by Andrew Sacher

Black Hippy at Downtown Music Festival in NYC (via @me_acosta)

The Downtown Music Festival, which is coming to multiple North American cities this year, kicked off its first one in NYC on Friday (5/10) across various LES venues.

The biggest highlight of the artists I saw was the Black Hippy crew, who went on at Capitale at around 1:30 AM. All four guys, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock, came out together for a few posse cuts to start the show, and then Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, and Kendrick each did their own mini-sets to follow that. They had a ton of fun with it, focusing on crowd pleasers, and taking it a little less seriously than when the members play their own gigs (in a good way). We've seen them make appearances at each other's shows, but getting a chance to see each rapper in the group sampling their own stuff and no one member taking the limelight over another is an entirely different appeal. It showed how diverse each rapper really is (Kendrick has the introspective songs, Q has the party bangers, and Ab-Soul has the tripped out ones -- and PS, we want to hear more from Jay Rock!), and like I said, it was a super fun show.

Houston rapper Fat Tony opened that show with a solid set, which he used much of to promote his new album, Smart Ass Black Boy, which comes out June 11 via Young One. If you haven't heard it yet, you can stream that album's single, "Hood Party," which features Kool A.D. and Despot, below. Tony will be back in NYC for the free 4Knots Music Festival in June.

Earl Sweatshirt at Downtown Music Festival in NYC (via Liz Una Kim)

Another standout of the festival for me was Earl Sweatshirt, who played Element at around 11 PM with Syd tha Kyd as his DJ. Odd Future supporters have turned on the group a bit (or at least the way it was when Tyler and Hodgy Beats were basically running it) and Tyler's so-so new album Wolf didn't help that, but Earl's been hailed as something of a saving grace for the group. It's obviously too soon to tell if Earl's gonna pull it off (though his recent singles have been promising), but whether intentionally or not, his show on Friday worked by being good for very different reasons than the ones that initially gained Odd Future attention. He didn't talk much between songs, didn't have any "punk" stage antics of a large group of hypemen, and OF's shock-factor-turned-predictable-offensiveness was almost never to be found. Instead, Earl focused on classic-style rhymes and proving himself as an adept emcee. There's still no release date for his upcoming album, Doris, but once it does come out, it should be pretty interesting to see where he goes with it.

More Downtown Music Fest coverage to come. Meanwhile, a video of Earl playing a new song at Element, Kendrick playing "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" at Capitale, and that Fat Tony stream below...

Continue reading "Downtown Music Festival NYC day 1: Black Hippy, Earl Sweatshirt, and Fat Tony (in review & videos)"

Autre Ne Veut at BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Downtown Records are taking their Downtown Music Festivals to different North American cities this year, including NYC from May 10 to 11 across various LES venues, including Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, Angel Orensanz Center, Pianos, Cake Shop, Tammany Hall, Element, Capitale, Rockwood Music Hall and more.

In addition to the previously announced lineup of Black HIppy (aka Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock), Purity Ring, Earl Sweatshirt, DIIV, Sky Ferreira, Trash Talk, Palma Violets, Teengirl Fantasy, and others; more acts have just been added. Those new acts include Andrewy Wyatt (of Miike Snow), Autre Ne Veut, Guards, Ryan Hemsworth, Port St. Willow, Kilo Kish, Ratking, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Vashtie, Fat Tony, d'Eon and Kingdom (playing with Kelela, who sang a song on the Teengirl Fantasy album last year and sings a song on the new Kingdom EP this year, which you can listen to below).

2-Day passes for the festival have sold out, but single day tickets for May 10 and May 11 are still available. The day-by-day lineups have also been announced, and you can check those out below.

Continue reading "updated Downtown Music Festival lineup & tix info (Autre Ne Veut, Ryan Hemsworth, eXquire, Kilo Kish & more added)"

Phoenix at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/5/2013 (more by PSquared Photography)

Two days after announcing the existence of the second edition of Jay-Z's of Made in America festival, here comes the initial line-up. Set to go down August 31 - September 1 at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, look for appearances from Beyonce, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel (who is collaborating with Kendrick), Solange, The Gaslight Anthem (who just announced two huge NYC shows), Phoenix (who just played MHoW and SNL), Drake, 2Chainz and more.

So far no details on ticketing. Full line-up is below...

