photos by Debi Del Grande

...When Rage Against the Machine lead singer-provocateur Zack de la Rocha stood before 60,000 people, raised his fist, barked out wicked smart, superbly flowed calls to action, pointed out the disparity between rich and poor, spit venom at the billionaires and wondered on their power, the sense of no future that has ignited unrest throughout the world in 2011 felt shockingly, palpably present.

...Throughout the hour-and-15-minute set, Rage pulled its weight, proved itself to be one of the only rock bands on Earth able to captivate such a large space. Its conquest was so assured, in fact, that it jumped back in time to render an earlier set moot....

Though singer-guitarist-pianist Matthew Bellamy knows his way around a riff -- he quoted Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, the Animals and others during breaks between songs -- [Muse] makes form-over-function rock, these architecturally grandiose musical structures that are as perfectly crafted as they are grooveless. Muse's fan base no doubt disagrees; The thousands sang along to every lyrical cliché and gymnastic bridge, followed the band down every meandering path; when huge balloons were floated out into the crowd as the band meandered on, they bounced throughout the Coliseum until they exploded and dropped confetti.
-[Pop & Hiss]

The L.A. Rising Festival, which took place on July 30th in Los Angeles at the LA Memorial Coliseum, was organized by the Rage Against The Machine crew. The nine-hour festival featured the band's first appearance in Los Angeles in ten years, as well as sets from Muse, Rise Against, Immortal Technique, El Gran Silencio, and Lauryn Hill, who welcomed her sixth child just last week(!). More pictures from the LA event are below.

Continue reading "L.A. Rising in pics (Rage Against the Machine, Lauryn Hill, Muse, Immortal Technique & more)"

by BBG

Havoc of Mobb Deep @ the kick-off in LA (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

In addition to initially announced Rock The Bells lineup (Nas playing Illmatic? Mobb Deep on The Infamous detail? wow), the festival has made some interesting additions like Erykah Badu performing all of Baduism (on select dates), Common performing all of Be (on select dates), Killah Priest performing all of Heavy Mental, Slaughterhouse, and DOOM. More lineup details are below.

The NYC show on 9/3 at Governor's Island gets the Erykah Badu appearance, and tickets are on presale, password is "ILLMATIC". General sale begins Saturday, 6/11, at 10:00 AM.

LA and San Francisco are on sale now, and the only other date, Boston, still doesn't even have a venue announced yet.

DOOM of course is not to be confused with the crust band who just played MDF and Chaos in Tejas.

In other Hip Hop festival news, Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest's lineup has expanded too adding MOP (!), Torae, Random Axe (Sean Price + Black Milk + Guilty Simpson), eLZhi, Marley Marl, Roli Rho (5th Platoon), Grand Wizzard Theodore and Twilite Tone. Tickets are on sale for all Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival events, including an after-party at Southpaw on July 16th which proclaims to have "special guests invited including the entire BHF '11 lineup".

Full Rock The Bells details, alongside some videos, below...

Continue reading "Rock the Bells expands lineup, NYC tix on presale now"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

Cypress Hill @ House of Blues - Sunset Strip - 5/24/2011

The line-up for the ROCK THE BELLS 2011 FESTIVAL SERIES--presented by Boost Mobile in association with GUERILLA UNION and powered by BlackBerry--will feature an array of seminal and up-and-coming hip-hop artists on three stages. Headliners include Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas,Erykah Baduand Cypress Hill. See the current line-up below and look for more performers to be announced soon.

This year's festival will head to four major North American markets. Kicking off in the Los Angeles-area on August 20 at the San Manuel Amphitheater, ROCK THE BELLS will then head to San Francisco on August 27 at Shoreline Amphitheatre. The festival moves to the east coast for a show in New York on September 3 at Governor's Island (co-promoted with Bowery Presents, Highline, Mad Dog Presents) before wrapping in [a TBA venue in] Boston on September 10.

