Mobb Deep @ Rock the Bells (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

When Malkmus got bumped from Terminal 5 to Webster Hall (good news for Malkmus fans, bad news for Malkmus), the hip hop show that was already scheduled at Webster Hall that night got bumped down to the even more intimate Studio, and that show features Mobb Deep (performing "The Infamous") & Lloyd Banks (performing "The Hunger For More"). Mobb Deep performed the same album at Rock the Bells. Tickets are still on sale for that, and for Malkmus too.

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by BBG

Lauryn / Erykah

Last year Rock the Bells, the touring hip-hop bonanza, picked up on the voguish festival concept in which an artist performs an old record from beginning to end. It went well, and this year's edition bought in twice as hard. On Saturday on Governors Island, amid other, more ordinary sets, 11 albums were performed in their entirety.

What a gorging! What an obligation! It seemed to weigh on the crowd. It meant that listeners weren't in the here and now, where they might be fratty or selfish or mean spirited. They were deep in the been and gone. They weren't just listening to hits, or to sustained works of art, but to their own pasts. The exercise cooled them out. Saturday's audience was truly racially mixed, with a heavy representation of the 30-to-45 age bracket, grown-up New Yorkers at their casual and courteous best. Many of them high, but still. -[New York Times]

Rock The Bells 2011 took Governors Island by storm on 9/3, and according to reports, ran smoothly and generally on time. There was a barrage of classic LPs (Nas's Illmatic, Mobb Deep's The Infamous, Lauryn Hill's Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu's Baduizm, Black Moon's Enta Da Stage, GZA's Liquid Swords, Cypress Hill's Black Sunday, and others), and performances from some of independent hip hop's great up-and-comers. Though it was clearly elders day, younger crews like Slaughterhouse, Big K.R.I.T., Fashawn, Blu & Exile, Freddie Gibbs, Roc Marciano and others also had the ability to shine on the Paid Dues stage (DOOM, an elder statesman via his days in KMD, was scheduled to play the Paid Dues stage but cancelled his appearance).

In true hip hop fashion, guests abounded. Nas capped the day off with a performance of Illmatic, and he didn't hide the men/women behind the curtain of his first LP; MC Serch, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor (of Main Source), Akinyele, Fatal, AZ and many others who either blessed the LP or were instrumental in his come-up all made appearances (yes, they performed the Main Source classic "Live at the BBQ" featuring Nas's first recorded appearance). Pras of The Fugees joined Lauryn Hill for "Ready of Not", Big Noyd joined Mobb Deep for "Give Up the Goods (Just Step)" and other tracks, and Black Moon brought a full band.

More pictures from the whole day, below...

Continue reading "pics from Rock the Bells 2011 @ Governors Island (Nas, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Raekwon, Ghostface, Mobb Deep, 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 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)"

Havoc & Prodigy of Mobb Deep

"Three years away from the rap game is a potentially career killing lifetime for most rappers. For Prodigy, one half of the legendary New York mainstays Mobb Deep, the time off from rap has not been entirely fruitless as he's been officialy released from Mid-State Correctional Facility after serving a three-year prison stint.

In October 2006, Albert "Prodigy" Johnson was driving his SUV in New York City with longtime producer and friend Alan "The Alchemist" Maman and after making an illegal U-turn, his vehicle was searched by police. After finding a small pistol in a compartment, the pair were arrested and subsequently released on bond with pending charges." -[MTV News]

NYC hip hop greats Mobb Deep will celebrate Prodigy's return with a show at Best Buy Theater on May 12th featuring appearances from Ghostface Killah (wow), Raekwon (more wow), Black Thought & The Money Making Jam Boys, and DJ Stretch Armstrong among others. Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon today (3/23) and regular sale on Friday.

The NYC show comes less than a month after the release of Prodigy's autobiography entitled "My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep's Prodigy."...

"I've been in the music industry since I was sixteen years old, touring the world, selling millions of albums--groupies, drugs, alcohol, sex, radio, TV, magazines, videos, money, jewelry, cars, fashion, rap verses, beats, and studios at my disposal for seventeen years straight. Nonstop. I came to prison when I turned 33. The truth is, I never took the time to mature mentally until now, to step outside of my little fast-paced world and see what needed to be adjusted. It's like I was suspended in time. Like I was sixteen years old for seventeen years. I never grew up. My hardheaded ass took the long hard road to get to this point, but at least I've finally made it. I'm a man now." - Prodigy

You can also catch Prodigy in a bookstore near you in April. He'll be speaking at PowerHouse Arena in Brooklyn on April 20th.

In related news, Raekwon, who recently celebrated the release of his new LP at MHOW, will join The Lox, EPMD, Brand Nubian, and Nice & Smooth for a show at Best Buy Theater on April 13th as part of a "Salute to Hip Hop". Tickets are still available.

Mobb Deep recently dropped a new song produced by Alchemist, "Love Y'all More". Stream that, check out an interview with Alchemist, and some other videos below...

Continue reading "Prodigy out of jail & wrote a book, Mobb Deep released a new song, scheduled a show w/ Ghostface, Raekwon & more"

photos by Tim Griffin, Words By Black Bubblegum

Buckshot and The General Steele

After a small hiccup (we're glad you're better Buckshot), BCC affiliates Black Moon and Smif N Wessun took the stage at The Knitting Factory on November 9th to perform their classic mid-school records and backpacker staples, Enta Da Stage and Da Shinin (respectively). The two groups shared the stage at points as their alter-ego Black Smif N Wessun, splitting time at the outset with Smif N Wessun taking the stage first. Backed by Da Beatminerz on the mix (c'mon kick it!) as well as a live band, Dru Ha, Havoc (of Mobb Deep), and even Travis from Gym Class Heroes (huh, wha?) came and dropped a verse. Miss Info thinks that Travis may have signed a solo deal with Duck Down Records... I guess that remains to be seen.

Smif N Wessun flubbed their lines once on a track but did some push-ups to make up for it. More pictures, including one of the full setlist, below...

Continue reading "Black Moon & Smif N Wessun @ Knitting Factory -pics, setlist"

Albert Johnson (born November 2, 1974), better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one-half of the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep with Havoc........On October 9, 2007, Prodigy plead guilty to unlawful gun possession charges. Since this was his third gun conviction, he was facing a fifteen-year sentence, however, he has struck a plea bargain giving him a commuted sentence of 3 1/2 years. Prodigy maintains the search of his car was an illegal search prompted by a traffic violation, and unwillingness to cooperate with the police in a buy and bust operation targeting rapper 50 Cent. [Wikipedia]

* Prodigy's going away party is @ BB King's
* Super Tuesday crowned no nominees
* The Spice Girls are playing Nassau Coliseum
* The Dillinger Escape Plan is playing Conan
* Heath Ledger's death caused by accidental overdose
* Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues are playing Terminal 5
* listen to Cat Power on WNYC

Videos from Cat Power's recent appearance on Jools Holland below. What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday? (Prodigy)"