Hip Hop
New: Pusha T – “Lost In The World”
GOOD Music’s Pusha T (of Clipse) has released his version of Kanye West‘s Bon Iver-sampling “Lost In The World”. The new song will be included on Pusha’s highly anticipated new mixtape Fear Of God. It’s the same Pusha T we’ve grown to love and expect, adding his touch to Yeezy’s masterful beat. Eughk!
Kanye West and Mos Def Freestyle at Blue Note
Kanye West and Mos Def kicked a freestyle on Sunday night at New York’s Blue Note, performing with the help of Robert Glasper and his Robert Glasper Experiment. Kanye’s verse was extremely impassioned, including references to the 2009 VMA incident between him and Taylor Swift.
Check out the performance below, courtesy of CiscoNYC.
Lupe Fiasco Talks Lasers: “I hate this album.”
“I had to do ‘Show Goes On,’ that was like the big chip on the table. I had to do it and it had to be the first single if the record was going to come out. And then there’s ‘Never Forget You’ [featuring John Legend]—which is another record I had nothing to do with—which became another bargaining chip, like, ‘Yo, after ‘Show Goes On’ there’s going to be this other record that you had nothing to do with.’ And I know John Legend, he’s a cool dude. But it was just a record he had sitting around and Exec A or Exec B heard it, and they were like, ‘Oh yeah! We’re going to put this on Lupe.’ And it wasn’t like, ‘Hey Lupe, do you like this song?’ it was like, ‘You got to do this record.'”
“One thing I try to stress about this project is, I love and hate this album. I listen to it and I’ll like some of the songs. But when I think about what it took to actually get the record together and everything that I went through on this record—which is something I can’t separate—I hate this album.”
On the topic of the album’s multiple delays, Lupe said, “It’s like, ‘Another album out but the main root of the problem is still unsolved.’ And then there are records you literally had nothing to do with. That was a part of the compromise. Compromise doesn’t mean everybody is going to be happy, it’s just we’re going to do the best thing we can. The best thing for both parties is for this album to come out. Whether that means we’re homies or whether that means everything is cool now, that’s a different story.”
Read the full interview here and be sure to check out Lasers on March 8th.
Childish Gambino – “Freaks and Geeks” Live
Check out Childish Gambino performing his latest single “Freaks and Geeks” live and acoustic here. The video was posted by Donald Glover himself via his Twitter account.
You can catch Donald on his IAMDONALD Tour through April and May. Check out the dates here. Childish Gambino’s upcoming Freaks and Geeks EP will be out on March 8, 2011.
Donald Glover + Childish Gambino IAMDONALD Tour
Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino or Troy from Community, has announced dates for an upcoming IAMDONALD Tour showcasing both his comedic and music talents. He explained, “IAMDONALD TOUR is an interactive experience that uses live music, comedy, and video to covey the personal experience of being me, Donald Glover. Everyone who comes to the show will leave the show my best friend.”
He also added, “IAMDONALD is about not letting people define you. A lot of my fans tweet or email me saying how they like that I do a lot of things and are held back by people saying ‘You’re a writer. Why are you acting?’ or ‘You can’t rap about the show Rugrats.’ I say ‘F**k that.’ That’s pretty much the show.’
Check out the dates below.
IAMDONALD Tour – 2011 North American Dates:
April 16 – Ames, IA Iowa State Center
April 18 – Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
April 19 – Salt Lake City, UT Vertigo at the Complex
April 21 – Seattle, WA Neumos
April 22 – Vancouver, BC The Rio Theatre
April 23 – Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
April 26 – Solana Beach, CA Belly Up
April 27 – Los Angeles, CA The Music Box (Henry Fonda Theatre)
April 28 – San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
April 30 – Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Café
May 2 – Dallas, TX The Loft
May 3 – Houston, TX Warehouse Live Studio
May 4 – Austin, TX Emo’s Alternative Lounge – Outside
May 6 – Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
May 8 – Washington, D.C. Black Cat
May 9 – Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
May 10 – New York, NY The Bowery Ballroom
May 11 – Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
May 13 – Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
May 14 – Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 16 – Toronto, ON The Opera House
May 17 – Detroit, MI Magic Stick
May 18 – Chicago, IL Park West
May 19 – Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
Interview: ZAK!
