if the network has "cleaned up those comments a bit."

Kanye taped his "Storytellers" episode on February 13, and it'll air on Saturday, February 28. I cannot wait.

Video: Kanye West: Stronger [live on VH1's "Storytellers"]

VIDEO: Last of the Record Buyers Beat Battle: Lazerbeak Vs. Medium Zach

2009-02-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Part One:

Part Two:

And don't forget!

VIDEO: No I.D. "The Godfather of Chicago Hip-Hop"

2009-02-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

In this clip, No I.D., "The Godfather of Chicago Hip-Hop," talks with Rolling Out TV about his involvement in the music industry. In case you somehow don't know, No I.D. is the producer who Kanye cites as his mentor, and who was also instrumental in Common's early years (and hopefully his future years as well). Watch the vid, and hear how No I.D. helped put Chicago Hip-Hop on the map. (swiped from Okayplayer)

VIDEO: Kanye West "Stronger" Live @ VH1 Storytellers

2009-02-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

(swiped from Okayplayer)

On February 28th VH1 will be debuting their latest edition of "Storytellers" featuring Kanye West. To give you a sneak peak of the show, here is Kanye's performance of "Stronger." I know we've seen 1,000 'Ye live performance vids by now, but I feel like he manages to outdo himself with every one.

Clipse/Rick Rubin Collaboration Actually Happening

2009-02-25T19:48:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Back in the 80s, Rick Rubin co-founded Def Jam Records and produced an absurd number of monster jams for the likes of LL Cool J and Run-DMC. Ever since he left Def Jam, though, Rubin's been busy racking up Dixie Chicks Grammys and becoming the music industry's favorite beardo swami figure, and he hasn't had much time to fuck with rap. In recent years, though, Rubin's occasional toe-dips into beatmaking have been infrequent but devastating: Jay-Z's deathless "99 Problems", for one, or Lil Jon's Slayer-sample pileup "Stop Fuckin' Wit Me". (I could make a Lordz of Brooklyn or Saul Williams joke here, but those records were actually sort of awesome, so fuck it.)

Further proving the occasional sharpness of his instincts, Rubin signed masterful coke-rap free agents Clipse to Columbia in 2007. And last summer, we reported that Rubin and Clipse would be working together on music for Clipse's Columbia debut. But these kinds of things are often rumored and rarely actually take place. So we were stoked when, yesterday, EW.com revealed a few more details of the Clipse/Rubin collabo. The Re-Up Gang blog also posted some awesome photos.

According to EW, they've already finished one song together, and they plan to do one or two more. We already know from their two classic Neptunes-produced albums that Clipse know how to handle themselves over icy, minimal beats. Rubin usually traffics in punchy, metallic, cluttered thuds, so this will be a stretch. But all the people involved know exactly what they're doing, so I'm confident.

Til the Casket Drops, the third Clipse album, is due for release sometime this summer. Hopefully they won't experience any of the same release-date delays that plagued Hell Hath No Fury. EW reports that the first single, "Kinda Like a Big Deal", will be out on March 9. It features Kanye West, and DJ Khalil, who did the beat for 50 Cent's pretty good "I Still Kill", produced it.

The last time I wrote something about Clipse for Pitchfork, the brothers Thornton weren't too happy. So I should point out right here that this Rubin collaboration is a really good idea. It gets way higher than a 7.6. Like 8.2 at least.

Also, this picture is hilarious. How long has Rick Rubin been living in that car?

VIDEO: In The Studio With Dinosaur Jr.

2009-02-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork.TV)

We head into Dinosaur Jr.'s Amherst, Mass. studio while they lay down tracks for their new album, tentatively due this summer on Jagjaguwar. Along with full versions of new song "I Don't Wanna Go There" and You're Living All Over Me's "Tarpit", J, Lou, and Murph lead us from the past into the present.

2009-02-24T18:19:00.000-08:00

Illuminous 3 has a new album out called "Room" in stores now and online soon. This Midwestern rap trio from Minnesota have dropped a special treat this month releasing 3 projects for free.

FranzDiego.com's debut EP entitled "The FranzDiego.com EP" can be downloaded at: http://www.FranzDiego.com/

Mavin MC's debut EP entitled "The Craftmaster" can be found at http://www.MavinMC.com

Freez's debut mixtape entitled "The For Real It's Too E-Z" can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/freezill3

Information about the group and other things going on check out: http://www.illuminous3.mn

VIDEO: Freestyle 101 w/Chali 2na

2009-02-24T18:08:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Okayplayer)

Chali 2na, of Jurassic 5 fame, has been getting his name back out there quite a bit as of late. Jurassic 5 recently put out their J5 Deluxe Re-Issue album via decon, Chali was featured on that K'Naan track we posted last week, and today he is the latest MC on G4's Freestyle 101 (apparently he's not famous enough for G4 to spell his name right though). After he spits some bars, Chali speaks about how he began freestylin'.

Atmosphere and P.O.S. Team Up for North American Tour

2009-02-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Photo by Dan Monick

Aggro-rap heads, your clenched-fist prayers have been answered. Minnesota rap duo Atmosphere and fellow North Star Stater P.O.S. are taking their no-nonsense, angry, political, and wordy acts on the road all over North America starting in April. Atmosphere will be touring behind last year's When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold as well as this year's God Loves Ugly reissue. P.O.S. is supporting the rap-rock stylings of his latest, Never Better. Without further ado:

Atmosphere:

04-09 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theatre *
04-10 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory *
04-11 Boise, ID - Knitting Factory *
04-12 Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue *
04-14 Flagstaff, AZ - Orpheum Theater *
04-15 Tempe, AZ - Marquis Theatre *
04-17 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre *
04-18 Indio, CA - Coachella Music and Arts Festival *
04-19 Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst *
04-20 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre *
04-21 Lake Tahoe, NV - Montbleu Resort and Casino *
04-23 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
04-24 Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo *
04-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
04-26 Victoria, British Columbia - Element
04-28 Edmonton, Alberta - The Starlite Room
04-29 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Ballroom
05-01 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The Odeon
05-02 Regina, Saskatchewan - The Riddell
05-04 Thunder Bay, Ontario - Rockhouse
05-06 Toronto, Ontario - The Phoenix
05-07 London, Ontario - Music Hall London
05-08 Montreal, Quebec - Theatre Plaza
05-09 Ottawa, Ontario - Ritual Nightclub
05-10 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
05-12 Portland, ME - The Asylum
05-13 Boston, MA - House of Blues
05-15 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre
05-16 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-17 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
05-18 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
05-19 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
05-21 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
05-22 Omaha, NE - Slowdown

* with P.O.S.

VIDEO: Kid Cudi: "Day 'N' Nite"

2009-02-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

(Swiped from Pitchfork Media)

So Kid Cudi has a new video for "Day 'N' Nite". Is the video good? Most certainly. It was directed by spectacular graphic artist Bertrand de Langeron, a.k.a So Me, a.k.a. the guy who was interrupted at the MTV Europe VMA's by a screaming Kanye West, a.k.a. the guy who went on to direct Kanye West's "Good Life". But, you might ask, wasn't there a video for this song already? Yes, there was, but it was for the arguably more fun and club-friendly Crookers bassline remix--a refix that, incidentally, entered the top ten in the UK.

Of course, not everyone (especially in America) seems too hip to the idea of putting a donk on it, and these same folks probably have probably listened to the original "Day' 'N' Nite" umpteen times already. All of this raises the question--why not make use of the incredible talents of So Me for a single that hasn't been out for months? Cudi apparently hated the original video and said so on his blog, but he gained lots of attention with it and lots of new fans. This brand spanking new one for the moodier, original version of the song looks fantastic, but in 2009, it doesn't take long for a tune to sound a little tired.

