Schoolboy Q at Best Buy Theater - 5/21/13 (via Kellen Dengler)

Thanks to TDE's recent success, Q found himself as the most established performer at the Freshman show. With no one to accompany him on stage, he fared better in the larger crowd as a solo artist, breezing through tracks from Habits & Contradictions and throwback collaborations with A$AP Rocky. At one point, he asked Kendrick Lamar to join him but laughed at the audience members who fell for his joke. Fittingly, he won the crowd back with his charisma by asking them the title of his upcoming album. "Oxymoron!" they screamed back. And this was done four times over. [XXL]

As mentioned in yesterday's What's Going On? post, Action Bronson made a video for his Harry Fraud-produced song, "Strictly 4 My Jeeps." If you missed it, you can watch that video below. Riff Raff stars in the video, and as discussed, he plays a Scion A/V show in Brooklyn at Coco 66 tonight (5/22) with Stalley and Smoke DZA. Entrance to that show had to be gained through Scion's contest which has since ended.

Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul are both members of the group Black Hippy (which also includes Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock), and that whole group is playing the traveling Rock the Bells Festival which hits the NYC-area on October 4-5 at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, NJ. Tickets for that festival are on sale now. The rest of the lineup includes Big K.R.I.T., Common, Danny Brown, Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, Jhene Aiko, Juicy J, Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan, and many more.

Updated Rock the Bells lineup and videos below...

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson (who has a new video) & more played the XXL Freshman show; Rock the Bells tix on sale"

Happy 10th anniversary to Rock the Bells, who have announced their initial, rotating 2013 lineup featuring hosts Peter Rosenberg & MURS 3:16, as well as names like Bone Thugs N Harmony, Danny Brown, Black Hippy (who just played NYC), Common, E40 & Too Short, Earl Sweatshirt (ditto), Flatbush Zombies, Juicy J (who played a Fader show on Monday and Irving Plaza last night), Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan (who play Summer Jam soon), Tyler the Creator (who just announced an NYC show as part of Odd Future), Eazy E, Ol Dirty Bastard and more. Confused? Yes, I did just say Eazy E and Ol Dirty Bastard, both of which will be "virtual performances" as part of the travelling festival. AllHipHop reports:

Ol Dirty Bastard and Eazy-E's spirits will return to the stage at Rock The Bells this year, AllHipHop has learned.

The pair of Hip-Hop legends will have holograms performing this year at the 10-year anniversary of the rap festival.

Eazy-E will perform virtually with Bone Thugs-In-Harmony and ODB will rock with Wu Tang. Organizers said Eazy never blessed the Rock The Bells stage and ODB only did once.

Also, the "holograms" are approved by Eazy-E's wife Tomica Wright and Ol Dirty's mother, Cherry Jones.

Tupac's Coachella appearance inspired the new virtual performances at Rock The Bells, organizers admitted.

Initial lineup (at least 15 more artists TBA), dates and some video below.

Continue reading "Rock the Bells 2013 initial lineup (Wu-Tang, Earl Sweatshirt, Juicy J, Tyler the Creator... + hologram ODB & Eazy E)"

The Underachievers @ BrooklynVegan-SXSW (more by Bruno Simões)

Summerstage presents free shows in parks around NYC each summer. One of those parks is Red Hook Park where 2013 shows will happen on June 4 - 7. Check out the exact schedule below...

Continue reading "free shows in Red Hook Park (2013 schedule includes Rakim, Flatbush Zombies, and Ty Segall)"

by Andrew Sacher

The Underachievers and Flatbush Zombies are about to kick off a tour together supporting Joey Bada$$, which begins with all three artists in Austin for SXSW this week. And those two groups have just teamed up for a collaborative track, "No Religion." The Underachievers and Flatbush Zombies are a good fit to work together -- they both love charismatically rapping about drugs over blown out production. On "No Religion" they don't talk too much about drugs, but what they do talk about is pretty great ("Stop trying to be Tupac, try and be better," I mean someone had to say it) and the rest of what usually makes those groups great is there. Listen to the track below (via Stereogum).