Continue reading "Made in America fest initial 2013 line-up: Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Kendrick Lamar, Gaslight Anthem + more "

Angel Haze at SPIN House at SXSW 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, XXL's 2013 Freshman Class includes Schoolboy Q, Trinidad Jame$, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Logic, Action Bronson, Kirko Bangz, Travi$ Scott, Dizzy Wright, and Angel Haze, and as usual, XXL will celebrate with a concert in NYC that features all ten rappers. The show happens on May 21 at Best Buy Theater. Tickets for that show are on AmEx presale now and go on sale to the general public on Friday (4/5) at noon. XXL is also celebrating with an Action Bronson and Big K.R.I.T. show in Philly and an Action Bronson, Schoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul show in LA, but the NYC date is the only one with the full freshmen class. All XXL Freshman Tour dates are listed below.

Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul will also be in NYC with the full Black Hippy crew (Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock included) for Downtown Music Festival on May 10. 2-Day passes for that festival, which also includes Purity Ring, Earl Sweatshirt, DIIV, Pal,a VIolets, and more, are still available. That festival is also part of Kendrick Lamar's tour which brings him back to NYC in June for Governors Ball.

Joey Bada$$ and Action Bronson, along with many others, will be featured on Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg's The New York Renaissance mixtape, which comes out on DatPiff later today now. Download it HERE. Meanwhile, stream Joey's contribution, "A Day in the Life" (prod. Harry Fraud), and Bronson's contribution, "Compliments To The Chef," below.

Continue reading "XXL 2013 Freshmen mini tour announced; Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson & more on Peter Rosenberg's new compilation"

by Andrew Sacher

Schoolboy Q at SOB's - 3/28/13 (via Jasmine Sanchez)

The Black Hippy crew hit NYC for Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul shows before they all went down to Austin for SXSW, and afterwards Schoolboy Q returned for two shows of his own here. They both happened last night (early and late) at SOB's and both were sold out.

I caught the early show, which began after three opening sets (including one by Bishop Nehru, who won over the crowd like he did at Ab-Soul's show in February). Q's on the verge of releasing his debut major label album, which he brought up to the crowd throughout the show last night ("what's the name of my new album?" "OXYMORON!"), but he focused the show more on his two existing releases, Setbacks and Habits & Contradictions, speeding through favorites like "Figg Get Da Money," "Bet I Got Sum Weed," "Nightmare on Figg St.," "Sexting," and a ton of others. Q's got the wildest show of all the Black Hippy members, he's constantly moving around on stage and his quick flow bites even harder than on record.

In addition to his own material, he repped Kendrick Lamar by playing "A.D.H.D." (which he does at a lot of shows) and played an A$AP Rocky song, who he mentioned couldn't be there because he's on tour with Rihanna. As Q neared the end of his set, he rapped "Weed and brews, weed and brews, life for me is just weed and brews," which the crowd yelled back to him as he cued the beat to big hit "Hands on the Wheel," which I (and probably others) assumed was going to be the end of his set. But after only one verse, he cut the song and said "Nah, that ain't gonna work anymore, I got a new album coming out. What's my new album called?" "OXYMORON!!" Then he broke into his new single from the album, "Yay Yay," which you can watch a video of from last night's show (along with a stream of the studio version) below.

The whole Black Hippy crew is part of the lineup for the Downtown Music Festivals, which hits the LES in NYC from May 10 to 11 across multiple venues (more details still TBA).

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q played two shows at SOB's (watch him perform new single, "Yay Yay")"

Palma Violets at BV SXSW 2013 day party (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Downtown Records are taking their Downtown Music Festivals to different North American cities this year with a lineup that includes Black Hippy (aka Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul, and Jay Rock all playing together), Purity Ring, Earl Sweatshirt, Sky Ferreira, DIIV, Palma Violets, Trash Talk, Beach Fossils, Teengirl Fantasy, Inc., Ducktails, Royal Teeth, and Black Dave, plus more TBA.

The first festival takes place in NYC from May 10 to 11 across multiple venues, including Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Rockwood Music Hall, Angel Orensanz, Pianos, Cake Shop, Tammany Hall, and Element. The full lineup and schedule for the NYC shows has not been announced yet, but we do know that it includes the previously announced Palma Violets show at Bowery Ballroom (which is now sold out, but tickets are still available for PV's MHOW show a day earlier). We also hear that they're trying to put up an outdoor stage and shut down Ludlow St to car traffic (which Pianos and Cake Shop are both on) for the festival, but no exact word on how that will work out.

2-Day Passes for the NYC festival are on sale now and tickets for individual nights go on sale Friday, April 12 at 11 AM.

After NYC, the festival will also pass through Philly, Toronto, Boston, LA, Denver, and Las Vegas, but the dates for those cities has not been announced yet.

