Wes' Weekly Hip Hop News Roundup (May 10, 2007)

NEWS

• Talib Kweli will release his 6th album Ear Drum on July 24th featuring production by Kanye West, will.i.am, Madlib, Hi-Tek and guest appearances for Norah Jones, Jean Grae and UGK. Stream Say Something here
• Pitchfork interviews El-P
• Aesop Rock will release None Shall Pass, his first full length in 4 years, August 28th.
• Henry Adaso
gives us an interesting list of the 50 best summer rap songs of 1996-2006.
• OhWord delivers a 20 minute Ghostface interview from Denmark
• Anyone remember Caushun The Gay Rapper? He just came out of the closet as straight.
• Def Jux tells Google to make Blogger take MP3's down.
• Champion Sound by Jaylib,which is a collaborative effort of J-Dilla and Madlib, is being re-released.
• Bruce Willis & Queen Latifah's "Hip Hop Project" Hits theatres across the nation
• Cam'ron perhaps kicked out of Dip Set?
• Clipse already back in the studio
• Lupe Fiasco also back in the studio
• A good article about a bad song: "Lil Mama's 'Lip Gloss' boosts both her self-esteem and her burgeoning rap career"

• Check out Styles P's new song The Hardest featuring AZ here. Produced by Large Professor
• Who wouldn't want to hear this? Kane's Birthday Freestyle with Special Ed, Bizmarkie, Smooth B, Masta Ace, Just-Ice, Lakim Shabbazz, Positive K, Scoob Lover, Scrap Lover, Markey Fresh, Fruikwan, Kane, Jay-Z, Jaz, and Big Ill.
• Ratatat Mixtape Vol. 2 coming soon - "14 new remixes featuring: Bun B, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude, Young Jeezy, T.I., Beanie Sigel, Pimp C, Ludacris, Young Buck, Saigon, Juvenile, Z-ro, Memphis Bleek, Kanye West +exclusive tracks from Despot and Beans...". Three MP3s at the top of this post.

• Watch a preview video for Common's new song The Game.
• Fabulous goes on Rap City and lays down a freestyle.
• Pharoah Monche's Desire is awesome and can be watched here.
• Wu-affiliate Killah Priest returns

5/12 - 24 Hour Rapathon @ Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem, 9pm. Tickets are $200 and available from Global Artists Coalition via phone at (212) 234-7171. More info here.

5/15 Spank Rock & Ghostface Killah @ Highline Ballroom, tix

5/18 Talib Kweli @ Highline Ballroom, 11pm, tix

5/19 Rakim @ Southpaw, 9pm, $18 tix

5/20 KRS-One @ The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, 8pm, tix

5/22 Beanie Sigel w/ live band @ Knitting Factory @ 8.30, (tix)

5/25 Lifesavas @ Southpaw

5/25 & 5/26 Sage Francis with Band plus Buck 65 / Alias / Buddy Wakefield @ Bowery Ballroom, tix

5/26 Mos Def @ Highline Ballroomm tix

6/05 Method Man with special guest GZA / Mike Relm @ Webster Hall, only $15! tix

6/8 Common @ Central Park Summer Stage w/ Joss Stone & Ryan Shaw

6/3 Hot 97 Summer Jam @ Giant Stadium, Tickets will be going on sale April 27th at 9AM. Presale April 23rd, 9AM with password ACCESS

6/9 DJ Drama plus Willie The Kid / The Rub DJs @ The Highline Ballroom, tix

6/15 DMX @ B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill, 11.30pm, tix

6/23 3rd Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival ft Ghostface, Consequence, Skillz and more. (info).

07/28 & 29 - Rock the Bells w/ Wu Tang and many others @ Randall's Island

07/29 - "Wild Style 25th Anniversary Reunion" Central Park SummerStage ft Busy Bee, Cold Crush Brothers, DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore & Grand Master Caz

Lupe Fiasco - 2007 Tour Dates
May 11 - Columbia College: Manifestt Chicago, Illinois
May 13 - Stanford Palo Alto, California
May 26 - Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois
May 27 - UCLA Intramural Field Los Angeles, California
Jul 6 - Comerica Cityfest Detroit, Michigan
Jul 8 - Summerfest Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 10 - Mohegan Sun w/ Kanye West & Common Uncasville, Connecticut
Jul 12 - Meadowbrook Center w/ Kanye West Gilford, Connecticut
Jul 29 - Wakestock Toronto Island w/ Story Of The Year Toronto, Ontario
Aug 5 - Charles Attal Presents Lollapalooza Chicago, Illinois
Sep 3 - Bumbershoot Festival Seattle, Washington

Little Brother - 2007 Tour Dates
May 11 - Fabrikken Aarhus
May 12 - Rust Copenagen

