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Monthly Archives: April 2007
El-P and Brother Ali storm the album charts
In the past two months, Brother Ali and El-P stormed the Billboard album chart, scoring top 100 debuts in their initial weeks.
El-P’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead landed first week sales of 11,000 upon its March 20 release, good for a number 78 showing. Brother Ali’s The Undisputed Truth also did well, moving 10,781 copies and hitting number 69 upon its April 10 release. Brother Ali’s success is even more surprising considering it got a fraction of the press attention afforded El-P’s opus. But hey, you can never discount those Rhymesayers fans.
"UH OH… THIS WASNT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN," wrote El-P on his MySpace blog. "ISWYD has entered the BILLBOARD top one hundred at number 77. of all albums of all genres. something is happening out there."
Common finds forever
If you’ve seen Common in the news lately — whether promoting the DVD release of his craptastic action flick Smokin’ Aces or imparting some much needed dignity on Oprah Winfrey’s hip hop "town hall meeting" — then you may have forgotten that dude actually has a new album coming out. Or maybe you did know, and he’s all over the place because that’s his way of hyping the album. Synergy…that’s how artists do it nowadays.
Common’s new album is Finding Forever, and it’s due on July 10. According to a news story on Billboard.com, the album features production from Kanye West, will.i.am, the late J Dilla and Devo Springsteen. Guests include Lily Allen (who appears on "Drivin’ Me Wild), Bilal and Dwele. "So Far to Go," originally released on J Dilla’s 2006 album The Shining, is also slated for inclusion. The first single will be "The People."
Stones Throw summer: Madlib, Percee P, Tortoise
Following a relatively quiet spring, Stones Throw Records has announced an ambitious slate of summer releases.
First up is the re-release of Jaylib’s Champion Sound. Originally released in the fall of 2003, Madlib and the late James "Jay Dee/J Dilla" Yancey’s highly anticipated collaboration drew disappointing reviews and record sales. "Few knew who or what ‘Jaylib’ was, and many of those who did felt that Champion Sound wasn’t given the attention is deserved when it was originally released," notes the label in a press release. Much as it did with J Dilla’s Ruff Draft reissue, Stones Throw has turned the album into a two-CD set with remixes and instrumentals. With luck, its reputation will improve in light of hip-hop fans’ ongoing reassessment of J Dilla’s career. The new Champion Sound drops May 8.
For those interested in Madlib’s Invazions, the enigmatic producer is reviving his Yesterdays New Quintet pseudonym for Yesterdays Universe: Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1. The story goes that the fictional "band" (Ahmad Miller, Monk Hughes, Malik Flavors, Joe McDuphrey and Otis Jackson, Jr.) has broken up, and this is their final album. It drops July 3.
Posted in News
Tagged Arabian Prince, J Dilla, Jaylib, Madlib, Oh No, Percee P, Stones Throw, Tortoise, Yesterdays New Quintet
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Awol One drops three albums, hits the road
Awol One, affectionately known as Awolrus, has always been a prolific artist. In 2007, however, he’s on a tear. The next two months will find him releasing three albums, as well as heading out on a national tour in May and June.
The first disc, Only Death Can Kill You, pairs him with Saskatoon producer Factor. Cornerstone R.A.S. issued the disc on April 24.
Next up is Splitsville, where he taps the U.S./Canada backpack connection again and teams up with Josh Martinez and DJ Moves. That disc arrives via Vancouver label Camo Bear on May 15.
Finally, Awol One adopts a bizarre guise, Horrendous Acts of Violence. The self-described "electro death hop" joint comes out via his imprint AVB Records (with distribution from MVD Audio) on June 5.
Not enough Awol One for you? The L.A. vet, with turntable support from Factor, goes on a North American tour next month. Josh Martinez and DJ Moves, Mine + US, and DJ Hoppa join him. You can check out tour dates below.
X-Clan tours with…Insane Clown Posse?!
Since reforming X-Clan a few years ago, Brother J has been doing what any elder statesman worth his salt does: tour all over the place and cash in on those golden classics. In the last year alone he’s toured with Jurassic 5 and Public Enemy, in addition to releasing Return from Mecca, the group’s first album since 1991′s Xodus.
Old timers who remember the Blackwatch Movement and the sometimes-rancorous debates they generated in early Nineties New York neighborhood politics may have blanched when Return from Mecca dropped via Suburban Noize, an L.A. imprint founded by Daddy X of rap-rock group Kottonmouth Kingz. Not very revolutionary, but at least they’re getting the music out there. But a tour with Insane Clown Posse?
Yes, on April 28 X-Clan will embark on a national tour with Insane Clown Posse, the Juggalo-promoting gangsta rappers who wear clown face makeup. Insane Clown Posse gets respect in some quarters of the Midwest for creating an independent music empire. But man…X-Clan sure has changed since Brother J rapped, "I once knew a cave boy who tried to act black/Give a gas face and you might get slapped!" Just saying.
Tour dates are below.
Review: Awol One & Factor, “Only Death Can Kill You”
Super-prolific L.A. veteran Awol One returns with Only Death Can Kill You, a dark collection of songs made with Canadian producer Factor. Continue reading
Lifesavas spread “Gutterfly” across North America
Heads up, Quannum fans! Fresh off their well-received new album, the imaginatively constructed Gutterfly, Lifesavas are headed to over two dozen towns during the next two months. Expect tag team rhymes by Jumbo the Garbageman and Vursatyl (two of the worst MC names ever, I know) and fresh cuts by Rev. Shines.
Texas ensemble Strange Fruit Project, still hard at work promoting last year’s The Healin’, will join the Portland trio. Prior to the tour, Quannum figurehead DJ Shadow will take Lifesavas along on a few warm-up gigs. Tour dates are below.
Review: Lifesavas, “Gutterfly”
For its second album, Jumbo the Garbageman, Vursatyl and DJ Rev. Shines go back to the 70s to create Gutterfly, a funky parable of today’s troubled urban landscape. Continue reading
“From L.A. with Love” brings West Coast hip-hop to light
Last year represented a watershed year for Los Angeles’ hip-hop and beat cultures, and perhaps its most creatively productive moment since the late 90s (when the Project Blowed movement held sway). Discs from Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dudley Perkins/Declaime, Aloe Blacc, Flying Lotus and others (most of them included in Plug One’s Top 40 albums of 2006) drew widespread acclaim and controversy as cutting-edge works, and overdue jockery from trend bibles like The Fader.
ArtDontSleep presents From L.A. with Love is the latest compilation to celebrate L.A.’s vibrant underground — props to Dublab’s 12-inches, Hefty’s "Immediate Action" series and Plug Research’s "The Sound of L.A." for laying the groundwork. But From L.A. with Love, set for a June 5 release on Milan Records, arrives at a key time when the scene threatens to achieve wider notoriety. Participants include Daedelus (as Adventure Time) and Madlib (as Yesterdays New Quintet and Sound Directions).
Sol.illaquists extend U.S. tour
Since their debut album As If We Existed dropped on Anti- Records in September, Orlando troupe Sol.iLLaquists of Sound have been hitting the tour circuit. Hard. They’ve crossed the country twice, from opening dates for the Roots to rocking nightclubs on their own. Meanwhile, producer DiVinci has played gigs with Sage Francis (at last month’s Paid Dues Festival in Los Angeles) and the mighty El-P (during a concert at L.A.’s Troubadour).
Now, the Sol.iLLaquists are headed out on the road. Again. And with over 30 concerts in less than two months, it’s quite likely that they’ll be hitting your town. Dates are below.