"XXL has revealed their Freshman Class cover for 2013. The cover features ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Action Bronson, among others. They join a list of emcees to be on the Freshman Class list over the years that includes Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller and more." [HipHopDX (via)]

Many of the rappers featured in this year's Freshman Class were just down at SXSW including Angel Haze who we just posted some pictures of on BV Austin, and Action Bronson who we caught at Viceland and at a Warner showcase.

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?"

Schoolboy Q was last in NYC this past February to join his Black Hippy associates at Kendrick Lamar's Roseland show and Ab-Soul's SOB's show a day later. Now Q is set to return to SOB's for not one but two shows there on March 28. He plays an early show at 7 PM and a late show at 10:30 PM. Tickets for both are on sale now. Ab-Soul definitely won't be at this one because he's got a Sacramento show that day, but no word on what Kendrick and Jay Rock are doing that night. And A$AP Rocky, who probably would've shown up, will be on tour with Rihanna at that point.

Schoolboy Q is set to become the second member of Black Hippy with a major label album when he drops Oxymoron, which is due out at some point this year. Not much info on that yet but hopefully we'll be hearing some new material before or at that show.

All currently known dates (SXSW included) are listed, along with the video for "Druggys With Hoes Again," below...

Continue reading "Schoolboy Q playing two NYC shows in one night after SXSW"

Danny Brown at Roseland, October 2012 (more by Brook Bobbins)

Danny Brown has a string of dates with Bauuer that kick off in April, but shortly thereafter you can see the MC continue his trek, turning those dates into part of a full North American Jaunt. Though Bauuer won't join DB for all of those dates, he has enlisted Kitty (she dropped the "Pryde") for the tail end of the tour that will include an NYC stop at Irving Plaza on May 7. Ticketing info is on the way.

Not only is Danny Brown returning to the road, he has ALSO returned to the booth too! He recently dropped the new track "#Hottest MC," a new Harry-Fraud blessed burner due on his forthcoming LP Old. Look for the LP to feature a grip of homies as well, including Purity Ring, A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Rustie, Kitty and more. All tour dates are listed, along with a stream of "#Hottest MC," are below.

Continue reading "Danny Brown announces tour w/ Kitty after Bauuer dates, including NYC at Irving Plaza"

Killer Mike in Austin in 2012 (more by Tim Griffin)

Atlanta rapper Killer Mike spent a great deal of 2012 on the road in support of that year's excellent R.A.P. Music album, and though he doesn't have a 2013 tour scheduled at the moment, he does have a bunch of festival appearances coming up. He'll head to Texas this March for 35 Denton followed by SXSW, and will also be at Sasquatch!, Bonnaroo, Primavera Sound, the Black Hippy-headlined Paid Dues Festival in San Bernardino, the just-announced ten-day Ottawa Bluesfest (he plays on 7/10 with Weezer, Passion Pit, Animal Collective, El-P and others), and he will be near NYC in July for Camp Bisco. Bisco tickets are still available.

However, if you want to see him actually in NYC and much sooner than that, you can enter Scion A/V's Twitter/Instagram contest (instructions and details HERE) to get into the Killer Mike show Scion is presenting on March 20 at Public Assembly with Two-9 and Morri$, as part of the same series that A$AP Rocky just played. Entering Scion's contest is the only way to gain access to the show.

All Killer Mike dates are listed, along with the Public Assembly show flyer, below...

Continue reading "Killer Mike playing festivals & other shows -- 2013 tour dates"

by Andrew Sacher

Ab-Soul at SOB's - 2/27/13 (photo by Marvin H)

After Ab-Soul (and the rest of the Black Hippy crew) appeared on stage with Kendrick Lamar during Tuesday's Roseland show, he stuck around NYC for his own show at SOB's last night (2/27). Due to the previous night's events, everyone pretty much knew something similar would go down at SOB's, which Ab-Soul acknowledged early on at last night's show, and proceeded to make the hour-ish long show a split between solo Soulo and a showcase of his friends/collaborators.

Ab-Soul has a lot of fun at his shows, doing lots of call-and-response with the crowd, like: "When I say 'Hiii," you say 'Power!'" "Hiii!" "POWER!"; "When I say "TD," you say "E." "TD" "EEEE!"; and my personal favorite, "Soulo ho!" - "SOULO HO!", which he always followed with, "See how easy it is? that's a real song. Seriously!" When he raps, he kills it live as much as he does on record. In terms of material, he did a lot of 2012's Control System but also reached back for some earlier cuts, like "Gone Insane."

