by Andrew Sacher

Mac Miller and Ab-Soul (via Macklemore's Instagram)

It's not too out of the ordinary when rappers we don't like collaborate or tour with rappers we do like. We've already seen some of our favorite rappers tour with Childish Gambino and collaborate with Asher Roth, and now a handful of guys we're currently invested in are doing stuff with another non-fave, Mac Miller. First, he did a track, "S.D.S," which was produced by Flying Lotus (and FlyLo fans shared a collective sigh of relief when the instrumental version came out). Then he contributed a guest verse to the new Ab-Soul song, "The End Is Near," which he also produced under the moniker Larry Fisherman. Both versions of "S.D.S." and "The End Is Near" can be streamed below.

Now, Mac has announced that he's going on a US tour from June to August and the openers include Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, Action Bronson, The Internet, Vince Staples, Meek Mill and others. That tour hits NYC on July 11 at Hammerstein Ballroom with Chance the Rapper, The Internet, Vince Staples, and The Come-Up; and it hits Asbury Park, NJ on July 14 at Stone Pony Summer Stage with Chance the Rapper, The Internet, Vince Staples, and Meek Mill.

Tickets for both of those shows go on sale Friday (5/10) at 10 AM. Citi/Live Nation/Ticketmaster presales for the Hammerstein show begin Thursday (5/9) at 10 AM and Citi Cardmember/VIP Package presales for the Stone Pony show begin Wednesday (5/8) at 10 AM, with a Live Nation Mobile App presale beginning Thursday (5/9) at 10 AM. All tour dates are listed below.

Earl Sweatshirt won't be on the NYC-area shows, but he will be here as part of Dowtown Music Festival this Friday (5/10) at Element for a show with Ryan Hemsworth and Antwon (tickets).

Action Bronson isn't on any of the NYC-area shows either, but he has other upcoming NYC shows too.

Chance the Rapper - 'Acid Rap'

Perhaps the most exciting part of the NYC-area shows is that they'll be the first in the area for Chance the Rapper since the release of his impressive new mixtape, Acid Rap. Acid Rap wears its influences on its sleeve a bit (Kanye, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Andre 3000), but it's a very cohesive release that plays more like an album than a mixtape, and it's a pretty bold statement for someone who's still early on in their career. He's got a sing-rapping style similar to Drake and Kendrick Lamar, and though it can be a little off-putting at first, it's a grower. You can stream Acid Rap in full below and download it for free at DatPiff.

All Mac Miller dates are listed, along with all streams, below...

Continue reading "Chance the Rapper, Earl Sweatshirt, Action Bronson & more touring w/ Mac Miller (who collaborated with FlyLo & Ab-Soul)"

Earl Sweatshirt

Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt will be making his SXSW debut this year (he wasn't there when the rest of his crew first played), and will be doing collaborative sets with Captain Murphy, aka Flying Lotus' rap alter ego (who collaborated with him on "Between Friends"). Those sets include the Life or Death showcase on Wednesday (3/13) at Scoot Inn at midnight, the Green Label Sound showcase on Friday (3/15) at Lucille at 9:30 PM, and FADER Fort on Saturday (3/16) at 6 PM. Flyers for all three of those shows with full lineups are below.

Earl just appeared at Flying Lotus' LA show at Low End Theory last week (3/7) and they performed three tracks off Earl's upcoming album, Doris, "Burgundy" (produced by Pharrell), "Hive," and "Guild." Mac Miller is featured on that last one and he was at the LA show too. You can check it all out in a video from the show, which is below. Also below is the video for previously released Doris track, "Chum," and Earl has another new video on the way too.

Earl's other upcoming dates include some festival appearances like Bonnaroo, Sasquatch!, and Coachella. All dates are listed, along with those flyers and videos, below...

Continue reading "Earl Sweatshirt performed w/ Flying Lotus (Captain Murphy) in LA, doing it again at SXSW (dates, video)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Lord Finesse and Mac Miller react to the lawsuit

Rapper Lord Finesse says in a $10 million lawsuit that 20-year-old rap star Mac Miller ripped off his 1995 hit "Hip 2 Da Game" to launch his music career.

Lord Finesse (born Robert Hall) has been rapping since the late 1980s, and led the popular New York hip-hop crew Diggin in the Crates (D.I.T.C.), in addition to having a solo career and writing for rappers like Biggie Smalls and Dr. Dre.

In 1995, Finesse released his hit song "Hip 2 Da Game," which is the subject of his lawsuit against Mac Miller in federal court in Manhattan.
"This is a case about a teenage rapper- Mac Miller- copying the music from a song written, produced and performed by Lord Finesse, a hip hop legend, changing the title and then distributing it under his own name in order to launch his music career," the complaint states.