J Dilla Gets Anthology Treatment

2009-02-21T10:21:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Last week marked the third anniversary of space-rap visionary J Dilla's death, and his influence over younger beatmakers like Kanye West and Black Milk probably looms larger now than it ever has. So it makes sense for Rapster Records, the company responsible for those compilations of sampled material from Daft Punk and Massive Attack records, to put out Dillanthology, Volume 1, a sort of Dilla 101 compilation. Dillanthology collects some of the production work that Dilla did for prominent clients and frequent collaborators like Erykah Badu and Busta Rhymes. But it's interesting to ask whether it really serves as an ideal introduction to the man's work.

A huge part of Dilla's peculiar brand of genius was his fractured intensity, the way he'd spend hours in the studio manipulating one old record-loop until it skipped and warped in just the way he wanted. And so most Dilla devotees would probably point to his 31-track Donuts beat tape as the ideal diving-in point for anyone interested in the man's deep legacy. The crew of writers on Brandon Soderberg's No Trivia blog currently paying tribute to the album on a track-by-track basis can attest to that. My own favorite might be the posthumously reissued Ruff Draft EP, where Dilla's likable, awkward vocals sort of charmingly set off the synthetic ripples of his tracks. Point is: Dilla wasn't exactly the seasoned industry-pro type, and it's a bit weird to see him honored with what basically amounts to a standard greatest-hits package.

Still and all, there are some amazing tracks on Dillanthology, which Rapster will release on March 31; Badu's "Didn't Cha Know" is a particular favorite. If nothing else, it'll be good for filling in some iTunes gaps, and maybe it'll inspire the folks at Rapster to dig a little deeper with any future volumes. But curious parties should know that a comp like this is merely the tip of a completely fascinating iceberg.

Here's the tracklist:

01 The Pharcyde: "Runnin'"
02 Slum Village: "Fall in Love"
03 Common: "The Light"
04 Erykah Badu: "Didn't Cha Know"
05 De La Soul: "Stakes Is High"
06 Busta Rhymes: "Show Me What You Got"
07 The Roots: "Dynamite"
08 A.G. [ft. Aloe Blacc]: "Hip Hop Quotable"
09 The Pharcyde: "Drop"
10 Amp Fiddler: "I Believe in You"
11 Steve Spacek: "Dollar"

Video: The Pharcyde: Drop [from the Labcabincalifornia LP]

MF Doom Changes Name Again, Preps Album

2009-02-21T10:16:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

MF Doom has a new name now: DOOM. All caps. He insists. He also wants his album title spelled that way. So just to make sure I keep him happy, I'm going to write this whole news story in all caps.

BACK IN 2007, THE INDIE-RAP ENIGMA SET OFF MASSIVE CONSIPRACY THEORIES...

Jesus Christ. That's so annoying. I can't do it. Sorry.

Back in 2007, the indie-rap enigma set off massive conspiracy theories and even death rumors by allegedly slapping his mask on a skinny imposter and letting that guy do shows while he stayed at home reading back-issues of Alpha Flight or whatever. (Doom's label simply claims that he lost some weight.) Since that time, we've heard barely a peep from him. Given that the guy used to release roughly 58 albums a year, that absence has been noticed.

Well, Doom has now renamed himself DOOM, possibly to distance himself from any worst-rapper-ever reputation I may have given him. And now he's breaking his silence. On March 23, Lex will release BORN LIKE THIS, the first all-new DOOM album in a couple of years. And he's coming back in a pretty big way, with some of the bigger names in the frantic head-knock rap underground on board.

DOOM's frequent collaborator Ghostface Killah, performing as Tony Starks for some reason, guests on one song, as does fellow Wu-Gambino Raekwon. Whatever happened to that planned DOOM/Ghostface full-length? Can that happen, please? Anyway, Jake One produced the appetizingly titled first single "Ballskin", and DOOM used a track from the late stoner-rap deity J Dilla's Donuts album for "Lightworks". (A quick digression re: Donuts: Brandon Soderberg's No Trivia blog has been running a really moving essay series on that album for a couple of weeks now.)

Here's the tracklist:

01 Supervillain Intro
02 Gazillion Ear
03 Ballskin
04 Yessir [ft. Raekwon]
05 Absolutely
06 Rap Ambush
07 Lightworks
08 Batty-Boys
09 Angelz [ft. Tony Starks]
09 Cellz
10 Still Dope [ft. Empress Sharhh]
11 Microwave Mayo
12 More Rhymin' [ft. Kurious]
13 That's That
14 Suppervillainz
15 Bump's Message
16 Thank Ya

Stream: DOOM: Ballskin [from the forthcoming BORN LIKE THIS LP]

VIDEO: Atmosphere "You" (2nd Retake)

2009-02-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

You may recall when I posted a previous version of the Atmosphere video. Well, here's a newer version.

Merry Febuary 19th y'all.

VIDEO: Pitchfork.tv: Hercules & Love Affair: Live on "Don't Look Down" Part 2

2009-02-19T18:46:00.000-08:00

Here's the conclusion to Hercules & Love Affair's "Don't Look Down" performance, where the sun finally sets on the rooftop dance party, but not before a rousing rendition of the epic "Hercules' Theme", a bubbling, brooding disco epic brimming over with lavish horn blasts and sensuous "yeah yeah yeaaah" vocals from Nomi Ruiz. Yesterday we had Part 1. (swiped from Pitchfork.TV)

Video: Pitchfork.tv: Hercules & Love Affair: Live on "Don't Look Down" Part 1

2009-02-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

If you weren't able to catch Hercules & Love Affair on their all-too-brief tour last year, here's a chance to see what you were missing. Brooklyn disco revivalist Andy Butler brought his eight-person band to a New York rooftop for the latest episode of "Don't Look Down". In part one, they stretch out the elastic grooves of 2008's brilliant self-titled debut, transitioning flawlessly between standout tracks "You Belong", "True/False, Fake/Real", and "Athene", as the sun sets behind the Manhattan skyline. Stay tuned tomorrow for part two.

(Swiped from Pitchfork TV)

Roots Do Residencies, ?uestlove Twitters Album Title

2009-02-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Photo by Matt Ziegler

Roots fans worried about the not being able to see their heroes in concert after they start their gig as the backing band for the guy from Fever Pitch on TV March 2 can rest easy. Well, fans who live in New York City, at least. The world's most renowned (and endless-solo-prone) hip-hop band are set to give Manhattan all the funk it can handle, with a residency at the swanky Highline Ballroom. "The Roots Present: The Jam" starts March 5 and continues throughout the spring. "Special guests" are promised. So far, shows are scheduled for March 5, March 19, March 31, April 14, April 21, May 5, May 13, May 18, May 26, June 2, June 10, June 16, and June 23. Also, on February 28, the Roots will perform at Power Shift '09, the "youth energy and climate summit" taking place in Washington, DC.

And if you're still jonzing for some ?uestlove action after that, check out the Roots drummer at his weekly DJ night dubbed "the fANtastic" starting March 26 at artsy downtown enclave (Le) Poisson Rouge. The residency takes place every Thursday until May 28. Since the Roots are friends with everyone who's ever rhymed on a microphone, who knows who'll show up at these residencies? We can picture the post-Jay photos on Nah Right right now...no pressure, dudes!

Of course, the band's afro'd stickman is available for your quipping pleasure every hour of the day at his Twitter. Just recently, he revealed the name of the next Roots album, via a Tweet: How I Got Over.