ROCK THE BELLS featured a number of headliners performing their most influential albums in their entirety for the first time in the history of hip-hop entertainment last summer. The tradition continues this year with Ms. Lauryn Hill performing her landmark, multi-platinum selling, multi-GRAMMY winning album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill and Nas performing his breakthrough debut album Illmatic with special guests AZ, Pete Rock and DJ Premier. Nas says about performing Illmatic this summer, "For years people have been asking me to do Illmatic in so many ways, from stage plays to movies to books, but the time wasn't right. Where music is going now, the time is right. This will be my biggest production and it only makes sense to do it on the best rap tour which also happens to be a brand I've built and am a partner in. Can't wait to kill it with my comrades AZ, Premo & Pete Rock!"

Full album sets can also be expected from: Cypress Hill performing their 1993 multi-platinum album Black Sunday, featuring modern rock radio mainstay "Insane In The Membrane"; Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star performing their 1998 self-titled debut album; Raekwon & Ghostface teaming up for critically acclaimed, platinum selling Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and more.

"I am excited that this year's Rock The Bells will continue its rich history and tradition by presenting the best and most ambitious festival programming in Hip Hop," says festival co-founder and Guerilla Union head Chang Weisberg. "The bar has been set high and this year's line-up will certainly stake its claim. With ten of the biggest records in the history of the genre and the freshest new talent bubbling from the underground, this summer's Rock The Bells is another dream come true."

ROCK THE BELLS will feature three main stages this year. The two returning stages are the ROCK THE BELLS STAGE and the PAID DUES STAGE, which will feature independent hip-hop acts that performed at the Paid Dues Festival this past April in San Bernardino and new artists-on-the-rise. Paid Dues Festival creator Murs says, "I am excited that I once again have the privilege of hosting the Paid Dues Stage. We will have the honor of showcasing some of the best talent in independent hip hop as part of the worlds largest and longest running hip hop festival... the Paid Dues stage is gonna be the one to watch this year."

The 36 CHAMBERS STAGE is a new addition to the festival and will primarily feature members of the Wu-Tang Clan as well as artists selected by stage curator and Wu-Tang Clan mainstay RZA. A fourth stage that will also be added to most markets is the GRINDTIME NOW STAGE, which will feature battle-style performances.

The Guerilla Union pre-sale for the ROCK THE BELLS 2011 FESTIVAL SERIES will go from June 3 at 10am PST - 10pm PST. The general on-sale starts on June 4.

The lineup was announced last night at a show at House of Blues in LA. Mobb Deep, Souls of Mischief and Cypress Hill all played and pictures to prove it are in this post. More of them below.

The full lineup is also below...

Continue reading "Rock the Bells 2011 dates & lineups announced, Mobb Deep & Souls of Mischief & Cypress Hills played the kickoff (pics)"

photos by Eric Townsend, words by BBG

"Can't NOBODY FUCK WITH A TRIBE CALLED QUEST LIVE! ROCK THE BELLS NYC WAS MAGIC!" -Carringtonworld

"#np tribe called quest-steve biko(stir it up)....what yall know about #RocktheBells 2010 live from nyc huh? -"NotoriousDIZZ"

"Some of my rap top 10 will be live on stage: slick rick, lauryn hill, wu tang, rakim, krs one, tribe called quest. nYc represent, represent" -LeRoyLive

A Tribe Called Quest on Governors Island Saturday

Linden boulevard represent, represent
Tribe called quest represent, represent
When the mic is in my hand, I'm never hesitant
My favourite jam back in the day was "Eric B. is President"
-[A Tribe Called Quest - "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)"]

Both A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, and the songs "Steve Biko" AND "Eric B Is President" were showcased at Saturday's Rock The Bells event at Randall's Island as the crews showcased their classic LPs Midnight Marauders and Paid In Full respectively. The two Hip Hop legends were part of a much larger whopper of a show that also showcased Wu-Tang Clan's Enter The 36 Chambers, Snopp Dogg's Doggy Style, Slick Rick's The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, KRS-One performing Criminal-Minded, as well as performances from Lauryn Hill, Jedi Mind Tricks, Brother Ali, Wiz Khalifa, and many many others. On the paparazzi tip, celebs were out in full force to check out the show as well as Jay-Z, Chris Rock, John Legend (who performs at Bowery Ballroom tonight), newlywed couple Alicia Keys/Swizz Beatz, Mary J Blige, and many many others were all spotted at the shindig (some snaps are below).

