by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Juicy J at 'Fader' launch party

Academy Award winner Juicy J (it still cracks me up to say that) made an appearance last night at 61 Gansevoort (5/13), a private party celebrating the launch of the latest issue of FADER. The event, which started around 8 PM featured the Three 6 Mafia member taking to the stage around 10 PM for his verse on "Show Out", followed by "A Zip and A Double Cup" and "Bandz A Make Her Dance" before thanking the crowd and leaving.

I know what you're thinking, 10 minutes (tops) of performance could not be any less exciting, especially considering the cramped quarters and the wait involved. But the experience of seeing the Juice-man (sans double-cup and trippy stick, alas) was less about the performance, and more about the crowd excitement; he could have read the ingredients off of a cereal box and the crowd would go nuts.

Juicy J teams with A$AP Ferg to play a sold-out Irving Plaza tonight. More pictures from the FADER party are below.

Continue reading "Juicy J played the FADER issue launch party, plays Irving Plaza tonight with A$AP Ferg"

Kendrick Lamar: outstanding in his field

Kendrick Lamar just performed in NYC over the weekend with his Black Hippy crew, but the MC will be keeping the good vibes going through the summer season. For starters, he just released a video for his hit "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" and you can watch that below.

Additionally, he going to be spending most of his summer on the road, including the two previously-mentioned stops in NYC: SummerJam in East Rutherford on June 2 (tickets) with Wu-Tang Clan and Chris Brown among others, and at Governors Ball (tickets). He's added a bunch more too and all are listed below.

Continue reading "Kendrick Lamar released new video, adds (many) tour dates"

Greg Broussard, better known by his stage name Egyptian Lover, is an American musician, vocalist, producer and DJ, and was an important part of the L.A. dance music and rap scene in the early 1980s... The Egyptian Lover started out as a DJ in Los Angeles with Uncle Jam's Army DJing dances as large as the L.A. Sports Arena with 10,000 people. He began recording around Los Angeles in 1982 as a member of the Radio Crew, and also Uncle Jam's Army. In the early days of hip hop albums were rare, so most of The Egyptian Lover's successful recordings were 12" singles. He would eventually release some of the earliest rap LPs, which was especially unique for being west-coast based... -[Wiki]

As discussed, trailblazing hip hop artist Egyptian Lover will perform at Santos Party House on May 23 joining an impressive lineup as part of an event dubbed The United States of Bass, part of the Red Bull Music Academy. Tickets are on sale. The line-up also includes names like Afrika Bambaataa, J Assault, DJ Funk, DJ Magic Mike, DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn, Scottie B, Salva, Drop The Lime, Branko and Krampfhaft.

Also on the bill is Big Freedia, who will be preparing for her upcoming tour.... with The Postal Service? Yes it's true, Big Freedia WILL be out with the band but unforunately won't be in the house for either of the Barclays Center shows.

All other tour dates are listed, along with a few Egyptian Lover streams, below.

Continue reading "Egyptian Lover performing in NYC (with Big Freedia who is touring with for the Postal Service!?)"

by Andrew Sacher

Black Hippy at Downtown Music Festival in NYC (via @me_acosta)

The Downtown Music Festival, which is coming to multiple North American cities this year, kicked off its first one in NYC on Friday (5/10) across various LES venues.

The biggest highlight of the artists I saw was the Black Hippy crew, who went on at Capitale at around 1:30 AM. All four guys, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock, came out together for a few posse cuts to start the show, and then Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and Kendrick each did their own mini-sets to follow that. They had a ton of fun with it, focusing on crowd pleasers, and taking it a little less seriously than when the members play their own gigs (in a good way). We've seen them make appearances at each other's shows, but getting a chance to see each rapper in the group sampling their own stuff and no one member taking the limelight over another is an entirely different appeal. It showed how diverse each rapper really is (Kendrick has the introspective songs, Q has the party bangers, and Ab-Soul has the tripped out ones -- and PS, we want to hear more from Jay Rock!), and like I said, it was a super fun show.

Houston rapper Fat Tony opened that show with a solid set, which he used much of to promote his new album, Smart Ass Black Boy, which comes out June 11 via Young One. If you haven't heard it yet, you can stream that album's single, "Hood Party," which features Kool A.D. and Despot, below. Tony will be back in NYC for the free 4Knots Music Festival in June.

