This is How Music is Made

I know that not every artist can afford to get musicians to accompany them on their music. But that element of live musicianship is huge.

Check out this short vid from a Black Milk/Slum Village studio session w/Will Sessions (Detroit, do your thang).

Time for a rehearsal hip hoppers. kfox.

Dillanthology

Wow, the timing of this awesome project ... not so good for me. I just found out about this one ... but, I also can't remember the last time that I bought a cd. Thing is, I was saving up to splurge on the new project from The Roots in June.

To go bring this to my attention now is just wrong. It's wrong because I'm lootless. That's right I bust my ass working five days a week and I still don't have enough disposable cash to buy an $12 cd. Whatever ... and don't judge me.

Dillanthology gives the appearance of something magnanimous. Any why not? We're talking another tribute to J. Dilla. As I see it, the tributes for Dilla will never end. Just like there's a new Madden game annually, why not a Dilla tribute? Btw, Dillanthology is volume 1.

Mucially, Dilla touched a lot of people. This anthology shows some of that. 13 tracks w/some high profile artists like Common and Slum Village. Those are a given, right? Throw in The Pharcyde, The Roots (also a given), A. G. f/Aloe Blacc and several others. Good stuff.

So, hip hoppers, if you're not down w/Dilla, Dillanthology is like 'Dilla 101' ... let's get schooled. kfox.

Rock the Bells 2009 Line-up Announced

The Rock the Bells Festival line-up has been announced. It's a wowser. Now, before you get super duper hyped, please know that not all of the artists will appear at each and every tour stop. Yeah slow ya roll, son ...

But the line-up is bangin. If you even get a third of who's listed, it will be all good.

So here's how it's lookin:
Nas
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley
The Roots
Common
Big Boi
KRS-One
House of Pain
Tech N9ne
K'Naan
RZA
Raekwon
Sage Francis
M.O.P.
Slaughterhouse
Eyedea & Abilities
Necro
Slum Village
+ more + surprise performances

Hip hoppers, you need to get your hustle on and start tucking away parts of your unemployment check ... oh, and you should have a 'plan b' too. 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.

Get your Hip Hop On!

So, it is true that I missed all of the hip hop shows in Cleveland over the past few weeks. I really wanted to peep the Brother Ali show. But don't dispair because if you are true hip hop fan, you not only checked out the Rhymesayers crew, but you also sat in on the El-P/Definitive Jux set. And there is more on the horizon; that's right, it is time to get your hip hop on:

~The Underground Nation: Darren Anthony, T-Mates and Therlbread~
On Thursday, May 17, 2007
@ the Beachland Ballroom
15711 Waterloo Road
@ 8 p.m.
Tix are $5 in adv; $8 @ the door ... call 216.383.1124

~Lifesavas and Strange Fruit Project~
On Thursday, May 17, 2007
@ the Grog Shop
2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard in Cleveland Heights
@ 9 p.m.
Tix are $10 ... call 216.241.5555

~The Ill Disciples~
On Friday, May 18, 2007
@ the Agora Theatre & Ballroom
5001 Prospect Avenue
@ 8:30 p.m.
Tix are $6 ... call 216.241.5555

~Slum Village~
On Sunday, June 3, 2007
@ the Grog Shop
2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard in Cleveland Heights
@ 9 p.m.Tix are $12 ... call 216.241.5555

~Peanut Butter Wolf DJ Set~
On Wednesday, June 20, 2007
@ B-Side
2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard in Cleveland Heights
@ 9 p.m.Tix are $10 ... call 216.241.5555

~Sage Francis and Buck 65~
On Wednesday, July 11, 2007
@ the Grog Shop
2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard in Cleveland Heights
@ 9 p.m.
Tix are $15 ... call 216.241.5555

New on the HIp Hop Horizon

Here is the dilly-yo.

Modill is all good. His project is call "Midnight Green". what I like is his flow. With lyrics that are fun and with beats that are jazzy and laid back. He goes for 18 tracks (including several requiste skits) including a track w/Dave from De La Soul.

Next up is Colossus. Whoa! this is a monster cd. I did not see this one coming in that it packs a great deal of musical ingenuity. Colossus has some music history to stand up, according to his bio, he's toured with Roy Ayers, Gil Scott-Heron, James Brown and others. Thus this double disk is broken into a pair of genres - jazz infused hip hop and jazz infused and remixed hip hop. I favor the remixed cd with its deep beats and guest lyricists and comic tells from the hood. "Brotha's Tryin' To Be" and "The Tribute" are two of my favs.

Develop[mental]1 is an exciting complilation. Some known undergrounders are there like Lunar Heights. Right alongside some true hip hop ballers namely Paul Wall. There is a remix on one track that is so incredibly stacked, that you will listen to the track on loop for several rotations. Then there is Bavu Blakes. He has several tracks on the disk including "Nobody Leavin" which has a crazy catchy hook as well as the stand out track "Play the Role" the line that is sung and rings to true is 'just because you play the role, doesn't mean you get the part'...another outstanding lyric is 'you fake, you phoney, you falsifying'. whaaaaaaaaadddddddddd?

Finally, the Psyche Origami promo disck came across my desk late last year. I immediately listened to it and liked it. I thought I caught a running theme throughtout, but dismissed it. Then I read the cd jacket when the final pressed edition arrived. Sure enough, there is a theme. The cd is called "The Standard" and there is a focus on gas stations/convenience stores. It is one part humorous; two parts thoughtful and any many parts creative. I would not thrust this one in the novelty bin though. It is refreshing an pleasant to listen to from front to back.

The last word is on J Dilla. Probably not familiar to many - at least in name. But a well sought out producer and extremely talented! Additionally, he was a founding member of Slum Village. His contributions to the hip hop genre is extensive. J Dilla's latest cd was recently released to radio "Donuts" (should be available for purchase now). When I heard it, I thought, this is way cool...31 tracks from 35 seconds to nearly three minutes...just mixin it up. Good stuff. Well, the bad news is J Dilla passed away this week. Apparently, he was a workhorse and would work for extended periods of time without eating properly. He will be sadly and sorely missed.

Ah-ight hip hoppers...stay true...kfox