The Underachievers also recently freestyled and talked about Flying Lotus for Pitchfork.tv's "Selector." You can watch that video below. While they're in Austin for SXSW, The Underachievers play the BrooklynVegan Official Showcase on Friday (3/15) at Maggie Mae's Rooftop at 11 PM.

Song stream and video below...

Continue reading "The Underachievers made a song w/ Flatbush Zombies and freestyled in a new video (see them at the BV showcase)"

DOWNLOAD: Joey Baa$$ - "Unorthodox" (prod. DJ Premier) (MP3)

Joey Bada$$

Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ has announced the international "Beast Coast Tour" with fellow Beast Coast associates Flatbush Zombies and The Underachievers, which kicks off in Austin at SXSW and continues into early May. The tour hits NYC on April 20 at Gramercy Theater (note: the date has been announced as 4/21 in other places, but as you can see on Live Nation, the venue is hosting Paganfest USA that day) (UPDATE: The show has been moved to 4/18.)

Tickets for that show are not on sale yet, but you can check Ticketmaster for updates. You may remember that all three artists on the tour previously teamed up in NYC for a Red Bull Music Academy/Boiler Room show in October during Flying Lotus' NYC takeover.

Before SXSW, Joey's crew Pro Era is playing a NYC show billed as CJ Fly & Pro Era at Public Assembly on March 6 with Wordspit, Dyme-A-Duzin, and many others. Tickets for that show are on sale now. No official word on whether or not Joey will be there, but he hates when people say "Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era", so maybe the CJ Fly (another Pro Era member) billing is meant as a play on that? The flyer for this show is below.

When the tour ends, Joey has a few festival dates scheduled, including The Roots Picnic in Philly. All dates are listed below.

Joey Bada$$ has been dropping tracks and videos left and right lately. Back in January, he released his single for Mountain Dew's Green Label Sound, which was a collaboration with DJ Premier called "Unorthodox." Then he followed that with a video with Smoke DZA for "Gotham Fucking City" off DZA's K.O.N.Y. tape, a diss track aimed at Lil B (in response to Lil B's diss to him), and another video with Smoke DZA, which also features Big K.R.I.T., for "Underground Airplay" off the Ecko Unlimited mixtape of the same name. You can stream/watch all of those songs/videos below.

Meanwhile, The Underachievers just released the free Indiogism mixtape on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label. You can download the mixtape for free at DatPiff and stream it in its entirety below.

All streams the list of all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Joey Bada$$ and The Underachievers released stuff, announce tour with Flatbush Zombies (dates, streams)"

The crowd @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - 12/18/12

Pharoahe Monch, formerly of Organized Konfusion and a relatively recent Duck Down signing, showed the crowd how it's done. His brief but powerful set touched upon new songs (joined by the inimitable Jean Grae at one point) and classic material like "Simon Says," including a "Fuck The Police" medley somewhere in the middle. Monch is a consummate performer, but his OG Duck Down labelmates who followed him were up to the task as well. Sean Price took the stage next - the most grizzled, most rotund, and perhaps most fascinating member of the Boot Camp Clik. An animated Grinch parody video began his set. From there, Price simply ripped it, helped out at times by his Heltah Skeltah partner Rock. Price barely moves when he raps, gripping the mic in its stand - and he doesn't need jump around, his presence is engaging enough. [Illiot Gould]

Talib Kweli will play another NYC show next month/year at SOB's on January 20. Tickets for that show, which is a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King and Gil Scott Heron, are still avaialble.

More pictures below...

Continue reading "Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Buckshot, Sean Price, Flatbush Zombies & more played the Duck Down holiday party (pics)"

Talib Kweli and Ryan Leslie, out standing on a roof

As we've mentioned before, Talib Kweli is headlining the BrooklynVegan-presented Duck Down & Javotti Media's holiday party tonight (12/18) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The night also features Pharoahe Monch, as well as Bootcamp Clik crewmembers Buckshot, Sean Price, and Smif-N-Wessun, plus Flatbush Zombies, Skyzoo, and Dyme-A-Duzin. Tickets are still available but if you'd like to go for free we're giving away two pairs of tickets. Details on how to enter are below. Hope to see you there.

