Interview With TOCA

French blog FakeForReal.net recently posted the english translation of their interview with TOCA. Xololanxinxo, Tommy V, Ceschi Ramos and David Ramos discuss their music, influences, a slew of upcoming releases and more. Link

Article On Jay-z As President

Interesting write-up following the moves of Jay-Z as executive. $50,000 employee prize to sign a fictional deal? Champagne in the office? I thought the music labels were losing money? Link

So he set about to improve morale. He organized several retreats and a weeklong team-building exercise inspired by Donald Trump's show The Apprentice, in which several teams competed for a $50,000 prize. Their task? Land a record deal for a fictional artist. He has also held a bowling night and a movie night at the private Manhattan club Soho House. And because there's nothing like Champagne to bring people together, bellinis are served in the office on Friday afternoons.

Female Fun Music Looking For Intern

From their website:

We are currently hiring an Office Intern and Office Manager's-Intern position, here at Female Fun/Culturama. Are you motiviated? Interested in learning about the Rap Music Industry? Want to meet your hip-hop hero's, get into events as a VIP (or SVIP*), garner numerous stacks of free music and promotional items? This job may be just what you're looking for! Work in a friendly, spacious environment, with a tree-lined enclave right in the heart of Brooklyn as your break-area! You'll have weekends off. Looking for girl or boy ages 21-31 that's ready to get their hands dirty, their Nikes' scuffed up, and their experience on! Email: peeay@hotmail.com

Cope2 Curses Out Councilman Peter Vallone

I wish someone had audio of this:

Peter Vallone. This is Cope2. What is your fucking problem, bro? We are painting subway trains that you are not paying for motherfucker… Just because you have money doesn’t give you the right to do what you think the fuck you want just for elections, just to get elected…This is Cope2 motherfucker… from the Bronx. Bring the cops, I don’t give a fuck… You ain’t no fucking body on this planet Earth…We’re trying to do something honest, and you out to be putting your nose in your fucking ass and shit… We’re graffiti artists, we’re trying to make it in this world… That’s it… You don’t live forever so do what you want motherfucker. All right? —Message on Astoria Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s voice mail, last Wednesday

Daddy Kev Wikipedia Entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daddy_Kev

Legal Graff: Ad or Icons?

Anonymous sent in short piece describing the fairly recent trend of permission-based graffiti programs, created by graffiti artists and placed only on leased surfaces. Article directed towards marketing professionals. Legal Graffiti: Ads or Icons, Consumers Wonder

Grounded: If Else Then [Compilation 1.0]

Unexpected niceties. I am very pleased. The only reason I say unexpected is because I had not heard anything about this project previously. Stumbling onto refreshing music is one of the grandest joys in my life. This collection of music is heavily spiked with sounds I would consider electronica but with some very welcomed hiphop influences. I suspect many people will enjoy. I will certainly be keeping an eye on this apparently new netlabel, If Else Then. My picks: Don't Let The Tweekers See - Muthr Root Suit - Frost featuring Ceschi Full Album (zip file - 95megs)

Video For 2Mex's Minors Into Fire

Video for 2Mex's Minors Into Fire, featuring Bus. Link

Dooley-O - We Ain't Singin It [video]

Cool video for "We Ain't Singin It." Link

Bob Moog passed away yesterday. To read about his last days and to read comments from appreciative fans from all over the world, please visit the official site set up by his family - CaringBridge.com

Scribble Jam 2005 DVD [trailer]

Peep the trailer for the 2005 Scribble Jam DVD. Includes clip of a funny *ss battle and Dibbs skeet shooting?. Link

Vinyl Record Day

August 12th was Vinyl Record Day and no one told me! Link

Profile America Friday, August 12th. Listening to a favorite song can bring back fond memories. That’s the idea behind Vinyl Record Day, celebrated annually on the anniversary of Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph. Vinyl records both 33 and 45 RPM brought Americans their favorite music for more than half a century. Today, computer downloaded music means that each of us can put thousands of songs into a tiny, portable device, so we can hear our favorites anywhere. While I-pods and mp3 formats are increasing in popularity, compact discs still make up nearly 90 percent of sales of recorded music. And vinyl LPs haven’t entirely gone away they still account for half a percent of total record sales each year. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov

Vinyl Addicts

Very heartfelt thank you to VinylAddicts. Someone please hook them up with proper hosting.

