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.

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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?"

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)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

"The WU TANG show at best buy theatre was jenkin like fuck 2nite..only thing was missing was @Raekwon @GhostfaceKillah the clan did it up doe" - LYVE1OH

Wu-Tang Clan recently played a few NYC-area dates including Best Buy Theater on Sunday (12/18). No Raekwon & Ghostface unfortunately, but Method Man, RZA, Masta Killa and others from the crew were in the house. Here are some pictures and videos from that show

In related news, Wu-Tang Clan revealed via facebook that Method Man is working on his "last album produced by the RZA." As HipHopDX points out, it's not clear whether they mean that it's going to be Method Man's last album or the last album that RZA produces for him.

More pictures and videos from the NYC show, and a recently-posted Ghostface vs Narduwar video, below...

Continue reading "Wu-Tang Clan played NYC sans Ghostface & Raekwon (pics & video), Nardwuar talked to Ghostface (video)"

Smoke DZA

"The Smokers Club" tour is returning this October and November. This year's tour is being headlined by Curren$y and Method Man with support from Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, Fiend, The Pricks, and Corner Boy P. The tour kicks off on October 12 at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT, hits House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ the next night (10/13), NYC on October 14 at Best Buy Theater, and Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ the following night (10/15), before hotboxing venues across the US and Canada. All dates are listed below.

The NYC show includes Curren$y, Method Man, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, and The Pricks. Tickets for the NYC show and the Starland show go on sale Friday (8/12) at noon with an AmEx pre-sale starting Wednesday (8/10) at 10 AM.

Curren$y followed his Alchemist-produced EP Covert Coup, released earlier this year, with his sixth full length album Weekend at Burnie's, which dropped at the end of June. The album was mostly produced by Monsta Beatz and features guest spots by Fiend, Trademark, and Young Roddy. Check out the video for "She Don't Want a Man" off the album below.

Big K.R.I.T. is following his incredible Return of 4Eva mixtape, released earlier this year, with the Last King 2 mixtape on August 18. You can grab lead track "Happy Birthday Hip Hop," which features fellow Southern rapper Yelawolf at K.R.I.T.'s website while you wait for the tape to drop. Album art and a video for "Dreamin'" off Return of 4Eva below.

Smoke DZA will release the follow-up to his free mixtape The Hustler's Club (THC) with his album Rolling Stoned on August 30. You can pre-order the album from iTunes now. It features guest appearances by fellow Smokers Club tourmates Big K.R.I.T., Curren$y, and Fiend, in addition to Kendrick Lamar, Dom Kennedy, Bun B, and others. Check out a stream of the track "On the Corner" with Bun B and Big K.R.I.T. below, along with the album art and tracklist. Also check out a video of "Gotta Get Paid" (feat. Big K.R.I.T.) off the THC mixtape below. DZA also recently collaborated with The Pricks, who are also on the Smokers Club tour, for their song "Ghettoblaster" with B-Real. Video for that below too.

Fiend recently released the free mixtape Cool Is In Session, which you can grab at his website. The mixtape features guest appearances from DZA and Corner Boy P. Check out a video below of "Type of Cat" feat. Big Sant and Smoke DZA off the Life Behind Limo Glass mixtape, which dropped in May.

All dates, videos, tour flier and album info below...

Continue reading "Curren$y, Method Man, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA & friends are Smokers, going on tour (dates, videos & stuff)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum, words by BBG

Last night's posted set times:
7:00PM-8:00-DJ JEFF CHAIRMAN MAO
8:00-8:30-BLACK THOUGHT & MONEY MAKING JAM BOYS
8:30-9:00-DJ STRETCH ARMSTRONG
9:00-10:00-GHOSTFACE & RAEKWON
10:00-10:15-DJ STRETCH ARMSTRONG
10:15-11:30-MOBB DEEP

The welcome home Mobb Deep show for Prodigy last night at Best Buy Theater (5/12), their first in three years, featured appearances from some of the biggest names of the 90's. Method Man appeared during fellow Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface & Raekwon's set, and again during a DJ set from one of the crew's biggest supporters in their early years, DJ Stretch Armstrong. Ghost & Rae closed with Ol' Dirty Bastard classic and crowd favorite "Shimmy Shimmy Ya".

Unlike in the days before the release of their classic LP The Infamous, Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep did not freestyle rhymes over Stretch beats, but Black Thought did open the show dropping freestyle verses before The Money Making Jam Boys joined him on stage.