Meanwhile, Talib just released the video for his track "Outstanding," which features Ryan Leslie. You can check it out below and get the MP3 as well via a download widget.

In other news, Flatbush Zombies recently stopped by Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg to talk about their favorite movies and you can watch that below. You can also check out Skyzoo's most recent music video, "JanSport Strings," as well.

If you can't make it tonight, Talib is playing a full band show at SOB's on January 20 which is in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King and Gil Scott Heron. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All upcoming Talib Kweli tour dates are listed, with all the other stuff, below...

Continue reading "Talib Kweli made an 'Outstanding' video, playing Duck Down party w/ Flatbush Zombies tonight (win tix!), SOB's in January"

As mentioned, Duck Down Music is throwing a holiday party with Javotti Media in Brooklyn on December 18 at Music Hall of Williamsburg, of which BrooklynVegan is proudly one of the sponsors. When we first mentioned the show, the lineup was not announced, but as hinted, Talib Kweli will be headlining it. And the rest of the lineup is pretty great too. In addition to Talib, it's got some other NYC rap legends on there like Pharoahe Monch, plus Buckshot, Sean Price, and Smif-N-Wessun, all three of who are part of the Boot Camp Clik group. It also features some newcomers like Flatbush Zombies (who play SOB's two days later [12/20]), Skyzoo, and Dyme-A-Duzin of Phony PPL. Tickets for the show are still available. The first 50 fans inside will get a free Sean Price/Rocksmith t-shirt. That's the flyer above.

Sean Price and Buckshot recently teamed up for a show at Santos. You can watch a video from that show spliced with some footage of Buckshot and 9th Wonder on Sway's Morning Show with DJ Premier, below.

Continue reading "Duck Down holiday party lineup revealed (Talib Kweli, Sean Price, Pharoahe Monch, Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Flatbush Zombies at Fool's Gold 5th Anniversary (more by Gretchen Robinette)

Brooklyn rap crew Flatbush Zombies recently teamed up with Spanish Harlem rapper Bodega BAMZ for "Thrilla," the first track that BAMZ ever made a video for, which you can watch below. It's a pretty wild clip, directed by Rik Cordero (The Roots, Jay-Z, Nas, Action Bronson, and more), which features people in Scream masks, toilet paper mummies, and a clip from Frankenstein.

The Zombies and BAMZ will likely be joining each other on stage to perform that track when they team up for a NYC on December 20 at SOB's. That show is hosted by Peter Rosenberg and will have Shani Kulture Music by DJ Juanyto. Tickets for that show are on sale now. It's the only announced date for either artist at the moment.

Video is below.

Continue reading "Flatbush Zombies & Bodega Bamz made a video, playing NYC"

photos by Gretchen Robinette

"If you aren't already at the Williamsbsurg Music Hall for the free Fool's Gold show, don't bother now. You will never get in. 500+ line up" - Brian Doc Holidae

A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs' label Fool's Gold turned five and they decided to celebrate, with the help of Converse Rubber Tracks, in a big but but small way on Saturday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg (a Brooklyn venue much smaller than ones A-Trak has charged people to see him in). The free, first-come, first served, during-CMJ show ended up going something this:

09:00 - Ryan Hemsworth
10:00 - Nick Catchdubs
10:45 - Troy Ave (bringing out Chase N Cashe)
11:15 - World's Fair (bringing out Tanboyz + Flatbush Zombies)
12:00 - Donnis
12:30 - Ghostface Killah
01:00 - A-Trak (Chromeo hanging out)
02:00 - Flosstradamus

Continue reading "Fool's Gold celebrated 5 years in fashion (A-Trak, Ghostface, Flosstradamus, Donnis & more) --- pics & video"

photos by Julie Schabel

Big K.R.I.T. at the Studio at Webster Hall

On Thursday (10/18), MTV presented a show at the Studio at Webster Hall with Killer Mike, Le1f, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Big K.R.I.T., and Flatbush Zombies. Andrew was there and you can read his full recap of the show HERE. BV photographer Julie Schabel was on the scene as well and her pictures from the show are in this post.