And if you can't wait a few weeks for your Roots fix, they're currently starring in a couple webisodes promoting the Fallon show.

Roots-vasion:

The Roots:

02-28 Washington, DC - Power Shift '09
03-05 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
03-19 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
03-31 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
04-14 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
04-21 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
05-13 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
05-18 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
05-26 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-02 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-10 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-16 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-23 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom

?uestlove's the fANtastic DJ Night:

03-26 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-02 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-09 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-16 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-23 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-30 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-07 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-14 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-21 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-28 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge

Video: The Roots [ft. Wale and Chrisette Michele]: Rising Up [from the Rising Down LP]

VIDEO: Kanye West "Welcome To Heartbreak"

2009-02-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

VIDEO: Murs "Who's The Boss"

2009-02-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

(swiped via Okayplayer)

Though it's getting more and more hilarious (and petty), we're not really touching that Rick Ross and 50 beef. However, since Ricky did mention an OKP favorite in one of his songs aimed at Fif, we figured we'd post Murs' response to the situation (no diss). "I'm the Black Dana White, I'ma get this money and let y'all n*ggas fight"...not mad at Murs at all for this one. Murs For President is in stores now.

Company Flow Talk Funcrusher Plus Reissue

2009-02-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)
El-P: "When a Company Flow song comes on it's like getting shot with a fucking nail gun. Everything else is like palm trees."

For hip-hop progressives Company Flow, being "independent as fuck" was a moral code of conduct and a chest-puff boast. El-P, Bigg Jus, and Mr. Len weren't just independent...they were independent as fuck. There's a difference. With their lone LP, 1997's Funcrusher Plus, the New York crew railed against capitalism and major label rap while offering an alternative that was equal parts rebel yell, lo-fi RZA-style bap, and Orwellian paranoia. It didn't go platinum. But its sound and spirit hit the underground hard, expanding the idea of what hip-hop could sound like.

Funcrusher hasn't been in print since 2006, but the record will start recirculating in remastered form May 5 courtesy of El-P's own Definitive Jux label. (The album was originally Rawkus Records' first LP, though the relationship between Company Flow and their old label has since turned ugly.) The new Funcrusher will boast rare tracks from the group's early days ("Juvenile Techniques", "Corners 94") and late-era songs cut before their 2000 breakup ("Simple", "DPA", and "Simian Drugs").

Though the three members have worked separately this millennium, they reunited for a show in 2007. Will this reissue spark another meeting of the Company Flow minds? Based on a conference call with all three members earlier this week, nobody's ruling a reunion out-- but it would have to be on their strictly independent terms, of course.

Pitchfork: Why reissue Funcrusher Plus now, 12 years after its original release?

El-P: Because everyone wants to release a record on its 12th anniversary! Perfect timing. I don't know...why the fuck are we doing this? It hasn't been available for a while and we finally got our shit together. We had to get the rights back from Rawkus...which I don't wanna talk about at all. The album should be out there. It's not something I ever thought would just disappear.

Pitchfork: So there's no special significance to the number 12 necessarily?

El-P: I think I got my first hand job at 12.

Mr. Len: I could make something up: There's three guys in Company Flow. And four years is how long a presidency lasts. Take the four and multiply it by the three and you get 12. Now, you add the one and the two in 12 and that's three...which is how many people who were in Company Flow. Knowledge that!

Pitchfork: Listening back to Funcrusher now, it's a little creepy how the dark mood of it matches the mood of 2009.

El-P: Even I was taken back by some of what we were saying. We just saw through shit-- we never subscribed to the idea that things were great back then. Even the idea about the music industry collapsing under the weight of its frivolous products seems to have come true. But I don't think that it took geniuses to see that as being inevitable.

Bigg Jus: It just so happens that geniuses made it happen. [laughs]

Len: We tried to tell you the sky was fallin', y'all just didn't wanna listen.

Pitchfork: So you're still holding that against everybody?

Len: The whole country. [laughs]

Bigg Jus: No! We're all about change now!

El-P: [deadpans] We're all about the hope.

Jus: You sound like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.

Pitchfork: So uplifting! Are you guys not excited about our new president?

Len: I'm very excited about it. But it always sucks to be the first person to do something, especially at a time when everything's fucked up. We're talking about 600,000 people losing their jobs in a month, millions in a year. To fix that you're circling money through an economy that has already crumbled. But at least someone's trying to do something now.

Pitchfork: How would you compare your overall perspectives now to when this album originally came out?

El-P: That CoFlow record was us on some fuckin' angry societal perspective shit and some love-for-hip-hop shit. I haven't changed in terms of the way I look at things but I started writing more about myself, drawing from my own personal experiences-- things that sort of take precedence over just ideas.

Jus: I kinda did it in reverse. I started more introspective and then went back out to investigate what was going on in the world. Turns out things weren't too far off from where they were when we were doing Company Flow. I don't like being negative but a lot of things still look the same to me at this point. There's just a different patina on it.

El-P: I agree. For me, all the political ideas are still involved, it's just that I started writing from a different point on the graph. A lot of people thought Funcrusher was super dark and hopeless, and I don't think it was hopeless in any way. We were on some affirmation shit. We knew what we thought was right and we were fuckin' assholes about it. We were reacting to a whole bunch of bullshit, especially when it came to music. All the hip-hop shit that we grew up loving just seemed to need a fuckin' reinforcement. Now it's a whole different scenario. But a lot of those issues obviously still remain.

Jus: I'm proud of the "independent as fuck" vibe to the record, and how we stayed pure and didn't get watered down by all the crap that was in the industry. It was good to be part of a record that helped spearhead that independent movement, even though it still has taken way too long to take hold.

El-P: I remember sitting at my kitchen table, cutting up letters and pictures and trying to glue them on there so we could make artwork for our black and white promo. We were just giggling, like "This is some fucking independent as fuck ass shit right here!" We loved it. Now it's part of the collective consciousness-- it's standard practice to start a record label, put your shit out, get your own distribution deal. I wouldn't say that we made that happen, but I would say that we were one of the first, if not the first cats to really know that was what we wanted to do.

Pitchfork: You mentioned how you guys did some asshole things back in the day. Would you do anything differently if you had the chance?

El-P: Maybe we wouldn't have broken up. [laughs]

Jus: That would be it for me. Now that everybody is older you kind of understand that people go through phases, and it's about keeping a continuity. I'm glad we're at least talking about it now. El-P: Ultimately, I think we always did it the right way. Even when we broke up it was like, "Let's not do this on bad terms." We always held ourselves to some sort of code that we weren't gonna fall into all the same traps that everyone else falls into.

Len: There were no diss records, no silliness. El-P: I never released my diss record: "Hey Len and Jus, I Hate You Fucking Guys". I recorded that shit, but I just felt it was a little harsh. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Do you think that Funcrusher is easier for the uninitiated to compute now?

Len: You have to be a special kind of teenager to dig it-- that's not a slight to a lot of teenagers out there, but they don't know how to absorb music. It takes a special kind of person to get into anything from that era, where it's a little more thought-provoking. It's not straight shoot-you music. If we're gonna shoot you, it's gonna be pretty damn entertaining.

El-P: When we came out there were motherfuckers who were like, "What is this crazy space rap from the future?" And at the same time I started seeing people refer to it as "old school" or "classic." We always thought that we were ahead of our time but maybe we weren't or maybe that time has caught up or maybe it's passed. It's hard to front on this shit though. When we made Funcrusher we thought it was the hottest shit on the planet, and when people didn't get it we were kind of like, "Well fuck you then!"

Pitchfork: Did you actually say that to people?