Because there's no backstage at SOB's and the smoke-filled room was packed, Ab-Soul's guests had to squeeze their way through the center of the crowd to pop up on stage. So depending on where you were standing, you knew who was about to get on stage, but maybe seeing them walk right past you was even more exciting (I for one, was on the side of the stage, and have no idea). First out was Black Hippy cohort Jay Rock for their track "Lust Demons." After that, he hung out on stage as the third Black Hippy member of the night, Schoolboy Q, came out to absolutely murder "Druggys Wit Hoes Again," which had the crowd screaming in the chorus. Then Soulo took a break from the Black Hippy members, and spent the next chunk of his set bringing out NYC rappers, like Smoke DZA, Joey Bada$$ (who also came out during Ab-Soul's set at Terminal 5 in 2012), and the most riotous of the local guest spots, A$AP Rocky, who came out in his usual manner of rushing the stage with hypemen to do his own track, "Angels."

Finally, towards the end of the set, Ab-Soul played "Illuminate," which of course meant the last Black Hippy member of the night was about to hit the stage: Kendrick Lamar. After that track, Kendrick asked the crowd, "Can I do one of my own?" The crowd screaming in the affirmative was answered by the beat to "Backseat Freestyle" and before you could even hear Kendrick, just about every person in that room yelled, "MARTIN HAD A DREAM... MARTIN HAD A DREAM... KENDRICK HAVE A DREEEEEEEEEEAM." Then he stuck around for yet another of his own cuts, "m.A.A.d. City," followed by Ab-Soul closing the night with arguably his best track, "Pineal Gland."

The show opened with sets from G.R.A.M.Z., Rikki Blu, an unbilled set from the Ryder Gang, and the very intriguing Bishop Nehru. Nehru is from NYC, he's only 16, and like fellow young NYC rapper Joey Bada$$, Bishop Nehru sounds most influenced by the rap that came out before he was even born. And even if his influences are worn on his sleeve a bit, he's still a promising young artist, and ended his set by cutting the beat and delivering a rapid fast verse on his own, to which the crowd only screamed louder and louder as he went on.

Bishop Nehru's recent music video for "Misruled Order," which he directed himself, and a video of Kendrick and Ab-Soul doing "Backstreet Freestyle" at SOB's, below...

Continue reading "Ab-Soul played SOB's with Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, A$AP Rocky, Bishop Nehru & more (review, video)"

photos by Dylan Johnson

Kendrick Lamar touched down in NYC for two shows at Roseland Ballroom on Tuesday (2/26) (early and late)., part of HOT 97 and MetroPCS's "5 Boro Takeover Tour" that also includes an upcoming T.I. show.

No Drake, but he brought out an incredible group of collaborators including all of Black Hippy (Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and Ab-Soul), A$AP Rocky, YG, 50 Cent, and Tony Yayo. Kendrick and his friends played a bunch of cuts off of his unstoppable good kid, m.A.A.d city, reached back to early albums and mixtapes, and played some of his guests' material (like "Fuckin Problems" with A$AP Rocky) with the crowd screaming along the whole time. Both shows were sold out and totally packed, and you can check out pictures of the craziness from the early show in this post.

Kendrick's tour continues and brings him to SXSW in March (with all of Black Hippy) and back to NYC for Governors Ball in June.

Ab-Soul (and friends?) sticks around NY and plays SOB's tonight (2/27) with Bishop Nehru and more.

Kendrick also performed "Poetic Justice" on on Letterman on Tuesday with his band. The video of that performance and more pictures and a video from the early show at Roseland below...

Continue reading "Kendrick Lamar & special guests played shows @ Roseland Ballroom & Letterman (pics & video)"

by Andrew Sacher

Ab-Soul at Terminal 5 in 2012 (more by Julie Schabel)

Ab-Soul, who released the excellent Control System and toured with fellow Black Hippy members Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock last year, is gearing up for a few shows this year. He was recently announced for Washington State festival Sasquatch! and was just confirmed for Austin's SXSW as well. Before SXSW, he'll do a few club dates, including one in NYC on February 27 at SOB's. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All Ab-Soul dates are listed below.

Though Ab-Soul is the only Black Hippy member confirmed for SXSW, we wouldn't be surprised to see the other three guys there too. We already mentioned that Kendrick Lamar is rumored to be there, and Schoolboy Q (who like Ab-Soul, plays Sasquatch) and Jay Rock are free during that time as well.

UPDATE: It's confirmed: Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and Jay Rock will all be at SXSW 2013.

Kendrick Lamar took things in the Black Hippy camp to the next level last year with his major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, and at some point this year, Schoolboy Q will become the second Black Hippy member to release a major label album, Oxymoron, which he's in the studio recording now. Somebody tell Jay Rock to get an album out soon too!

