U-N-I feat Fashawn - Pulp Fiction part 1

remember when hip hop videos had to do with the storyline in the lyrics?

remember when hip hop songs had a storyline?

Little Dragon, Giza, Khan El Khalili, Alexandria, Sayeda Zeinab

lots and lots of photos...

lots of little dragon...

Little Dragon . . . Thunder Love (Machine Dreams, 2009)





















































Little Dragon . . . Thunder Love (Machine Dreams, 2009)



Little Dragon . . . Swimming (Machine Dreams, 2009)


Little Dragon . . . After the Rain (Little Dragon, 2007)

RIP ROC RAIDA

I cannot believe it. One more musical genius in Heaven's Hall Of Fame.



1995 DMC World Champion and X-ecutioner DJ Roc Raida passed away yesterday. I'm hearing different accounts of what actually caused it, but the details don't matter; only that hip hop lost one more talented artist. Hopefully God's got a pair of techs waiting for him.

Naseer Shamma, The Oud, Zar Singing, etc.

Naseer Shamma, Master Oud Player from Iraq, at the Culture Wheel

Mos Def - "Fall In Love / Ms. Fat Booty" (Live) from Ethos Music Group on Vimeo.

Video: Donwill's "Laura" / Kutiman-Thru-You's "Just A Lady"

Props to both Donwill (one third of Tanya Morgan) and Jasika Nicole on the new video for Don's new single "Laura."  The mp3's not up for grabs yet, but Donwill's definitely worth the extra $0.99. Von Pea's trailer is hilarious too. Go check that out on MCDayJob.

This Kutiman-Thru-You video completely changed how I look at youtube.  Too bad youtube sucks for resolution, but this could be the start of something special.  Video sampling? It's genius!  And it puts to work all that seemingly discordant floating  youtube debris.  Even more interesting is how it doesn't just create a new song but tells a lot of little stories about the people posting and being sampled at the same time.  

Dabble of dopeness courtesy of the Prince of Balling.

THROWBACK Thursdays: Chubb Rock "Treat 'Em Right"

Chubb Rock . . . Treat Em Right (divshare)

(Pardon the DJ promo. This was the best copy I could find.)

Why Cheb Khaled's "Didi" Is Flyer Than Your Moms

It's the early 90's, and Timbs, booty shorts, and stretch body suits that barely reach...the thighs are permeating youth culture through popular music videos.  Scantily clad teens are gyrating to electronic rhythms and funky baselines, and to the chagrin of conservative elders nationwide, young male artists are talking more and more about their love lives with curvaceous visual aid for days. And while these problems may ring a few western bells, they were similar to the conditions under which Algerian-born Cheb Khaled, the man dubbed the "King of Rai" music, wrote and recorded the classic "Didi," produced in 1992 by Detroit native Don Was (not to be confused with Donwill, har har. yeah i know...). The genre was known for addressing cultural taboos, with Khaled's songs at the forefront during the eighties.

I first heard "Didi" a few months ago on a CD with no track information whatsoever. But I bugged anyone I knew that spoke Arabic to give me the story on the song, and finally got what I needed.  I don't know what I like most about "Didi," the borderless instrumentation, Khaled's pleading delivery, the cat with the blue du-rag in the circle of musicians, or the fact that the video reminds me of this. Whatever it is, it's most definitely flyer than your moms.

Cheb Khaled . . . Didi

(Sorry this is the best version I could find.)

Video Premiere: Exile, "Were All In Power"

The trip to Tunis was canceled, so there won't be any exciting photographs from that region of the world for now.  Instead, vibe off this debut video from Exile's new album Radio for the single "Were All In Power," courtesy of the madman and OKP.

Deen Tight Movie

As I'm gearing up for my trip, I think I'll continue to do relevant posts on the region or culture. That said, I've been checking up on a  lot of typography blogs and looking for arabic graffiti and I ran across this really great one called 29Letters.  The writer, graphic designer Pascal Zoghbi, was asked to design the logo for Deen Tight, the new documentary on the influence of hip hop on Islam in the US, UK, and Middle East.  Appropriately, the logo blends traditional kufi and modern hip hop styles. Check out some of the initial designs here.

[edit:] Props to MK from Saudi Arabia for doing some digging and finding the artist they actually chose to do the final version of the logo. Check the comments section for the exchange.

Exile at it again

As tired as "A Milli" is, this is probably my favorite of the recent Exile MPC tapes floating around.  I've seen some of my friend's photos from the album shoot and they only make me that much more eager for the inauguration day drop. But I swear Radio better not be sold out of Fat Beats and Virgin before I get my copy like Below the Heavens was or I'll hate myself for the New Year.  

And while we're on the subject, it's about time I stopped sitting on these Blu and Ex tracks.  It's been a good year for both artists independently, but an even better one for people like me who love finding them hidden in mixtapes, collaborating with other artists I love (Muhsinah! Dela!), or just finding some other way to make their rounds in the blogosphere. In all honesty, Blu and Exile are probably the only reason I didn't stop listening to hip hop after 2007. 

For. 

Serious. 

Though.  

But enough sentiment, let's git 'er done.

