Q-Tip at Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest (more by Brook Bobbins)

Q-Tip will be taking over Irving Plaza in NYC on June 15 for the first of a monthly party dubbed "Offline." What does "offline" mean? According to the promoters, Q-Tip -- who'll be DJing -- asks that once you're inside, you put away your phones and other devices and be in the moment with him (aka "offline"). Tickets are on sale.

If you wanna get the party started sooner, You could hit Questlove's weekly "Bowl Train" party at Brooklyn Bowl where the popular Twitterer spins classic '70s and '80s (and '90s?) R&B, soul, disco and pop while vintage Soul Train videos play on the big screens. It's the 100th Bowl Train tonight (5/24) with many more to come. Doors are at 10:30 (right after that earlier free Killer Mike show) and tickets for Bowl Train are still available.

In other hip-hop ticket news: Rock the Bells tickets are on sale. So are tickets for Jay-Z's Made in America Festival.

Tickets are also on sale for Slick Rick and Biz Markie's July 28 show at Gramercy Theater.

You can also still get tickets to Talib Kweli's May 28 show at Le Poisson Rouge, as well as tickets to Yaslin Bey's (formerly Mos Def) June 14 show at The Apollo.

Any luck with Azealia Banks' Mermaid Show tickets?

Flyer for Q-Tip's Offline party is below.

Continue reading "Q-Tip's new monthly 'Offline' party at Irving Plaza, the 100th 'Bowl Train', Rock the Bells, Made in America & other tickets"

As mentioned, Azealia Banks revealed on twitter that she will play a show at Bowery Ballroom on June 3 after playing Hot 97 Summer Jam earlier that day. Bowery Ballroom confirmed the show soon after, and now the full lineup for that show, billed as "Mermaid Ball," has been revealed. As seen in the picture above, it includes Maluca, Wckids, Tigga Calore, House of Ladosha, special guest Leiomy of Vogue Revolution, plus styling by Cuntmafia, narration by Jack Mizrahi, and host Roxy Cottontail. There will also be a $1,000 cash giveaway to the person with the best mermaid costume (should make up for those scalper prices).

Tickets go on sale today (5/24) at noon. Good luck.

Busta Rhymes at BHHF 2011 (more by Brook Bobbins)

Microphone check one two: we've got some details regarding the 2012 edition of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival which happens July 9 - 14 at locales all over the borough and features everything from MC and DJ battles, to tributes, industry talks and films. You can check out a the full schedule of events below.

The week-long celebration will culminate with "Busta & Friends" on July 14th at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The full lineup has yet to be announced, but will include a tribute to Adam Yauch and lots of Busta Rhymes "friends" (last year Kanye showed up). Tickets are on sale now, both to individual shows or week-long passes.

Continue reading "Busta Rhymes headlining 2012 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival"

El-P at Santos (via kristinsayz)

Last night, before a tightly-packed Santos Party House in downtown Manhattan, El-P showcased his new work in its entirety, front to back...
Opening with the rave-like "Request Denied" and blazing the stage with bangers "The Full Retard" and "Drones Over Bklyn," El-P worked the crowd into a frenzy with relative ease. He was joined by many guests including show opener/Def Jux refugee Despot and new best bud Killer Mike on "Tougher Colder Killer," Das Racist's Himanshu on "True Story," Nick Diamonds of Islands on "Stay Down," and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire on "Oh Hail No." The one bummer of the night was Danny Brown was apparently not able to make it out for his verse. However, Action Bronson did appear on stage at one point. He didn't get on the mic, but he did smoke two gigantic joints on the side of the stage which was a spectacle in and of itself. -[Death & Taxes]

Next up, a US tour for El-P, Killer Mike, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and Despot. Initially, no NYC date was scheduled for that tour, but they've since added one happening on July 13 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show go on presale Thursday (5/24) at 10AM and regular sale starts Friday (5/25) at 10 AM.

Meanwhile, you can catch Killer Mike again this Thursday (5/24) at Brooklyn Bowl.

Videos of El-P, his special guests, and a swaying Santos Party House, along with a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "El-P played a guest-filled show at Santos (videos); adds Irving Plaza show to tour (updated dates)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Kreayshawn

Bamboozle and its schizo line-up was this weekend at the Jersey Shore and Friday's line-up included Skrillex, Incubus and Mac Miller on the main stage. We however, hung mainly at the Beach Party Stage for sets with Kreayshawn and Casey Veggies (and not Big Freedia unfortunately), with a dash over to the Temple of Boozle stage for Anamanaguchi. Big Freedia, perhaps tired from her very late show at Santos the night before, missed her headlining slot at the Beach Party Stage, but made it in time for the Bamboozle afterparty at Wonder Bar, which Anamanaguchi also played. Pictures from the fest and afterparty are in this post.