Ab-Soul is also working on a collaborative album with producer/singer JMSN, who contributed vocals to good kid, m.A.A.d. city, called Unit 6, which will be out at some point this year. The first single from that album, "You're Gone," is a wacked-out cut which sounds pretty good, and has a chorus which sounds a lot like Ab-Soul is saying he roofied a girl but RapGenius says he's talking about lean. You can listen to it and check out a list of all upcoming dates below...

Continue reading "Ab-Soul playing shows; all of Black Hippy coming to SXSW?"

Says the PR

On the heels of a highly successful, critically acclaimed sold-out 2012 festival, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2013 lineup, which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 24-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The
Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA.

Continue reading "Sasquatch! Music Festival 2013 lineup is here"

Hard to believe, but our BrooklynVegan "Blog Radio" show has been airing weekly on satellite radio for over 6.5 years. It started on Sirius which then merged with XM and became SiriusXM. The station, which was originally "Left of Center" on Sirius, is now called SiriusXMU (on SiriusXM). You can currently hear the two hour show on the "indie/college" station every Wednesday at noon EST and again at midnight that night (which is technically Thursday morning in Eastern Standard Time).

At some point years ago I brought on like-minded music lover Dominic (Nick) Masi to be my co-host, and to cover when I couldn't make it. Now, though I still may pop in occasionally (my New Year's resolution!), Nick has taken over completely, hosting the show week to week with a selection of music you'll find on BrooklynVegan.com and on his own iPod. Recently Nick also started hosting a show called "Cover Me" (all cover songs) on Bruce Springsteen's E Street Radio, and other programs on the network too.

In his spare time, Nick now tour manages members of Odd Future - a job which was an offshoot of his huge passion for hip hop (and traveling around the continent in a van).

What were Nick's favorite records and songs in 2012? We asked him and he gave us a list of his top 10 albums and "top 15 hip hop songs of the year that don't feature 2Chainz, Kanye, Drake, Rick Ross or (fill in the blank with your favorite rapper you've seen on every remix this year)."

You can check out both of Nick's lists, along with videos or streams for each song on his hip hop list (Odd Future songs included), below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SiriusXMU host Nick Masi's Top 10 Albums and Top 15 Hip Hop Songs of 2012"

Today Pitchfork posted the first half (well, first 30 albums) of their Top 50 Albums of 2012 list. There are some surprises on it, like Peaking Lights and Sharon Van Etten, who seemed more likely to end up on their Honorable Mentions list due to their relatively lower scores and the fact that most of the albums on this list were awarded Best New Music throughout the year. Cat Power and Hot Chip also make it, both of whose new albums seemed to have received less love from Pitchfork than previous releases by those artists. A Rustie Essential Mix also makes the list even though his actual album which came out last year didn't make their 2011 list. And of course the expected ones end up there too like Purity Ring, Julia Holter, Schoolboy Q, Miguel, and more. The remaining 20 will be revealed tomorrow (Friday, 12/21).

Check out their 50-30 picks below...

Continue reading "30 of Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2012"

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork just posted their much anticipated list of the top 100 tracks of 2012. The #1 slot went to... Grimes! Whether you thought the whole of her album Visions was good or not, it was hard to deny the charms of "Oblivion." (Having that great video didn't hurt either.) Do you think it deserved to top the list? If not then what song should've?

You can check out P4K's entire hot 100 of 2012 below.

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2012 (Grimes' "Oblivion" is #1)"

by Andrew Sacher

FACT is still one of the best sources for cutting edge electronic music, and I always look forward to their top 50 albums of the year list, which they've just published for 2012. As usual, it doesn't only contain electronic albums.

This year's list has a good deal of indie rap (Haleek Maul, Schoolboy Q, Le1f, Main Attrakionz, Spaceghostpurrp) and it's the only non-metal list I've seen so far with Black Breath's Sentenced to Life (!). And of course, to compliment the dancefloor records, it's got its fair share of electronic-tinged indie pop, forward thinking R&B, and outsider experimental music.

Check out the full list below.

Continue reading "FACT's Top 50 Albums of 2012"

photos by Brook Bobbins

A$AP Rocky & friends @ Roseland Ballroom - 9/27/12

A$AP Rocky brought his "LongLiveA$AP" Tour with Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q to NYC for a show at Roseland Ballroom this past Thursday (9/27). After their opening sets, both Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q joined Rocky during his set, as did Flatbush Zombies, who were joined by Rocky at their recent Music Hall of Williamsburg show, and Bodega BAMZ. Here's what The Source had to say about the show...