More pictures (and video) from the show are HERE and below (, and one more set still on the way)...

Continue reading "Rock the Bells @ Governors Island - pics & video (part 1) (A Tribe Called Quest, Lauryn Hill, Snoop Dogg, Rakim & more) "

"After announcing the closing of their New York and Los Angeles locations, Fat Beats is excited to present a send-off worthy of their hip-hop legacy. A week-long series of in-store performances and music industry panels at both stores will allow the music community to not only learn about the history of Fat Beats and what the future of the music industry holds, but to also celebrate the legacy of one of the strongest music brands in the company of their favorite artists. These week-long in-stores are sure to go down in hip-hop and New York history. Everyone is welcome to come and all events are free.

Today marks the official start of the week-long in-stores for the New York location. This location will host artist performances every day this week from 4-9pm until it closes its doors for the final time on Saturday, September 4th, 2010. Additionally, both locations will be selling limited edition commemorative t-shirts, as well as discounted music and merchandise"

The schedule for the New York location is as follows:

Continue reading "free in-stores all week @ Fat Beats (leading up to closing)"

Justice @ SXSW 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Surf City show coming up at Mercury Lounge.

As previously mentioned, there's a Haiti benefit at SOB's tonight (1/28) with Styles P, Immortal Technique, Mickey Factz, Cormega, ChinahBlac, Eprhyme, and more. Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of SOB's, Lord Finesse is celebrating a birthday there with "The Legendary Rakim" on February 18th. Tickets are on sale.

Tanya Morgan (a hip hop group that has nobody named Tanya in it) plays SOB's on February 22nd. Tickets are on sale.

Roxy Cottontail hosts a Dim Mak-presented show at Santos on February 11th "featuring Ninjasonik, Japanther, Fashen, Team Facelift, The Auctioneers, Jonny Famous, Gina Turner & (Not So) Secret European Guests". Dim Mak band The Willowz play Pianos (with Delta Spirit) the same night, but they are from California. Tickets are on sale. Oh, also I think the guest is a DJ or DJs...

Ed Banger celebrates their 7th Anniversary at Terminal 5 on February 12th (Justice (DJ Set), Breakbot / DJ Mehdi / Busy P. / and Friends). Tickets are sold out.

Ed Banger will follow the Terminal 5 show with an afterparty at Webster Hall ("GIRLS&BOYS w/ED BANGER RECORDS AFTER PARTY , SEBASTIAN, SO-ME & More!"). Tickets are on sale. Flyer and new FAKE Justice track below...

Continue reading "Styles P, '(Not So) Secret European Guests', Ed Banger, Fake Justice, Japanther, Surf City, Tanya Morgan & other tickets"

by Black Bubblegum

Q-Tip @ Knitting Factory, Sept 29th (more by Eric Townsend)

In the past couple months, we have covered quite a few hip hop events at CMJ, but let this serve as a total guide to the madness to come... Have fun...

Continue reading "the 2008 guide to Hip Hop shows & panels @ CMJ"

by Black Bubblegum

A crew of hip-hop notables are gathering for a worthy cause, to help "spread the word that thousands of 9/11 first responders are sick and dying and need our help". Headliner Talib Kweli will join Dead Prez, revolutionary Immortal Technique, Mr. "The Greatest Story Never Told" Coming Soon aka Saigon, beatsmiths Da Beatminerz, Chip Fu (of the Fu-Schnickens), Dub Rock All Stars (ex-Da Bush Babees - "Remember we"? ), Loer Velocity, Mr. Green of Channel Live (performing? I thought all he does is spark mad Izm?), Messiah, Tiye Phoenix, and Scanz at The Madison (27 W 24th St, between Broadway and 6th) on Friday night (9/12).

Tickets are still available. If you can't make it but would still like to help, you can help by donating to this worthy cause.

Talib Kweli is also part of the upcoming Hip Hop Live tour and recently played Rock The Bells.

Evil Dee of Da Beatminerz and Black Moon will play the classic Enta Da Stage at an upcoming show at the Knitting Factory.