To make things easier for all you lazy mugs (like myself), I'll start putting direct download links up. Thank P.o.Ballard for that idea. Anyway, first up is Exile's instrumental "In Love," seen on FSdotnet. [Sidebar: I "accidentally" had this one on repeat during my shift at the campus grocery store in the hopes that the chopped and semi-hypnotic moaning would gradually replace the sounds of Hot Chip in the head of the lanky guy humming to himself over by the vegan snacks.] Next is "Stay Tuned/Stay Here (vocal remix) feat Muhsinah." As usual, Muhsinah graces the track with her soulful vocals and lyrics that are complemented by Exile's pulsing rhythms and a beat made to resemble a tuner being constantly tweaked.

Blu does his thing on a number of projects, including the aptly titled "Spacejive," a song on 10.Deep and DJ Benzi's The New Deal. The mixtape features artists like Wale, Common, Kanye, Kid Sister, Charles Hamilton, Joel Ortiz, Kidz in the Hall, Jay-Z, Santogold, and anyone else you can think of being on a mixtape in the age of the blipster. The project is available for free download on the 10.Deep website.  

(Not actual album art, but much funnier...)

Add to the hype, two songs on separate releases by up-and-coming French producer Dela.  If you've been riding economy on the late plane, trust me when I say Dela's got a lot of promise...if his music would just make it to the U.S--or better yet, France. The first of the two songs featuring Blu is "Vibrate," a tribute to De La Soul/Jay Dee's "Stakes Is High" with vocal and flipped instrumental samples from the original that are recognizable enough without making "Vibrate" sound like a groupie producer do-over. The song is a part of Dela's Changes Of Atmosphere. You can also hear his signature jazz and early 90's hip hop-influenced production on "Mars," also featuring your girl's favorite color. This one's due out in January on Atmosphere Airlines Vol. 2, but you can just download it here on Dela's myspace blog. [Edit: I left out one last song by Co$$ feat Blu, spotted at DJ Low Key's blog.  Called Angelic.]

Preview all songs. 

IMMIGRANT Music Part 1: Black President

This is a long overdue tribute to all the immigrants, especially the parents, who voted for the first time in November. Bigups to all my binational people.  Yes, I am coining appropriating this term because it sounds way nicer than "Jamerican" or any other "x-'merican" right now, IMHO.   I was born a US citizen, but this was my first election as well as the first election of both my mother and oldest sister, so props to them and anyone who shared that experience with a close one this past election day, regardless of how you voted or how you got here. 

Fela Kuti Black President Part 1

 

"Black President" Part 2

"Black President" Part 3

J*Davey - Lil Big Heads (Unofficial Music Video)

I don't know about you, but this is definitely my first time spotting this music video.  If you haven't seen it, it has this old school Banana Splits thing going on, with slightly more violence, perhaps. Hahahaha.

J*Davey - Lil Big Heads (Co-Produced by ?uestlove)

Angela Davis Oct 3 Inside USA interview

Ms. Angela Yvonne Davis sits down with Inside USA for an interview, in which she discusses what it means to be a post-racial America, and whether or not we've achieved that status as a nation, as well as the need for social reform in conjunction with the abolition of the prison system.

Part II:

Word. And on that tip...

The Meaning of Dope shares a throwback video of Q-tip's flawless performance of Check the Rhime with live accompaniment and in the absence of Phife, who was rushed to the hospital, on the Dennis Miller show.

NeW SclusiveS: Q-Tip "Getting Up" video

This release date is just getting closer and closer.

3D and Video Interpretations of "Guernica"

Okay, okay. This post isn't about music, but neither is this blog. To borrow the words of the Prince of Ballard himself: people seem to stick to one thing on blogs, i like the life, life stories, pictures, music...life is dynamic, so blogs should be too.  

Here are some really cool interpretations of Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica that I came across today. It's great when art begets art.

(seen on alexremy.com)

Puppet is the New Fly

Kanye West . . . Champion

yes. please.

15.

THIS is what a feminist looks like...

Got to chill with my girl Gianni last night after she helped out with a focus group at my job. Her thoughts on the experience: "I think I kicked ass."

Anyway, we walked around and I took a few pics. Most of them were horrible, of course. But the whole area was just comprised of sketchy warehouses.

They did have this eerie beauty to them, I'll admit, what with the sun setting and the rooftops alight. But as it grew darker I couldn't keep from glancing over my shoulders every so often.

I thought my particular discomfort might have to do with the manhunt for three rapists going on in my neighborhood right now--contrary to what most would believe, this actually isn't common in my predominantly black neighborhood, so hold the stereotypes, please. G and I started to talk about violence against women and she went into the ways gender inequality is perpetuated by these absurdly large and powerful entities in society (the government, the media, science, etc.), you know the usual. Then of course, while walking by a bar around 29th, we peer in and, lo and behold, we see a really thin woman, who I'm assuming was the waitress, talking to a man at the bar while wearing a tiny black bikini. I'm not so naive that I'm horribly surprised or anything, but I guess that simple fact, that of my relative cognizance, should be most surprising. It's crazy just how acceptable certain expectations of women have become.

Anyway, I won't launch into a full on rant right now, I gotta feed some kids. Just meditating a little bit on yesterday. But here's some more food for thought. It makes you rethink what range of experiences are necessary or even capable of invoking the kind of empathy needed to spark a commitment to gender equality. That is, It doesn't always have to be just a women's movement.


(from Feministing, btw)