May 1, 2009 Hype Battle Fridays
This battle is from the French Cup semi finals. French people crack me up, dope battle though.
May 4, 2009
EvoFest II is coming up soon in Seattle. Be sure to check it out.
May 4, 2009
Slap Chop Remix. If you're anything like me halfway through this you'll be wondering why in the world you're watching it, but for some reason you keep on going, then it's done, and you kinda hate yourself.
May 5, 2009
So this clip of Daichi, an amazing Japanese beatboxer has been floating around for a while, but here he is on one of those crazy Japanese TV shows. Frickin amazing.
May 6, 2009
Some sick art from Tom Blackford. A short little blub about him on mymodernmet.com.
"Some cool street murals from London-based artist Tom Blackford, aka Inkfetish. _Getting into street art was a natural process,_ he says. _I started out playing around with graffiti in my teens, then in my early 20_s, I met people that really inspired me to start realizing my illustrations on a bigger scale._
Blackford about the future of street art: _London is over saturated at the moment,_ he insists. _Anything painted/pasted in the street is regarded as significant regardless of artistic merit. People are so caught up in the hype of it all right now it doesn't seem to matter. That's just my subjective opinion, though; being creative in any shape or form is always better than sitting on the sofa all day._
May 7, 2009
This documentary looks so sick. Check it:
May 8, 2009 Hype Battle Fridays
This week we have another battle from overseas. Bebe from Ground Zero battles Kareem from Sans Limite. Bebe's still got it:
May 11, 2009
EvoFest II was a smash hit this last weekend. Checkout some of the pictures taken by the always magnificent photographer: Vivian Hsu.
Click on the image to see the full night's worth of pics.
May 11, 2009
Nice little time lapse of a graff piece, taken from the German moive, "Hip Hop Skills".
May 12, 2009
"Bates (All In One, COD, TNB, 156, WCA, PCP, WR2, FTP) is an internationally renown writer from Copenhagen, Denmark. Bates has been active in the writing community since 1984 and has travelled extensively while creating artwork throughout the known world including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Africa, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Poland, France, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland, England, Cyprus and Turkey. Bates has also had artwork and special features in several books including On the Run Vol. 2, Graffiti Art, Freight Train Graffiti and Burning New York. He_s also recieved sponsorship and support from top spraypaint companies including MTN Hard Core Montana Spain, Molotow Belton and German Montana (which also released Bates Power Pink!). Bates has designed for many top companies including Tribal Gear, Third Rail, Dickies, Redrum, Osiris, Alis, Aerosoul, New Era, Writers Bench, Backjumps and Thetruth.com among others. He currently spends most days working in store and running projects such as Magic Moments.
Bates_ primary focus is on good letter styles, handstyle tags and throwups."
Click Here for Bates' blog.
May 13, 2009
Haven't seen Chubb Rock on the scene for a while, but this music video is frickin' awesome. Matrix theme, so much better than booty shaking and bling bling.
May 14, 2009
DMX released from prison, check below for the full run down.
"Rapper DMX walked out of an Arizona jail Thursday morning (May 14) a free man. The 38-year-old rapper (real name: Earl Simmons) was released at around 4 a.m. this morning from Maricopa County Jail, after serving a 90-day jail sentence for drug and animal cruelty charges.
The sentence was part of a plea deal in which X agreed to plead guilty to charges of cruelty to animals, possession of narcotic drugs, theft and possession of marijuana, in exchange for the minimum sentence of 90 days. Rumors surfaced last month that claimed X would appear on the next installment of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" reality series. However, a rep for the rapper has denied those reports.
In a post-incarceration interview with Arizona's Fox 10 news, DMX explained his downfall, and revealed plans to become a pastor following his jail stint.
"It's gotta me closer to my true calling on life, to realizing... to actualizing my true calling on life, which is to be a pastor," DMX said.
-Urban Streetz.com
May 15, 2009 Hype Battle Fridays
Cool little battle from Korea. The kid at 2:30 is crazy.
May 18, 2009 Mixtape Mondays
Mick Boogie - Unbelievable (A Tribute to Biggie)
This actually came out the week when Notorious dropped in theaters and has some excerpts from the movie in it. It is a tribute mixtape to Biggie and it is dope. A lot of the different tracks that he puts his vocals over make Biggie sound even crazier (although there isn''t too much wrong with old Biggie) but it made me wonder what type of dope music could have been put out say if Biggie got a track produced by Kanye, Dr. Dre, Neptunes, Just Blaze, and etc.
Like just imagine how hip hop would be different if this dude was alive and got to rip on those type of tracks. I think people''s views of the mainstream artist might be a lil different today and Diddy might still be more in the background. But yeah, not really too much to say, y''all know bout the Notorious B.I.G. and just catch a glimpse of how things would be if Biggie was alive rappin on these dude''s tracks.
-Columnist R.C.
May 19, 2009
NBL Championships happened about a month ago, check out the fresh clip that they've produced. Props to Havikoro for placing first and Fraggle/Moon Patrol for taking second.
May 20, 2009
28 Millimeters: Kibera Women's Project
2000 square meters of rooftops will be covered with photos of the eyes and faces of the women of Kibera. Most of the women will have their own photos on their own rooftop and for the first time the material used is water resistant so that the photo itself will protect the fragile houses in the heavy rain season. It will be interesting to see what other uses the photographs will be put to come the 31st January. Before that though, they will be on view from Google Earth and the railway line that passes above them. Meanwhile the train that passes on this line through Kibera at least twice a day will be covered with eyes from the women that live below it. It will also be pasted with eyes of the women of Brazil, India, Cambodia, and other parts of Africa whose stories and image continue to travel. With the eyes on the train, the bottom half of the their faces will be pasted on corrugated sheets on the slope that leads down from the tracks to the rooftops. The idea being that for the split second the train passes, their eyes will match their smiles and their faces will be complete.