Just before the clock struck 8, Danny Brown hit the stage, opening with "Wit It", which seemed to be the perfect song to get the audience properly turnt up. Danny followed with his araabMuzik produced-single "Molly Ringwald", and then went in to "Black Brad Pitt". After turning it down for the fourth song, Danny picked the energy back up again with "My Radio Song", having the crowd help him rap the chorus. Before leaving the stage at 8:30, Danny did a little rendition of ScHoolboy & Ab-Soul's track "Druggys Wit Hoes", then ran through a couple more tracks with the crowd chiming in again, including "Monopoly" and "Blunt After Blunt"...

...ScHoolboy came out at 8:45, setting a mellow mood by performing the first verse of "Sacreligious" and following up with "Oxy Music", two of the slower tracks off his latest release Habits N Contradictions. "All the real ScHoolboy fans make some noise! If you don't know anything, you can bet I got some... what?!" shouted Q, before getting into "Bet I Got Sum Weed", which everyone around me took as an opportunity to spark up...

...Sporting a brown leather sweater and black shorts, Rocky finally hit the stage, performing a new track. "I'm still that pretty motherf***a, you know Harlem's what I'm reppin!" he shouted. A mob hit the stage, everyone shouting "Swag!" again and again. "Jesus walked on water, I'm preaching to the choir," rapped rocky, with a light show behind him crazy enough to cause an epileptic seizure... I know alot of artists over-exaggerate, and say that their concerts were "a movie", but if Rocky and the Mob were to describe their concert like that, it wouldn't be a lie. At one point, there were 17 people on stage, jumping around and rapping. It's unlike anything else.

Continue reading "A$AP Rocky played Roseland Ballroom w/ Schoolboy Q and Danny Brown (joined by Flatbush Zombies) -- pics & videos"

photos by Julie Schabel

Kendrick Lamar @ T5, 9/15/2012

Kendrick Lamar greeted the sold-out crowd at New York City's Terminal 5 with a heartfelt "it feels good to be home." Kendrick opened hard with a string of Section.80 bangers that included "HiiiPower," "Fuck Your Ethnicity," "Hol' Up" and "A.D.H.D."

The Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) crew has been on the BET Music Matters tour for a week now, but the rigor of the nightly shows was only evident in Kendrick's hoarse voice. He powered through a long set of old and new tracks, letting the on-point audience finish line after line for him as he bounced back and forth across the stage under a banner advertising his upcoming album, good kid, m.A.A.d city. -[XXL]

For Ab-Soul's set, he brought out talented local rapper Joey Bada$$ and Joey's Pro Era crew. A video of Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era joining Ab-Soul, plus a video of Kendrick playing "Cartoons & Cereal" at the show are below. Stalley played an opening set at the show too (unfortunately we didn't get any pics of him).

Meanwhile, the fourth member of Black Hippy, Schoolboy Q, was not present. Q is currently as part of the ongoing A$AP Rocky/Danny Brown trek that comes to NYC on September 27 at Roseland. Tickets for that show are still available.

In other news, Kendrick Lamar is none-too-happy with Amazon right now. The online retailer has been prepping the release of Good Kid, m.A.A.d city but let one slip past the goalie by releasing the artwork for the record which apparently was a no-no. Lamar tweeted:

When u leak my album cover. Know that it's not a price tag. Its my LIFE. & there's alot of serious ppl that care about lil Kendrick's life.

All videos and more pics are below...

Continue reading "Kendrick Lamar played Terminal 5 w/ Jay Rock & Ab-Soul (who was joined by Joey Bada$$) -- pics & videos"

by Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Homeboy Sandman - "Watchu Want From Me?" (prod. Oddisee) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nina Sky - Nicole & Natalie (ZIP)

Aesop Rock at McCarren Pool in 2008 (more by Jason Bergman)

Homeboy Sandman is set to release his first full length album on Stones Throw, First Of A Living Breed, which is due out on the label on September 18. The first single, "Watchu Want From Me," was produced by Oddisee and you can download it above or stream it below. The cover art and tracklist are below too.

Homeboy Sandman will be supporting the album on a tour with Brother Ali that hits NYC on September 27 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets), but before that both he and Oddisee will play a FREE day show in NYC TODAY (8/2) at Public Assembly with Immortal Technique and Tru Fam for a Last.fm filming. Doors are at 2 PM, the show is completely free and open to the public, no guest list.

