Russell Simmons caused a stir by tweeting that Kanye West was on his way to Occupy Wall Street today (around 3pm), well, he WAS on his way, but unlike Talib Kweli, Kanye didn't play. Russell later tweeted (at 4pm):

by BBG

Bun B

Bun B will join DJ Clark Kent & DJ Greg Street for a FREE show at Good Units on May 17th in celebration of "online sneaker community Sneakerpedia". RSVP now for free entry.

I'm guessing that Bun B, who is also a co-professor of a course on Ethics & Hip Hop at Rice University, won't use the forum to speak on Religion and Hip Hop culture or a career in the music industry like he has done in recent months, but we'll let you know if that changes. Check out Bun B discussing the illuminati, ethics, and the war, with Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and Russell Simmons at recent Rice University events, in videos below.

I wonder what Bun B thinks about Odd Future member Tyler the Creator's new album "Goblin" which is out via XL today (5/10). He might prefer the more ethical raps you can hear at the Pharoahe Monch/Jean Grae show happening at Brooklyn Bowl TONIGHT.

And speaking of Talib Kweli (who has his own free show coming up), maybe he'll be at Brooklyn Bowl to perform with Jean again, like he just did on his tour that included an April 28th show at SOB's and didn't include a May 4th show at Sonar in Baltimore. Watch a video of Talib and Jean on stage together (and covering Nina Simone) on May 3rd in DC (you can hear them advertise the not-cancelled-yet Sonar show at the even of the video), also below...

Continue reading "a free Bun B show, Hip Hop ethics, Pharoahe Monch tonight"

On a stage outside a North Philadelphia theater where some of the greatest R&B artists once performed, Jay-Z and other members of the hip-hop elite exhorted 10,000 young people yesterday to become part of history by voting for Sen. Barack Obama.

A throng of energized young people, many of them Temple University students, gathered in front of the historic Uptown Theater on Broad Street about 1 p.m. to hear rappers Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs and singer Mary J. Blige urge them to cast ballots for the senator from Illinois.

"I need y'all to be really, really quiet for this. I need you to really understand what I'm telling you," Jay-Z said. "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama's running so we all can fly." [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Beyonce and Russell Simmons were at yesterday's event too. More pictures at Barack Obama's Flickr account.

In semi-related news, Jay-Z's successor at Def Jam commited suicide over the weekend.

Continue reading "photos from Fashion Week, NYC (Feb 2008)"