La The Darkman + Willie The Kidd = When The Money Come (video)

La The Darkman and Willie the Kid, who I think is his younger brother, come together for this nice track. Lots more joints on their new mixtape. myspace.com/lathedarkman myspace.com/thewilliethekid

Day By Day Comics

Now I know what this myspace page I came across a while back is all about: myspace.com/daybydaycomics. Grimm is releasing a graphic novel through DC Comics. That's such great news. Especially pleasing because I was listening to American Hunger this morning. If you don't know, American Hunger is his triple cd that was just released and that sh*t is like whoa. Keep a look out for our upcoming audiocast where we'll feature one or two tracks. Link

San Diego, CA, July 24, 2006: MF Grimm is writing a graphic novel based on his life story to be released on Vertigo (DC Comics) in 2007. The project titled Sentences: “The Life Of MF Grimm” was announced at the San Diego Comic Con this past Friday by Karen Berger, Senior Vice President of Vertigo with the illustration above previewed to the media and audience assembled. Illustrated by hot newcomer, Ronald Wimberly the project is an unflinching look into the life of underground hip hop legend Grimm from his youth until today.

Boot Camp Clik - Trading Places (video)

BCC's new album has some dope joints. Our next audiocast is gonna have a crazy track called Here We Go produced by 9th Wonder. For now enjoy this video for Trading Places. (thanks spine)

Kill Your Employer (by Busdriver)

Cover art to new busdriver single dropping september 26 on Epitaph Records - Kill Your Employer. Album, titled RoadKillOvercoat, probably getting released a few weeks later. Any chance we can we hurry it up a little? Link

Production on the record is masterfully tackled by L.A.’s own beat champion DJ Nobody (Plug Research, Ubiquity) and multi-instrumentalist/programming whiz, Boom-Bip (Lex). The songs themselves seamlessly leap from the inadvertent club-banger, “Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia is the Sport of Now)”, accented with sneering criticisms towards the innocuous left-winger, all the way to the psychedelic onslaught of “Secret Skin” and it’s almost hokey optimism. This time around BD wields the pop song framework, beats it into submission and interjects his skittish sense of the absurd.

The DJ or The MC?

Article on popularity of rappers verses the artists behind the boards. Link

Mixtape Marketing

Plain jane article in the NYTimes about mixtapes and hiphop. Link

Bomarr Monk Video From Surface Sincerity

Surface Sincerity DVD/CD Project from Bomarr Monk. I like. Link (via)

Description: found footage with original music by the bomarr monk. if you enjoy the video, please purchase the dvd (with audio companion cd), available in the anticon online store thanks

Where HipHop Lives by Ben Mcgrath

Great article, by Ben Mcgrath for the New Yorker, investigates the details surrounding some of the recent violent incidents that have taken place at the Hot97 building. He focuses on rapper Gravy who gained attention for getting shot then playing it off so he could continue with his scheduled radio appearance with Flex. This essay is much more than a regurgitation of events though, Ben raises a lot of probing questions regarding HipHop and it's portrayal in popular media. Link (thanks Sahil!)

One way to view the situation at 395 Hudson is as a kind of tribal struggle: Irish union men of the Old Guard bristling at the presumptuous ascendance of black hip-hop culture, and a changing set of social norms. The result is that black dignitaries affiliated with the radio station, like Busta Rhymes, enter the building through the mailroom, on Clarkson Street, while white political dignitaries courting the union, like Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, arrive grandly through the glass doors on Hudson.

Dead Prez Film: It's Bigger Than HipHop

Trailer to Dead Prez Film: It's Bigger Than HipHop. Link

Kool Herc @ Adidas Store NYC

Kool Herc and hipsters galore. RSVP, via waxpoetics

Anyone else see anything wrong with the way this (bolded) is written? Link

The other standout is Denis Hennelly and Casey Suchan's Rock The Bells, which, though first and foremost is a concert film, is also as nail-biting as any Hollywood disaster movie. It follows the fortunes of promoter Chang Weisberg as he struggles to reunite famously dysfunctional hip-hop nine piece the Wu-Tang Clan for a one-off festival. The group haven't performed together since a disastrous tour supporting Rage Against The Machine in 1997, which they pulled out of after three weeks. What's more, Wu members such as RZA, Method Man and the idiosyncratic Ol' Dirty Bastard either developed successful solo careers, developing their own individual egos in the process (see RZA), or died (RIP ODB), so to assemble them on stage would be an extraordinary coup.

Mike Relm Got Skillz

Not nunchuck skillz, dj mixed-media type skillz. Impressive. youtube, mikerelm.com (via)

Jonnie Ross Short Film Set to Go!Team Music

Excellent short film set to Go!Team Music directed by Jonnie Ross, the same dude that did C-Rayz Walz's hilarious Blackout video. Link, .mov, (via) previously: We're Black And We Wanna Be White, The Go!Team's Ladyflash video