FreshFest Update

Jsmooth has an update on FreshFest and points to an article from mtv. It's pretty crazy to me that the venue was only filled one-third to capacity. I can't help but think the $55 price tag might have had something to do with it, but then again other shows go for that much also. I wonder what the deal was? Maybe the organizers lacked in experience? Was the promotion weak? Link

URB feature on Busdriver

URB has a feature on Busdriver. Check it out, it has some stuff on his background I never heard before. More importantly it does a good job at describing his aesthetic. Link

“This isn’t just weird rap done by weird rap kids,” says Bus. “This is done by grown black men. I don’t think people really get it. People have painted the picture of the backpacker and the college hip-hopper; the scrawny little nerd huddled over, writing notes and talking to himself. But it’s different. It draws from other things. The history of underground rap is something people neglect, but it’s deep. I don’t think I’m advanced. I think that what I do is old school, actually. I just take what was advanced in ’94 and apply it to now. I thought that’s where we were.”

RZA Attends Discussion At SanFran Public Affairs Forum

RZA chilled with Literary Director Barbara Lane of San Fransisco's public libray on Monday August 8th. Link

"So it came to pass that, on Monday, the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA sat on a stage in the San Francisco Public Library's Koret Auditorium, surrounded by corporate-beige walls and a sold-out crowd of multi-culti hip-hop heads, curious Commonwealth regulars and members of Friends of the Library. The crowd rose en masse when RZA arrived in a Wu-Tang-designed ensemble and took his seat opposite Commonwealth Club Literary Director Barbara Lane. A pair of security guards posted themselves at the side of the stage, because, you know. Hip-hop. The kids. For nearly two hours, RZA and Lane traipsed through his past. Born Robert F. Diggs, he grew up in the New York projects and Staten Island. After skipping school to watch kung fu movies in Times Square, he opted to become a musical monk, first as proto-bling-blinger Prince Rakeem then as Abbot extraordinaire of the Wu-Tang Clan, founded with his cousins GZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard and a crew of friends. "

Bigg Jus - Poor People's Day (Orchestrated by Dj Gman)

Good music is on the verge of release. (via FreeTacoma) Illustrations of Hieronymus Bosch... That 1467 Shit (mp3) MH239: Bigg Jus - Poor People's Day (Orchestrated by Dj Gman)

Poor People's Day is the Mush debut release from former Company Flow emcee, Bigg Jus working alongside Atlanta based producer Dj Gman. After collaborating on "Silver Back Mountain King" the standout track from Black Mamba Serums, the duo conspired to create a release that would pay tribute to the oppressed people of the world and at the same time document what they see as an era of media control and significant global crisis. Fusing the indelible burners of his past with a deep political consciousness, this album is the strongest work of Bigg Jus' career. He proves himself a true aspirant to the Edutainment title; his art and politics coexist as he couches messages and exhortations in fly rhyme schemes, dropped over bumpin' beats. Those beats are provided by Dj Gman, who is sure to establish himself as one of the top producers in hip-hop with this release. His productions, which build on traditions of golden-era hip-hop while destroying the sonic limitations of typical boom-bap, is nothing short of a revelation. After almost a solid year in the lab, Bigg Jus and Dj Gman present Poor People's Day, possibly the most relevant hip-hop record of the year.

