photos by Brook Bobbins

Ali-Shaheed Mohammed will return to the tables this weekend at Dekalb Market after spinning at Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest last weekend, along with (former?) bandmate Q-Tip and tons of suprise guests (like Busta Rhymes & Kanye West). You saw the videos. Here are the pics. More of them below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest pics"

Ali Shaheed Muhammad @ Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest 2011

The Dekalb Market is opening on the old site of the Albee Square Mall and will have stores made out of salvaged shipping containers boasting a variety of pop-up shops in a town square like setting. A joint venture of Urban Space and Youngwoo & Associates, this new community destination will be open seven days a week and is located at the intersection of Flatbush and Willoughby in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bodega is proud to not only have a vendor space at the market but also operation of the beer garden "The Cooler" that will be open on weekends. This Saturday (7/23) and Sunday (7/24), the Bodega will be hosting the Opening Weekend Celebration with crowd-pleasers DJ Spinna (6-9PM Sat) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (6-9PM Sun) who will be performing at this free admission event...

Bringing together new and old partners, Brooklyn Bodega presents the return of the Fat Beats record store (who closed their seminal Hip-Hop Manhattan location in 2010). In collaboration with Fat Beats owner Joseph Abajian, Brooklyn Bodega is opening "Bbeats" this Saturday (7/23), which will specialize in new and rare Hip-Hop, Funk, Soul and Jazz vinyl, domestic and international CD's and other merchandise including limited edition apparel, books, and magazines.

De La DMC @ Nokia Theatre, NYC - 8/13/09 (by Tim Griffin)

As Del La Soul told the crowd when they took the stage at Nokia Theatre in NYC last night (8/13), their show was not going to be all music from 3 Feet High & Rising. Why would anyone think it would be? Probably because the show was billed as "20 Years High and Rising" (and everyone and their mother is playing full albums these days) (including Buckshot who opened the show, but didn't play a full album at this one either). I was more than okay with them not playing the full thing, though it would have been nice to hear a few more songs from that album. Specifically, I wished they played "The Magic Number" and "Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge)".

I loved every second of the packed show, and the 10-piece backing band was an especially nice touch. That said, I was selfishly hoping for a few more special guests, not that there weren't any. I thought for sure that Q-Tip would show up, and the Jungle Brothers and Black Sheep, and maybe even Doom, and who knows who else. Ends up they sort of kept the guests to a minimum. Bumpy Knuckles performed a short unannounced opening set. Prince Paul was brought out for a second to say hello. Dres from Black Sheep and Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest were watching from the side of the stage and were brought forward to dance for a minute during "Buddy". And then, the big, and maybe only real special guest moment came during a cover of Run DMC's "Rock Box" which was completed with DMC himself on stage as part of the group. They covered Rakim too, but he wasn't there, maybe because he was downtown playing his own show at Highline Ballroom the same evening.

This Sunday (8/16) indie rock leaves the Williamsburg Waterfront for one week (Central Park Summerstage stole it for the day), and another big (mostly) hip hop show happens in NYC, courtesy of JellyNYC, and it's free (and/or $50). The Sunday Pool Party lineup includes Gravy Train!!!, DD/MM/YYYY, Kenan Bell (who also opened for De La Soul on Thursday), a DJ set by Prince Paul (Plug Four), and a headlining set by DEL the Funky Homosapien.

We have a full set of pictures coming from De La Soul (more tour dates HERE), and we'll have some from Sunday too. In the meantime, here's a few videos from the show...

Continue reading "De La Soul (& DMC) played Nokia, Prince Paul DJing Pool Party Sunday (w/ Del da Funky Homosapien, Kenan Bell, others) "