-28 Millimeters
May 21, 2009
From the documentary "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme" a dope little flow my Mos Def from the top of the dome:
May 22, 2009 Hype Battle Fridays
Massive Monkee day went off last week. The final battle was definitely hype. Here it is, NON vs. Freshest Kids:
May 26, 2009
Once again, the autotune the news guys have returned, proving that anyone can be a rap star now, if they have the right equipment. In addition to that, these guys have actually produced better music than 90% of what's on the radio now.
May 27, 2009
The 8 Best Hip Hop Album Covers from King-Mag.com
8. Graduation (2007) by Kanye WestAlways artistically interesting, Kanye West commissioned renowned Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami to create the cover of his third LP, Graduation. Like Andy Warhol did for the Rolling Stones before him, Murakami stayed true to Kanye_s fetishes (teddy bears, the _80s, school culture) while injecting his own trademark style of candy colored explosions and vibrant anime into the piece. The result? A mix of hip-hop and high art that proved rap music had come a long way since the days of No Limit album covers.
7. The Slim Shady LP (1999) by EminemThe cover of Eminem's major label debut explained a lot about his persona. Depicting the Detroit MC standing on a moonlit pier next to a dead body in the trunk of car, the ominous art let the listener know they were about be taken on a dark trip. Yet, the stark melodrama of the scene was offset by the title graphic in the bottom right corner. Scrawled child-like in bright crayon, The Slim Shady LP logo hinted at the twisted, juvenile sense of humor that was running through it all. The combination clicked and an album containing songs like _Just Don_t Give a Fuck_ and _Cum On Everybody_ pushed over five million copies.
6. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998) by DMXThanks to constant legal troubles and a stream of direct-to-DVD Steven Seagal movies, DMX has become a modern day hip-hop punchline. But in 1998 no MC was more relevant than the Dark Man. For proof, peep the cover of his second multi-platinum album of that same year. Only a rapper at the very top of his game could appear shirtless, bloody and Christ-like on the cover of his album and get away with it (for an example of how this can go wrong, see Remy Ma's Shesus Christ.) Overblown? Probably, but the message was clear-this shit was no joke.
5. Midnight Marauders (1993) by A Tribe Called QuestAlmost as entertaining as the album itself, the cover of A Tribe Called Quest_s third album is a literal who_s who of early _90s hip-hop. Featuring over 70 headshots of the hottest DJ's and MC_s of the time, the cover art and corresponding booklet featured everyone from the Beastie Boys to Ice T to Kool Moe Dee to MC Lyte. Honoring hip hop while raising it to a higher level, Midnight Marauders became an overnight classic when it was released in 1993. Now how many MCs can you name?
4. We Can't Be Stopped (1991) by Geto BoysWhat you_re seeing is real. In 1991, a drunk and depressed Bushwick Bill started a fight with his girlfriend that resulted in the diminutive MC accidentally being shot in the right eye. The graphic cover photo was snapped while the other members of the Geto Boys, Willie D and Scarface, helped wheel Bill through the hospital. In the end, doctors were able to save Bill's life, but not his eye. Still, the incident inspired the trio to craft their most timeless record and the shocking cover helped push the album to platinum status.
3. Liquid Swords (1995) by Genius/GZAChessmaster Bobby Fischer once said, "Chess is like war on a board" a metaphor that's perfectly illustrated on the cover of GZA's second solo album, Liquid Swords. Depicting a bloody samurai fight on a giant chessboard, the cover art came from the imagination of The Genius, an enthusiast of the game, and was brought to life by African American comic book artist Denys Cowan. Visceral and well crafted, the sharp graphics mirrored the album_s lyrical and thematic content -exactly what a great cover should do.
2. Straight Outta Compton (1988) by N.W.A.Much like the album_s lyrical content, the cover of N.W.A._s 1988 gangsta rap classic was a wake-up call to the American public_the inner city was at war and the kids had guns. The cover, which featured the six members of N.W.A staring menacingly into the camera with Eazy-E brandishing a pistol, enraged everyone from Newsweek Magazine to the FBI. The outcry led to two million copies sold and a revelation in the entertainment industry-gangsta rap had arrived and things would never be the same.
1. Illmatic (1994) by NasEsco's 1994 debut had it all: flawless flow, a killer single ("The World Is Yours") and the most memorable album cover in the history of hip hop. Featuring a picture of a young Nasir superimposed over his childhood neighborhood of Queensbridge, New York, Illmatic_s cover managed to encapsulate the album_s major themes in one photo: poverty, desolation, the loss of childhood innocence. Poetic and revealing, it was proof that street-inspired hip hop could be much more than bogus posturing and materialistic flaunting. Like the music itself, the cover art would later influence the work of MC_s like Biggie and Wayne_proof that Nas did something right.-Ryan Murphy
May 28, 2009
This is dope, but this guy is doing nothing to combat stereotypes. Now all he has to do is dribble a basketball and eat some fried chicken and watermelon to complete his job.
May 29, 2009 Hype Battle Fridays
This is one of the cleanest battles that we've seen in a while. From Evolution 2009 in Australia GAETANO (Gold Coast) vs LEGACY (Street Masters). Gotta appreciate how clean they are. Check it:
