by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Freeway - Know What I Mean (MP3)

On Feb 9th, Rhymesayers will band together a gang of notable MCs on their home turf (Minneapolis, MN at First Avenue) in honor of Rhymesayers Presents: A Benefit For Haiti. Along for the ride are Brother Ali, Sage Francis, Freeway, I Self Devine and others, with the entire event hosted by head Rhymesayer himself, Slug. Tickets are on sale.

Freeway is also on board for another charitable look at Haiti. He is one of a few notable MCs who have joined on for HipHopDX Presents... Hip Hop Helps Haiti. The mixtape features tracks from MCs like Raekwon, Skyzoo, JR Writer, Ras Kass and many others. The mixtape is free, but it's host Hip Hop DX, is accepting charitable donations towards the devastation in Haiti. Give and give big people. Cop that mixtape here.

Exactly one week after that Haiti benefit in Minneapolis (2/16), Freeway & Jake One will tear down Highline Ballroom in NYC with Joell Ortiz. Tickets are on sale. The show is one of three dates that Freeway has around the release date of his new album with Jake One, The Stimulus Package - out 2/16 on Rhymesayers. Cover art and an MP3 from the album above.

All Freeway tour dates and a few videos, including the new-ish video for the same song linked above, below....

Continue reading "new Freeway & Jake One album - MP3, video, tour dates & a Rhymesayers Haiti benefit in Minneapolis"

Photos by Eric M. Townsend

Atmosphere's sixth studio album, "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold," debuted at no. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 in April. It has now scanned almost 120,000 units and is the fastest selling Atmosphere record to date. Despite the success of the new album, his show was not one for fair-weather fans of Atmosphere - he didn't even play more than 30 seconds of his new single, "You." This was a performance for the true fans of Atmosphere, who know there's more to him than "Paint that Shit Gold." Slug tore through some of his most loved songs including "Sunshine," "Trying to Find a Balance," "Woman with the Tattooed Hands" and of course, "God Loves Ugly." [a review from LA]

Minneapolis hip hop duo (Slug and Ant) Atmosphere played a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn last night, Monday October 13th - part of the Paint the Nation tour that also includes openers Abstract Rude and Blueprint. They all do it again tonight at the Fillmore NY @ Irving Plaza in Manhattan. More Brooklyn pics below...

Continue reading "Atmosphere @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn - pics"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Brother Ali - Truth Is (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brother Ali - Original King (MP3)

"People think I'm in the independent category by choice."

Brother Ali is a minority, but not in the ways you might expect. First, he's a white rapper in a genre filled with mostly black artists. Second, Brother Ali is an albino.

Ali, who was born Jason Newman, converted to Islam when he was 15. He says that he felt like an outsider among white people, and has never identified with the word "white."

"I was taken in, early on, by black folks," he says. "Those are the people who taught me the things that I needed to know to survive being who and what I am." [NPR]

Brother Ali came up in the same midwest hip hop scene that birthed fellow indie b-boy and Rhymesayers co-owner Slug, making a name for himself through his self-produced and self-released debut Rites Of Passage. On the strength of Rites, Ali signed to Rhymesayers and dropped Shadows On The Sun, followed by the Champion EP and ultimately The Undisputed Truth in 2007. He's not strictly a "booth" rhymer either. He battled and triumphed over freestyle champ and Rhymesayers MC Eyedea at Scribble 2000, and he has logged more than 500 shows on four continents.

Brother Ali will be back in NYC to play a free show at South Street Seaport on Friday, August 1st (8 pm) with notorious DJ Crew The Rub (7 pm). We cornered Ali for a moment before that show as he dropped two pennies on working with Rhymesayers go-to guy Ant, the follow-up to The Undisputed Truth, and why he thinks 50 Cent is ill.

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BrooklynVegan: Ant has produced each of your last few records. Is there something about Ant's production that you feel complements your own style/flow? Are there any plans on working with any other producers and if so, who?

Brother Ali: Ant and I have been working together for several years and he's one of my closest friends. Not only do I love his beats but we share a similar outlook on music and life. He's a true producer in the sense that he sees elements of the people he works with as human beings and creates musical beds that allow those things to come out in the work. He has an ability to read people and help them present themselves in a really raw and personal way. There are other producers that I like and respect but I just can't believe that I could have the same creative chemistry with someone I don't really know.

interview continued below...

Continue reading "an interview with BROTHER ALI + 2 MP3s & a free show"