Mac Miller released his version of "Hip 2 Da Game" on a "mix tapes," a term used to describe free music distributed by up-and-coming rappers.

The "mix tape" strategy has been favored by many rappers and hip hop producers in recent years. Rappers often record new rhymes over the instrumental tracks of older, popular rap songs and distribute the music for free.

Finesse, whose real name is Robert Hall, sued the website DatPiff.com, which is one of the best known distributors of free mix tapes from new rappers, and Miller's label, Rostrum Records...

The mix tape was released on DatPiff in August 2010, has been downloaded more than 500,000 times and has been streamed more than 450,000 times, the lawsuit states.

The video for "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza," which uses the beat for "Hip 2 Da Game" has been viewed nearly 24 million times on YouTube, according to the complaint.

Finesse says Miller has profited from the unauthorized use of his song.

The lawsuit cites a New York Times article from last November about Miller that explains how the alleged infringement is "part of a strategy to build a fan base." -[Courthouse News]

Mac Miller will join as support for Wiz Khalifa tour, joining names like Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Chiddy Bang and Chevy Woods at Jones Beach on August 2nd. Tickets are still available, if that's your sort of thing.

Full Wiz Khalifa tour dates, the offending Mac Miller song, and a palate cleanser (a sorbet scoop of classic Lord Finesse) is below.

Continue reading "Lord Finesse sues Mac Miller over use of "Hip 2 Da Game" beat"

We try to keep tabs on various festivals around the world here on BrooklynVegan, many of which you'll eventually see pictures from. Today we focus on Belgium.

Pukkelpop goes down from August 16 - 18. That festival includes The Stone Roses, Bjork, Bloc Party, The Black Keys, Refused, Wilco, The Hives, The Shins, The Afghan Whigs, Lykke Li, Hot Chip, Feist, Flying Lotus, tUnE-yArDs, Chromatics, Cloud Nothings, The Tallest Man on Earth, Baroness, Ceremony, A-Trak, Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, and more. The full lineup is listed below. Tickets for the festival are on sale now.

Rock Werchter, which falls a bit more on the mainstream side, happens in Belgium even sooner, running from June 28 - July 1. That lineup includes The Cure, Jack White, X, Mastodon, Garbage, The xx, M83, Metric, Amon Tobin, Skrillex, Perfume Genius, Bat For Lashes, Michael Kiwanuka, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Regina Spektor, Florence + the Machine, The Vaccines and more. Tickets for the festival are on sale now sold out.

The full lineups for both Pukkelpop and Rock Wercher are listed below.

Continue reading "full 2012 Pukkelpop & Rock Werchter lineups"

Nas @ Rock the Bells (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

That didn't take long. We just announced the intitial lineup. Check out the almost-full thing below...

Continue reading "Rock the Bells 2012 full lineup (Nas, Kendrick Lamar, ASAP Rocky, Dipset, Schoolboy Q, Missy Elliot, Wiz Khalifa, much more)"

The 2012 music lineup was announced today for Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival, which is produced by non-profit arts organization One Reel and takes place over Labor Day weekend, Sept. 1-3, at Seattle Center. The 42-year-old urban festival stands on top nationally in its variety as it showcases both familiar and up-and-coming regional and national talent in many musical genres, as well as in comedy, theater, literary and visual arts, dance, film and children's programming.

Bumbershoot's Mainstage in KeyArena will feature two multi-act performances each day. Artists scheduled to perform there include groundbreaking alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, jazz legend Tony Bennett, electronic phenom Skrillex, a hip hop double bill with Mac Miller and Big Sean, M83, and AWOLNATION among others. Additional Mainstage acts will be announced in coming weeks.

Tickets are all-inclusive. All festival offerings, including Mainstage admission on a first-come, first-served basis (no separate pass required), and late-night electronic music curated by Decibel Festival for Bumbershoot After Dark, are included in the price of a single-day or 3-day ticket

Continue reading "Bumbershoot 2012 lineup (Jane's Addiction, Tony Bennett & Skrillex are the headliners)"

Ski Beatz

After releasing the 24 Hour Karate School parts I and II mixtapes, hip hop producer Ski Beatz released the album, 24 Hour Karate School Presents: Twilight, on February 14 via DD172. The album features contributions from Curren$y, Smoke DZA, Murs, Stalley (who played Dominion last night), Tademark Da Skydiver, Nicole Wray, Mikey Rocks, and others. Check out the video for the Stalley-featuring track "Gentleman's Quarterly" below, along with the album art and tracklist.