Rock Steady Crew 29th Anniversary

It's that time of the year again. RSC Anniversary. Link

July 27th (Thursday) 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Underground Celebrity Basketball Game “Against The Grain” (concrete battle) Location: The Cage on 6th Ave on the corner of 3rd Street "For The Funk Of it". This is an all out funk and soul party to honor the "Funk Styles" movement of the West Coast. 9:00 PM – Until? Location: TBA July 28th (Friday) 3:00 PM – 9:00PM Admission: $20 before 5PM and $25 after. Location: Crobar 530 West 28th Street. Manhattan Performance by The GZA & Masta Killa of Wu Tang Clan Mayda Del Valle (Def Poet) Spy Awards (IVAN THE ACTION FIGURE, BETA, REMIND) DJ’s Skeme Richards (RSC) and Ultraviolet (Philly) 2 on 2 B-Girl Battle 1 on 1 battle All contestants must secure their spots on the list before 5PM at the venue. July 29th (Saturday) Location: Crobar 530 West 28th Street. Manhattan 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM Battles Start at 5:00PM. Arrive early!! Admission: $20 Crew Battles All contestants must secure their spots on the list before 5PM at the venue. ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO ENTER ANY OF THE BATTLES WILL HAVE TO REACH OUT TO ME ON WWW.ROCKSTEADYCREW.COM. THERE IS A FORUM DEDICATED TO THE ANNIVERSARY July 30th (Sunday) Performances by: Big Daddy Kane, Large Professor, Rhymefest, Beat Nuts, AG of D.I.T.C., O.C. D.I.T.C, Q-Unique, PackFM, Many Styles, Mayda Del Valle (Def Poet), Project Move. DJ’s, Red Alert, Eclipse (RSC), Evil Dee (RSC), Charlie Chase and Jazzy Jay Hosted by End Of The Weak 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM Lincoln Park on Broad Street Newark, NJ NO VIDEO CAMERAS ALLOWED AT ANY OF THE EVENTS

Heroic Grace: The Chinese Martial Arts Film, Part II

Film Society of Lincoln Film Center presents Heroic Grace Part II, a series which includes some of the best Kung-Fu flicks of the '70s and '80s. Link

July 12 – 20 In keeping with martial arts movie tradition, the UCLA Film & Television Archive returns with this sequel to the successful Heroic Grace touring program launched in 2003. Heroic Grace II picks up where the first series left off. While the debut program focused on seminal films in the genre produced by the Shaw Bros. studio during the 1960s and early 70s, this installment carries the story forward through the ’70s and into the early ’80s, covering that enormously creative period when kung fu entered the popular lexicon in the West. Heroic Grace II accords a closer look at some of the most influential auteurs from this era. King Boxer The Five Venoms The Magic Blade Swordsman The Boxer... My Young Auntie Legendary Weapons Clans of Intrigue The Jade Tiger Dirty Ho

Up Until Now (by Upper Playground)

Media house Upper Playground released a book last month that compiles some of their best work since 1998. Link (via)

PostDependence Show @ Galapagos

This could be fun.

Date: Saturday, July 8th Time: 10:00pm Location: Galapagos Art Space (70 N6th St at Wythe, Williamsburg) Cost: $5 The FreeNYC crew is back at Galapagos once again to tear up the front room with Post-Dependence Day, an all out blast of live hip-hop, grime, ghetto tech, miami bass, and more. The insane lineup is fronted by Big Dada recording artists Bigg Jus (ex-Company Flow) and Orko Elohiem (NMS) dropping political flows over "dilapidated sci-fi beats." They are joined by a "who's who" of the hip hop underground including High Priest (Ninja Tune), Despot (Def Jux) and Zesto (Stolen Music Imprint) live on stage. CX Kidtronik and Zack Shadetek hold it down on the tables all night! Drink Specials to be announced.

City Council Puts Money Where Mouth Is: $1.5M For ‘Hip-Hop Museum' in Bronx

NY City Council has put away $1.5 million to be used as funding for a HipHop Museum in the Bronx. Link

"It is precisely the crap that goes on at Hot 97 and Power 105 that is the reason we need a way to memorialize what hip-hop really is, and not this commercial bastardization that has occurred..." - Council Member John Liu of Queens.

Aceyalone - Highlights (video)

Video for Highlights track from Aceyalone/RjD2 album, Magnificent City. Can you tell it was filmed in Amsterdam? deconmedia, projectblowed, youtube, .mov (Thanks Jesus!)

DigitalGravel.com's Nima Nabavi

Nima Nabavi, the man behind online indie apparel distributor - digitalgravel.com - was interviewed for SOHH the other day. I've never ordered a t-shirt but I've been getting the newsletter since day one. I always look forward to seeing the new designs each week and reading the interviews with the artists. Link

Nima has maintained his independent ethic for the entire life of his business. "There are no mega corporations backing any of the people. It's about taking kids with uncensored ideas, who are not geared toward what's hot and connecting them to kids around the world who want to buy them. Every brand I deal with I know the owner and he's just a guy doing his thing," Nima told SOHH. Nima has even turned away companies like Nike, MTV and Amazon who've sought partnerships with him. "I can't tell you how much money I've turned away, but I feel like there is something really disrespectful about certain kinds of advertising. It's like telling you I know you like this fresh independent stuff and you come in my store and there is a shady guy in a suit following you around going 'You like MTV right? You like Nike right?'"

The Cold Crush Brothers - All CityParks Concerts

There are a few shows coming up at your local park (if you live in NYC). GRANDGOOD will probably be at this one. Like the site says, "This is a Free Concert. All CityParks Concerts Start at 7:00PM and are Rain or Shine." Link

Dj ActionPac's Heatwave '93 Mixtape - Intro

We're trying to identify the MC's that spit the intro for Dj ActionPac's Heatwave '93 Mixtape. Lo-fi tape rip for your listening displeasure. Robbie, chime in please if you can. They rap over a loop that sounds like 2Pac's Keep Your Head Up. The chorus goes a little something like this " Yo FTW Yo F*ck The World! " Dj Action Pac - Heatwave '93 - Intro.mp3