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 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) "

photos by Faith-Ann Young

There were models at SOB's on [last] Tuesday [October 21, 2008] night. Or, at least, reasonable facsimiles thereof.

They might have been there for the aggregated talent from Washington, D.C., who headlined this showcase of artists on Allido Records. More likely, they were there for the label's co-founder Mark Ronson: onetime celebrity DJ, resurrector of vintage soul via his work with Amy Winehouse and others, and, it should be said, sometime squirer of models.

But if Mr. Ronson likes Wale, the rapper known best for his Seinfeld-themed mixtape "The Mictape About Nothing," then why couldn't they? To help plead his case, Wale enlisted the services of the go-go band U.C.B., likely one of the most proficient groups to be playing this festival, even if they weren't technically on the bill. Go-go music makes fantastic use of space in its rhythms, and when Wale gave in to the band's impeccable playing, as he did on "Nike Boots," he seemed at ease. But sometimes, he clustered his syllables together as if he were trying to out-percuss the percussion, making songs like "Back In The Go-Go" feel cluttered. [NY Times]

Faith adds,

"Rhymefest kicked off his set....beasting out jams...He brought along with him suprise guest Rahzel (formerly of the Roots) mid set...Got the crowd perfectly rowdy.......especially when he ended with an Obama pitch : 'When I say O, you say BAMA' .....Next up, heavily hyped Brits, The Rumble Strips, took the stage with gleeful pop rock....(think Albert Hammond Jr. meets The Kooks.....) Got the killer hook-heavy jingle, Girls and Boys in Love, but also knocked out a sizzling cover of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black. Pretty damn cute. Aussie soul singer Daniel Merriweather brought major cred to the stage with the Dap Kings backing him.... Ronson played guitar at the end of his set....

Wale ended the set waxing lyrical to go-go influenced beats. He brought with him a heavy artillery of beatboxers, DC-based rappers, and friends- most of whom sported thick shades......In fact, most of the time, he relinquished the mic to his friends......as well as Daniel Merriweather who came back on stage for a rendition of 'Stop Me,' the hit from Ronson's solo album............Overall, Wale makes DC proud- a veritable talent....bringing home-grown DC music to more mainstream.... Was a jam packed night of talent.Ronson deserves a pat on his back.."

More pictures from last week's CMJ showcase below...

Continue reading "Mark Ronson's Allido showcase (Wale) @ SOB's, NYC - pics"

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

DOWNLOAD: M.I.A. - Boyz Remix featuring Wale (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: M.I.A. - Boyz Remix featuring Jay-Z (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rhymefest - Man In The Mirror Mixtape (ZIP)

Ronson, Merriweather & Wale

Allido Records, named after one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs, is the label co-owned by Mr. EVR aka potential Lohan In-Law Mark Ronson (sorry for getting all Perez-y). Mark Ronson will rep Allido when he appears as house DJ during the Allido CMJ showcase at SOB's on Oct 21st. Tickets are on sale.

The Allido Showcase will be headlined by Wale (pronounced wah-lay), who has appeared in NYC with Ronson before, and who recently hopped on a new remix of M.I.A.'s "Boyz" that some say is better than the Jay-Z remix that was released at the same time. Both are available for download above... you be the judge. Wale doesn't have an actual album to his name yet (he's a mixtape dude), but look for his debut to drop in Spring 2009 and feature Travis Barker (recently released from an LA burn center), Mark Ronson (no doy), 9th Wonder, Just Blaze, and Pharrell.

On January 25, 2008, Wale and Mark Ronson, on Ronson's East Village Radio show, hinted that Wale was in the process of signing with Jimmy Iovine at Interscope Records and On March 12, he announced on 93.9 WKYS that he had signed with Interscope. [Wikipedia]

Speaking of 9th, also keep a look out for a Wale/9th Wonder collabo mixtape called Back To The Feature "up next", according to a recent interview in Giant Magazine. For now though, dig on "The Mixtape About Nothing" available for download at his blog.

Rhymefest of I-co-wrote-Kanye-West's-"Jesus Walks"-fame will also be in the (SOB's) house (check out the free Jacko-themed mixtape from earlier this year available above), as well as The Rumble Strips and Daniel Merriweather (not to be confused with Dan The Automator aka Nathaniel Merriweather of Handsome Boy Modeling School fame). Daniel was also at that Webster Hall show Ronson played in October last year.

In other semi-related news, Perez Hilton is announcing his full CMJ lineup on Monday, Pharell and M.I.A. recently got together, Jay-Z inspired a bunch of kids to search out Daptone's Menehan Street Band, and the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase, happening the same night as Ronson's, is getting close to being sold out. Also that night: The Cool Kids & The Carps.

Wale videos and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Wale, MP3s, Mark Ronson's Allido CMJ showcase, other dates "