Ski Beatz is celebrating the release of the album with a NYC show TONIGHT (2/22) at Le Poisson Rouge with the Senseis, CPlus, Rugz D.Bweler, Da$h, McKenzie Eddy, Sean O'COnnell, and more. The show will be hosted by Bluroc Magazine and tickets are available.

Videos, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Ski Beatz released a new guest-filled LP, celebrating tonight"

"Superfly Presents and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The 11th annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 7 - 10 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2012 lineup will total over 125 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days.Tickets for the event will go on sale on this Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12 noon EST exclusively at bonnaroo.com."

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2012 lineup announced"

When we first mentioned the lineup for this year's Bamboozle, which is taking place from May 18-20 in Asbury Park, NJ, it only included Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Skrillex, Blink 182, Incubus, and Mac Miller. The generally lame festival has since revealed more artists including a surprising number of not-lame artists like the reunited Promise Ring (their first East Coast date announced, hopefully an NYC show to come?), Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, A$AP Rocky, Action Bronson, and Murphy's Law. Take that, Warped Tour.

Tickets for Bamboozle are on sale now. Updated lineup below...

Continue reading "The Promise Ring playing Bamboozle (Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, ASAP Rocky & Action Bronson too)"

photos by Chris La Putt

After sets by Outasight, Reptar, Passion Pit (DJ set), and Das Racist (pictures HERE), came sets by Mac Miller, Miami Horror, People Under the Stairs, and Neon Indian on Saturday (6/18). Our second set of pictures from the Governors Ball on Governors Island continues below...

Continue reading "Governors Ball in photos (part 2)"

The schedule has been revealed for the Governor's Ball Music Festival taking place at Governor's Island on June 18. The festival has artists performing on two stages (Big Apple Stage and Gotham Stage), but with no overlapping sets. The two stages means no long changeovers either though. You can run and back and forth and catch all of everyone. Das Racist have been added since the initial lineup announcement, though they go on pretty early. Tickets are still available. Check out the schedule, and a video interview with Girl Talk, below.

Continue reading "Governors Ball updated lineup & set times"

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 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)"

Full press release below...

Continue reading "Roots Picnic 2011 lineup announced"

"Founders Entertainment are proud to present the inaugural Governors Ball Music Festival (www.govball.com), a one day event to be held June 18 on New York City's Governors Island. Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, and Empire of the Sun are joined by Big Boi (of Outkast), Neon Indian, People Under The Stars, Mac Miller, Miami Horror, Passion Pit (DJ Set), Reptar, Outasight and other artists to be announced over the coming weeks. Closing out the festival will be Pretty Lights, whose rising popularity will be complimented by his brand new state of the art production.

The Governors Ball promises to be a massive mid-summer dance party of epic proportions. Performances will take place on two stages without overlapping sets, and feature stunning views. The artists appearing at the inaugural Governors Ball are diverse in scope and sound, spanning indie rock, dance, electronica, and hip hop, but the common theme and guiding force behind the festival is music that gets people of all walks of life moving, dancing and having a good time." - PR

The closest thing we've seen to this on Governors Island is HARD Fest that took place with M.I.A. in July. This lineup, with more than one artist on the bill who can headline multiple nights at Terminal 5, is bigger though.

Meanwhile Girl Talk kicks off the next leg of his Winter Tour at a sold out Terminal 5 on 2/24. His last area show was at Wellmont earlier this month.

by BBG

Curren$y at Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest (more by Brook Bobbins)

Forecasters are predicting a "partly cloudy" Santos, as the Smoker's Club Tour will roll into town to play the NYC venue tonight (10/5). The show, which you might have caught when it kicked off at the Rock Yard in September, features an appearance by the great and highly-prolific Curren$y, and will also include appearances from buzzy MC Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, Mac Miller, and Boaz. Tickets are still on sale. All dates below.

Curren$y hits the NYC show circuit seemingly as often as he hits the mic these days which, considering his 9 mixtapes and LPs in two+ years, is pretty frequently. His latest project is his new and critically acclaimed LP Pilot Talk, out now via Roc-A-Fella.

Big K.R.I.T. is offering his latest LP K.R.I.T. Wuz Here for free download. The LP, which features the Mississippi MC on the rhymes and the beats, features tourmates Smoke DZA, and Curren$Y, as well as Wiz Khalifa and Devin the Dude.

Full tour dates and some video is below...

Continue reading "The Smoker's Club Tour passes through NYC again (dates) "