If you stick around the Brooklyn venue, there will also be a hip hop DJ dance party at Public Assembly tonight (8/2) with Da Beatminerz and X-Ecutioners. Tickets for tonight's show are available.

In addition to those two Public Assembly shows, there's tons of other good hip hop shows going down in NYC tonight and this weekend. JSpace.com is throwing 'The Ultimate College Bar Mitzvah" at Highline Ballroom tonight (8/2) with sets from Talib Kweli, The Higher Concept, and The Rooks. It's a bit of an unusual show though. Highline's site reads, "This is THE event for all interns and college students in the New York area. Rock your college swag, bust some moves, and come ready to have a great time. From 8-9PM, professionals from large corporations will work the room, looking to meet college students." Tickets for the show are available.

Tonight's Bowl Train at Brooklyn Bowl (8/2), which is usually DJed by Questlove, will instead by DJed by Biz Markie. Tickets are available.

Nina Sky have a new album/mixtape out this week (7/31) called Nicole and Natalie (the actual first names of the twins that make up the duo), which you can download in full above or stream below. The track "Comatose" was produced by Brenmar, who Nina Sky will share a bill with in NYC tonight (8/2) at the Studio at Webster Hall. Chippy Nonstop, Roxy Cottontail, and Ferrari Snowday are on the bill too. TIckets for that show are available.

Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q's tour supporting Wiz Khalifa hits Jones Beach tonight (8/2). Tickets for that are still available. As mentioned, Kendrick will return to NYC on his tour which hits Terminal 5 on September 15 and Schoolboy Q will when his tour with A$AP Rocky and Danny Brown hits NYC on September 27 at Roseland Ballroom. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (8/3) at 10 AM.

Aesop Rock, whose new album Skelethon is at least his best since Bazooka Tooth and one of the contenders for rap album of the year, is currently supporting that album on a previously discussed tour with Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz, Edison, and Dark Time Sunshine which hits NYC this Friday (8/3) at Irving Plaza. Tickets for that show are still available. Dark Time Sunshine also just released a new album, ANX, which features Aesop Rock, P.O.S., Busdriver, and others. You can stream that album in full below.

Also on Friday (8/3), Aesop's Def Jux labelmate RJD2 will be in NYC for a Girls & Boys party at Webster Hall.

Ghostface Killah and Sheek Louch are currently touring as Wu-Block and will hit NYC on Wednesday (8/8) at Highline Ballroom with Saigon. Tickets for that show are still available.

Ghostface will play his own show in Clifton Park, NY on September 14 at Upstate Concert Hall. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

In other Wu-Tang news, Inspectah Deck will play NYC on August 24 at BB King's with Colt Seavers. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

We also just mentioned that GZA will be touring later this year with Killer Mike, Sweet Valley (aka Nathan from Wavves' new beat project), and Bear Hands. That tour hits NYC on October 18 at Irving Plaza.

Q-Tip's next Offline Party at Irving Plaza happens on August 17. Tickets for that are available.

Beanie Sigel plays S.O.B.'s on August 16 with KA. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Any other good upcoming hip hop shows that we missed?

Streams are below.

Continue reading "this week in hip hop (Aesop Rock, Talib Kweli, RJD2, Nina Sky, Homeboy Sandman, Oddisee, Biz Markie, Wu-Block & more)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

"asap and grimes under one roof I can't deal @285KENT" - Alexandra Velasco

"@ASAP_TyBeats @asvpxrocky @araabMUZIK @pictureplane @Grimezsz @285KENT WHAT THE FVCK?!!?!" - Dan Bonomo

A$AP Rocky at Catalpa Festival - 7/29/12

A$AP Rocky played a set at hometown festival Catalpa Fest on Randall's Island yesterday (7/29), and after that, he and AraabMuzik (who also played Catalpa) made their way over to Brooklyn to be the special guests that were promised at the Pictureplane show at 285 Kent that Grimes DJed at. Though it's hard to make out, this instagram has evidence of Grimes, AraabMuzik, and Pictureplane on stage together, and Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone was in the house too.

Now that all of the weekend's craziness is over, it's been revealed that A$AP Rocky's upcoming tour with Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q will in fact include a NYC show. All three rappers will grace the city with an appearance at Roseland Ballroom on September 27. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Friday (8/3) at 10 AM.

More pictures of both A$AP Rocky and AraabMuzik's sets from Catalpa Fest and a list of updated dates below...

