by Andrew Sacher

Smoke DZA - 'Ringside' EP

Riiiiiiiiight. Prolific Harlem rapper Smoke DZA has put out a number of solid releases in the last few years, and he returned last month with another free release, the Ringside EP. Ringside was produced entirely by 183rd and intentionally came out on the same day as Wrestlemania (4/8), hence its title. It's a short release (5 songs), and a solid addition to his long list of material. Stream the entire thing below and download it HERE. That's the cover art above.

DZA has some shows coming up this month and next too. First, he'll play a Scion A/V show on May 22 at Coco 66 (66 Greenpoint Ave) with Stalley and Riff Raff, which you have to enter Scion's contest to gain admission to, and right after that show, he'll head out on a West Coast tour with Big K.R.I.T., in support of KRIT's also-solid new mixtape, King Remembered In Time, which includes DZA guesting on the track "Only One." You can stream that mixtape in full below and download it for free HERE.

After the tour with KRIT, DZA will play two hometown-area shows in June. The first is a previously discussed appearance at the Summer Jam (6/2) side stage (tickets) and the second is at The Studio at Webster Hall on June 26 with Vinny Cha$e, BBA, H Squared, and Caspa Narkz. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

DZA is also heading out as a support act on the previously discussed A$AP Rocky/Wiz Khalifa co-headlining tour, which hits the NYC-area for three big shows in August: PNC Bank Arts Center on 8/2, Jones Beach on 8/6, and Comcast Theatre on 8/8. Joey Bada$$ and a bunch of others are on the tour too, and tickets for all three NYC-area shows are still available.

All dates are listed, along with those mixtape/EP streams, below...

Continue reading "Smoke DZA released a free EP, going on tour (dates & stream)"

Nas at Rock the Bells 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Nas stopped by Conan last night (11/29) to perform "World's An Addiction" off of his recently released album, Life Is Good, and was joined by R&B singer Anthony Hamilton, who sang the hook on the record. You can watch the video of that performance below.

The rapper recently wrapped up a tour with Lauryn Hill this month, and as mentioned he'll play a one-off in NYC on New Year's Eve (12/31) at Radio City Music Hall with Elle Varner. Tickets for that show are still available.

Soon after that, Nas will do another event in NYC at 92Y on January 8, where he'll do a Q&A with author/music critic Anthony DeCurtis (Rolling Stone, NY Times, Relix), where he'll be telling his story, touching on "his gifted Queens childhood, the early days with Main Source, his philanthropic work and the insight and inspiration behind his #1 new record, Life Is Good." Tickets for that are on sale now and there's also an option to submit questions for the Q&A, and if yours is used you'll get two free tickets, pending availability.

In other, less positive news, TMZ reports that "the government just got the green light to garnish a million bucks from [Nas'] earnings [on his tour with Lauryn Hill] to repay a massive tax debt." They continue, "The Georgia Department of Revenue has filed new legal docs in their effort to collect $1,083,435 from the rapper for taxes it claims Nas owes for the years 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010," and finally state, "A rep for Nas tells us the matter has recently been settled -- but the GDR insists the case is still open and they're trying to collect."

In other other news, younger rapper Stalley, who plays an educational fundraiser in NYC on December 6, recently spoke about how Nas' Illmatic was influential on him in a 45-second 'On the Record' video for Rhapsody. You can watch that video and the 'Conan' video below.

Continue reading "Nas played 'Conan', speaking at 92Y, needs to pay his taxes"

Stalley will head to NYC for a show on December 6 at Tammany Hall for a Scholarich Foundation-hosted fundraiser/book drive for middle school and high school students, AllHipHop reports. The Scholarich Foundation is a nonprofit "dedicated to ensuring that individuals in low income areas are receiving a proper education and adequate information which will allow them to become financially self sufficient" and will be donating books and other educational supplies obtained at this show to local students. The show is being cosponsored by The Source magazine and will feature "a variety of local rappers, artists, singers and educators" joining Stalley, plus music by DJ Self. Tickets for the show are on sale now.

A list of all Stalley dates, the flyers for the Tammany Hall show, and a video, below.

Continue reading "Stalley playing educational fundraiser/book drive in NYC"

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]

Three-quarters of Black Hippy -- AKA Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and the show's headliner Kendrick Lamar -- hit Terminal 5 on Saturday (9/15) as part of a showcase for the Top Dawg Entertainment crew. Pictures from the show adorn this post.

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.

The artwork is still up on Amazon, by the way, and you can check out below too where we've also got video of Kendrick discussing the artwork.

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"

Ben Nichols of Lucero & fans in Austin - 9/10/12 (more by Tim Griffin)

We already posted lots of posts today. Here's some more, and some reminders too...

Tickets for the Lucero and The Hold Steady NYE show at Wellmont Theatre went on sale today. Did you pick up yours? We just caught Lucero frontman Ben Nichols earlier this week when his acoustic tour came to Austin. Check out pictures at BV Austin. As discussed, Lucero also play two nights at Brooklyn Bowl (12/28-29) before the NYE show. Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday, September 21 at noon.

The New Yorker Festival and other tickets went on sale today too.

Tickets are still on sale for the upcoming Dr. Dog & Delta Spirit show in Rumsey Playfield, and we're giving away a pair on Facebook.

Alabama Shakes are on a tour now which comes to NYC on October 4 at Terminal 5 (sold out). We just caught their tour stop in Chicago earlier this week, a free "dream" show presented by American Family with fellow Alabama bands The Pollies and Doc Dailey on the bill. Check out pictures of that show at BV Chicago.