And the 41st side crew had a surprise of their own during their headlining set, bringing out Lil Kim for a rendition of the awesome "Quiet Storm". Video of that, Mobb Deep performing "Burn" and "Right Back At You", and more pictures from the whole show, below...

Continue reading "Mobb Deep returned @ Best Buy Theater w/ Black Thought, Ghostface, Raekwon, Stretch Armstrong & more (pics & video)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Idle Warship - Party Robot (Usershare link to ZIP)

Talib Kweli and his Blacksmith Music imprint are scheduled to celebrate the holidays the right way, with two turntables and a microphone! "The Night Before The Night Before Christmas" at Highline Ballroom on 12/23 will feature Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady, and Soul Brother #1 Pete Rock. Tickets are on sale.

It's one of three shows that Kweli has lined up in the coming month, with the second being with his Idle Warship project at Southpaw on 11/28. Trezure The Empress, Jah C + The Antidote, and Niles get credited with the assist. Tickets are still available. Idle Warship recently dropped a new mixtape blessed by the great Mick Boogie. Download a copy of the mixtape, Party Robot, above in one of two mixtape covers. The first is above, the second is available at MySpace.

The third for Talib is the previously-mentioned show at Brooklyn Bowl on November 22nd. Jean Grae is also on that one as well as Mickey Factz and Skyzoo. Tickets are still on sale.

On the same day as the Highline show (12/23), just across town, BB King's will host the Hip Hop Legends show with Method Man, EPMD, Doug E Fresh, Large Professor, Onyx, AG (of Show & AG) and many more. Helluva old school lineup! Tickets are on sale. Rakim probably should be on that lineup, but instead he'll headline a show of his own at BB King's on 11/19 along with Rhymefest. Tickets here.

More imminently, Cee-Lo is taking some time away from Gnarls Barkley to return to his great (and somewhat unsung) Southern hip hop crew Goodie Mob, who are scheduled to play their reunion show at BB Kings on FRIDAY 11/13 with The Ruler Slick Rick (who'll have a live backing band!). Tickets are still available, and I have a PAIR OF TICKETS FOR GIVEAWAY. Details on how to win below with some videos, including a live video of Idle Warship from SOB's, below...

Continue reading "upcoming hip hop includes Talib Kweli in Idle Warship & his label's holiday party ++ Goodie Mob (win tix), Rakim & more"

photos by Paul Birman

Devin the Dude

"Did ya'll like the motherfucking dancers?" asked Snoop Dogg, as two ladies in skintight red pants exited the stage at Nokia Theatre Thursday night.

"You can say you like them [even if] you got your girl with you," Snoop instructed. "Cause I like your girl. She look good. I think you should know that."

Snoop's hilarious on-stage banter went on for the entire two-hour show - at one point he told the crowd he doesn't even need to ask "if you got your weed tonight." (It was pretty obvious from the clouds of smoke.)

The Doggfather played over two hours - rocking jams like "The Next Episode," "Sexual Eruption" and "Gin and Juice" - and even called Da Brat and Devin the Dude onstage for collaborations. Guests, which included jaw-dropping openers Method Man and RedMan, along with Ice T, Coco and Verne Troyer, danced along from the sidelines. [Poison Ivy]

More pictures from last night's show, below...

Continue reading "Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude, Method Man & Redman @ Nokia Theatre in NYC - pics "

photos by Tim Griffin

Nokia Theatre, October 2008


There hasn't been a shortage of Method Man and Redman shows at Nokia Theatre in NYC. They played there over the summer with Ghostface, and did a show there in October of 2008... which Tim took pictures of, but they never saw the light of day. Here they are.

Their next show at the Times Square venue happens tonight (10/29/2009). If you go, get there early because the coolest dude on the bill might just be the dude who plays first on the bill, and that dude is Devin the Dude. Snoop Dogg headlines the show. All dates and more pictures below...

Continue reading "Devin the Dude on tour w/ Snoop Dogg, Method Man & Redman (Nokia Theatre again tonight - pics & dates) "

On September 9, Raekwon The Chef of the Wu-Tang Clan is dropping the much-awaited sequel to his 1995 classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... a triumph of storytelling, technically proficient rhymes and gritty Shaolin-style production. Granted, he has kept to this formula since his debut with the Clan, but Part II will be his greatest triumph of the decade, with production by RZA as well as Dr. Dre, J. Dilla, Pete Rock, Marly Marl, Necro, The Alchemist and Allah Mathematics, with rhymes contributed by Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes, The Lox. Ghostface Killah will reprise his role as the secondary rapper on the album, and there will be also be multiple appearances by Wu-Tang stalwarts Method Man, GZA and Inspectah Deck.