More pics below.

Continue reading "pics from the Big K.R.I.T., Killer Mike, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Le1f, Flatbush Zombies show at the Studio at Webster Hall"

by Andrew Sacher

Killer Mike (via BV Instagram)

I spent most of my Thursday night (10/18) at the Studio at Webster Hall show for the MTV-presented show with Killer Mike, Le1f, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Big K.R.I.T., and Flatbush Zombies. The show got off to a late start but were sets were quick and so was turnover, so by the time Flatbush Zombies began their closing set, they were actually a bit ahead of schedule. Despite this great lineup in a relatively small venue, the place never filled up, but the small crowd was a pretty dedicated one, with most people sticking around for every act.

Killer Mike kicked things off, coming out with little introduction to "Big Beast," the biting opening track on his excellent 2012 LP, R.A.P. Music. Killer Mike's made a few notable guest appearances early on his career (Outkast's "The Whole World" and Bone Crusher's "Never Scared," the latter of which he played last night) and had his own hit around then with "A.D.I.D.A.S," but though Mike has continued to release albums and mixtapes since then, he's gone pretty under the radar until we were hit with the impact of R.A.P. Music. He focused much of his set on it, following "Big Beast" with "Untitled," "Go," and an a cappella version of "Reagan," which Killer Mike prefaced with a story about how he's not a political rapper, he's a social rapper, and the message of that song is for us to vote for politicians who will look out for our communities and the ones that surround us. Killer Mike's set was one of the best (if not the best) sets of the night, and he definitely set the bar too high as an opener, but he had to play early so he could head over to Irving Plaza for his show with GZA.

Le1f (via BV Instagram)

Up next was Le1f, whose set was remarkably different from the rest of the bill. While most of the other acts delivered rowdy beats and crowd-working rhymes, Le1f stayed introverted with a passive flow over slower, bass swelling tracks. He was joined by two dancers on stage, both (like Le1f) decked out in camouflage. He did have a few bangers, which, just based on the mood of the show, came off best, and in that environment it would have paid off to focus more on those. But a solid set nonetheless.

continued below...

Continue reading "Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Flatbush Zombies & Le1f played the Studio at Webster Hall (CMJ recap)"

"Its good to see NYC come out every time i perform. That shit is dope." - Action Bronson

Action Bronson and a bag of weed at MHOW in August (more by Ryan Muir)

Remember how we just said that Action Bronson continues to give NYC many chances to see him? Well he's keeping that up. After just playing a show with RL Grime last Friday (9/28), Bronson announced that he'll play a free Scion A/V-presented show in the front room of Public Assembly on October 10 with Jonwayne, Party Supplies, and DJ Getlive. The show is free but RSVP is strictly required. The flier for this show is below. Not very surprisingly, it's also been announced that his Highline Ballroom show (10/30) with Cypress Hill is part of a larger tour the two acts will go on together this fall. All dates are listed below.

Action Bronson associate Meyhem Lauren (who he shared a bill with at MHOW in August) has an upcoming Public Assembly show (10/25) too. His is with Lakutis, Big Baby Ghandi, Spit Gemz, Timeless Truth, Gee Dubs, Eff Yoo, and DJ Uneek. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Tanya Morgan, who was also on that MHOW show, have a show at Public Assembly (10/23) too, two days before the Meyhem Lauren show. That one's a co-headlining show with rapper/producer Oddisee, who Tanya Morgan has played with before, and who released the album, People Hear What They See over the summer (stream it at SPIN). Support on that show comes from The Doppelgangaz, Mr. Mag, and Gotham Green, along with a DJ set by DJ Tara and it's being hosted by Dee Phunk. Tickets are on sale now. It takes place just after CMJ, which Oddisee is scheduled to play, though no shows have been announced yet as of this post. All Oddisee dates are listed below.

That famed MHOW show was rounded out by Flatbush Zombies, who were joined by A$AP Rocky and in turn joined him at his Roseland Ballroom show last week (9/27). Flatbush Zombies don't have a Public Assembly show coming up, but they do have a Noisey: Acid Alumni CMJ show happening at Santos Party House on October 17 with Children of the Night, Haleek Maul, Bodega Bamz (who also joined Rocky at that Roseland show), and The Underachievers (who will be taking part in Flying Lotus' NYC takeover). That show is free with RSVP. The flier is below.

