Archive for the ‘ Music ’ Category
So I’ve been semi-obsessed with the “I Am Still Music” tour ever since I got my tickets months ago. Although (at least on the blog) I’ve been primarily focused on Weezy and crew, I saw a production from Dre Films/Maybach Films of the tour from Rick Ross’s end of things and was quite impressed. The video basically documents the Maybach Music camp and their show in Washington D.C. Check the method below.
Click the pic to listen.
I’ve worked with ton’s of artists on different projects from all around the globe, but its always refreshing to find great talent when you weren’t looking for it. The female emcee KJ represents just that, a lyrical smack in the face, just when you thought it was a good day. Click the pic to take a listen to the freestyle track “Practice Round” to hear KJ prove her skills without even trying. To learn more about KJ, just read below.
Born in the Bay Area in Hayward, California, K.J. grew up with a musician family. Raised by her mother in a single parent home, she was brought up in the C.O.G.I.C. church learning to play many instruments by ear. Her love of music flows through her bloodstream as music is the architecture in her heart. She fell in love with Hip-Hop at age 12, when listening to artists like Da Brat, MC Lyte and Southern California’s own Snoop Dogg. Being inspired by the sound of a beat K.J. she began to compose songs from the heart and tell stories from a woman’s perspective. Representing the Female MC’s throughout high school upgrading to local music competitions and performances. Moving to Ohio to receive her second degree K.J. was discovered by producer William “Dino” Perry and 3rd Eye Enterprise. K.J.’s music brings a hype, crunk and different style to ordinary music. While very hardworking and full of potential energy K.J. is the “Hyphy” new sound for all to hear. Third Eye Enterprise is an inspiration to K.J. to keep pursuing the music and make it “feel good” for the people.
Click the pic to listen. (Courtesy of HHG)
I’ve had a solid appreciation for Asher Roth’s music since long before ‘I Love College’, and after his first album, Asleep In The Bread Isle, he seemed to have slowed down a little. I was relieved when news of his second studio album “The Spaghetti Tree” started bubbling up, and even more excited to hear Asher flex some lyrical muscles on the freestyle ‘Gazpacho’. Click the pic to take a listen.
Becoming a growing force in the music industry is something that’s extremely difficult, and something that every new artist struggles with. People need every tool they can get their hands on to get a grip on their dreams, and as a talent manager, I’m always trying to help my clients get ahead. My boy Mike G. put me onto The All Access Music Conference (AAMC), and I was wowed. The conference brings together many of today’s most prominent and influential music industry executives to not only discover new talent, but to also help educate Up-and-Coming Artists, Producers & Songwriters. The AAMC is currently the only music conference created by actual INDUSTRY VETERANS with Major Label A&R experience. Conference participants include Unsigned Recording Artists, Record Producers, Songwriters, Independent Record Labels, Talent Managers and Entertainment Lawyers.
Submissions:
If you would like submit a track please use their Soundcloud page to do it. Click the pic above to learn more.
Click the pic to listen.
As a huge Eminem fan, I also am very big on D12, (and not just the songs with Em). So when I heard they were about to drop new material, I was obviously enthused. The track “Fame” features a pretty good chorus from Em, and strong verses from the rest of the group. And the lyrics are presented over a guitar driven beat with live drums and a bit of high pitched synth. Click the pic to hear “Fame”.
I know I’ve posted up a few times that my personal assistant and I are going to swing my the ‘I Am Still Music’ show when Lil Wayne comes to Oakland, CA., but I just want to explain to readers that this is the reason for the last month so much Lil Wayne content has gone up. (I had someone ask me about it in a bar the other night, so I figured I’d just clear it up right here.) But I’ve been trying to get a little heads up of exactly what his performance would look like before the actual show, and I got a glimpse of some of his set in ATL. Check the method below to see some live footage of Weezy F. Baby tearing down Atlanta.
The second single from Duckworth of Tokyo 24′s first EP entitled, Landen Chill furthers the lyrical journey started in the first single (Swell Arrival). It is a smooth, well constructed track that shows off more of Duckworth’s vocal talents. Recorded, engineered, and mixed by yours truely. Click the pic to listen to “Landen Chill”.
“Nuff said.”