At 8pm on the release date, Santos Party House will be holding the concert and celebration, which promises to be flat out the best real hip-hop event the city has seen in a long time.

The amazing lineup for the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II release party at Santos on September 8th includes (of course) Raekwon, as well as key collaborator Ghostface. Joining them at the Diddy-hosted show will be the likes of Beanie Sigel, Bustah Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Slick Rick, Lyfe Jennings and more. The full cast is below with the flyer. No word on tickets yet.

Two nights later, S.O.B.'s hosts its own Raekwon release show with Raekwon & Ghostface Killah. If there will be more special guests at that show too, they aren't announced. Tickets for the September 10th show are on sale.

Ghostface's own new record, The Wizard of Poetry, is due on September 29th on Def Jam. He's got his own show coming up at BB King's in November. "Baby," the first video from that new disc, is posted below.

Raekwon appeared on the bill of this year's Rock the Bells tour. Videos from his Boston and Jones Beach appearances are below...

Continue reading "Raekwon celebrating new album w/ 2 NYC shows - guests include Ghostface, Talib, Beanie Sigel, Slick Rick, more..."

The final lineup for Monolith Festival, which takes place at the Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, on September 12th-13th, is below. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Girl Talk headline Saturday night at the festival, and the Mars Volta and MSTRKRFT top the bill on Sunday. Deer Tick, Passion Pit, Doom, The Walkmen, The Thermals, and HEALTH are also some of the bands on the two-day bill.

Tickets and two-day passes are still on sale. We also has a pair of weekend tickets to give away. Details on that, with the full lineup, below...

Continue reading "Monolith Festival - final 2009 lineup ++ WIN a two-day pass"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Tim Griffin and Chris La Putt

Organized Konfusion @ APW

"Hip-hop gets odd treatment at festivals like All Points West, where most of the lineup leans toward indie-rock. The rock acts, beyond the name-brand headliners, are current: darlings of the club and college circuit and the blogs that support it. But the hip-hop is retro: representatives of past eras alongside younger acts who have chosen old-school styles." [NY Times]

Now that APW and it's associated parties are in the rear view, we're beginning to get a picture of hip hop this fall as those artists lay out shows of their own!

"Forget about whether Brooklyn was in the house; "Where all my trigonometry majors at?" Pharoahe Monch asked the audience. O.C., a rapper associated on and off with Organized Konfusion, also showed up during the [APW] set. Prince Po took pains to deny Internet reports of dissension between group members. And true to the luck that ran through Organized Konfusion's career, the set took place during the afternoon's rain squall; there were only a handful of listeners." [NY Times]

First up, Organized Konfusion, with APW behind them, is back on the train having scheduled a new date in NYC at BB King's on 9/25 with Poor Righteous Teachers. Rock dis funky joint! Tickets are on sale.

Secondly, The Wallabee Champ was recently in NYC to kick off APW at Nokia Theatre with Red & Meth. Video from the Michael Jackson tribute portion of the night below. And Ghostface will be in the building AGAIN on 11/11, as he gets set to tear down BB King's! Tickets are on sale.

Ghostface's partner in rhyme, Raekwon is FINALLY going to release Only Built For Cuban Linx II (9/8!!!) and the cover features Tony Starks, much like the first Cuban Linx. Dig on that below too.

Also coming up at BB King's is the previously mentioned Slum Village show with Reflection Eternal on 8/28. After the shocking passing of Slum Village's Baatin settled in, I wondered if the crew would carry on? Slum Village (which also counted J Dilla as a member) was T3 and Elzhi until Baatin recently rejoined the crew, and now it looks more and more like that is how they will be again:

Slum Village will remain on the bill despite the July 31 death of group member Titus "Baatin" Glover.... A cause of death has not been determined pending the results of toxicology reports, according to local authorities.

"Baatin will be missed," Slum Village's T3 said in a press statement. "I'm glad we got a chance to work together before he passed. We lost another Slum soldier, a dear friend and a brother. He touched many lives." [livedaily]

Slum Village 2009, now exactly the same as Slum Village 2007. Tickets are still available for BB Kings, and more dates have been announced (below).

