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]

The 2013 XXL Freshman Class, including Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, Angel Haze, and more, all came to NYC for a show at Best Buy Theater last night (5/21). You can check out a video of Schoolboy Q playing "My Hatin' Joint" at the show, below.

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.

So far only four dates exist for Rock the Bells. They're all listed below. Two of them are on the East Coast and one is in the NYC area at Meadowlands Racetrack in Rutherford, NJ on October 4-5. Tickets go on presale Thursday (10/16) at noon, and regular sale on Saturday.

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)"

Shout Out Louds at Webster Hall in 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

today in NYC
* Whiplash @ UCB
* Los Vega @ Barbes
* Brain Cloud @ Barbes
* The Thermals @ Ace Hotel
* Ester Rada @ Slipper Room
* Greys, Shahman @ Cake Shop
* Tony Scherr Trio @ Living Room
* Shellshag, Pity Party @ Acheron
* Deep Space w/ Francois K @ Cielo
* The Campilongo Trio @ Living Room
* Frank London's Shekhina Big Band @ The Stone
* Kria Brekkan, Aaron Roche @ Church of the Advent Hope
* Wyatt Cenac, Yannis Pappas, Erik Bergstrom @ Littlefield
* The Electric Set, Sexy Neighbors, Trepanning @ Silent Barn
* Bernhoft, Baby Alpaca (Duo Set), Cameron Hull @ Glasslands
* Shout Out Louds, Little Children @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Lily & The Parlour Tricks, Alice & the Glass Lake @ Mercury Lounge
* Child Abuse, Pyrrhon, Say At Last, Valerie Keuhne @ Death By Audio
* Kestrels, Adult Dude, Graveyard Lovers, Sweethearts @ Public Assembly
* Hannibal Buress, Taylor Ketchum, Kate Hendricks, Michael Che, Mike Denny, Nimesh Patel @ Matchless

Kria Brekkan (of Iceland's Mum) plays tonight at Church of the Advent Hope (111 E. 87th St). It's free.

Toronto's Greys play their first of two NYC shows this week tonight at Cake Shop. Stream their new EP, Drift, and read our interview with them HERE.

The music portion of SXSW officially starts tomorrow (3/12), but there's some shows tonight too. Follow @BVSXSW on Twitter.

Follow @BrooklynVegan on Twitter.
Follow @bvChicago for just Chicago stuff.
Also follow @bvAustin for just Austin stuff.

Be our friend on Facebook too, and BV Austin's friend on Facebook and BV Chicago's friend on Facebook.

Follow BrooklynVegan on instagram.

Clutch is streaming a new song at NPR from their forthcoming LP Earth Rocker. If you missed it, check out our interview with guitarist Tim Sult.

Hip hop producer Hit-Boy ("Niggas in Paris," "Clique," "Backseat Freestyle," "Goldie") is releasing a compilation, All I've Ever Dreamed Of, this week (3/12) and he just revealed a track from it, "Cypher," which features a zillion rappers (Schoolboy Q, Casey Veggies, Xzibit, Rick Ross, Method Man, Red Man, Raekown, and more). Check it out below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Monday?"

The Roots are putting on their 6th Annual Roots Picnic in Philly on June 1 at Penns Landing with a pretty great lineup of Grimes, Solange, Joey Bada$$, How to Dress Well, Hit-Boy, Araabmuzik, DJ Premier, Naughty By Nature (backed by The Roots), Robert Glasper, Gary Clark Jr., Lushlife, and more. Tickets for the festival are on sale now.

Full lineup below...

Continue reading "The Roots Picnic tickets & 2013 lineup (Grimes, Solange, Joey Bada$$, How to Dress Well, Hit-Boy and more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Producer/rapper Hit-Boy (aka Chauncey Hollis), who had a breakout moment when he produced Jay-Z & Kanye West's "Niggas In Paris," has really been pushing forward since then. He released his debut mixtape, HITstory, which you can download for free at his website, earlier this year. And he then produced a few tracks on Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music album, Cruel Summer, including the excellent Kanye/Jay-Z/Big Sean cut, "Clique," which is easily on par with the best moments of Watch the Throne. His own material has yet to reach the heights that he achieved on singles like "Clique" and "Niggas in Paris" but his mixtape does show a promising start, and it's a recommended listen.

Hit-Boy will be celebrating the mixtape with an eight-day HITstory tour this November, which hits NYC on November 7 at SOB's. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

A list of all dates, the tour flier, and some song streams are below.

Continue reading "Hit-Boy announces HITstory tour (dates & streams)"

by Andrew Sacher

After much delay, rumors proved true and false, and some uncertain info, Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music compilation album, Cruel Summer, is fully confirmed and will be out this Tuesday (9/18). Many of its tracks -- "Clique," "Mercy," "New God Flow," "Cold" (previously titled "Theraflu"), and his guest-filled remix of Chief Keef's "I Don't Like" -- have been floating around the internet for some time now. You can stream all of those and snippets of every album track below.