El-P: No, we said it in a mirror. [laughs] Actually, we probably did say that shit in interviews.

Len: We were on some arrogant-ass shit.

El-P: You couldn't tell us shit because we all knew how much we lived hip-hop culture. I reveled in the fact that when a Company Flow song comes on it's like getting shot with a fucking nail gun. Everything else is like palm trees. Pitchfork: A lot of people say Funcrusher was ahead of its time, but it's not like there's tons of stuff like that out now. I look at it as something that's more unique to its time.

Jus: I thought the album was following a logical step for the culture, which was basically about doing new shit and being original. Somehow along the way that totally got lost. I don't think other people could kind of keep up with where it was going. Besides the fact that we also didn't really make dance music.

El-P: Not just "didn't really make" dance music...I guess we made shit that people could uprock to on occasion. [laughter] At this point, I don't think it would sound jarring to anybody who kept their ear open to underground hip-hop in the last decade. If you were to play it to someone who only listens to the shit that's on the radio, they're probably going to have the same fucking response as they did when we dropped this shit, which is 50 percent saying "What the fuck is this garbage?!" and 50 percent saying "Holy shit, I haven't heard hip-hop like this." We always drew people down the middle-- there were never people who were like "Eh, it's all right." It was either "I wanna find those guys and beat them senseless because their crazy noise is hurting me" or "This is fucking incredible."

Pitchfork: Have you ever been surprised by someone who you wouldn't think would like the album?

El-P: My mom likes it. [laughter] It was different back then: We were in The Source, DJ Premier was rocking our shit on his mixtapes, KRS-One was rapping above our instrumentals. We kind of came out at the perfect time because people hadn't yet created subgenres so we were thrown into the pantheon of rap music in general. There wasn't a lot of people being like "Wow, they listen to this kind of rap." But when I was a kid I just assumed everyone should like this shit because I felt like I was the ultimate hip-hop fan. Like: "Yo, this adheres to my very fucking strict standards of what a dope record should be." I was 21 so I was pretty fucking high on myself.

Pitchfork: Do you worry about falling back into a sense of nostalgia with this reissue? I feel like when bands start re-releasing old material it might suggest their current work is less valuable.

El-P: I'm not gonna front-- that was something that may have held me back from getting into it for a while. At the end of the day, it's about the fact that we made this record and we're getting a chance to put it back out there. It's like a catalog piece. None of us are fucking washed up old dudes. It's not like, "Hey, let's take this to Vegas!"

Jus: I thought the best way to go about things would be to do a couple of new songs. I think the validity of what we've done is already secured. People already know what we're doing separately, but I'm personally throwing it out there to the guys that I'd love to do new material. I still have the same love in my heart for cats.

El-P: I hate you. [laughter]

Jus: I figure people would be cringing on that one.

El-P: You dropped the love bomb.

Pitchfork: Do you guys have any formal plans to record new stuff together?

El-P: Nah. We've always said that one day we'll get together to do some new songs but it's just dirty to think of it in any other way. I don't feel like planning to do it and being like, "We're releasing a record!" is the way to go. I love how we came in and fucking destroyed shit and then dipped. It was painful at the time but I don't regret it. As far as music and art goes, motherfuckers are dope artists, so you can never close that door.

Video: Company Flow: 8 Steps to Perfection [from the Funcrusher Plus LP]

MINNEAPOLIS!: Dre Day Goes Down On V-DAY!

2009-02-12T06:49:00.001-08:00

Cause when you diss Dre, you diss yourself.

Grammy Awards Superlatives!

2009-02-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

The Grammy Awards made an effort to get younger, hipper and more relevant this year by nominating people like Lil Wayne, Radiohead, and M.I.A. in major categories. But, in the end, the same voters who always seem to go for what's old, respected, and safe triumphed by awarding Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' (admittedly not bad) duets project both Record of the Year and Album of the Year along with three other trophies, making them the night's biggest winners. Behind them was Wayne with four wins including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop". Coldplay took three golden gramophones home, including Song of the Year for "Viva La Vida" and Best Rock Album.

Other Pitchfork-friendly acts who accumulated some hardware last night: Radiohead won for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for In Rainbows-- and anyone who owns the hardcover double-vinyl Rainbows set knows the award was well-deserved. (Though Trent Reznor, whose Ghosts set was up for the same award, disagreed.) Daft Punk were also two-time winners, taking Best Dance/Electronic Album for their live record Alive 2007, and Best Dance Recording for "Harder Better Faster Stronger" off the same album. (All that Kanye love couldn't have hurt).

Speaking of Mr. West, the sometime Grammy brat was involved in two award-winning tracks-- Estelle's "American Boy" (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration) and his collaboration with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and T.I., "Swagga Like Us" (Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group). Justice nabbed Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for their reworking of MGMT's "Electric Feel", Weezer took Best Short Form Music Video for their viral-ready "Pork and Beans" clip, Bruce Springsteen made the Best Rock Song-- "Girls in Their Summer Clothes"-- according to the Recording Academy, and They Might Be Giants beat out all others to win Best Musical Album for Children.

Check out a list of all the nominations and winners here.

M.I.A. may have lost her Record of the Year bid, but the very pregnant pop rebel (she's due any minute now) did take part in the night's undoubted highlight, a black-tie take on "Swagga Like Us" along with Kanye, Wayne, Jay, and T.I. And it's not like she tried to hide her bump, either-- her polka-dot bikini/mesh outfit left little to the imagination. It was easily the most fearless performance of the entire night.

A few Pitchfork staffers kept tabs on the proceedings via the Pitchfork Twitter, while ?uestlove's and Diplo's takes from inside the belly of the beast are essential reading.

There were other highlights, too. Ladies and gentlemen, your Grammy Superlatives:

Best Pete Wentz Tribute: Bono and his guyliner
Best Smile: The Rock
Best Tinsel-Based Shoulder Adornment: Chris Martin

Most Likely to Be High on Three Too Many Painkillers: Whitney Houston (runner-up: Travis Barker)
Best Neil Diamond Impersonator: Neil Diamond

Best Mick Jagger-With-An-Itch Impression (Or Muppet impression): Thom Yorke
Best Nomination Cutaway: Faux-water-breaking M.I.A.
Most Likely to Be a Cyborg Who's Hiding Crucial Machinery Under His Hat: Kenny Chesney

Most Likely to Be a "Close Talker": Kevin Jonas
Most Likely to Be Watching the Grammys from Home in Two Years (Please?): Miley Cyrus
Best So-Called Bling: Joe Jonas

Most Likely to Be Checking Wikipedia to See If He Is Indeed Still Alive: Ringo Starr
Most Likely to Be Long-Lost Brothers: T-Pain and will.i.am
Best Guitar Solo: Carrie Underwood's badass blonde bombshell axe slinger (apologies to B.B. King and Buddy Guy)

Video: Various Artists: Various Songs from the 51st Annual Grammy Awards

Video: Radiohead / M.I.A., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, and T.I. / U2 / Estelle and Kanye West / Coldplay [ft. Jay-Z] @ The Grammys

2009-02-09T06:47:00.000-08:00

Radiohead With the USC Marching Band: "15 Step"

M.I.A., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, T.I.: "Swagger Like Us"

Estelle and Kanye West: "American Boy"

Coldplay [ft. Jay-Z]: "Lost" / "Viva la Vida"

Al Green, Justin Timberlake, Boyz II Men, and Keith Urban: "Let's Stay Together"

Video: Dialek of Purest Form in the lab

2009-02-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Dialek will be performing at The Dinkytowner as part of the Last of the Record Buyers on February 19th, 2009.

Support.