Full Raekwon, Ghostface, and Reflection Eternal tour details, cover art, videos, and all pictures of Organized Konfusion at All Points West (including some that weren't posted before), below...

Continue reading "Organized Konfusion (apw pics), Ghostface, Slum Village (Baatin RIP) & Reflection Eternal (dates) playing BB King's"

by Black Bubblegum

Ghost & Rae @ Rock The Bells 2008 (more by villageslum.com)

The Wallaby Champ aka Ghostface Killah will join forces with fellow miscreants and Wu-affiliates (loosely and not) Method Man & Redman to play an "All Points West Kick Off Party" on July 30th at Nokia Theater. Tickets are on AMEX pre-sale starting at noon on 6/11, with gen-pop getting theirs at noon on 6/13. Get 'em here. The show is one of a string of dates dubbed as "The Footprints In Hip Hop Tour", and although full details are sketch, all known tour dates are below.

Meanwhile, Raekwon is still touting August 11th as the release date for Only Built For Cuban Linx 2, and in an act of good faith, released the Blood On Chef's Apron mixtape. Cop that here. Raekwon was recently interviewed by Allhiphop.com and dropped a video for "New Wu" featuring Ghost and Meth, which is viewable below. Raekwon is hitting the road with Rock The Bells this summer.

Red & Meth are touring off of their recent LP Blackout 2!, and I am guessing, building hype for their upcoming monolithic celluloid masterpiece How High 2. Not a joke.

APW 2009 also has it's share of hip hop goodness (tickets here), including the return of Organized Konfusion!

Dates & videos below...

Continue reading "Ghostface, Redman & Method Man - 2009 tour dates"

Mutek banner in Montreal - May 27, 2009 (bneely)

Mutek, the electronic music festival celebrating its tenth year, is currently underway in Montreal. The five-day fest runs to Sunday, May 31st, and it's streaming online. Moderat, the Modeselektor & Apparat supergroup, performed at Mutek on Thursday, May 28th; the group plays NYC's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, May 30th (the show was originally planned for Webster Hall). Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of parties up North this summer... three other biggies are Ottawa Bluesfest (July 8th-19th), Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 17-19th) and Calgary Folk Music Festival (July 23rd-26th). Each of those suitably transcend the "blues" and "folk" labels, hosting bands like The Dead Weather and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (in Ottawa), The Weakerthans and Rock Plaza Central (in Vancouver), and The Decemberists, Apostle of Hustle, Kid Koala and Akron/Family (in Calgary). Full lineup for the Calgary Fest (Ottawa in particular is much too massive to post) and ticket info below.

And don't forget about the previously reported Breeders-headlined Sled Island Fest in Calgary on June 24th-27th, Montreal's Osheaga, NXNE, and Toronto's Olympic Island Fest on July 11th, which will host Broken Social Scene and its Arts & Crafts cohorts.

Across the pond, UK's Glastonbury Festival, which runs from June 24th to 28th, has been sold out since February even though the full lineup wasn't announced until this week. Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Blur will be joined by The Specials, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Spinal Tap, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Madness, Tom Jones, Animal Collective and many others.

And finally in the States, Monolith Festival, which runs from September 12th to 13th at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorado, has announced its intial lineup, Girl Talk, Passion Pit, and The Walkmen included. The whole thing is posted below.

The weekend before Monolith, Bumbershoot will take place in Seattle (September 5th-7th). That fest's lineup has been updated too. New additions include Vivian Girls, Akron/Family, and Elvis Perkins. All new additions, with previously announced acts, are below. Tickets are still on sale.

In Michigan, the Rothbury Festival over July 4th weekend will feature the only summer fest performance by The Dead, as well as sets by Bob Dylan, String Cheese Incident, Broken Social Scene and more. A few more jam-friendly acts were also just added to the bill. Full lineup below. Tickets are on sale.

Info on all the above fests, with ticket info, below...

Continue reading "Mutek underway, Monolith & Glastonbury lineups, Rothbury, Bumbershoot, Calgary Folk & other festival updates"

by Ryan Barkan

When it comes to licensing, Tom Waits has a strong reputation..

Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has joked about other artists who do. ("If Michael Jackson wants to work for Pepsi, why doesn't he just get himself a suit and an office in their headquarters and be done with it?") He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently, the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad -- ideally, naked and purring on the hood of a new car," he said in a statement, referring to the Mercury Cougar. "I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor....