Brother Ali
May 11 2007 9:00P The Social Orlando, Florida
May 12 2007 8:00P Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, Georgia
May 14 2007 9:00P The Nick Birmingham, Alabama
May 15 2007 8:00P The Parish @ House of Blues New Orleans, Louisiana
May 16 2007 8:00P Emo's Austin, Texas
May 17 2007 7:00P Launchpad Albuquerque, New Mexico
May 18 2007 7:00P Club Congress Tucson, Arizona
May 19 2007 8:00P Orpheum Theatre Flagstaff, Arizona
May 20 2007 7:00P The Glass House Pomona, California
May 22 2007 8:00P Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, California
May 23 2007 8:00P Troubadour West Hollywood, California
May 24 2007 7:00P Downtown Brew San Luis Obispo, California
May 25 2007 8:00P Slim's San Francisco, California
May 26 2007 8:00P The New Oasis Reno, Nevada
May 29 2007 8:30P WOW Hall Eugene, Oregon
May 30 2007 8:00P Hawthorne Theater Portland, Oregon
May 31 2007 7:30P The Vera Project Seattle, Washington
Jun 1 2007 8:00P The Nightlight Bellingham, Washington
Jun 2 2007 9:00P The Badlander Missoula, Montana
Jun 4 2007 9:00P Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah
Jun 5 2007 8:00P Bluebird Theater Denver, Colorado
Jun 6 2007 8:00P The Record Bar Kansas City, Missouri
Jun 7 2007 5:00P Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, Iowa
Jun 8 2007 8:00P First Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mr. Lif Tour Dates
Thu 05/24/07 Fox Theatre Boulder CO
Fri 05/25/07 Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom Denver CO
Sat 05/26/07 The Black Sheep Colorado Springs CO
Sat 07/28/07 Randall’s Island New York NY Paid Dues
Sat 08/11/07 Orange Pavillion San Bernadino CA Paid Dues Tour 2007

Wu-Tang Clan - 2007 Tour DAtes
Jun 28 - ITALY at STADIO FRIULI Udine
Jun 29 - FRANCE at EUROCKEENES Belfort
Jun 30 - SPAIN at ZARAGOZA CIUDAD Zaragoza
Jul 1 - ROMANIA at BESTIVAL Bucharest
Jul 3 - GERMANY at STADTHALLE Offenbach
Jul 4 - FRANCE at ZENITH Paris
Jul 5 - LONDON at HAMMERSMITH APOLLO London
Jul 6 - UK at APOLLO Manchester
Jul 7 - IRELAND at OXEGEN FEST Punchestown
Jul 8 - SCOTTLAND at T IN THE PARK Kinross
Jul 10 - GERMANY at COLUMBIAHALLE Berlin
Jul 11 - GERMANY at PALLADIUM Cologne
Jul 12 - BELGIUM at FESTIVAL Dour
Jul 13 - HOLLAND at PARADISO Amsterdam
Jul 15 - SERBIA at EXIT FEST Novi Sad
Jul 17 - CZECH REPUBLIC at T-MOBILE ARENA Prague
Jul 18 - SWITZERLAND at FESTIVAL Montreux
Jul 19 - POLAND at STODOLA Warsaw
Jul 20 - SLOVAKIA at TRENCIN AIRPORT Trencin
Jul 21 - GERMANY at MTV HIP HOP OPEN Stuttgart
Jul 28 - Rock the Bells Festival: w/ Rage Against the Machine at RANDALLS ISLAND New York
Aug 5 - BALTIMORE at V FEST BALTIMORE, Maryland
Aug 11 - Rock the Bells Festival: w/ Rage Against the Machine at NOS EVENT CENTER San Bernardino, Ca
Aug 18 - Rock the Bells Festival: w/ Rage Against the Machine at MC COVEY PARKING LOT San Francisco ,Ca
Sep 3 - BUMBERSHOOT FESTIVAL SEATTLE, Virginia

CONTEST ONE
We have 10 download cards available for the first 10 people to write in (BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM) with "EL-P" in the subject line. Winners can download a Def Jux MP3 package containing Flyentology and Smithereens remixes, and videos, and some other Def Jux tracks from Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, and more.

CONTEST TWO
This is a little left of center for the Hip Hop post, but a few weeks ago I went to Joe's Pub in NYC to see a special preview show of Passing Strange, and it was really awesome. It's a theatre show that felt as much as a soul/rock concert as it felt like a play. "A daring new musical that takes you on a journey across boundaries of place, identity, and theatrical convention." More info on the show can be found here.

Do you want to go? We're giving away a pair of tickets. To win, e-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Strange), and let us know what date you want to go. One winner will be picked at random and notified.

The show debuted May 10th at the Public Theatre, and there's rush and student price tickets available for $20 for those who don't win this contest. (Call 212-967-7555 from 9am-10pm, mention code PSLN01).

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