DProsper’s vision for music is layered. The symbolism of his album’s cover art subliminally addresses the truth about America’s view of Muslims and violence. His new video for “Children of ATOM” pushes the envelope further. Seeing the young black kid with a gun in his waistband adds onto another reality of firearms in the hands of our babies, ironically conjuring up the memory of Kimani Gray (RIP).
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If I met Ari Marcopoulos, my first question to him would be, was directing RATKING’s “Piece of Shit” by accident or design? Listening to RATKING’s album Wiki93, it feels like it has Marcopoulos’ fingerprints in some of the most key areas. Was this on purpose or simply a coincidence by circumstance of a group of New Yorkers sharing interests?
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The smell of St. Paddy’s Day has me feeling festive. I’ll add Koncept’s video directed by Pace Rivers as the latest reason to turn up up turn the mood. “Malt Disney,” the title track from Koncept and DeeJay Element’s EP takes you home to where Koncept and his crew—Brown Bag Allstars, Sene, and friends—are waving their drinks in the air, amongst other things. Pace Rivers keeps it simple this time around watching the good times roll with a house party as the scene for Koncept’s visual. Oh, speaking of rolling, one of Koncept’s previous videos for “Watch the Sky Fall” re-imagined his reality raps through two ladies who jacked J57′s wheels for a ride. Pace’s imaginative formula and super-slick editing is on steroids especially when he works with director AaronIsNotCool like in videos for Sene, and the rest of BBAS. Get up on his résumé. Cheers Pace.
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Iggy Azalea is officially a star. Watch her new video for “Work” and tell me Iggy isn’t going to crush it in 2013. French director extraordinaire Jonas Euvremer & François Rousselet (see: Kanye West’s “The Good Life”, Madonna’s “4 Minutes”) film the most stunning portraits of Iggy in every scene. Their ability to tap into her confidence stems from having a great song to work with. On her new single, Iggy is honest as she was when she appeared on the cover of ACCLAIM magazine last year. In her interview with Alex Weiland, Iggy Azalea was up front about her struggle to seek fame in the U.S. The pressure of proving herself to be more than just a pretty face with more curves than an F1 race track propelled her to keep it 100 on “Work.” Talking about a struggle never looked so beautiful in retrospect. “People got a lot to say but don’t know shit where I was made, or how many floors I had to scrub just to make it past where I am from,” she says.
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#RIPBIG
On March 9th, hip-hop mourns the day it lost The Notorious BIG, the greatest rapper of all time. When I took this photo yesterday of the original Ready to Die album cover, I knew I had to thank Biggie (in spirit) for giving me timeless music to play as a DJ. It’s because of this man that I have so many stories to tell, at least about deejaying his songs in my 13 years of spinning.
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The first time actor/comedian Damien Lemon saw Mr. MFN eXquire live at SOB’s, he also watched Troy Ave as eXquo’s special guest. It was, “impeccably disrespectful,” he told Dallas Penn. You had to “salute the ignorance” as he so eloquently put it. This week Brooklyn’s own, Troy Ave a.k.a Harry Powder will headline the next Hot 97 showcase. Listen to Troy’s newest banger, below.
TROY AVE “SO AMBITIOUS”
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Mass Appeal magazine and Ka are products of Brooklyn, New York. The lifestyle and art magazine—originally based in Red Hook—relaunched in 2012 recapturing the nostalgia of its golden era in the mid-’90s, while Brownsville’s Ka was arguably one of the only rappers to maintain fanfare at his mature age in 2012. Ka was once a member of the group Natural Elements and one-half of Nightbreed. Few rappers have a chance at a comeback, much less magazines that fold.
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It was 12:30am last Thursday when I was between winks and making a mental note to tune into WKCR to hear Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Cucumber Slice revist their old time slot. It turns out that I couldn’t hang the way I used to when I used to be able to stay up late like nothing. Come Friday, the dedicated DJ Nasty Vaz comes through with a stream of the show which starts off with the entertaining banter between Stretch and Bob, and outtakes from shows that featured freestyles from Akinyele, O.C., and the Hit Squad’s Das Efx. Peace to egotripland and Okayplayer.
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Whenever you can’t reach me, I could very well be indoors with music playing too loud to hear myself think. Below is the product of one of those recent occurrences which happened during Winter Storm Nemo. Click the link to listen on Mixcloud.
Cabin Fever February 2013 Tracklist
1. D. Prosper – “Merkaba Revisited“
2. Fabolous – “Transformation”
3. Flatbush Zombies – “Friday”
4. Rick Ross feat. Jay-Z & Dr. Dre – “3 Kings”
5. Rick Ross feat. Meek Mill – “Perfectionist”
6. Obie Trice feat. Eminem – “Emulate”
7. Drake – “Started From the Bottom”
8. French Montana feat. Chinx Drugs – “I’m A Coke Boy”
9. Curren$y feat. Freddie Gibbs – “Scottie Pippens”
10. RATKING – “Comic”
11. DJ Shadow – “Artifact”
12. Munchi – “Vamo A Darle Slow”
13. Baauer – “Harlem Shake”
14. ETC!ETC! & Brillz & Diplo feat. Whiskey Pete – “Bueller”
15. Waka Flocka feat. Drake – “Round of Applause”
16. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”
17. Rihanna – “Pour It Up”
18. Justin Timberlake feat. Beyoncé – “Until the End of Time” (Brenmar Remix)
19. Jamie Xx – “Far Nearer” (Ollie Macfarlane Bootleg)
20. Distal – “Temple People”
21. Burial – “Exit Woundz”
22. Benga – “26 Bsslines”
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The Underground Airplay series is back! Ecko Unltd., is behind a new mixtape featuring Joey Bada$$, Smoke DZA and Big K.R.I.T. It’s no mystery that Ecko has been one of the early streewear brands that aligned itself with hip-hop culture by way of graffiti. The Underground Airplay mixtape series restores that feeling, going back as far as the ’90s when Ecko casted rappers form Mos Def, to Black Thought, to Fat Joe in their print ads. Those days are here again, thanks to guys like Joey Bada$$ and Black Dave repping the renaissance of the city.
To take things back, I thought it would be fitting to post this very rare live recording that appeared on the B-side of the Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1 snippet tape. The lineup: Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Thirstin Howl III, Lil Sci, Shabam Saadiq , and AL. 8 minutes and 26 seconds of a cypher.
Peep the cover art and tracklist for the 2013 Underground Airplay tape after the jump.
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