We're Black And We Wanna Be White

This video is so freakin' funny, it deserves some more attention. Link

Grandmaster Caz + Dj Signify 7inch Reviewed by Imageyenation

Short but sweet review of our Grandmaster Caz and Dj Signify 7inch. Link

Listen: If this 7-inch is any indication of what to expect from the brand-new, upstart label GRANDGOOD, then start saving your scratch - because you're going to be dropping a lot of dough on these dudes. ColdCrush Captain Grandmaster Caz and underground DJ/Producer DJ Signify join forces for this limited-edition (1000) pressing (go buy now), which features two hard-hitting, heavy, near-unbelievable untitled tracks of unmitigated freshness. I'm serious. Each track is only identified by the date of recording: 9/27/03 and 11/16/03, with instrumentals on the flip. The realaudio snippets of these tracks on turntablelab weren't even done playing, and I had already clicked "Complete Purchase." It's not only because I'm a sucker for limited-edition 7-inches - but the droning, rolling production of Signify and the still-hungry-after-all-these-years rapping of GMC had me addicted after two bars. I was a b-boy fiend at the age 13, had a crew more like a put-your-name on your shirt team.It's one of those records where you just move the needle back to the first groove when it's done playing...over and over again. With no hesitation. Each track is filled with some classic, hard-hitting drums and some equally hard-hitting emceeing. Caz rhymes with an authentic force, an eager sincerity. Listen: This record is essential. I can only hope that the good folks at grandgood are going to give me more of this stuff - it's some of the best sounding, freshest rap music I've heard in a while: straight-forward, gimmick-free, and utterly impressive in all facets.I used to practice till my cuts was right on time, then Theodore started scratching, that's when I said I'm gonna take it to another level: And I did, B. First cat to scratch and rhyme, simultaneously.

www.banksy.co.uk Stencil bombing. Well worth your time. This cat has been getting a lot of shine in the press recently.

Scribble Jam 2005

I guess it's that time of the year again. Go here for an article on the history of Scribble Jam. Go here for this year's line up and information on how to get tickets. Go here to make fun of them for labeling the event as "the future of hiphop."

Citywide Vandals Task Force: New Article, Same Old Story

NYTimes article on the 10 month old Citywide Vandals Task Force in NYC. Same old story if you ask me. The Task Force has some added strength and resources with new attention given by the current administration and the writers are taking some extra steps to avoid getting caught. The most interesting thing to me was the pic of five points in queens (click the image for a bigger pic), which I haven't been to in a long time, and this quote by Lee Quinones:

Lee Quinones, 45, for instance, is now a legal graffiti muralist. Still idolized by fans for painting 10 cars one night in 1977 with his graffiti crew, the Fabulous 5ive, Mr. Quinones said that despite taunts of "sellout" from writers who shun the commercial market, he encourages teenagers to seize any opportunity to "go legitimate." "It's time to move on, to move forward," he said.

LINK

Rap COINTELPRO

Short interview with Cedric Muhammad about his series of articles which draw comparisons between the government infiltration of the black activist movements of the 60's and today's "hiphop" investigations by similar organizations. full interview, first article in series (06/2000)

Political commentator Cedric Muhammad published a series of Rap COINTELPRO articles on his website (BlackElectorate.com) beginning in 2000 initially dealing with the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.) With great insight, in later parts of the series, Brother Cedric broadened the topical range identifying and investigating the stratagem implemented by a growing number of police departments across the United States dealing specifically with increased surveillance – some would even say harassment – of Hip Hop artists and the peculiar treatment of crimes occurring within the Hip Hop community. Brother Cedric spoke with Final Call Online Correspondent Ashahed Muhammad about the relationship of those subjects to the global strategy of the infamous J. Edgar Hoover – whose plan was to stifle progressive activism within the Black community and to prevent the rise of a "Black Messiah."

American Hunger: Digital Revolution

Percy Carey inspires me. Through his music, his personal saga and his recent successes, he has consistently provided a source of renewable positive energy to counter the disillusionments that occasionally consume my will. Most recently he is proving to me that the revolution of independent music and art is triumphing over the oppression of the aging empires that naively try to retain their power by trying to shackle our freedom of expression. He is showing and proving that independent artists can create their own outlets, reach their own people and be successful without compromising their work or their ability to live well. American Hunger is a digital magazine that focuses on the sub-culture we all relate to. It is an outlet for the work of independent artists. It is an expression of Mr. Carey's retaliation against the empires that be. AmericanHunger.com, Interview with Serengeti, Rat Bones by Gentle Jones

Freshfestonline.com $55 is kind of steep but could be worth it.