Earl Sweatshirt at Downtown Music Festival in NYC (via Liz Una Kim)

Another standout of the festival for me was Earl Sweatshirt, who played Element at around 11 PM with Syd tha Kyd as his DJ. Odd Future supporters have turned on the group a bit (or at least the way it was when Tyler and Hodgy Beats were basically running it) and Tyler's so-so new album Wolf didn't help that, but Earl's been hailed as something of a saving grace for the group. It's obviously too soon to tell if Earl's gonna pull it off (though his recent singles have been promising), but whether intentionally or not, his show on Friday worked by being good for very different reasons than the ones that initially gained Odd Future attention. He didn't talk much between songs, didn't have any "punk" stage antics of a large group of hypemen, and OF's shock-factor-turned-predictable-offensiveness was almost never to be found. Instead, Earl focused on classic-style rhymes and proving himself as an adept emcee. There's still no release date for his upcoming album, Doris, but once it does come out, it should be pretty interesting to see where he goes with it.

More Downtown Music Fest coverage to come. Meanwhile, a video of Earl playing a new song at Element, Kendrick playing "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" at Capitale, and that Fat Tony stream below...

Continue reading "Downtown Music Festival NYC day 1: Black Hippy, Earl Sweatshirt, and Fat Tony (in review & videos)"

We just mentioned that Lauryn Hill was sentenced to jail in NJ for not paying income tax (did you write a letter to the judge on her behalf?), and now comes word that she'll make a bit more income by playing a show at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday, May 14 (four days from now!). Tickets, which are $85+fees (or $100 on the day of the show) go on sale Saturday (May 11) at noon. "200 VIP meet & greet tickets" are also available, and Lauryn says the reason for the show is that she "Wanted to play NS live!"

NS stands for Neurotic Society which is the name of her new single on iTunes.

Pusha T of Clipse has released a video for his new burner "Numbers on the Boards," from the forthcoming My Name Is My Name due in July. The track, produced by Don Cannon and Kanye West, features Mr Kardashian as well as Chief Keef for brief appearances in the video. Check that out below.

Pusha T recently played BB King's, but will return to NYC to play Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest in July.

Continue reading "Pusha T puts "Numbers on the Boards" in new video"

by Andrew Sacher

Smoke DZA - 'Ringside' EP

Riiiiiiiiight. Prolific Harlem rapper Smoke DZA has put out a number of solid releases in the last few years, and he returned last month with another free release, the Ringside EP. Ringside was produced entirely by 183rd and intentionally came out on the same day as Wrestlemania (4/8), hence its title. It's a short release (5 songs), and a solid addition to his long list of material. Stream the entire thing below and download it HERE. That's the cover art above.

DZA has some shows coming up this month and next too. First, he'll play a Scion A/V show on May 22 at Coco 66 (66 Greenpoint Ave) with Stalley and Riff Raff, which you have to enter Scion's contest to gain admission to, and right after that show, he'll head out on a West Coast tour with Big K.R.I.T., in support of KRIT's also-solid new mixtape, King Remembered In Time, which includes DZA guesting on the track "Only One." You can stream that mixtape in full below and download it for free HERE.

After the tour with KRIT, DZA will play two hometown-area shows in June. The first is a previously discussed appearance at the Summer Jam (6/2) side stage (tickets) and the second is at The Studio at Webster Hall on June 26 with Vinny Cha$e, BBA, H Squared, and Caspa Narkz. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

DZA is also heading out as a support act on the previously discussed A$AP Rocky/Wiz Khalifa co-headlining tour, which hits the NYC-area for three big shows in August: PNC Bank Arts Center on 8/2, Jones Beach on 8/6, and Comcast Theatre on 8/8. Joey Bada$$ and a bunch of others are on the tour too, and tickets for all three NYC-area shows are still available.

All dates are listed, along with those mixtape/EP streams, below...