...In 2005, Waits sued Adam Opel AG, claiming that, after having failed to sign him to sing in their Scandinavian commercials, they had hired a soundalike singer. In 2007, the suit was settled, and Waits gave the sum to charity." [Wikipedia]

Speaking in an interview in 2005 to NPR's All Things Considered, Waits bluntly says "I'd rather have a hot lead enema" than have a song in a commercial. At the time he was referring to products like Doritos, cars and diapers. His stance isn't as strong when it comes to a good cause. His song "Never Let Go" is the soundtrack to a new PSA by the Ad Council for Feeding America.

The campaign, shot by American History X director Tony Kaye, launched November 25th and is intended to raise awareness and drive action to fight hunger in America.

Created pro bono by Ogilvy NY, the new TV, radio, print, and web advertising aims to change the way Americans look at this critical issue affecting our country and to understand the fact that many people they interact with on a daily basis may not know where their next meal will come from...

"We are thrilled to partner with Feeding America to educate Americans about just how close hunger is to each one of us," according to Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of The Advertising Council. "I believe that the 1 in 8 campaign will inspire Americans to become involved in this critical issue."

"This work uses simple visual imagery to demonstrate the reality of the fact that everyone today knows someone who is hungry," said Antonio Navas and Chris Bradley, creative directors at Ogilvy who developed the campaign. "We were very fortunate to get musician Tom Waits to contribute a beautiful piece of music - "Never Let Go" off of 2006's Orphans -- that helps bring the work to life and connect with the public in a tangible way. We believe it will have great impact on this important cause."

Per the Ad Council model, the PSAs will be distributed to media outlets nationwide this week and will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

Waits says of the project: "We all need to be reminded that the folks who need help getting back on their feet are all members of our family." Watch the two different PSAs below.

Other Notable Licensing News:

Another band that usually passes on licensing requests for its music is Arcade Fire. The Canadian band decided to let its song "My Body Is A Cage" be used in the trailer for the new Brad Pitt movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

According to the Arcade Fire's management, "This is the first time the band have used their music in this way. David Fincher asked them to look at the trailer. They all thought it was a good use of the music. They have no issue with licensing music when it's used in a creative way. It rarely happens." [Pitchfork]

Watch the trailer below.

The soundtrack to Juno continues to inspire advertising creatives. One of Barry Louis Polisar's songs from that soundtrack, "All I Want Is You", gives it a go in a spot for the National Lottery in the UK. The commercial can be seen below.

I've seen the commercial for Ubisoft's new Prince Of Persia game on air this past week. Just like the trailer (watch it below), the spot features the song "Saeglopur" by Sigur Ros. This is the second video game featuring Sigur Ros music - EA's trailer for Dead Space (released in October 2008) uses "Track 7" as the soundtrack.

The Shins' "Sleeping Lessons" provides a cool soundtrack to Statkraft Energy's new European commercial. Watch it at Boards Mag.

Sony has released quite a few new commercials recently for both the PS3 and PSP that have good musical soundtracks. The "Mural" spot features "Everybody Ona Move" by Michael Franti & Spearhead, "LA Plays PSP" has The Grouch featuring MURS' "The Bay To LA", and "NYC Plays PSP" uses Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork". Watch the last one below.

continued below...

Continue reading "This week in Music Licensing"

by Black Bubblegum

You might have seen that Boot Camp Clik members Black Moon & Smif N Wessun (aka Black Smif N Wessun) are playing the Knitting Factory and performing the classics. Fellow BCC compadres Heltah Skeltah are also playing a show of their own as part of Hot 97's Who's Next Live series (Whaaa? Heltah Skeltah is Who's NEXT? when did Nocturnal come out again?) at SOB's on Sept 3rd, hosted by the mighty Pete Rosenberg. Tickets are on sale. Check it out, and if you've never heard Pete Rosenberg's show on Hot 97 (chances are, you haven't... it's on sundays from 4-9AM), I urge you to do so or subscribe to the podcast (iTunes).

Project X featuring Rhythm X (aka Dr Dooom, aka Big Willie Smith aka Dr Octagon aka Poppa Large aka Kool Keith), Tim "Fuck Compton" Dog, and Marc Live are playing BB Kings on Oct 10th. Tickets are on sale. While I can't say that I am feeling Tim Dog's rhymes (ick) or the fake-me-out Pharrell wannabe on falsetto, Kool Keith live is an interesting prospect. Hopefully we'll get some Cenobites stuff as an encore.
Speaking of Pharrell, NERD will open for Common at Roseland Ballroom on Oct 4th. NERD dropped Seeing Sounds in June. Common's Invicible Summer is due.... this fall?