Roc Marciano - Reloaded

In more related news, Action Bronson/Meyhem Lauren associate Roc Marciano will release his new album, Reloaded, on November 13 via Decon. The album was mostly self-produced, but also includes a few tracks produced by The Alchemist (whose album featured Roc, plus Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren, and many others), plus tracks produced by Q-Tip, Ray West, The Arch Druids, and guest spots from Ka and Knowledge Pirate. That's the cover art above (via HipHopDX), and you can check out tracklist and stream the tracks "76" and "I Shot The King" (from the deluxe edition) below. He's also in the process of shooting a video for "76."

All lists of dates, song streams and more are below.

Continue reading "Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren, Tanya Morgan, Oddisee & more upcoming hip hop shows (dates)"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A$AP Rocky & friends @ Roseland Ballroom - 9/27/12

A$AP Rocky brought his "LongLiveA$AP" Tour with Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q to NYC for a show at Roseland Ballroom this past Thursday (9/27). After their opening sets, both Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q joined Rocky during his set, as did Flatbush Zombies, who were joined by Rocky at their recent Music Hall of Williamsburg show, and Bodega BAMZ. Here's what The Source had to say about the show...

Just before the clock struck 8, Danny Brown hit the stage, opening with "Wit It", which seemed to be the perfect song to get the audience properly turnt up. Danny followed with his araabMuzik produced-single "Molly Ringwald", and then went in to "Black Brad Pitt". After turning it down for the fourth song, Danny picked the energy back up again with "My Radio Song", having the crowd help him rap the chorus. Before leaving the stage at 8:30, Danny did a little rendition of ScHoolboy & Ab-Soul's track "Druggys Wit Hoes", then ran through a couple more tracks with the crowd chiming in again, including "Monopoly" and "Blunt After Blunt"...

...ScHoolboy came out at 8:45, setting a mellow mood by performing the first verse of "Sacreligious" and following up with "Oxy Music", two of the slower tracks off his latest release Habits N Contradictions. "All the real ScHoolboy fans make some noise! If you don't know anything, you can bet I got some... what?!" shouted Q, before getting into "Bet I Got Sum Weed", which everyone around me took as an opportunity to spark up...

...Sporting a brown leather sweater and black shorts, Rocky finally hit the stage, performing a new track. "I'm still that pretty motherf***a, you know Harlem's what I'm reppin!" he shouted. A mob hit the stage, everyone shouting "Swag!" again and again. "Jesus walked on water, I'm preaching to the choir," rapped rocky, with a light show behind him crazy enough to cause an epileptic seizure... I know alot of artists over-exaggerate, and say that their concerts were "a movie", but if Rocky and the Mob were to describe their concert like that, it wouldn't be a lie. At one point, there were 17 people on stage, jumping around and rapping. It's unlike anything else.

Continue reading "A$AP Rocky played Roseland Ballroom w/ Schoolboy Q and Danny Brown (joined by Flatbush Zombies) -- pics & videos"

by Andrew Sacher

Flying Lotus at Coachella 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Flying Lotus is about to welcome his new album, Until the Quiet Comes next week (10/2) via Warp. As the album title implies, it's a "quieter" record than the maximalist Cosmogramma, but it's just as fleshed out and compelling. You can stream the album ahead of its release date at NPR. The video for "Putty Boy Strut" can be watched below.

As mentioned, FlyLo will be supporting the album with a tour that hits NYC on October 7 at Terminal 5 with Thundercat and other Brainfeeder artists. Tickets for that show are still available. That's the first date club date on his tour, but he's since revealed that the tour will kick off with a "take over" of LA and NYC surrounding that date.