Prefuse 73 Reveals Bugged-Out Album Cover, Tracklist

2009-02-06T07:41:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Last month, we reported that another Prefuse 73 album was among the 58 bazillion new projects that ADD glitch-rap tycoon Guillermo Scott Herren had in the works. Well, now we've got a few details on it. On April 14, Warp will release the truly awkwardly-titled Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian.

The ridiculously awesome, Yes-worthy cover art is above. No word on whether this album will be a conceptual narrative about that robot spaceman's adventures on the freaky-tree planet.

Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian:

01 Periodic Measurements of Infrequent Smiles

02 Hairy Faces (Stress)

03 Parachute Panador

04 NoNo

05 Punish

06 Half Up Front

07 Sexual Fantasy Scale

08 DEC. Machine Funk All ERA's

09 Get Em High

10 Ampexian Tribe of a Lesser Time

11 When Is a Good Time?

12 Fountains of Spring

13 Whipcream Eyepatch

14 Regalo

15 Rubber Stems

16 Oh Is It

17 Four Reels Collide

18 Fringertip Trajectories

19 Violent Bathroom Exchange

20 Natures Uplifting Revenge

21 Yuletide22 Simple Loop Choir

23 No Lights Still Rock [feat. Dimlite]

24 Gaslamp Killer Feedback Text

25 Digan Lo

26 Preparation's Kids Choir

27 Pitch Pipe

28 Periodic Measurements of Infrequent Frowns

29 Formal Dedications

Video: Prefuse 73: Class of 73 Bells [ft. School of Seven Bells] [from the Preparations LP]

VIDEO: Brother Ali "Good Lord" (Promo)

2009-02-05T21:29:00.001-08:00

Part 1:

Brother Ali - "Good Lord" Promo 1 from Three/21 Films on Vimeo.

Part 2:

Brother Ali - "Good Lord" Promo 2 from Three/21 Films on Vimeo.

VIDEO: El Guincho Live

2009-02-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

Part 1:

Part 2:

Video: Cam'ron: "I Hate My Job"

2009-02-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

With unemployment being what it is, Cam'ron should be happy he even has a job, especially after spending the last year-and-a-half hiding under a rock: One minute you're mixing it up with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, and the next you've beefed your way into obscurity. This low-budget clip for "I Hate My Job", a supposed single from supposed album Crime Pays, may not be the anthem the faithful were hoping for, but it's a step in the right direction. The video is a little confusing, with the first half of the track chronicling a workaday gal and the woes of a 9-5 (I think), followed by Cam hopelessly searching for a new gig ("Shoulda been a fireman, shoulda learned wirin'"). Still, there's something endearing about watching Cam work from the bottom up for our renewed affections, morphing a mildly clever idea into a charmingly self-deprecating apology.

Kanye West Doing Coffee Table Book, "VH1 Storytellers"

2009-02-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Real talk: Kanye West's 2008 Glow in the Dark tour was the sort of pop spectacle we don't get to see nearly often enough anymore. It was a conceptually rigorous, utterly batshit concert-as-narrative that found Kanye ignoring the crowd and instead talking to a fake spaceship computer with Esthero's voice. The special effects were nuts, the stage design looked incredibly expensive, and the rearranged songs found room for kettle drums on every track. No other rap star in history would conceive of an arena tour in which he was the only guy visible onstage for a full two hours, and Kanye absolutely pulled it off.

This thing was closer to Disney World's Star Tours ride than it was to, say, Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life tour. Actually, it was probably closer to some old-school art-rock eyeball-destroyer like Bowie's Glass Spiders tour than it was to either of those. Also Rihanna's opening set ruled. I loved it. And now Kanye's turning it into a book.

The way E! Online describes it, the forthcoming Glow in the Dark tome will be a sort of deluxe coffee table thing with photos and conceptual sketches and set lists. The book will also include a CD of the symphonic interlude-music from the show and an interview with Spike Jonze (co-director of the "Flashing Lights" video). Rizzoli New York is set to publish the book in October.

In other Kanye news, on February 13 he'll tape an episode of "VH1 Storytellers" in Los Angeles. When Kanye's mentor Jay-Z taped an episode of the same show about a year and a half ago, all the anecdotes were misremembered scenes from gangster movies, and it was sort of lame. But Kanye's got basically none of Jay's filter, and he loves to talk, so this thing will probably rule. A contest on his website will give away about 80 tickets to fan club members.

MP3: Kanye West: Love Lockdown (Flying Lotus Remix)
Video: Kanye West: Various songs [live at the Inauguration Youth Ball]

Final UGK Album on the Way

2009-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

When Pimp C died late in 2007, it looked like the legendary Texas rap duo UGK was finished forever, just a few months after their Underground Kingz album topped the Billboard charts and brought the group to an unlikely new commercial peak. But last year, I interviewed Bun B, the duo's surviving half, and he told me that there'd be another UGK album. The two had enough unreleased music stored away for another full-length, and he wanted it out there.

That album is now ready to go As Bun told told MTV, "This will be a good bookend to the legacy of myself and Pimp. This album is about what the people wanna hear, and that's Bun and Pimp. And I wanna try to give that to them in the most purest sense." When Lil Wayne is running around talking about plans for a rock album, this is sorely needed good news for those of us who still love to hear great rappers rapping.

The album, with the heart-rendingly perfect title UGK 4 Life, is due from Jive on March 31, reports MTV. First single "Da Game Been Good to Me" is vintage UGK: spaced-out guitar-noodles, swollen bass, falsetto-coo Pimp hook, thunderingly authoritative Bun verse. According to MTV, another song, "Marvin", is titled for its Marvin Gaye sample. And we can only hope the bullshit Akon collaboration "Hard as Hell" will be nowhere near this thing.

Stream: UGK: Da Game Been Good to Me [from the forthcoming For Life LP]
MP3: UGK: Da Game Been Good to Me [from the forthcoming UGK 4 Life LP]
Stream: UGK: Da Game Been Good to Me [from the forthcoming UGK 4 Life LP]

Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique Reissue Out Now

2009-02-04T07:54:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

If you're me, the Beastie Boys' sampledelic spazz-rap sophomore LP Paul's Boutique is easily the group's best album ever, made when the Beasties were at the ideal middle ground between the hilariously asshole-ish prankster brats of the License to Ill days and the self-consciously eclectic downtown boho aesthetes they first became on Check Your Head. Paul's Boutique is coming up on its 20th anniversary, and we reported last month that the Boys would be giving the album the reissue treatment it deserves.

Well, they've done it. Physical copies of the Paul's Boutique 20th Anniversary Edition won't be out until February 10, but if you cruise over to the Beasties' site, you can already buy yourself a download or decide how much money you feel like dropping on the various multi-tiered options the group is offering.

If you're seriously balling, you can drop $129.99 on the Commemorative Package, which includes a limited edition eight-foot-long panoramic poster of the fold-out cover art, a limited edition T-shirt, and both vinyl and CD copies of the remastered album, as well as an immediate download.
Broke motherfuckers can pay $11.99 for the download itself, which comes in DRM-free 320 kbps and includes "interactive, 3D digital album art" (Which will be what? The Google Earth street-view of the corner on the cover?). For $15.99, there's also a Deluxe Digital Download package, which includes five music videos and (this is actually awesome) a full-album commentary by the boys themselves. Still more options: $18.99 for the CD, $23.99 for the 180-gram vinyl, both of which come with a download of the album. They're also selling T-shirts and stuff like that on the site.

Even if you don't plan on parting with any money over an album you already own, it's worth checking out the Boys' site, which now features all manner of Paul's Boutique-related sillness: videos, photos, stories from fans, a truly difficult and low-tech ping-pong game, and a free download of that audio commentary track. Go nuts.