Relatively Unknown Producer Kelly Portis, presents his debut beat tape “Hors D’oeuvres: Beats Vol. 2″ A menu of some of the illest hip hop instrumentals heard in too long of a time. Tracks like “Eva Mendes” and “Neo Soul” transport listeners back to hip hops golden era. Contemporary tracks like “The Ghetto”, “Cadillac Pimpin” and “Revolutionary” strive to keep a soulful sound relevant during a time in music dominated by auto tune, software synths, and bubble gum lyrics.”Serenity” and “Mary Wanna” complete the 21 instrumentals in strong fashion. Hors D’oeuvres: Beats Vol. 2 is a diamond in the rough. The 21 year old undoubtedly makes a statement with this collection of art. We will be seeing a lot more from this young upstart. Album Art by Zac Oransky
Among my close friends, I’m very well known for not necessarily being a fan of slower songs. (NOTE: What I play in the clubs doesn’t reflect what I listen to in my spare time. So even tho I say I’m not a fan of slower R&B tracks, doesn’t reflect what I play when I’m at work.) But all that being said, when I heard “Motivation” for the first time, it reminded me of a specific person, and from then on was a positive association thing. So when I saw how creative, simple, and effective the video for the Kelly Rowloand’s song featuring Lil Wayne, I was even more entranced. Check the method below.
The Kanto Morph speakers were originally designed by Alp Germaner for a competition but he missed the fine print about it being a “skin design” only and so it was relegated to languish in the dark corners of his hard drive – that is, until we got our hands on it. Look, for once it’s a design not about nostalgia. It’s not ostensibly minimalistic and it’s contemporary. Yes it’s an iPhone/iPod dock but who says all Apple peripherals have to look like Cupertino designed them? I applaud his aberrant design choices.
Duckworth of Tokyo 24
330 Ritch has been host to many different talented acts from all around the world. But on the 23rd of March 2011, The Above Ground entertainment company put together a perfect storm of music, musicians, and madness that made the night magic. Yours truly, DJ Storm, Tokyo 24, C -Plus, DJ King Most, 87 Stickup Kids, Kreayshawn, Alexander Spits, and Theophilus London all played a part in tearing the house to the ground. Check the Above Ground footage below.
I’ve been a big fan of Asher Roth since “I Love College” back in the day, and I’ve kept up with his career moves ever since. The song “Gotta Get Up” was always one I thought would do well with a full video behind it, but I never expected anything as dope as this. Asher teamed up with Luke Tedaldi to create the visually stunning “Gotta Get Up” video. The video was shot HDR, and isn’t a digital video spliced together, instead it’s 55,000 still frames (pictures) one after another, brilliantly edited that gives “Gotta Get Up” its incredible visual edge. Check the method.
There are always different skill levels in any art or craft. Your essential 3 are, novice, intermediate, and master. Every so often you cross the barrier from master to ‘show off’, (Much like the LA Lakers, to ‘The Harlem Globe Trotters’), and I think Ewan Dobson may have just done that. Like the Globe Trotters, Dobson has demonstrated enough insane skill with an acoustic guitar to make anyone who has a respect for live music drop their jaws. Check his playing a trance song on a guitar (which for anyone out there dumb enough not to know… is VERY very hard.)
Click the pic to watch the video.
When it comes to classic hip hop videos, Busta Rhyme’s “Break Yo Neck” stands out as one of my all time favorites. From the spontaneous dancing red men, Busta humping a steam-roller cruising down the street, to the uber-random headbutt-battle in the middle of the video, “Break Yo Neck” was one of the greatest of its time. The video featuring appearances from Spliff Starr, Cee Lo Green, Diddy, Timbaland, Lil Jon, Ludacris, Dr. Dre and a small hand full of others, (unfortunately the d*cks over at SME won’t let me put the video on this page) so click the pic above to check out the 2001 video for “Break Yo Neck”.
Click the pic to hear the track.
The beef between Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim is nothing new, and it’s toned down since the realization that Nicki never fired back at Lil Kim. But Minaj recently dropped the 1 minute track titled “Tragedy” in what seems like a response to Kim’s multiple dis tracks. Those are the facts, but in my personal opinion, Minaj’s 1 minute destroyed all of Kim’s previous attempts. At one point, Minaj spits the lyrics “First name Ann, last name RAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaGEDY” and the delivery alone was enough to have my boys and I cracking up. Click the pic to hear Nicki’s alleged response.
We all already know that Saturday Night Live is notorious for grilling entertainers in the spot light. One of their newest skits came as a comical parody of a collaboration between Lil Wayne and Eminem. My good friend Carlee turned me onto the video below, and I haven’t stopped laughing since. (The Eminem part is almost spot on.)
I’ve been working much more closely with rock artists in the last few months, and I’ve earned a whole new respect for guitarists. The Hyper Touch Guitar is from the mind of Max Battaglia at Givingshape Design Studio, and totally insane. This unorthodox design replaces strings with a multi-touch screen, allowing the user to adjust the number of “strings” and frets, as well as tuning and sound effects. A wireless command center that permits endless customization and infinite possibilities of expression.
