Friday, March 26, 2010
Kon & Amir On Amoeba's What's In My Bag
Also, Kon & Amir have a new collection coming April 27 called Kon & Amir Present: Off Track Vol. III: Brooklyn on Studio !K7. A 2 disc collection chock full of deep cuts and obscure funk & disco classics. The boys do not disappoint.
Remembering Eazy E
It's been 15 years since the passing of Eric Wright better know to the world as Eazy E. Time to reflect on the life & legacy of Eazy E.
Articles found on the web:
Rolling Stone - Flashback: Remembering Eazy-E
MTV - Eazy-E 'Paved The Way,' MTV's Sway Calloway Says
Phoenix New Times - Eazy-E: What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse?
ROC4Life - Remember the Rhyme? RIP Eazy E
XXL - Eazy-E Tribute: Alan Grunblatt, Business Never Personal
XXL - Dear Dad - Lil Eazy’s Letter to Eric Wright
XXL - Eazy-E Tribute: Tomica Wright, A Gangsta & a Gentleman
MTV - Eazy-E Remembered, 15 Years Later
Choppas On Deck blog - Eazy E-Howard Stern Interview(1993)[Audio]
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Jay-Z BP3 San Jose, CA At HP Pavilion Concert Review
As reported by Jim Harrington / San Jose Mercury News
One song into his set Wednesday night (March 24), Jay-Z was already flashing that killer smile.
"I like how this is going," he beamed to the capacity crowd at HP Pavilion in San Jose. "We're going to take this all the way to the top." And he proceeded to do just that, moving from the solid opener "Run This Town" to the even-better "On to the Next One," both of which hail from last year's album "The Blueprint 3."
As for getting to the top, let's just say Jay-Z has been there so many times it's probably where he gets his mail delivered.
With each passing year, Jay-Z gives us new reasons to call him king. He's sold some 40 million records worldwide, won 10 Grammy Awards and is part owner of the New Jersey Nets (hey, some day that might seem like a good idea). He owns the popular clothing line Rocawear, is worth a half-billion dollars and is married to Beyonce, one of the world's most popular and beautiful entertainers.
"The Blueprint 3" became his 11th No. 1 album, setting a record for most chart-topping platters for a solo artist (topping the King of Rock, Elvis Presley).
One thing he's never been able to claim, however, is the distinction of being a consistently great concert artist. Bay Area fans have seen Jay-Z turn in many mediocre performances over the years, but he was downright brilliant during his previous local visit, a co-headlining tour with Mary J. Blige at Oracle Arena roughly two years ago.
Jay-Z wasn't nearly as focused or as entertaining on Wednesday, but still turned in a pretty enjoyable show.
Following a set by overrated R&B crooner Trey Songz, Jay-Z cut a dramatic entrance as he was lifted by a platform through the stage floor. As his 10-member band, complete with a three-piece horn section, snapped into action, Jay-Z started dropping the difficult tongue-twisters everyone in the house seemed to know by heart.
He performed in front of a sleek, uncluttered stage design, which consisted mainly of a video backdrop cut to look like the Manhattan skyline. The live band paid big dividends early and often, propelling the beats with two percussionists and flexing its horn-section muscle on "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)." Jay-Z's marginally talented sidekick Memphis Bleek — aka,"the Ringo Starr of rap" — joined him on vocals on several numbers, including crowd favorites "U Don't Know" and "99 Problems."
Right as things were rolling along smashingly, Young Jeezy arrived, a la Jay-Z, riding the elevator up through the stage floor. That was really an amazing feat of hydraulics, given the amount of heavy metal Jeezy wore around his neck. The headliner then departed to let Jeezy do his own set.
Talk about throwing a monkey wrench into the gears — going from Jay-Z's incomparable flow to Jeezy's rough ride is, to say the least, jolting. Jeezy used part of his time to tell us how important it is to proudly represent our hometowns. "I put on for my city," sang the Georgia rapper wearing a Chicago White Sox hat.