In other Beastie Boys news, last night, it was announced that they would be playing Bonnaroo. This is their only scheduled show right now.

Here's a little widget thingy that plays the remastered version of "Johnny Ryall":

the best in mens clothing
visit paulsboutique.beastieboys.com

Video: P.O.S. "Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)"

2009-01-31T15:19:00.000-08:00

"Never Better" out on 2/3 on Rhymesayers.

Go hear the album in full here.

Coachella 2009: Lineup has been announced!

2009-01-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

YEZZIR.

Madlib, Cut Chemist Honor Influential Composers

2009-01-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

The psychedelic jazz composer David Axelrod (pictured) is not the same David Axelrod who masterminded Barack Obama's presidential campaign, but this Axelrod is more important for our purposes here at Pitchfork. This Axelrod got his start producing ridiculously lush soul records for Lou Rawls before going on to work his swirl on weirdos as diverse as jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and garage-rock freaks the Electric Prunes. And, weirdly enough, his work is probably more widely heard these days than it was when he was at his 70s peak, thanks to all the rap producers who have plundered his catalogue extensively. On songs like Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode" and Lil Wayne's "Dr. Carter", a lot of what you're hearing comes straight from Axelrod.

Over the coming months, VTech's Timeless Concert Series will honor Axelrod, along with a few other influential producers and arrangers--crate-digger faves all-- in a ridiculously cool-sounding set of events. The shows will take place in Los Angeles, at California State University's Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex. On April 5, Axelrod will perform along with a 26-piece orchestra at the series' final show, with turntablist J.Rocc opening.

The other shows will also feature orchestras and opening act DJ/producers; the openers will design a set based on the headlining composer's work. The first concert, on February 1, will feature Ethiopian jazz OG Mulatu Astatke and a 15-piece orchestra, with opening sets by Cut Chemist, Quantic, and Stones Throw label head Egon. On February 22, chamber musicians Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson will debut their "Suite for Ma Dukes", which pays tribute to deceased stoner-rap deity J. Dilla. That program promises special guests in addition to the usual orchestra and DJs. Since Dilla's past collaborators include guys like Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes and Common, and since those guys love paying him tribute, this could be a seriously star-studded affair. The March 15 show will feature the Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai, a 30-piece band, and opening sets from Madlib and DJ Nuts.

Wale Working With TV on the Radio

2009-01-28T06:46:00.001-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Usually, when rappers work with rock bands, they out their own bad---- or at least totally pedestrian-- tastes. Witness, for example, Q-Tip enlisting Korn for a collab, or Coldplay's Chris Martin and his bizarre evolution into some sort of Nate Dogg 2.0. So it's heartening to see a young rapper pairing up with a great rock band, especially when the combination basically makes sense.

According to his manager, the as-yet-untitled debut album from the nimble Washington, DC rapper Wale will include beats from a whole lot of familiar names in the rap-producer roundtable: Cool & Dre, Ryan Leslie, Green Lantern, Sean C and LV. Best Kept Secret, the go-go inflected DC producers whose beats animated much of Wale's celebrated Mixtape About Nothing, are also on board, as is Mark Ronson, who signed Wale to his Interscope imprint Allido, and West Coast experimental dance music team Glitch Mob.

But there's an unexpected name on that list, too: TV on the Radio sound-sculptor David Sitek. Sitek's done a ton of production work outside his own band, manning the boards for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Scarlett Johansson, and Foals, among others, but Wale is the first rapper he's worked with.

Wale and Sitek have completed two tracks together. Antibalas alums Stuart Bogie and Todd Simon play horns on the tracks, while Breakestra's Dave Chegwidden plays congos. Rock star poet Saul Williams may handle the hook on one, and TVOTR frontman Tunde Adebimpe may sing on the other. Tre, frontman for the go-go band UCB (also doing some work with Sitek, according to Wale's manager) helped with melodies and horn arrangements.

The collaboration was arranged by Wale's management and Interscope, which also puts out TV on the Radio's albums. Speaking to Pitchfork, Wale said of working with Sitek, "It happened so fast. Once I got into the studio, I picked a beat out immediately, then another one." He continued, " It really pushes the envelope farther, as far as musicianship goes. The creativity level has got to be stepped up in 2009 for other artists."

Sitek is a native of Columbia, Maryland, a Baltimore suburb and about a 45-minute drive from DC, close enough that he probably grew up hearing Wale's beloved go-go on WPGC. And the apocalyptic herky-jerk funk that TVOTR perfected on last year's Dear Science isn't all that far removed from go-go. So even if this was a combination cooked up in an Interscope boardroom somewhere, it makes sense for these guys to be working together.

In any case, this video, which mostly centers on Wale's not-that-interesting jewelry-shopping travails, has some footage of Wale and Sitek goofing off in the studio.

The Sitek collaboration is indicative of what Wale is going for with his album, which he hopes to release this spring. "It's something different," he said. "I don't want to cover the same ground. I want to show a lot of diversity, I want to challenge the listener a little bit. I have a lot of fans who haven't really seen outside of DC. I want to show them different things." He said he already has about 50 tracks banked for the album, with plans to keep recording for the next three weeks. He's also working on tracks with will.i.am.

In other Wale news, he recently worked with Canadian synth-rocker Colin Monroe on a remix of Munroe's "Will I Stay", which appears on Munroe's new mixtape Colin Munroe Is the Unsung Hero, and this video shows the two working on it together. Wale's also featured on "Change", the big-in-England new single from Australian R&B singer Daniel Merriweather. And Wale's next single, "Chillin", produced by Cool & Dre, will include a hook from the inexplicably huge dancepop entity Lady Gaga. This guy is really covering all his bases. Maybe he'll even do some songs with rappers!

MP3: Wale: The Mixtape About Nothing
Stream: TV on the Radio: Heroes (David Bowie cover) [from the forthcoming Heroes War Child benefit compilation]

DOWNLOAD: The FranzDiego.Com EP

2009-01-21T19:02:00.001-08:00

Click on cover to download or right click, then save as.

Video: Q-Tip "Manwomanboogie" (featuring Amanda Diva)

2009-01-17T14:54:00.000-08:00

From the album, The Renaissance, IN STORES NOW.

Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2008 b/w Honorable Mentions

2008-12-21T20:05:00.000-08:00

MERRY NEW YEAR! (yes Trading Places).

See you in 2009!

Egypto's "Records You Should've Checked For in 2K8" (AKA Egypto's Best Records of 2008): Part 1 of 2

2008-12-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Buy: itunes | amazon

Al Green - Lay It Down
Buy: itunes | amazon

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Buy: itune s | amazon

Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Buy: itunes | amazon

Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
Buy: itunes | amazon

Air France - No Way Down (EP)
Buy: itunes | amazon

Green Sketch - So Long...For Now (EP)
Buy: itunes | amazon

Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Buy: itunes | amazon

J-Live - Then What Happened?
Buy: itunes | amazon

Frugalis McSpiteful - The Sunday School EP (EP)
Buy: itunes | amazon

The Roots - Rising Down
Buy: itunes

Doomtree - Doomtree
Buy: itunes | amazon

Mike Mictlan & Lazerbeak - Hand Over Fist
Buy: itunes | amazon

Beach House - Devotion
Buy: itunes | amazon

Beck - Modern Guilt
Buy: itunes | amazon

El Guincho - Alegranza!
Buy: itunes | amazon

Jake One - White Van Music
Buy: itunes | amazon

M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Buy: itunes | amazon

Johnson & Jonson - Johnson & Jonson
Buy: itunes | amazon

Lindstrom - Where You Go I Go Too
Buy: itunes | amazon

Madlib - Beat Konduckta Vol. 5 - Dil Cosby Suite
Buy: itunes | amazon

Madlib - Beat Konduckta Vol. 6 - Dil Withers Suite
Buy: itunes | amazon

DJ Muggs & Planet Asia - Pain Language
Buy: itunes | amazon

Termanology - Politics As Usual
Buy: itunes | amazon

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Pt. 1, 4th World War
Buy: itunes | amazon