Though Kanye only actually raps on about half the album, his presence is felt throughout and Cruel Summer succeeds at playing from start to finish with an album flow, despite it technically being a compilation. It opens as huge as you expect any Kanye related release to open, addressing the album not just to his fans, friends or family, but of course, "To The World." The track brings together beat master Hudson Mohawke (who's been having a great year as one half of TNGHT) with R. Kelly and Ye. It immediately follows with the album's strongest track, "Clique," which features one of the best Jay-Z verses in recent years and a towering beat from Hit-Boy, who is also behind Cruel Summer tracks "Cold," "Higher," and of course you may know him as the guy behind "Niggas In Paris."

After it continues colossally with previously released singles "Mercy" and "New God Flow," we get the first track on the album without Kanye's voice, "The Morning." However, there's no lack of all-star rappers on the track. We get killer verses from vets Pusha T, Common, and Raekwon, and if guys like Kid Cudi and 2 Chainz are your thing, well they're there too. Cudi, though not the strongest of Kanye associates, does have a shining moment on the album though. Over a clattering beat in "Creepers," he delivers a solo vocal performance making for a rare standout personal moment from not-Kanye in the midst of Ye's encapsulating ego. That's followed by "Bliss," which sees the return of Hudson Mohawke to the boards and is the album's sole track with all singing, no rapping. A distinct contrast to the hanging out and freestyling feel of the closing "I Don't Like" remix.

Streams and tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music album 'Cruel Summer' is out next week (tracklist, streams & more on the album)"

Ghostface Killah @ Prospect Park, June 2012 (more by Ryan Muir)

today in NYC
* Big Terrific @ Cameo
* Turbotronics @ Joe's Pub
* Joan Osborne @ City Winery
* Sondra Sun-Odeon @ Manhattan Inn
* The Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* Christopher Willits @ Cameo Gallery
* Cathy Grier NYCSubwayGirl @ Joe's Pub
* Mary Halvorson's Reverse Blue @ Barbes
* MV Carbon, Steve Gunn @ Issue Project Room
* Ula Ruth, Modern Colour @ Knitting Factory
* Bettye Lavette @ Madison Square Park
* Gltr Pnch, Werewitch, Forcefields @ Cake Shop
* David Who Loves the Sky @ Living Room
* Scott Adsit and Jon Lutz @ UCB Chelsea
* Bloc Party, The Drums, Them Jeans @ Terminal 5
* M83, Big Black Delta @ Central Park Summerstage
* Swearin', Fancytramp, Slutever @ Death By Audio
* Hardbodies, Napoleon, Snake Dudes @ Union Pool
* Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits @ The Stone
* Summerscreen w/ Skeletons, Knyfe Hyts @ McCarren Park
* The Gradients, Mantis, Ratking, Fiasco @ Shea Stadium
* Aural Dystopia, Pulverize the Sound @ The Grand Victory
* Supremo Massiv, Tin Vulva, Rebelmatic @ Knitting Factory
* Joy and the Boy, The Reverend John DeLore @ Brooklyn Bowl
* George Thorogood & The Destroyers @ BB King Blues Club
* Bad Weather California, Broncho, Strange Shapes @ Glasslands
* Diamond Terrifier, Laurel Halo, Slava, Bubbles @ Littlefield
* Heather Christian & The Arbornauts, Railbird @ Mercury Lounge
* Slipknot, Asking Alexandria, As I Lay Dying @ PNC Bank Arts Center
* Heavenly Beat, Plastic Flowers, Young Boys, You. @ Public Assembly
* Ghostface Killah, Sheek Louch, Saigon, Krystyle @ Highline Ballroom
* The Bright Light Social Hour, Black Taxi, Echosuite @ Bowery Ballroom
* Wiccans, Deformity, Radiation, Bastard Deceiver, Dead Reich @ Tommy's Tavern
* Planes Mistaken for Stars, Model Home, The Sun The Moon The Stars @ Saint Vitus
* Vassals, Spirit Animal, My Dear Mycroft, Kevin McWha Steele, Kyle McNeill @ Pianos
* DJ Dog Dick, Chippy Nonstop, Cakes Da Killa, WC KIDS, The Pilot Kids @ Big Snow Buffalo Lodge
* Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Leslie West, Rick Derringer, and Kim Simmonds @ Beekman Beer Garden
* Cannibal Corpse, Between The Buried And Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil of Maya, Job For A Cowboy, Goatwhore, Exhumed, Cerebral Bore @ Irving Plaza

Follow @BrooklynVegan on Twitter.
Follow @bvChicago for just Chicago stuff.
Also follow @bvAustin for just Austin stuff.

Be our friend on Facebook too, and BV Austin's friend on Facebook and BV Chicago's friend on Facebook.

Follow BrooklynVegan on Instagram.

Woods' new album, Above and Beyond, is out next month. You can stream a track from it, "Size Meets the Sound," below.

You can also check out the new Fresh & Onlys single, "Presence of Mind," from their forthcoming album Long Slow Dance below too.

J. Mascis discusses the new Dinosaur Jr. album, I Bet on Sky, in a video with Portlandia's feminist bookstore lady which you can watch below.

Hit-Boy, who helmed the beat to Jay-Z and Kanye's "Niggas in Paris," now has his own album out called HITstory, which you can download for free at his website.

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"