Viva La Hova :: Jay-Z and Coldplay

Before I can fully consume and enjoy one mixtape - VH1 Hip Hop Honors, here comes another. This one much anticipated.

Mick Boogie and Terry Urban's Viva La Hova :: that mix of Jay-Z and Coldplay that you have been dreaming about. Oh, and nice cover art, eh?

So go forth and be happy cuz it's free ... kfox

Mick Boogie's "The Honor Roll" Mixtape

So I finally got around to actually seeing the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors. It was cool. Not as hypie as I thought it would be or could be, but I'm always down w/honoring the pioneers. It was funny too because I ended up watching the show @ my parents house. The show came on @ midnight and my mom was still up. She insisted on turning the channel; I insisted that I desperately needed to see this show. She let me have my way and minutes later was seen dancing to Cypress Hill ... whaaaadd? Yeah, apparently my mom gets down like that.

So dj Mick Boogie put together a mixtape in the same spirit as the Hip Hop Honors - The Honor Roll. This is something fly; for real. I did not know what to expect. He'd been teasing it via his Twitter account and on his blog, Press Play Fashion Forward. But that did not give me any indication of what I was in for.

It is a meld of new school meets old - some newer artists taking on the classics and not just musically as you get w/the actual program, no, these folks bring their own bag of lyricism and swagger. I could get down w/this from a issue/volume perspective. Bring it own. I like "The Show" as well as an homage to Too Short. Oh, and it's narrated by MC Serch. What a treat.

I could go on and on, but the good news is that this baby is available for your listening pleasure. And at the ever popular cost of zero dollars and cents (that'd be zero Euros too). Find the love @ his PPFF blog.

So get to downloading hip hoppers, share the love and let me know what you think. kfox.

Rhyme Calisthenics @ Shadow Lounge

So I missed MURS in both Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Major scheduling issues. But good news for me since I learned that there would be a nice little hip hop show in Pittsburgh yesterday night. And at the infamous Shadow Lounge, no doubt.

I read about this in the City Paper. The show was billed as The Embedded Music Showcase. I was all geeked to see Loer Velocity, who I've raved about in the past. Others on the bill were Junk Science, Bisc1 and Iller Than Theirs. This was all in conjunction w/Rhyme Calisthenics. Cool, right? And all for the cool price of $7.

Well, seeing a hip hop show must not be meant to be for me. You know the show was scheduled to begin @ 9 p.m. and I had initially decided to be there promptly. Because there were so many folks on the bill, I thought that they would actually start on time. Then I decided against that move and milled around until about 10 p.m. I even called my mom when I arrived @ the venue. Though she sort of discouraged me from attending a hip hop show so late on a weeknight. I think she really wanted to come along ...

At any rate, the show had not started when I arrived. Which was cool because I could check out some reggae music next door. But the show soon got underway and it was nice. Gene Stovall performed first. I like Gene. He sings, beat boxes and rhymes over some beats; sometimes not w/beats. I first got wind of this guy from Paulie Rhyme of Finless Brown - though I think they are under a different name these days and out west too. But Paulie sent me some cds at one time and Stovall's was one of them. Very cool. Stovall's got a rendition of "The Humpty Dance" that is killer.

There was some other guys too: Stretch and Ground Flow. Nice.

So the bad news is that most of the Embedded Music crew got stuck in traffic behind some crazy accident and did not make the event. That would include Loer Velocity. My loss, huh? But Bisc1 and dj Snafu held it down. I was up and outta there @ about midnight. Which is just about my style.

Catch yourself a show hip hoppers and tell me all about it. kfox.

The No Title Post

So I'm missing the Atmosphere show tonight in the 'Burgh. And there is a 75% chance that I will will MURS this weekend in both Cleveland AND Pittsburgh. Sucks to be me.

But what makes me happy is a little old school hip hop. I've been trolling around the interweb - as I'm sure you do as well. I've heard of Blip.tv, but I went there w/a different purpose this time. I might do some podcasts here in the future. I need all free services to make this thing work - at least to start. I also need to know what can I bring to that platform that others are not bringing especially since you all have such short attention spans.

Point is while trolling around Blip, I found this little hip hop podcast. It's not anything grand just some old school and it's about 8 minutes.

Click To Play

I see you hip hoppers, I see you ... kfox

Oooh, Black Milk

What's not to like about an artist named Black Milk? Love that. Well, what we got here is some bumpin beats, strong lyrics and just a heavy dose of talent. But when you are from the Big 'D' you gotta rep, right?

Here's the short back story on Black Milk ... he's down w/Slum Village and has done production on many of their past projects. His new disk is called "Tronic" and it only has a handful of high rollers thus giving Black Milk more time to shine. Get more scoop on him here. I got a heads up on this one from the good folks over at Audible Treats.

Wanna check out a couple of the hot tracks? Try:

Give the Drummer Sum
and
The Matrix f/Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price and DJ Premier

Now you know I'm not one to let you down hip hoppers, so get w/the program. kfox.

I'm Goin to See MURS! For Real ...

Okay, so it's been a minute since I've been to a hip hop show. No good reason. It used to be that I'd say "I don't have anyone to go with". But I had to get over that. Even if I manage to drag someone out, they may get antsy and want to break out before I'm ready to call it a night. That can create some tension; I'd rather just go it alone and do what I do, right?

So, I'm really and seriously considering checking out MURS in Cleveland in a couple of weeks:

~HIP HOP PERFORMANCE w/MURS~
On Friday, October 24, 2008
@ the Beachland Ballroom
15711 Waterloo Road
Doors open @ 8:30 p.m.; showtime @ 9 p.m.
Tix are $12 ... call 216.241.5555

I mean, it works for my sked, the price is right and it's MURS! Whhhuuuuddd.

I'm also considering checkin out Atmosphere (though not the Clev show; the Pittsburgh show might work better for me). I just love the title of his latest: "When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold". That's positive thinking for yo ass.

I know what you're thinkin ... if I have not been to a show in a bit, then maybe I should take it easy instead of trying to take in two shows in one week - I think the Pittsburgh show is on a Monday, oh and Blueprint is on the bill too, and then the MURS show is on that Friday. Well, don't you worry your lil hip hop head too much because your girl will strike the right balance - I always do.

Stay alert for any post show reviews ... and I hope to check out the VH1 Hip Hop Honors @ some point this wknd - I'm tryin to keep up w/you- hip hoppers, kfox.

Ohio Hip Hop Awards :: The Ones w/Swagger

So the winners must still have that swagger, right? Yeah, you get to flaunt that til the new dude gets crowned.

Here's the list of the winners from the Ohio Hip Hop Awards (from a few weeks ago).

Speaking of swagger and crowns and winning ... how about that Arnold Hines and Word of Mouth Promotions? Yeah, he picked up that Best Promoter award. Nice to be down w/the winner's camps. But School House is in no way a slacker; they got runner-up.

I did not make it to the festivities ... any reports?

Oh, and please know that I still have issues w/how best to check out the VH1 Honors on Oct. 6. Looks like I'll be watching footage the day after via VH1's webbie.

Oh woe is me ... we gots to do betta hip hoppers, kfox.