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Buy: itunes | amazon

The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
Buy: itunes | amazon

Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
Buy: itunes | amazon

Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town
Buy: itunes | amazon

Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Buy: itunes | amazon

Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
Buy: itunes | amazon

Heltah Skeltah - D.I.R.T.
Buy: itunes | amazon

Ice Cube - Raw Footage
Buy: itunes | amazon

The Bug - London Zoo
Buy: itunes | amazon

Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park
Buy: itunes | amazon

DJ/Rupture - Uproot
Buy: itunes | amazon

The Dodos - Visiter
Buy: itunes | amazon

Mount Eerie, Julie Doiron and Fred Squire - Lost Wisdom
Buy: itunes | amazon

No Age - Nouns
Buy: itunes | amazon

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Buy: itunes | amazon

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
Buy: itunes | amazon

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
Buy: NIN| amazon

The Game - L.A.X.
Buy: itunes | amazon

Young Jeezy - The Recession
Buy: itunes | amazon

T-Pain - Thr33 Ringz
Buy: itunes | amazon

N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds
Buy: itunes | amazon

Santogold - Santogold
Buy: itunes | amazon

The Black Keys - Attack & Release
Buy: itunes | amazon

Belong - Colorloss Record (EP)
Buy: itunes | amazon

Black Mountain - In The Future
Buy: itunes | amazon

James Blackshaw - Litany Of Echoes
Buy: itunes | amazon

Blood On The Wall - Liferz
Buy: itunes | amazon

Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
Buy: itunes | amazon

Melchior Productions - No Disco Future
Go: MySpace

Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
Buy: itunes | amazon

Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
Buy: itunes | amazon

Nas - Untitled
Buy: itunes | amazon

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Buy: itunes

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Buy: itunes | amazon

Jean Grae & 9th Wonder - Jeanius
Buy: itunes | amazon

Murs & 9th Wonder - Sweet Lord!
Download

Buckshot & 9th Wonder - The Formula
Buy: itunes | amazon

Portishead - Third
Buy: itunes | amazon

Times New Viking - Rip It Off
Buy: itunes | amazon

Titus Andronicus - The Airing Of Grievances
Buy: itunes | amazon

The Walkmen - You & Me
Buy: itunes | amazon

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Buy: itunes | amazon

88 Keys - The Death Of Adam
Buy: itunes | amazon

Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Buy: itunes | amazon

Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
To buy Microcastle: itunes | amazon
To buy Weird Era Cont.: itunes

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Buy: itunes | amazon

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
To buy Fleet Foxes: itunes | amazon
To buy Sun Giant - EP: itunes | amazon

Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise & Liberation Of Niggy Tardust
Buy: itunes | amazon

Video: Background Noise Crew "We Never Leave You Hangin'" b/w That Old New Shit

2008-12-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

You can also hit up the site to hear a new song, called "That Old New Shit" by going here.

If there is a reason I listen to rap...this is it...

2008-12-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

Rappers can’t clap me
Jackers can’t gat me
Original meaning of jazzy fat nasty
I don’t bite rapper’s lines, I bite the captain’s arm off
I don’t throw shots in the air, I throw that Molotov
Cocktail, reservoir dog my collar off
Ya’ll scared to get that revolution popping off
You really got the guns you claim in the track
Then my question to you is who you aiming ‘em at
You complain that the rap police caught you with a gat under the seat
Misdemeanored that twenty bag of weed
But little old me with the few facts that I speak
The homeland security gaveled me over seas
Froze my bank account and seized my guarantee
And ya’ll are soundscanning like a hundred more than me
They kicking you off tour for freaking a chick or two
Verizon dissed me too 'cause I was too political
Ya’ll are all safe and shit, ya’ll are not saying shit
You just snap your fingers and dance and make your label rich
Gotta pay back that advance, so they ain’t gave you shit
This is your chance to say something and you’re wasting it
People are starving, you talking bout balling
Can’t think of nothing more important than that jargon
Hundred different ways to describe diamonds sparkling
Eighty percent of kids are listening to ya’ll shit
I heard that statistic I almost cried
Never wanted so bad for 2pac to be alive
What the fuck happened to rap when
The gangsters are scared of upsetting they industry masters
It ain’t my place to say and I hear all that
But fuck that, I live in the hood and we need ya’ll cats
So as soon as I hear ya’ll on some real pro black
Then I will gladly go back to my emo rap
They say the truth don’t belong to nobody, if you see it you speak it
It would be a sin to keep it a secret
So if I need to breathe then believe that I mean it
Quit trying to be somebody’s boss and be a leader
If it wasn’t bad enough your labels are hoeing you
You can’t even scan, your fans are downloading you
There’s no connection, so they’re not supporting you
You ain’t never shed light on nothing that they’re going through
We ain’t buying cds, we striving to live
And these artists don’t need me they already rich
I ain’t hating on you, rock them shines
Just remember us from time to time when you drop them lines
Rappers can’t clap me
Jackers can’t gat me
Original meaning of jazzy fat nasty
Busy raising babies and living on tour
Signing off Brother Ali, sincerely yours

--Brother Ali, from the cut "2nd Time" performed by Wale

Want to find out where this song is? Check 10.Deep, as they are putting out the mixtape it is a part of TODAY! The mixtape is called The New Deal and has new music by everyone from Kanye West to Kid Cudi and more.

Video: Background Noise Crew "We Ice Cold"

2008-12-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

"Everybody Does This, Vol. 1" is out January 23rd.

Go listen to "Room to Operate" here or download it by clicking here.

CHEA!

Video: "Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more...

2008-12-04T21:46:00.001-08:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

NO ON 8.

Audio/Video: Background Noise Crew "Room To Operate" B/W "We Flossin (video)"

2008-12-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

Download

Videos: Pitchfork's Top 40 Music Videos of 2008

2008-12-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

Part 1 of the BOTY (Best of the Year) series. Check it out!

Nas "It Ain't Hard To Tell": Excerpt from The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present

2008-12-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

Video: SNL "Blizzard Man"

2008-12-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

Ludacris & T-Pain come face to face with the Master.

VIDEO: Busta Rhymes Featuring Ron Brownz - Arab Money (Directed by Rik Cordero)

2008-12-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

MINNEAPOLIS! 2 EVENTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND!

2008-11-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

EVENT #1: C.A.S.E. (FKA Case Of The Mondays) will make a first live performace after somewhat of a hiatus to do work-like duties. They will be appearing at the Dinkytowner on Friday, December 5th as part of the Bring The Noise Showcase. Details in the flyer:

EVENT #2: On Saturday, December 5th, Doomtree Recorts throws the 4th Blowout with all your favorite crew members: Cecil Otter, P.O.S., Lazerbeak, Turbo Nemesis, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Dessa, MK Larada and Paper Tiger. For those who caught the first three blowouts, its known for its huge amounts of surprises. Details below:

Consider yourselves warned and go to these shows.

Video: Freeway and Brother Ali - The Truth (Live @ Element Nightclub, Minneapolis)

2008-11-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

White Van Music in stores now! Big ups to Brother Ali, Freeway, Rhymesayers, etc.