Jay-Z returned to perform a few really meaty tunes, including "My President is Black" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," then announced that the main set was done. The problem was, Jay-Z himself had only been onstage for about an hour. He then sent the show into what he dubbed "overtime" and performed another half-hour of music, none of which was memorable. He clearly had no game plan drawn up for OT.
Still, Jay-Z can get away with a lot simply through his charisma. Plus, it doesn't hurt when the crowd fawns at your every move.
It must be good to be king.
Photos:
Getty Images
Corbis Images
San Jose Mercury News - Jay-Z BP3 San Jose Concert
Bay Area's Movin 997 radio station set 1
Bay Area's Movin 997 radio station set 2
more fan shot footage below.
(video courtesy of kode701 & Notoriousted)
Jay-Z's BP3 2010 Tour dates:
Mar 26 Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
Mar 27 Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival appearance:
Apr 16 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Club
Jay-Z European Tour Dates:
Jun 4 Rock am Ring, Germany
Jun 5 Rock im Park, Germany
Jun 6 Paris Bercy, France
Jun 7 Manchester, UK - Manchester Evening News Arena
Jun 9 Birmingham, UK - LG Arena
Jun 11 Isle of Wright, UK - Seaclose Park
Jul 2 Eurockeennes Belfort, France
Jul 4 London, UK - Hyde Park - Wireless Festival
Jul 9 Oxygen, Ireland
Jul 10 Frauenfeld, Switzerland - Openair Frauenfeld
Jul 11 T in the Park, Scotland
Nipsey Hussle Live At S.O.B.'s NYC With Juelz Santana, Smoke DZA + Backstage Interview
From South Central, LA all the way to New York City, Nipsey Hussle is leaving his mark and earning respect everywhere he goes. This time we find Nipsey showcasing at Sounds of Brazil (aka S.O.B.'s) in NYC (Wednesday, March 24). Juelz hops on stage and fellow Nipsey Hussle Cinematic label mate Smoke DZA gets in on the action, too.
More fan shot footage below.
After party at Santos Party House below.
(video courtesy of GoodFellaRadio, str8nyc & the ICU Lab)
Donwill: New York Magazine Interview
NY Mag: With High Fidelity, which came first for you, the book or the movie?
Donwill: [Long pause.] I’ve not read the book. People keep telling me to; of course, the book is always better than the movie. There was a lot the movie had to leave out or imply that I would enjoy reading, so I’ll probably pick that up.
NY Mag: I was surprised by how much dialogue you recite from the movie. Was that always planned, or did you decide to add that later?
Donwill: It was definitely added later. When I sat down with the material it just felt like it needed a mechanism to push the songs along in order to gel with the story line.
NY Mag: Was it important to you to stay close to the source?
Donwill: That was why I did it, to explore the territory of really conceptually digging in — almost like a book report, if you will. I wanted it to be a wholehearted adaptation. At this point, if I did another conceptual album — I don’t think that I would do one, per se — but if I could do this one over, I would do the same thing, really skit-based. I enjoy that.
NY Mag: My sense is that your group, Tanya Morgan, is more or less a democracy. Is that true?
Donwill: I would agree with that. I would say we maintain a certain individual autonomy. Even with the group material, songs are submitted, even the beats. You can get outvoted on songs. They’re very much involved in my solo material. They’re my council of trust. When I finished the album, the first people to hear it were Von and Ilyas. Those are the two people I trust as my second set of ears.
NY Mag: Given all that, I have to imagine it was kind of satisfying to cast them in supporting roles on the song “Championship Vinyl,” and then later on, refer to their characters as “the musical moron twins.” Did they give you any dirty looks about that?
Donwill: [Laughs.] No, they didn’t. Sometimes as artists, man, we think we know everything, because we love what we love, and our tastes are our tastes. And in the group, we’re subject to each other’s tastes. Doing the album alone was like, “I can get all this singing and R&B on my album, and nobody can tell me I can’t.”
