Grand Puba

Plus: PJ Harvey, Asake, Social Distortion, Fiddlehead, SAVAK, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Jon Langford, LCD Soundsystem / Steve Lacy / Boygenius, Deeper and more tour and festival news.

There’s a Warehouse Party and the annual Bushwick Collective Block Party, both in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop.

Saturday’s NYC-area shows include Wilco, Big Thief, Lyricist Lounge 30th Anniversary Celebration, The Zombies, Tim Heidecker, Lee Fields, and more.

Mobb Deep at Rock the Bells 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin) NYC rap legends Mobb Deep are celebrating their 20th anniversary as a group this year and will be celebrating by going on a US tour in May and June…

Brand Nubian with Grand Puba at BHHF 2009 (more here) A Grand Puba-less Brand Nubian will play Knitting Factory on September 1st (tickets) in honor of their classic, yet controversial In God We Trust LP: “Punks Jump up to Get Beat Down”…

DOWNLOAD: Wiz Kalifa – Flight School Mixtape (Yousendit, Zipped MP3) DOWNLOAD: Souls of Mischief – “LaLaLa” (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Souls of Mischief – “Tour Stories” (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Tanya Morgan – “So Damn Down” (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Tanya Morgan – “Bang N Boogie” (MP3) DOWNLOAD: KRS-One & Buckshot – “Survival Skills” (MP3) Saul Williams at Afropunk 2009 (more by Tim Griffin) NYC invented HIP HOP, so CMJ would be nowhere if it didn’t rep the art form to the fullest…

The theme of this summer has been rain, and though the skies opened up halfway into the 5th anniversary show of The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival on June 20th in Empire Fulton-Ferry State Park, that didn’t stop the crowd from swaying to the classic beats and rhymes by a stable of 90s artists…

Pharaohe Monch sez GTFU! Its that time of year again… when NYC flexes its considerable Hip Hop muscle with a summer of killer hip hop shows…