In NYC, he'll appear at the Warp booth at the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair on October 6, where he'll be signing copies of his new album. That's free and the booth will be open from 11 AM to 6 PM. The day after the T5 show, he'll play a Red Bull Music Academy Takeover for Boiler Room NYC (10/8) with a great lineup of Questlove, Flatbush Zombies, Just Blaze, Joey Bada$$ & Pro Era, and The Underachievers. That show is guest list only but you can watch it live at boilerroom.tv. On October 9 he'll partake in the "Meet the Musician" series at Apple Store SoHo where he'll give a talk and also perform. That show runs from 6-8 PM and is free but space is very limited.

Lastly, he'll do two events on October 10, including the East Village Radio Takeover, where Flying Lotus and Brainfeeder artists Gaslamp Killer, Martyn, Dorian Concept, Jeremiah Jae, Taylor McFerrin, and The Underachievers will take over two hours of air time on East Village Radio from 2-4 PM to preview their showcase which happens later that night at new Brooklyn venue Villain (50 North 3 St). That show is also presented by the Red Bull Music Academy and features the same lineup (UPDATE: FlyLo is not confirmed) as the radio takeover plus "very special guests." No ticket info for this show at the moment.

An updated list of Flying Lotus dates and the video for "Putty Boy Strut" are below.

Continue reading "Flying Lotus taking over LA & NYC during tour (updated dates & album stream)"

photos by Julie Schabel

Danny Brown & Bruiser Brigade at Paper Box, 9/19/2012

Danny Brown & Bruiser Brigade joined Kitty Pryde and Flatbush Zombies at Paper Box on September 19, a free-event for those who RSVP'd. The show was in celebration of the new Danny Brown & Bruiser Brigade EP, out now via Scion/Fool's Gold and streamable below in full. Pictures from that show are in this post.

If you missed the show, you'll have to hit two separate shows this week in order to catch both Danny Brown and Kitty Pryde: Danny Brown hits Roseland on Thursday (9/27) and Kitty Pryde plays 285 Kent on Friday (9/28).

More pictures, that EP stream, and  live video of Danny Brown are below.

Continue reading "Danny Brown & Bruiser Brigade, Kitty Pryde and Flatbush Zombies played Paper Box (pics / video)"

Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade, Flatbush Zombies, and Kitty Pryde are playing a free, Scion-presented "Open Mic" party in NYC at Paper Box on Wednesday (9/19), a few days before Danny heads out on the road with A$AP Rocky (a tour that brings him back to NYC to play Roseland on 9/27). The free show is a 21+ show and you need to RSVP.

The show is, coincidentally, just in time for a new Danny Brown & Bruiser Brigade EP which will drop next week via the music-minded car company's ScionAV label. You can watch a new-ish interview with Brown (also via ScionAV) below.

Meanwhile, Danny's best bud Kitty Pryde was on The Chris Gethard Show last night which was co-hosted by Andrew WK (who recently guested on new web series 'We Can Do It' and played Coney Island). Kitty performs two songs on the show and you can watch the whole episode below.

Kitty and Danny appear in Mark McNairy's Spring/Summer 2013 lookbook together which the above photo is an outtake from (via The Fader).

Flyer for the Open Mic party, dates and videos, below...

Continue reading "Danny Brown & Bruiser Brigade releasing EP, playing free NYC show w/ Kitty Pride (who played the Chris Gethard Show) --- dates & video"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Flatbush Zombies / flips / Gordon Voidwell

Hardcore punk rockers Cerebal Ballsy performed Saturday with a ferocity that commanded the seemingly peaceful crowd into a mosh pit. Later in the evening, the atmosphere switched into a groovy hipster paradise for all to enjoy as Erykah Badu jammed. The next day, Janelle Monae put on a performance with enough energy to power Manhattan. The performers were awesome - all of them - but they were merely a reflection of the movement known as Afropunk and the people of it.

The crowd was multi-everything - multi-cultural, multi-colored, multi-faceted, and multi-fashioned. - [Allhiphip.com]

Our first set of Day 2 pictures is here, and you can see pics from Day 1 here and here. More pics from Day 2 are below.