The rent is still too damn high. Jimmy McMillan will run for mayor in 2013.

The Walkmen played Conan last night (9/13). Check out a video of them performing "Love Is Luck" and "We Can't Be Beat" from their new album, Heaven, below. Tickets are still on sale for their show coming up at Terminal 5 with the Dum Dum Girls.

Wondering which producers contributed to Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music album, Cruel Summer? Check out the updated tracklist with production credits for each song. In related news, you can check out the extended version of "New God Flow," which features Ghostface Killah, over at Pusha T's website.

more below...

Continue reading "Also: Kanye, Jimmy McMillan, Alabama Shakes, Walkmen, Andrew WK, Ab-Soul, Vince Neil, Lady Gaga, Lucero & more"

Stalley @ SXSW 2012 (more by Ryan Muir)

For the month of April, NYC venue SOBs will be presenting 'I Love SOBs Music Fest.' A $100 badge will grant you access to every single show the venue puts on during April. The flier for the fest is below.

The shows include Obie Trice and friends on 4/3, Stalley and friends on 4/4 (also Stalley's album release party), Schoolboy Q on 4/11, Shabazz Palaces on 4/13, Casey Veggies on 4/25, and more. Individual tickets for all of these shows are on sale too.

Meanwhile, for Shabazz Palaces, the SOBs show (4/13) is one of two NYC shows on their upcoming tour which hits Brooklyn Bowl the next day (4/14). Tickets for the Brooklyn Bowl show are still available.

Stalley, like MANY rappers this year, was just down at SXSW where he played with Rick Ross at Fader Fort and was on the huge Warner Sound bill with T.I., Curren$y, B.o.B., and many others.

'I Love SOBs Music Fest' flier below...

Continue reading "SOB's offering pass to all April shows (Stalley, Shabazz Palaces, Schoolboy Q, Casey Veggies & more)"

Ski Beatz

After releasing the 24 Hour Karate School parts I and II mixtapes, hip hop producer Ski Beatz released the album, 24 Hour Karate School Presents: Twilight, on February 14 via DD172. The album features contributions from Curren$y, Smoke DZA, Murs, Stalley (who played Dominion last night), Tademark Da Skydiver, Nicole Wray, Mikey Rocks, and others. Check out the video for the Stalley-featuring track "Gentleman's Quarterly" below, along with the album art and tracklist.

Ski Beatz is celebrating the release of the album with a NYC show TONIGHT (2/22) at Le Poisson Rouge with the Senseis, CPlus, Rugz D.Bweler, Da$h, McKenzie Eddy, Sean O'COnnell, and more. The show will be hosted by Bluroc Magazine and tickets are available.

Videos, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Ski Beatz released a new guest-filled LP, celebrating tonight"

photos by Ryan Muir, words by Andrew Frisicano

Rick Ross / DFA1979

One Hanson Place, the cavernous ground-floor space of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, served as the venue for a free-if-you-could-get-in Vice-sponsored concert on Thursday. As expected, the Weeknd didn't appear (he canceled the week before). Instead, the main attractions were Rick Ross, Death From Above 1979, a half dozen other bands, free beer and liquor and the Art Deco interior itself. A second stage in the basement--located inside a room-sized vault, with giant metallic doors at its entrance--featured acts like Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Anamanaguchi, Hanni El Khatib, Total Slacker and the Men. A-Trak was supposed to play, but cancelled after the sudden passing of his friend DJ Mehdi.

Tanlines kicked off the upstairs with songs that were aided by the high-vaulted ceilings and the reverb-heavy acoustics. Death from Above 1979 didn't fare as well; their songs already sound blown out and distorted on record, and the live show sacrifices any remaining fidelity for raw power. That said, both Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler--one in white, one in black--put on spirited performances, thrashing around, with Sebastien at one point crawling along the bank teller windows into the crowd.

Rick Ross took the stage around 1am, after a brief intro set from Maybach Music Group rapper Stalley. The boss's set of about 35 minutes sped through songs that included "John," "9 Piece," "Hustin", "BMF", "MC Hammer," DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" and "I'm On One," Waka's "O Let's Do It," and "Tupac Back" and "Ima Boss" (both Meek Mill's songs I think technically), at least for a chorus or two. Directly in front of the stage, where Ross' verses and exhortations were crystal clear, you could really get a sense of his imposing presence (DJ seemed genuinely afraid after starting one song too soon) and his ability to queue up any tune and make it totally his.

The amount of people upstairs was comfortable and not-overpacked; the downstairs, then, could be described as sadly under-attended. Unknown Mortal Orchestra had the benefit of playing before the main-stage acts started and sounded great. Hanni El Khatib, who played as a two-piece, shuffled out grungy, Americana-influenced rock, but to an audience of only about 50. One of the most pleasant surprise for me was Anamanaguchi, who I haven't seen in a few years. The quartet has molded themselves into an impressive instrumental outfit--with their NES as a less-dominant member--as they navigated their songs' post-rock-inspired swoops and climaxes with skill.

The Men closed the night with a post-2am set for the stragglers that hadn't yet succumbed to the hazards of the open bar. On my way downstairs I passed a handful of people doubled over, getting carried out by the EMTs. Downstairs wasn't much safer: at one point, a mic stand went flying into the crowd landing squarely on someone's head (hope you're alright dude).

More pictures from most of the night below...

Continue reading "pics from the Vice party in a bank (Death From Above 1979, Rick Ross, Anamanaguchi, Tanlines & more)"