Continue reading "Smoke DZA released a free EP, going on tour (dates & stream)"

by Andrew Sacher

Mac Miller and Ab-Soul (via Macklemore's Instagram)

It's not too out of the ordinary when rappers we don't like collaborate or tour with rappers we do like. We've already seen some of our favorite rappers tour with Childish Gambino and collaborate with Asher Roth, and now a handful of guys we're currently invested in are doing stuff with another non-fave, Mac Miller. First, he did a track, "S.D.S," which was produced by Flying Lotus (and FlyLo fans shared a collective sigh of relief when the instrumental version came out). Then he contributed a guest verse to the new Ab-Soul song, "The End Is Near," which he also produced under the moniker Larry Fisherman. Both versions of "S.D.S." and "The End Is Near" can be streamed below.

Now, Mac has announced that he's going on a US tour from June to August and the openers include Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, Action Bronson, The Internet, Vince Staples, Meek Mill and others. That tour hits NYC on July 11 at Hammerstein Ballroom with Chance the Rapper, The Internet, Vince Staples, and The Come-Up; and it hits Asbury Park, NJ on July 14 at Stone Pony Summer Stage with Chance the Rapper, The Internet, Vince Staples, and Meek Mill.

Tickets for both of those shows go on sale Friday (5/10) at 10 AM. Citi/Live Nation/Ticketmaster presales for the Hammerstein show begin Thursday (5/9) at 10 AM and Citi Cardmember/VIP Package presales for the Stone Pony show begin Wednesday (5/8) at 10 AM, with a Live Nation Mobile App presale beginning Thursday (5/9) at 10 AM. All tour dates are listed below.

Earl Sweatshirt won't be on the NYC-area shows, but he will be here as part of Dowtown Music Festival this Friday (5/10) at Element for a show with Ryan Hemsworth and Antwon (tickets).

Action Bronson isn't on any of the NYC-area shows either, but he has other upcoming NYC shows too.

Chance the Rapper - 'Acid Rap'

Perhaps the most exciting part of the NYC-area shows is that they'll be the first in the area for Chance the Rapper since the release of his impressive new mixtape, Acid Rap. Acid Rap wears its influences on its sleeve a bit (Kanye, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Andre 3000), but it's a very cohesive release that plays more like an album than a mixtape, and it's a pretty bold statement for someone who's still early on in their career. He's got a sing-rapping style similar to Drake and Kendrick Lamar, and though it can be a little off-putting at first, it's a grower. You can stream Acid Rap in full below and download it for free at DatPiff.

All Mac Miller dates are listed, along with all streams, below...

Continue reading "Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, Action Bronson & more touring w/ Mac Miller (who collaborated with FlyLo & Ab-Soul)"

Lauryn Hill at Highline Ballroom, June 2012 (more by Bao Nguyen)

Well, that doesn't look so good for summer shows. After pleading guilty to tax evasion less than a year ago, Lauryn Hill appeared in court in Newark, NJ today to face the judge...

Singer Lauryn Hill's failure to pay federal income taxes for three years has earned the singer a three-month prison sentence.

Hill pleaded guilty last year to three counts of failing to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007.

Hill must also pay penalties and taxes still owed, a $60,000 fine, serve a year on probation and possibly three months of home confinement.

by Andrew Sacher

Dawn Richard

R&B singer Dawn Richard, who released the solid GoldenHeart earlier this year, is playing a few shows in the Northeast this spring/summer including two in NYC. The first is a headlining gig on May 28 at Gramercy Theatre. Tickets for that one are on sale now. Then, she'll do a "special performance" at a 2013 NYC Pride event, which talk show host Wendy Williams is hosting, on June 29 at Hammerstein Ballroom. Tickets for that are on sale now too.

Dawn recently released the official remix for GoldenHeart track "Northern Lights." The remix features a new guest verse from Eve, and you can stream it below. Eve hasn't released an album in over ten years, but she's set to change that this month with Lip Lock, which is due out on May 14. Dawn will repay the favor by contributing vocals to a track on that album (which Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, Juicy J, Pusha T, and others also feature on). Eve just went H.A.M. on a new single from that album, "EVE," for which a video just came out this week. You can watch it below.

All Dawn Richard dates are listed, along with that song stream and video, below...

Continue reading "Dawn Richard playing shows, collaborating with Eve (who has a new video)"