The Teacha and Buckshot Shorty interface with Tron. I like how each video from this project has them confronting a seemingly futuristic industry built on the same old scams.
Directed by Todd Angkasuwan. From Survival Skills, out now.
AG, Sadat X and Fat Beats Records owner DJ Jab show love to the late X-Executioner in a video that looks like something off Ralph McDaniels’ “Video Music Box.” It’s very grimy and flavorful.
Directed by “88hiphop.com” founder Mark Kotlinski. The Trinity album drops in 2010.
Grayskul and Maker take their Goth-hop extravaganza on the road. Bastard Patriots and Brahma Lagah support.
The Daily Swarm posted two random message board comments about DOOM’s L.A. concert last Saturday, along with a poorly-lit YouTube video:
It’s hard to see here but you can catch glimpses of him. It was obvious that he was an imposter since he never once laid his hand on a microphone and just played his new tracks on a laptop. I get what he’s goin for here…he’s a VILLAIN, but he’s ripping off his fans! I was super pissed along with everybody else who came to see him.
ConsequenceofSound.net followed up with a post:
According to DOOM’s label, Stones Throw, which does not handle the rapper’s booking, it was “obvious that he wasn’t going to show up at a venue that fits only 200 people when his performance fee requires venues about 10 times that size.†That said, they would neither confirm nor deny if it was indeed an imposter.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the real DOOM twice. The first time was back in 2000 at the CMJ Music Festival, when Megalon punched a drunk and disorderly DOOM on stage (which MF Grimm later referenced in “Book of Daniel”). Good times. The second was at SXSW in 2004, right before he dropped his mammoth Madvillain project. It was no-frills entertainment, with DOOM cuing up a track, spitting out laser rhymes, and then cutting to the next song. That was a long time ago, before DOOM flipped off his fans and turned into a hip hop version of the Residents (minus the all-important disclaimer that anyone could be wearing the mask).
This tour’s been going for a minute, but there are still some dates left on the eastern seaboard. Get there early for a rare U.S. appearance from Looptroop — remember “Off the Record”?
It’s crazy that producers are still trying to mimic that Dr. Octagon sound. But maybe that’s the first thing they think of when they hear Kool Keith. Tom Waits also does his growly minstrel thing.
Directed and animated by Fluorescent Hill. Taken from The Spirit of Apollo.
This track drew major attention when Kid Cudi used it for his A Kid Named Cudi mixtape. The video is over a year old, but it’s indelible enough to warrant a late pass. I’ve already written about Nosaj Thing, and there will be more to come as I wrap up 2009.
Directed by Dugan O’Neil.
PUTS gives it up and turns it loose. My only quibble is with their baggy white pants. You got to wear ’em tight, baby!
Directed by Chris Zamoscianyk and Thes One. Taken from Carried Away, in stores now.
“Handlebars” group Flobots is working on a new album tentatively titled Survival Story with longtime Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato, Jr. It should drop in 2010 on Universal Republic. The Colorado band is also in the midst of a late-season tour that wraps up next month.
Currently slated for an early 2010 release, the album is tentatively tiled Survival Story and guest artists include Tim McIlrath of Rise Against on the track “White Flag Warrior†and â€Infatuation†with Matt Morris of Tennman Records. Other titles include “Airplane Modeâ€, “The Effect”, “By The Time You Get This message…”, “Cracks in the Surface” and “Good Soldier”. …
FLOBOTS lead MC Jonny 5 (aka Jamie Laurie), says “our new record has a few different themes, including trying to tell a story of survival through the story of Atlantis… but the major question is ‘Who will turn the tide?’.â€
Someone has to care:
Fweeee!: Sole and the Skyrider Band’s Nuclear Winter (soleone.org), Strange Fruit Project’s Mask EP (okayplayer.com), Super Chron Flight Brothers’ Deleted Scenes (myspace.com), Akir’s The Secret (alwayskeepitreal.com)
DC rappers are Wu-Tang’in it: K Beta, X.O., Oddisee, Ra the MC, Judah, T.E.F.L.O.N. and Wordsmith. Like most posse cuts, some bars are better than others.
Viewed via CocaineBlunts.com. Taken from J-Scrilla’s Culture of Honor compilation.
People are going to compare this to Fantastic Planet, but I’m going to offer Frank Zappa’s Baby Snakes as a possible inspiration. (Look it up!)
Directed by Yu Sato of SSSR. Taken from CrownsDown, in stores now.
This one’s a little more low budget than “Morning Breath,” if that’s possible. But it gets a pass.
Directed by Hector Nava. Taken from The Broadcast, in stores January 19, 2010.
Themselves, the latest spectacle from Dose One and Jel, travels on in support of their latest album, CrownsDown. Rhymesayers duo Eyedea & Abilities lend support.
Cage launches his “Depart From Me Round 2” tour next week in Pittsburgh. Half of the dates are for dolo, and the other half are on Less Than Jake’s holiday tour with Fishbone. Between the two runs he’ll cover the U.S.
For all my beat heads. The medley features the duo’s “Underwater High Rise,” Nico Mulhy’s “Mothertongue Pt. 1” and Mizz Beats’ “Blue Night.”
Directed and animated by Sara Taigher using illustrations by Maria Chiara Di Giorgio. Taken from the mix CD Solar Life Raft, in stores now.
The rapper formerly known as Supastition spits grown man talk for that VH1 Soul action.
Directed by Matt Koza. Taken from Splitting Image, in stores now.
And now for something different…Aaliyah blends are as common as karaoke singers, but Belief’s remix is actually pretty dope. DJ Steve1der edits the original video to fit the new style.
Taken from Belief’s forthcoming mixtape of Aaliyah remixes.
Aaliyah, Try Again (Belief Remix)
This is a primer for labeling and properly uploading mixtapes. Some tech-savvy dudes will mock my simple suggestions. But it’s hard to laugh at the sundry ways musicians, labels and marketers label their wares; and the inconvenience they cause for those of us who actually try to maintain order on our hard drives. Sometimes the easiest path is the least followed.
And don’t chalk it up to the digital/cultural/racial divide, either. I download lots of rock, electronic and soul albums, too, and those artists are just as likely to label their products haphazardly. But Plug One is a hip hop site, and so I look to my rap peoples to change the tide. Read on, true believers…
This is one of the better tracks from Eyedea & Abilities’ By the Throat. And the concept for the video is very imaginative. All in all, nicely done.
Directed by Maria Juranic.