Continue reading "more pics from 2012 Afro Punk Fest Day 2"

photos by Gretchen Robinette

Janelle Monáe / TV on the Radio / Pharrell at Afro-Punk Fest 8/26/2012

Slamming together categories -- and, when appropriate, bodies -- is the ever-expanding mission of the annual Afro-Punk Festival, which returned last weekend to Commodore Barry Park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

It was an event summed up in action by one of its returning headliners, Janelle Monáe. She's an indefatigable song-and-dance bandleader who gleefully draws on African-American showmen like Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and even Cab Calloway as her lyrics dip into science fiction. Her finale, "Come Alive (War of the Roses)," had a jitterbug-ready beat while Ms. Monáe crowd-surfed like a punk-rocker: off the stage, into the audience and back onstage for a few more snappy steps. - [NY Times]

Continue reading "Afro-Punk Festival 2012 in pictures: day 2 (Janelle Monae, TV on the Radio, Reggie Watts, Toro Y Moi and more)"

photos by Ryan Muir

"A$AP Rocky came out of nowhere during the concert and Action Bronson dapped me up AND threw free dubs of sour to the crowd and we got one!" - @The_Gooz

Action Bronson / A$AP Rocky, MHOW 8/23/2012

While Duchess Says and The Blind Shake were playing Public Assembly Thursday night (8/23), next door at Music Hall of Williamsburg, the second free show in the new bi-monthly Converse Rubber Tracks series was going down with the newly VICE-signed Action Bronson, along with Meyhem Lauren, Flatbush Zombies, and Tanya Morgan. Members of the A$AP Mob joined Flatbush Zombies on stage for their set, and during the song "Bath Salts," crew leader A$AP Rocky showed up as a surprise guest like he did last month with Grimes, Pictureplane, and Araabmuzik. (He also indulged in a little crowd surfing.) Meanwhile, Action Bronson preferred to keep the stage on the less crowded side, though he did throw a ton of weed into the audience -- and got into the audience too.

For Meyhem Lauren's set, he was joined by guests Heems, Despot, Sean Price, and others. You can catch Meyhem Lauren and Heems again when they play Shea Stadium on September 21 with Smoke DZA, Children of the Night, and others.

A$AP Rocky's next scheduled NYC appearance is Roseland Ballroom on September 27 for his tour with Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q.

More pictures and a video featuring clips of Flatbush Zombies with A$AP Mob and Action Bronson's set are below.

Continue reading "Action Bronson, Flatbush Zombies (joined by A$AP Rocky), Meyhem Lauren & Tanya Morgan played MHOW (pics, video)"

Rain Machine at BAM in 2010 (more by Vincent Cornelli)

As mentioned, the free Afropunk Festival returns to Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park on August 25-26. You can check out the full schedule for the fest at the bottom of this post. On the Saturday (8/25), the Green Stage will be headlined by Erykah Badu and the Red Stage by Das Racist. On the Sunday (8/26), the Green Stage will be headlined by TV on the Radio following sets by Toro y Moi and Reggie Watts and the Red Stage will be headlined by Janelle Monae.

Speaking of TV on the Radio, Kyp Malone's solo project Rain Machine has a NYC show coming up, that will take place soon after Afropunk at Union Pool on September 1 with Soft Location and Slowdance. No other Rain Machine dates to report at the moment.

Sinkane, who also plays Afropunk Fest, continues his residency at Zebulon tonight (8/20).

2012 Afropunk Fest schedule is below.

Continue reading "the Afropunk Festival 2012 schedule & a Rain Machine show"

Danny Brown at Prospect Park, June 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

Labor Day is quickly approaching and if you're not leaving the city and need sommething to cap off the summer, the folks at Fools Gold Records are once again throwing their Day Off NY party which happens Monday, September 3 at City Winery's backyard and features Danny Brown, French Montana, Flosstradamus, Flatbush Zombies, #BEEN #TRILL, Just Blaze, and more. The party goes from 2PM - 8PM and is free and all-ages. More details are here. Flyer for the party is below.

The Fool's Gold party happens about a week after Danny Brown and Just Blaze share a bill at Warm Up at MoMA PS1 on August 25 with Nick Catchdubs, The Stallions, and BAIO (of Vampire Weekend). Tickets for that show are still on sale.