NY Mag: The album has a lot of guests. How do you approach people with an idea like this?
Donwill: I definitely had to kick it to them differently. Like, with “Ian’s Song,” it was like, "So, Opio, I want to get you on this song. But here’s the catch: You have to say the name Laura and you have to be named Ian." He was just like, “What?” But when I explained it to him, it turned out he liked the movie also.
NY Mag: Have you gotten any feedback from John Cusack or Nick Hornby or anyone else involved with the movie? Have you run into any kind of rights stuff?
Donwill: I haven’t. [Laughs.] I’m kind of just hoping it can get on-shelf before any sort of anything happens regarding that. But I want them to hear it. I want Nick Hornby to hear it. It’s not like a Warner Bros. release where 250,000 units are shipped; it’s a small independent release. I don’t necessarily see it being a problem. But I do understand how it could be a problem. (source)
DJ Skee Appointed By California Governor Schwarzenegger For Inner City Youth Program
via the press release
March 25, 2010, LOS ANGELES – Not many would assume that hip-hop and philanthropy go hand-in-hand; though the biggest names in the industry are currently disproving the assumption. As the Hip-Hop Ambassador to Governor Schwarzenegger's founded charity, After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles; internationally recognized DJ Skee is devoted to giving back to the inner-city community, where so much of the hip-hop culture originates.
Founded by Governor Schwarzenegger, After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles (ASAS-LA) is a leading middle and high school after-school program provider whose programs educate, enlighten and inspire thousands of students each day through after-school activities centered around health, fitness and nutrition; the visual and performing arts; and youth leadership and community service learning.
ASAS-LA brings innovative, cutting-edge enrichment programs to middle and high school youth that contribute to reducing drug use, crime and violence; while increasing the safety of students in the after school hours. The organization serves 10,000 students located in disadvantaged areas throughout LA County. Kobe Bryant is ASAS-LA's National Celebrity Ambassador.
DJ Skee, who is the host on the most listened to radio station in the country, Los Angeles' KIIS-FM, and can be heard on Sirius / XM Satellite Radio as the lead host for a show syndicated through Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as on Dish Network that reaches over 30 million households...is greatly involved with the charitable organization's hip-hop programs.
ASAS-LA's music program, All-Star Records is a free after-school music program serving at-risk students ages 10-18 within the inner city Los Angeles area. Its goal is to teach the fundamentals of hip-hop and R & B music, enabling students to form crews, create, play and perform the music they love. Its mission is to provide low-income youths with a safe learning environment to excel in the arts through absolutely free music training away from the dangers of drugs and gang life. ASAS-LA also offers comprehensive hip-hop dance programs, which enable students to learn dance techniques and choreograph routines that help them express their feelings in an artistic way.
"Being involved with the kids in the After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles programs brings things full circle," says DJ Skee. "Hip-hop originates from the communities that these students come from. Hip-hop is a big part of their culture…and to teach them the positive aspects of the industry; that actual careers exist within the industry; that lead industry figures are devoted to giving back to the community…it gives them the type of exposure needed to take the hip-hop culture on a positive path. These kids are the future of hip-hop."
Also founder of Skee.TV; a unique production, marketing, and content distribution company specializing in creative visual productions alongside new media marketing to virally spread content which is viewed by millions of fans around the world, DJ Skee will celebrate the launch of Skeetox next week Friday March April 2nd, 2010.
The innovative new live stage show event will feature a seven piece live band remixing and creating live music underneath vocals backed with a full LED light wall and visual stage show to match. To be held at the Vanguard in Hollywood, located at 6021 Hollywood Boulevard, the performance also features special appearances from several artists including Cisco Adler, Ya Boy (performing "We Run LA"), and several other A-list hip-hop artists have also been confirmed for the line-up.
A portion of the evening's proceeds benefit After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles hip-hop programs.
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