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"

by BBG

Q-Tip at Rock The Bells (more by Eric Townsend)

This week is devoted to hip hop and specifically Brooklyn hip hop, with the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival ongoing and a "Salute To The DJ" event slated for TONIGHT at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Juice Crew mastermind Marley Marl will be on hand the headline the event, bringing along Grand Wizzard Theodore, Mista Sinista, Chairman Mao, Roli Rho (5th Platoon), Twilite Tone, and Getlive, all hosted by Duck Down representative Torae. Tickets are still available. We also have a pair you can win. Details and set times below.

Friday (7/15) will mean the Bodega Recognition Awards at Sheraton Brooklyn, which will "recognize and celebrate positive contributions to Hip Hop Music and Culture", but Saturday is the big celebration. Over two stages and during two events, BHHF will see performances from Lords of The Underground, Q-Tip, K-Salaam, MOP, Shad, Diamond District, Random Axe, and many more from noon until 9PM. That's split into the Family Day celebration (12 - 3) and the subsequent show at Brooklyn Bridge Park (6- 9). Full festival details are below, and tickets to the Main Stage performances are still available.

Shad's appearance is one of a few scheduled for the coming weeks, as he'll skip around the US and Canada in the coming months. Full tour schedule is below.

Though it isnt part of the BHHF, Company Flow is decidedly hip hop AND from Brooklyn. The crew plays with The Juggaknots at a sold-out Santos on Saturday.

All Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival details, Shad tour dates, and some videos below.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest is underway, Shad is on tour (dates)"

Clipse photos by Brook Bobbins

Nas & Damian Marley at Williamsburg Waterfront (more by Samantha Marble)

Distant Relatives Nas & Damian Marley will team up for a summer show in NYC this year just like last. They'll hit Central Park Summerstage on August 11th. Tickets go on web presale at 10AM on Thursday (5/19) with regular sale hitting Friday. One difference from from last year though, they're calling this one their "grand finale," so don't sleep if you've been wanting to catch the pair together. THAT SAID, they were also just announced on the lineup of ACL which is happening a month later.

Wiz Khalifa also has a Summerstage show coming up.

In other hip hop news, Q-Tip will DJ The Fort Greene Festival kick off party on May 28th at Sanders Studio (525 Waverly Avenue in Brooklyn), a benefit to raise money for the forthcoming annual event. Tickets are $10 or $15 at the door.

As previously mentioned, Q-Tip will perform at the annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival on July 16th where he'll be joined by new additions Homeboy Sandman, Eternia, Shad, Nitty Scott and Kid Glyde. Get your tickets.

Rock the Bells is going to announce some news from a "launch party" at House of Blues in LA on May 24th.

Talib Kweli will link back up with his side project Idle Warship to play BB Kings on June 10th. Tickets are on sale. And don't forget Kweli will also play a free show in Red Hook Park on 6/21.

Edan plays Southpaw on May 25th.

Clipse @ Terminal 5 in April

Clipse made a NYC appearance at Terminal 5 on April 30th. They opened for A-Trak, and pictures from their set are in this post. More of them below.

Ghostface & Raekwon supported Mobb Deep at recent show at Best Buy Theater. Pictures from that show are HERE. Some upcoming UK Wu-Tang dates are below.

The previously announced "Salute to Hip Hop" show that was supposed to take place at Best Buy Theater in Times Square in April has been rescheduled. You can now catch The Lox, EPMD, and Brand Nubian at the NYC venue on June 30th. Tickets are on sale.

The previously announced Curren$y show happening at Irving Plaza in June is still happening, but now so are many more tour dates around it including the Pitchfork Festival. They are listed below.

And finally, Beastie Boys have no tour dates in support of their Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 yet, but you can catch Ad-Rock hosting/DJing as part of a day long Children's Museum of Art benefit. Tickets for both events at Webster Hall on 5/22 are on sale. Meanwhle check out "The Greatest Beastie Boys Lyrical References To New York, In Order."

A recent video by Nas & Damian Marley for "Nah Mean," those Clipse pics, and tour dates, below.

Continue reading "Nas & Damien Marley shows, BK Hip Hop Fest, Curren$y, Rock the Bells, Q-Tip, Clipse pics, Ad-Rock & other hip hop news"

Homeboy Sandman @ the 2009 Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest (more by BBG)

Tickets go on sale at noon for the "JAY-Z in conversation with Cornel West and Paul Holdengräber" event taking place Monday, November 15th at 7:00 p.m. in the Celeste Bartos Forum, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (NYPL). The ticket also includes a copy of the established rapper's new book Decoded.

Meanwhile, up and comking rapper Homeboy Sandman, as previously mentioned, plays a show with the unpredictable Das Racist at Southpaw in Brooklyn tonight (11/5).

Southpaw flyer and Homeboy Sandman's new video for "The Carpenter", below...

Continue reading "Jay-Z NYPL tix on sale, Homeboy Sandman tonight. "

by Black Bubblegum

Marty Markowitz and Ralph McDaniels

The theme of this summer has been rain, and though the skies opened up halfway into the 5th anniversary show of The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival on June 20th in Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park, that didn't stop the crowd from swaying to the classic beats and rhymes by a stable of 90s artists. Thankfully the organizers of the DUMBO show thought ahead, and though it was a little packed in there, everyone stayed perfectly dry inside the emergency tent.

With all the veterans of hip hop on Saturday's lineup, you'd think that the most kinetic performance of the day would come from a Grand Puba or Pharoahe Monch. You'd be wrong. Oddly enough, the least "conscious" MC and the one that I always felt was slightly overrated, Styles P of D-Block (fka The Lox), delivered an energetic performance of hits that was matched only by the energy that the crowd bounced back. I was shocked, though pleasantly so.

I was glad to be wrong about Styles P, and I definitely learned a few other things that rainy Saturday:

Continue reading "the 2009 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival - in pics & review "

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Fresh Daily & Homeboy Sandman

Record Store Day (4/18) meant events at record stores all over the country on Saturday. Bill Callahan played Other Music in the NoHo section of Manhattan. Further west, Fat Beats had an all day line-up that ended with the Rock Steady Crew followed by DJ Premier, NYGz & Blaq Poet followed by headliner Talib Kweli (who also played Columbia University the same day). More pictures and video from some of the acts earlier in the day, below...

Continue reading "Record Store Day 2009 @ Fat Beats in NYC - pics "