Check out more below... and more coverage of the rest of the fest is on its way.

Continue reading "Bamboozle Day 1 and afterparty pics (Kreayshawn, Casey Veggies, Anamanaguchi, Big Freedia)"

Lauryn Hill at Rock the Bells 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Other than Switzerland's Openair Frauenfeld and Ottawa's Bluefest, Lauryn Hill doesn't appear to have much in the way of live shows this year, but it was just announced that she'll play a NYC show on June 2 at Highline Ballroom. She'll be performing music from her classic LP The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (which she performed in full at Rock the Bells 2011) and more. TIckets (which are $125 for general admission or $250 for VIP/post-show meet and greet) for that show go on sale Monday (5/28) at noon. Doors are at 6 PM and the show starts at 8 PM... but what time will Lauryn show up?

A list of all dates and some videos from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill below...

Continue reading "Lauryn Hill playing Highline Ballroom in June"

by Andrew Sacher

Genre hopping rapper/producer Spoek Mathambo is continuing to tour behind his Father Creeper, which he dropped earlier this year via Sub Pop. At any given moment that album can sound like rap, indie rock, electropop, and most of the time it's floating somewhere in between. If you've yet to check it out, you can listen to the whole thing below.

Spoek's in the middle of a European run right now, and will make his way over to North America in July. While he's here, he'll play a NYC show on July 12 at Le Poisson Rouge and a free show in Brooklyn at Weeksville Heritage Center on July 14. Tickets for the LPR show are on sale now.

All dates are listed below, along with the album stream...

Continue reading "Spoek Mathambo touring, playing LPR & free Brooklyn show"

by Andrew Sacher

Statik Selektah & Termanology (aka 1982) released their second album together this week (5/22) via Showoff/ST. Records. It's the followup to their 2010 LP, which was simply titled 1982, and this one's aptly titled 2012. The album features guest spots from Bun B, Freddie Gibbs, Havoc (of Mobb Deep), Roc Marciano, Lil Fame (of M.O.P.), and more. Statik Selektah's been on a roll with collaborative albums lately (just last year he dropped joint releases with Freddie Gibbs, Action Bronson, Freeway, and Bumpy Knuckles to name a few) and this one's no different. Termanology's conscious raps feel right at home on top of Statik Selektah's beats, which as always, are well grounded in a long history of underground hip hop with an eye on the future. Stream the entire album below, along with the brand new video for "Too Long."

Statik Selektah and Termanology will be celebrating the album with a few release shows, including one in NYC on May 29 at SOB's. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Meanwhile, Bun B (who is featured on the album) will be throwing a listening party for the album in NYC at Tammany Hall TONIGHT (5/23). The party features music by Statik Selektah and Sammy Needlz, surprise guest performances, and open vodka bar until midnight. Admission is free but RSVP (SHOWOFFRSVP@GMAIL.COM) is required. Doors are at 11 PM. The flier for this show is below.

Album stream, video, show flier, and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Statik Selektah & Termanology released '2012' (stream), playing shows; listening party in NYC tonight + new video"

Zola Jesus at Guggenheim (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Just like Cold Cave (who are playing Northside), Zola Jesus is going from the Guggenheim back to something more conventional this summer. She and A$AP Rocky are the latest batch of artists added to the Catalpa Festival which is happening on Randall's Island on July 28th and 29th. Tickets are still available.

In other news, A$AP Rocky appeared on 106 and Park yesterday (5/22). Check out that appearance and the full festival lineup below.

Continue reading "Asap Rocky & Zola Jesus added to Catalpa Fest lineup"

As we posted this morning, Azealia Banks will play Bowery Ballroom on June 3. That show is now official and Bowery Presents has announced that tickets will go on sale Thursday, 5/24 at noon. "Two tickets per customer, will call only. No hard tickets will be sold for this event. Tickets will not be available at the Mercury Lounge or Music Hall of Williamsburg box office." Azaealia says it's going to be "a gathering of kunts, gays, queers, and weirdoes alike in which various dance contests and bizarre/epic shit goes down." But we think it's just going to be gathering of those lucky enough to get the tickets when they go on sale and those willing to pay a lot to scalpers.