Video: Muja Messiah "The Madness"

2008-11-27T00:41:00.000-08:00

Big ups to Muja Messiah and the Black Corners Family.

Video: Kanye West: "Heartless" (Live on the "Late Night With Conan O'Brien")

2008-11-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

Kanye's relentless promo assault continues with a rendition of "Heartless" last night on Conan. His voice sounds a little rough, no doubt because of all the 808s-related appearances, and it's a little weird to hear a scratchy voice that sounds on the verge of going out run through the Auto-Tune.

Fugees Producer And Rapper John Forte Granted Pardon By President Bush

2008-11-25T11:58:00.001-08:00

(swiped from MTVNews)

Halfway through a 14-year conviction for drug trafficking, musician is one of 14 people to receive pardons.

Rapper and former Fugees producer John Forté was one of 14 people pardoned by President Bush on Monday, according to Reuters. He had been serving a sentence of 14 years in prison since 2001, after being found guilty of possession of 31 pounds of liquid cocaine with intent to distribute.

The presidential pardons, which were for offenses ranging from distribution of marijuana to unauthorized use of a pesticide, cannot be overruled and can help the recipients find jobs, live in public housing and vote. Bush has received more than 2,000 requests for pardons, which typically come fast and furious near the end of a president's term.

Forté — who studied violin at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire as a youth — co-wrote and produced two songs on the Fugees' Grammy-winning 1996 smash, The Score. Two years later, he released his debut, Poly Sci, on which Fugees member Wyclef Jean has an executive-producer credit.

Forté was arrested in 2000 at Newark International Airport after accepting a briefcase containing $1.4 million worth of cocaine. He released his confessional second album, 2002's I, John, while already serving his sentence at Pennsylvania's Lorreto Federal Penitentiary.

I, John featured an unexpected duet with '70s legend Carly Simon on "Been There, Done That," which came about through Forté's friendship with Simon's son, Ben Taylor. Simon and Taylor have long advocated on Forté's behalf, arguing that the MC did not receive a fair trial and that his sentence was unfair considering it was his first offense and he was a nonviolent offender.
According to TMZ, Simon has been lobbying a number of politicians, including Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, "religiously" on Forté's behalf. He will leave federal prison next month, TMZ said. A spokesperson for Forté had not returned requests for comment at press time.

Video: Jake One "The Truth" (Featuring Brother Ali & Freeway)

2008-11-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

White Van Music in stores now! Cop it!

Video: Kanye West: "Heartless" (Live on the American Music Awards)

2008-11-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

The coldest story ever told.

808s & Heartbreak in stores TODAY!

Video: Doomtree Blowout (Event/DVD)

2008-11-22T14:52:00.000-08:00

DON'T SLEEP ON THIS ONE!

P.O.S. TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM NEVER BETTER FEBRUARY 3RD ON RHYMESAYERS

2008-11-21T23:54:00.001-08:00

(Swiped from Rhymesayers)

P.O.S. returns with Never Better, February 3rd on Rhymesayers. It's the follow-up to 2006's critically acclaimed Audition. Most of P.O.S’ new album was written in a moving car. On it, he raps at full-clip to ride rolling drums and revving distortion. There’s an urgency that he keeps in careful check, and then unleashes for spring-loaded verses that represent his best work. P.O.S built his reputation as an innovator, with an unlikely punk rock past and expressive, honest content. He re-earns the accolades with every release. His records capture his charisma—they’re driving and sincere, the dark moments counterbalanced by some giggling banter with the engineer. On Never Better, the new disc, he conjures get-away cars, racing chariots, the pursuit of sirens, and the occasional rueful nighttime drive.

P.O.S. himself made more than half of the beats on Never Better, and the production bears his unmistakable signature. The album enters a room like bombshell with a black eye—badass, noisy, impossible to ignore. Feedback and relentless drum rolls are only occasionally tempered by sung choruses and clean, chiming guitar lines. Some critics will be eager to categorize the album as a hybrid—some kind of crossover project. But it’s probably not. P.O.S is a rapper with range, he’s a real musician and an unstoppable performer. For him, genres are as they ever were: permeable.

The packaging for P.O.S's new album Never Better is a one of a kind four panel transparent plastic Digipak that holds 16 solid and 6 Transparent inserts. The solid inserts have artwork on the front and lyrics/credits on the back. The Transparent inserts have artwork that when placed over the various solid cards, enhance and change the look of the art underneath, hundreds of combinations are possible. Look for P.O.S. to embark on a headlining tour for the month of February and he will stay on the road through the summer, where he's confirmed for the entire Vans Warped Tour.

P.O.S.'s two plus years on the road in support of Audition proved that no genre can contain him. He's just as comfortable performing in front of punk and rock crowds as he is with his ever growing loyal hip hop fan base. On different tours, he went out with Atmosphere, Minus the Bear, Gym Class Heroes and Underoath plus did 50+ dates on the Vans Warped Tour. Audition made it up to #13 on the CMJ Radio Top 200 and was #1 on the Hip Hop chart for three weeks. The video for his single "Bleeding Hearts Club (MPLS Chapter)" received heavy rotation on MTVu and also on MTV2's Subterranean.

Never Better Tracklisting
1.Let It Rattle
2.Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)
3.Savion Glover
4.Purexed
5.Graves (We Wrote the Book)
6.Goodbye
7.Get Smokes
8.Been Afraid
9.Low Light Low Life
10.The Basics (Alright)
11.Out of Category
12.Optimist (We Are Not For Them)
13.Terrorish
14.Never Better
15.The Brave and the Snake

More on P.O.S. @:
Facebook | Myspace

Atmosphere's Second Album Reissued With Bonus DVD

2008-11-21T23:49:00.000-08:00

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)
Photo by Dan Monick

The sophomore long-player from slightly troubled Twin City twosome Atmosphere, 2002's God Loves Ugly, has languished in out-of-print purgatory for a good year now. All that changes January 20, when Rhymesayers issues a remastered, repackaged version of the set on CD and LP, coupled with a copy of what was originally the limited edition Sad Clown Bad Dub 4 (The GodLovesUgly Release Parties) DVD.

The visual portion of the proceedings features more than two hours of performances, backstage footage, the videos for "GodLovesUgly", "Summersong", and "Say Shh", plus some memorable guest appearances. The audio portion packs the same 18 tracks as the original issue, but the aforementioned remaster certainly can't hurt in turning up the anguish.

Before things get Ugly yet again, Atmosphere have a smattering of live dates to attend to, every one in a location far balmier than their upper Midwestern home. They're in the process of plotting a big North American tour in the spring too, but those dates have yet to emerge.

God Loves Ugly:

01 Onemosphere
02 The Bass and the Movement
03 Give Me
04 F*@ck You Lucy
05 Hair
06 GodLovesUgly
07 A Song About a Friend
08 Flesh
09 Saves the Day
10 Lovelife
11 Breathing
12 Vampires
13 A Girl Named Hope
14 GodLovesUgly Reprise
15 Modern Man's Hustle
16 One of a King
17 Blamegame
18 Shrapnel

Atmosphere:

11-22 Honolulu, HI - Pipeline Café
12-30 Lorne, Australia - Falls Festival
12-31 Marion Bay, Australia - Falls Festival
01-01 Adelaide, Australia - Rymill Park *
01-03 Busselton, Australia - Southbound Festival
01-04 Sydney, Australia - Moore Park *
01-08 Richmond, Australia - Corner Hotel *
01-09 Auckland, New Zealand - Zen

* with Brother Ali

Video: Atmosphere: Shoulda Known [from the When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold LP]