Probably the most interesting (note: interesting, NOT exciting) of all the upcoming shows, multi-platinum MC The Game scheduled a show with fellow G-Unit ex-patroit Young Buck at Irving Plaza on Aug 26th. Tickets are still available. The Game drops his new album LAX that same day. The Game recently announced that he would replace Mack 10 as a member of Westside Connection. Fellow Westside Connection-ers Ice Cube and W.C. are also playing Irving Plaza on 9/8. Tickets are still available.

We warned you about the Atmosphere shows, now we have two of em scheduled for NYC that went on sale 8/22 at noon: Music Hall of Williamsburg on Oct 13th (here) and at Irving Plaza on Oct 14th (here)

Jedi Mind Tricks are on tour in November. MURS will be around in October.

Lots and lots of old schoolers are also coming through the five boroughs.... the Ruler Slick Rick is back at Europa on Sept 18th (tickets here), Method Man & Redman at Nokia on Oct 17th (on sale here), ganja kings Cypress Hill are at Nokia on Oct 30th (tickets here), and Rob Base (no DJ EZ Rock?) is playing Sept 26th at Southpaw (tickets here).

Continue reading "Heltah Skeltah, Project X & other upcoming Hip Hop shows"

by Black Bubblegum

Q-Tip with A Tribe Called Quest at Rock The Bells, 8/3/08 (villageslum.com)

King Khan pretty much ruled, but maybe, the award for show of the day could go to Rock The Bells at Jones Beach...

"Mos Def was joined by Talib Kweli for a series of Black Star songs including "Definition," "Respiration" and "Brown Skin Lady."......with Pharoahe Monch joining former label-mates on stage for a boisterous performance of "Simon Says."

....Slick Rick joined his Def Jam proteges [ED: Method Man & Redman] briefly for a partial performance of "La Di Da Di,"....... After Raekwon, who performed earlier with Ghostface returned to the stage, EPMD followed, performing "Strictly Business" and "So What Cha Saying." Washington DC's DJ Kool entered the set, performing "Let Me Clear My Throat,"...... Upon the set closing, Keith Murray completed the Def Squad triad with a performance, without Sermon at the time, of "Rapper's Delight."

.....the largest crowd reaction came from Nas speaking to the crowd about how he needs to "breathe." Repeating the word, DJ Green Lantern played the instrumental to "Success," prompting a Yankee-cap tucked low Jay-Z to rush on the stage.... and perform his first verse..... the two then performed "Black Republicans."

.... A Tribe Called Quest headlined the night joined by luminaries such as Busta Rhymes on "Scenario" as well as Consequence.

Other guests.... included DJ Premier, M.O.P., Jeru Da Damaja, Biz Markie, Skyzoo, Mickey Factz and others. "
[HipHopDX.com]

Zaaaaam. Luckily, we have some photos (courtesy of Village Slum) and a video of that "Black Republicans" performance down below.....

Continue reading "Rock The Bells @ Jones Beach, pics & video, TONS of guests"

How was the Ghostface (& RZA) & Spank Rock show at the High Line Ballroom last night? Angry Citizen took some pictures....

Ghostface @ RZA @ Highline Ballroom - May 15, 2007 (CRED)

NY Magazine went to the 24-hour "Rapathon" in Harlem.

Tickets are on sale for Method Man and GZA at Webster Hall on June 5th. Tickets still on sale for Rakim at Southpaw.

Our favorite Joell Ortiz was added to the KRS-One show at Irving/Fillmore on May 20th. KRS-One is also playing Prospect Park in Brooklyn this summer.

We have a pair of tickets to give away to the Devin the Dude show at Knitting Factory this Friday night. Want them? E-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Devin), and let us know who the best hip hop act you ever saw live was. One winner will be picked at random. Include your first and last name for guestlist purposes.

Dres of Black Sheep, Emily King, Ralph McDaniels and El Michels Affair were added to the 3rd Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.

KEEP READING for news, music, videos, tour dates, and more............

Continue reading "Wes' Weekly Hip Hop News Roundup (May 16, 2007) -- Ghostface/RZA played High Line Ballroom"