Danny Brown will also return to NYC when his tour with A$AP Rocky and Schoolboy Q hits Roseland Ballroom on September 27 (tickets).

Fool's Gold Day Off flyer and a list of updated Danny Brown dates below...

Continue reading "Danny Brown, Just Blaze, French Montana and more playing Fools Gold Day Off NY 2012 on Labor Day"

Action Bronson at Red Hook Park in June (more by Eric M. Townsend)

Queens rapper Action Bronson, who has a few great mixtapes under his belt and quickly escalated to playing large venues recently announced via twitter that he's signed with Warner Bros imprint VICE Records, making him labelmates with Black Lips, OFF!, and others. He tweeted, "Vice/Warner Bros.is the label. I promise to never make candy cane bullshit music as long as I live!!!!!!!"

As mentioned, Action Bronson will play a free Converse Rubber Tracks show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on August 23 with Meyhem Lauren, Flatbush Zombies, and Tanya Morgan. Admission is first come, first served, but we're also giving away a pair of VIP tickets which guarantee you entry and get you into the VIP balcony, plus a $250 Converse gift card. Details on how to enter and the flier for this show are below.

Before that show, Action Bronson will be heading to Chicago for their Mad Decent Block Party. He didn't play the NYC party but his associate Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire did. Bronson will also be at the Holmdel, NJ stop for Rock the Bells when it hits PNC Bank Arts Center from September 1-2. He plays on the Sunday (9/2) along with sets by Nas, Deltron 3030 Curren$y, Cheif Keef, DJ Quik, and many others. Tickets for Rock the Bells NJ are still available. Check out the full schedule HERE.

Action Bronson recently contributed his vocals to UK producer Metabeats for the song, "Hookers," off his upcoming album, Caviar Crackle. Stream that song and check out a list of all upcoming dates, and the contest details and flier for the MHOW show below.

Continue reading "Action Bronson signs to VICE; win VIP tix to his MHOW show"

TV on the Radio at Catalpa 2012 (more by Toby Tenebaum)

As mentioned, the free Afro-Punk Festival is returning to Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park on August 25-26. Since then, the lineup has been expanded, and now joining the initial announcement of Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Toro y Moi, Das Racist, Reggie Watts, and more is TV on the Radio (who will be headlining), Sinkane, Alice Smith, Flatbush Zombies, Radkey, Joe Jordan Experiment (JJX), and Purple Ferdinand.. Plus, the following DJs have been added: The Supasonics, Grits and Biscuits, DJ Pete Smoke Les, Stack-Aly, Roofeeo and VENUS X GHE20GOTH1K.

There will also be a Bites & Beats Food Truck Festival, an Afro-Punk Spinthrift Market, a motorcycle show, and a Nike Battle For the Streets Skate Competition, hosted by Alex Corporan and Billy Rohan. More details on these are below.

The updated lineup, flier and an Afro-Punk exclusive film, I Am Other, are below.

Continue reading "Afro-Punk Festival expands lineup (TV on the Radio, Sinkane, Alice Smith, food trucks, art vendors, bike show & more)"

DOWNLOAD: Action Bronson - "Blackbird" (MP3)

Action Bronson at Red Hook Park in June (more by Eric M. Townsend)

As mentioned, Converse Rubber Tracks is presenting a bi-monthly series of free shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg, which kicked off in June with White Rabbits and We Barbarians. The next show is in this series happens at the Brooklyn venue on August 23 with Action Bronson, Flatbush Zombies, Meyhem Lauren, and Tanya Morgan. Admission is first come, first served for the free show.

Action Bronson's other upcoming NYC area appearances include Rock the Bells at PNC Bank Arts Center (9/1-9/2) and he's also one of the many artists lined up for the Mad Decent Block Parties, though it hasn't yet been revealed which party (or parties) he'll play.

Action Bronson and Meyhem Lauren are both featured on the new Alchemist album.

A list of all dates and a song stream of the recently released Action Bronson track, "Blackbird" (downloadable above), below...

Continue reading "Action Bronson, Flatbush Zombies, Meyhem Lauren & Tanya Morgan playing free Converse Rubber Tracks show at MHOW"