by Andrew Sacher

Lil Kim in Austin in 2012 (more by Tim Griffin)

Lil Kim, who made a welcome return last year, is playing a NYC show TONIGHT (4/26) at Gramercy Theatre. Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Shabazz Palaces' tour with THEESatisfaction hits NYC tonight (4/26) for a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom.

Chicago rapper ShowYouSuck is coming to NYC for a show on May 3 at Knitting Factory. That bill also includes Bronx crew B.I.C. (Bitches Is Crazy), Goldie Glo, D Stunna, and Hipster Rogers. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Bitches Is Crazy just released a free album for 4/20 (but it actually came out on 4/16), Influence. It fits right in with the recent influx of NYC weed rap we've been getting from Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers and A$AP Mob. Pretty cool stuff. Download it at bandcamp or stream it, along with the videos for "DOPM" and "Yo Soy Widdit," below.

As just mentioned, collaborators Flatbush Zombies and The Underachievers, who are currently on tour with Joey Bada$$, are playing a free show in Red Hook Park on June 4 as part of this year's Summerstage season.

Miami rapper Gunplay is set to release a new mixtape, Bogota this year (not to be confused with last year's Bogota Rich: The Prequel mixtape), and is also talking about a new album, Medellin. He recently revealed the video for "Pyrex," which will presumably appear on one of these releases. You can watch that below. Gunplay will come to NYC for a show at SOB's on June 10. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Hip hop collective Phony PPL are doing a residency at Brooklyn Bowl which includes shows on May 1, June 5, July 3, and July 31. Each show has different special guests. For the May 1 show, it will be Allan Kingdom and Roofeeo. Guests for the other three shows TBA. Tickets for all four nights are on sale now.

Casey Veggies at Bamboozle 2012 (more by Leia Jospe)

Another good Brooklyn Bowl show happens when Casey Veggies and XXL Freshman Travi$ Scott bring their tour to Brooklyn Bowl on May 19. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

You can download Casey's recent mixtape Life Changes, which features appearances by BJ the Chicago Kid, Dom Kennedy and others, and production by The Futuristiks, Harry Fraud, and others, over at DatPiff.

The Brooklyn Bowl show is two days before Travi$ Scott and the rest of the XXL Freshmen class (Schoolboy Q, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Action Bronson, Angel Haze, and others) play the XXL Freshmen show at Best Buy Theater (5/21). Tickets for that show are still available.

Another XXL Freshman, Logic, who recently signed to Def Jam, is playing a NYC show on June 22 at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Dizzy Wright, Nitty Scott, and others are playing The Studio at Webster Hall on May 22. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Not exactly hip hop, but Kelly Rowland and The-Dream are playing Best Buy Theater on May 30. Tickets for that show go on sale today (4/26) at noon.

All streams and videos below...

Continue reading "upcoming hip hop shows in NYC: Lil Kim, Bitches Is Crazy, Gunplay, Casey Veggies, The-Dream, ShowYouSuck & more"

Tickets to see Death From Above 1979 and Fucked Up play the Governors Ball After Party at Irving Plaza go on Governors Ball presale today at 10 AM. (Password is "JeffGoldblum")

Tickets to see Griz and Cherub play the Governors Ball After Party at Gramercy Theatre go on Governors Ball presale today at 10 AM. (Password is "JeffGoldblum")

Tickets to see The Revivalists, Roadkill Ghost Choir and Swear & Shake at Bowery Ballroom go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets to the BV-Presents Youth Lagoon, show with Majical Clouds at The Bell House  go on sale at noon today.

Father John Misty, who are playing The Great GoogaMooga and Maxwell's in May, have added another NYC show at Terminal 5. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets to see King Tuff at Bowery Ballroom go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets to see Girls Against Boys at Bowery Ballroom go on AmEx presale today at noon.

GUNPLAY is playing S.O.B.'s on June 10. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

The Allman Brothers Band, Grace Porter and the Nocturnals are playing Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre on September 7. Tickets for that show go on VIP Package presale today at 10 AM.

Pure Bathing Culture and Monogold are playing Mercury Lounge on June 7. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today at noon.

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound is playing Mercury Lounge on June 22. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Syd Arthur and Celestial Shore are playing Mercury Lounge June 18. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today at noon.

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork just posted their much anticipated list of the top 100 tracks of 2012. The #1 slot went to... Grimes! Whether you thought the whole of her album Visions was good or not, it was hard to deny the charms of "Oblivion." (Having that great video didn't hurt either.) Do you think it deserved to top the list? If not then what song should've?

You can check out P4K's entire hot 100 of 2012 below.

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2012 (Grimes' "Oblivion" is #1)"

by Andrew Sacher

FACT is still one of the best sources for cutting edge electronic music, and I always look forward to their top 50 albums of the year list, which they've just published for 2012. As usual, it doesn't only contain electronic albums.

This year's list has a good deal of indie rap (Haleek Maul, Schoolboy Q, Le1f, Main Attrakionz, Spaceghostpurrp) and it's the only non-metal list I've seen so far with Black Breath's Sentenced to Life (!). And of course, to compliment the dancefloor records, it's got its fair share of electronic-tinged indie pop, forward thinking R&B, and outsider experimental music.

Check out the full list below.

Continue reading "FACT's Top 50 Albums of 2012"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Gunplay - "Jump Out" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kendrick Lamar - "Cartoon & Cereal" (ft. Gunplay) (MP3)

Miami rapper Gunplay, who first caught my ear when he appeared on Kendrick Lamar's "Cartoon & Cereal," will be in NYC TONIGHT (4/18) at Santos Party House with Bodega Bamz, Ratking, Deanie Man (DJ) and King Solomon (DJ). Tickets are available. As Fader points out, the event is "Shortcuts, a rap/dance/whatever party booked by True Panther's Dean Bein, Despot and Himanshu Suri of Das Racist."

Gunplay recently dropped the Bogota Rich: The Prequel mixtape on Maybach Music which you can download for free at DatPiff. Check out the video for mixtape track "Jump Out" with tons of pantomimed gun shots below, and grab an MP3 of the track above.

More videos and streams below...

Continue reading "Gunplay is here (playing Santos) -- MP3, videos, new mixtape"