Porcelain Black
Lil Wayne is notorious for collaborating for all sorts of different acts. But in his newest collab with Porcelain Black is one of the sickest. The official video dropped yesterday, and is actually quite fitting for both the song, and for Porcelain Black and for Weezy. The intro to the video is also one of the funniest I’ve seen in a while. Check the method below.
TV and Radio personality DJ Megratron, whose given name was Corey McGriff, was shot in Staten Island at about 2 a.m. and pronounced dead on the scene a short time later. The Staten Island resident had just moved to a new house and his girlfriend recently gave birth to his third child. “Everybody is shocked,” said a close friend who asked not be identified. “He just had a new baby. He wasn’t feuding with anybody. Everybody liked him.” His buddy said it was normal for Megatron to get back to Staten Island around 2 or 3 in the morning after working at a club or music event.
“I’m still shocked that somebody killed him,” he said. “I can’t even understand why. It could be somebody that he didn’t even know. At that time of the night people do all kinds of crazy things. I can’t see it being a personal thing because I don’t know of anybody who had a personal issue with him,” he added. “But at the same time, when you start getting success you have people who don’t necessarily like that.” Law enforcement officials would not immediately confirm McGriff’s identity. A police source said detectives have thus far not been able to track down an eyewitness to the murder.
Keith Robinson, who identified himself as Megatron’s father-in-law, said his family was distraught. “He was a good person,” Robinson said, visibly upset, “Everyone’s just shocked.” The Staten Island performer was a regular on BET’s “106th and Park,” and worked on HOT 97 two years ago. A friend who arrived at the scene at about 4 a.m. said she talked to him a few hours earlier. “He just called me,” Lisa Torres said, “He asked me if I was going to [a friend's] party.” She became inconsolable as the news sank in. “He’s right there on the ground. I can’t believe this,” she screamed as she broke down in tears. “You’re lying, you’re lying! That’s not Megatron right there!”
A very sad story, and a tragic end to someone who’s talent has touched not only my life, but has undoubtedly helped shape the styles of many Hip Hop DJ’s. Rest in piece DJ Megatron.
DJ Storm & Nick Patera
A few months ago I had the pleasure of getting to rehearse with YouTube sensation Nick Patera for a charity event he was a part of. Embarrassingly enough, both my assistant and I were quite unaware of just how popular he was, or what he was vocally capable of. So after doing some research we saw a few videos of him (all having over a million views each), and ‘The One Man Disney Movie’ was one of the most impressive. Patera goes through many of the classic Disney films, and sings each and every individual part in unison. Quite impressive, check the method below.
For another year spent working together, I grabbed my assistant two tickets to see Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, and Travis Barker on the ‘I Am Still Music’ tour. Needless to say as the date approaches, the anticipation builds, but when I peeped Wayne’s performance of “Bill Gates” during his show in Baltimore, I got excited. Click the pic above to see the footage.
Recently I got a listen of Dr. Dre’s newest single “Chillin” off his much anticipated ‘Detox’ album, produced by Swizz Beatz, and I was quite impressed. Its a departure from the regular impression of what you think a Dre track would sound like, but I got an entirely new respect for it when I saw the crowd response at Colony Nightclub. Check the video below.
Stickup Kiddz
I posted up on my Facebook recently that folks were throwing dope music my way yesterday, which was very true, but I happened to re-discover a little dope-ness on my own this morning. The Stickup Kiddz are a California based group that have way too much talent to be filed into a single type of hip hop. Aside from songs like Turf Banga, Stickup did one of my favorite tracks, entitled “Your Body”, which is essentially a gangsta love track, and the video is quality. The song and the video are by no means new, but Aris Jerome directed and filmed the video, and because I’m a good friends with Stickup Kiddz, its funny to see homeboys doing their thing in the background of almost every shot. But check the method below.
Living in northern California has it’s benefits, and its short falls. One of those short falls is not being able to catch 100% of the impressive music coming out of the east. Luckily for me I have friends like Toni B. who throw good music my way every so often, and was gracious enough to put me onto a band named “Game Rebellion”. This all black, (all Brooklyn) rock group (yes rock) has a stable balance of ridiculous, between their metal/punk/skanking elements, and their hip hop/lyrical/head nodding material, which is something not too many others can prove they have. You can also tell in the video below that each and every member has a white hot passion for music in its purest form, which makes listening the group play their music, so much more than hearing a band. So I’m not sure how I let “Game Rebellion” slip under my radar, but don’t make the same mistake, check the method below.