Continue reading "A$AP Rocky adds NYC show, played Catalpa w/ AraabMuzik (who he also went to 285 Kent with) -- (pics & dates)"

Pictureplane in Chicago in April (more by Tyler Trykowski)

today in NYC
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Les Hot Club @ Barbes
* Mike Birbiglia @ Union Hall
* Jeff Walton Quintet @ The Stone
* M'lumbo, Gary Lucas @ Joe's Pub
* Bob Jones/Jon Sholle Duo @ Barbes
* Hannibal Buress @ Knitting Factory
* Hallways, Zambri @ Ace Hotel New York
* Ladysmith Black Mambazo @ City Winery
* Sunday Salon Performances @ The Stone
* Catalpa Music Festival @ Randall's Island
* Rachel Potter, The Vanity Belles @ Joe's Pub
* Joe Cocker, Huey Lewis and The News @ Jones Beach
* Ice Balloons, Triple Hex, Two Times The Gun @ Zebulon
* Calls, Midair, Fishing The Sky, Weird Teeth @ Saint Vitus
* Grimes (DJ set), Pictureplane, Arca, Rezzie @ 285 Kent Ave
* CHURCH Comedy Variety Show, Lost Boy?, Gunfight! @ Big Snow
* Quilt, Young Magic, Secret Mountains, Murals @ Mercury Lounge
* Natural Child, Birdcloud, Respect, Hector's Pets @ Union Pool
* The Mystic Underground, The Dossier, Condo Ron @ Cameo Gallery
* Lame Drivers, The Woolen Men, I'm Turning Into @ Public Assembly
* Banned Books, Circle of Buzzards, Beasty, Tank Attack @ Cake Shop
* Dan Neustadt plays The Police's "Synchronicity" @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Death First, Grudges, Dead People Screaming, Pity Party @ The Acheron
* Golden Animals, Shining Mirrors, Divining Rod, Lead Stones @ Glasslands
* Blest Mess, Dust Angel, Gas NYC, Nihilistics, Rejuvenate, Iconicide @ Tompkins Square Park
* B. Dolan, Sage Francis, Grand Buffet, What Cheer? Brigade, Mux Mool, Vockah Redu, Wheelchair Sports Camp @ The Studio at Webster Hall

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Check out a new song off Bloc Party's upcoming album, Four, called "Day Four" below. Their tour comes to NYC next month for three sold out Terminal 5 shows with The Drums.

The stream of Arctic Monkeys covering "Come Together" at the Olympics Opening Ceremony that we told you about yesterday has been removed, but you can now watch a video of that and the band playing their own "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" at the Domino website. You can also download the Olympics Opening Ceremony soundtrack, which features a studio version of the "Come Together" cover, via iTunes.

Big K.R.I.T. made a video for his song, "What U Mean" (featuring Ludacris), which you can watch below.

Schoolboy Q made a video for his song, "There He Go," which you can watch below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

by Andrew Sacher

Three of the biggest current forces in indie rap, A$AP Rocky (and his A$AP Mob), Danny Brown, and Schoolboy Q will be touring together this fall. Looks like A$AP Rocky's got the headlining spot, as it's dubbed the 'LoveLiveA$AP' tour (after Rocky's album of the same name, due out 9/11), as you can see in the flier above, which borders between provocative and a little creepy.

The tour doesn't hit NYC (yet?), but there are some shows nearby, including Toads Place on September 23 in New Haven, CT and Electric Factory on November 18 in Philly. Tickets for the New Haven show and the Philly show go on sale Friday (7/27) at noon.

Meanwhile, all three rappers have other upcoming shows in the NYC area before this tour kicks off. A$AP Rocky will be on Randall's Island this weekend (7/28-29) for Catalpa Fest. Schoolboy Q plays Rock the Bells at PNC Bank Arts Center (9/1-2) (ASAP only plays Rock the Bells in California), and he and Black Hippy crewmate Kendrick Lamar are among the support acts for Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller's tour which hits Jones Beach on August 2. Danny Brown is keeping it a bit on the smaller spectrum, seeing as he will play Warm Up on August 25 at MoMA PS1 with Just Blaze, Nick Catchdubs, The Stallions, and BAIO (of Vampire Weekend). Tickets for Warm Up are on sale now.

Most of the LiveLoveA$AP tour coincides with Kendrick Lamar's upcoming tour with Ab-Soul and Jay Rock (aka all of Black Hippy except Schoolboy Q). However, the first few dates, including Kendrick's NYC show at Terminal 5 (9/15) happen before the LiveLoveA$AP tour. Maybe Schoolboy Q will make an appearance at that (more details still TBA)?

A list of all dates on the LiveLoveA$AP tour and videos of all three rappers below...

Continue reading "A$AP Rocky, Danny Brown & Schoolboy Q touring together"