We recently sat down with NYU student and up-and-coming rapper ZAK!, who recently released his new Stuck To The Sidewalk mixtape (download here). He talked about his tour with Hoodie Allen, his sound, his friendship with Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls, and more. Check out the interview below.
ZAK!: I don’t really have a “favorite” rapper. There’s some I listen to more than others. I also really don’t like making my own comparisons. People can make them themselves. Even though I definitly grab influences from other rappers I like to think at the end of the day I’m doing sometime unique to myself.
ZAK!: Right now I’ve been working with my DJ / Engineer / Producer DJ Fresh Direct. He basicially does it all. And on this next project were really going to sit down and create some serious stuff. Its good for me to able to help him create the music, and vice versa when it comes to the song lyrically.
Also my good friend Astro Raw has produced multiple of my tracks and really has a solid New York vibe.
ZAK!: Those were my first two real shows. And I got to say the crowd at U of Mich was pretty nuts. Honestly wasn’t expecting it. Otherwise the whole weekend was kind of a blur I unfortunately had thew flu. Pretty sure I vomited a few times. (more…)
Odd Future (OFWGKTA) Perform on Fallon and More
This week has been huge for the OFWGKTA crew; if you aren’t yet familar with this exciting young rap collective, make some time to check them out. Just a few days ago, leader Tyler, The Creator and Hodgy Beats made their television debuts on Jimmy Fallon, enthralling and scaring Fallon and his audience with their performance of “Sandwitches” backed by The Roots. Swag? Mos Def certainly agrees: “SWAAAAG!” Watch Tyler and Hodgy tear it up, as well as more Odd Future news below.
On Monday, Tyler announced his signing with XL Recordings, where he will be releasing his upcoming albumGoblin. The eerie, black-and-white music video for first single “Yonkers” was also released this week.
Mellowhype, the collaborative group of Hodgy Beats and Left Brain, have announced that their next album will be titled Numbers.
That’s not all though. Odd Future’s resident R&B man Frank Ocean has released his new album Nostalgia for free download here. The album highlights the incredible diversity of Odd Future. The album is unbelievably smooth and even features a Coldplay sample.
Video: Hoodie Allen – “You Are Not A Robot”
Hoodie Allen has released an official music video for “You Are Not A Robot”. The track, which features a sample of Marina & The Diamonds, was one of my personal favorites from Hoodie’s debut mixtape Pep Rally and the visuals certainly are a great complement.
“The best thing about this video is that it was only made possible due to the undying support of my fans: from the entire crew to all the extras who came out from as far as Maryland at 7:00 AM to help, the whole production was done ourselves. 2011 is all about that DIY mentality for me. I’ve recently taken a break from my job at Google to pursue my music full time,” Hoodie told us via email. Check out the video below.
Lil B Releases Mixtape With 676 Songs
Lil B (known to fans as “Based God”) has just released a ridiculous new mixtape called Free Music: The Myspace Collection. What’s so ridiculous about it? Maybe the fact that it’s 676 songs long. Yes, you read that correctly. In just over 26 months, Lil B has recorded 676 songs and has compiled them onto one mixtape. You may not appreciate his music, but you have to at least appreciate his dedication and hustle.
The 676-song mixtape is available for free download, but requires three separate Megaupload uploads. Grab them here, here, and here. You can also download the 20-page tracklist here.
Listen/Download New Chiddy Bang – “Rebel”
To celebrate reaching 10,000 followers on Twitter, producer Xaphoon Jones leaked a new Chiddy Bang song entitled “Rebel”. The song samples “He’s A Rebel” by The Crystals and is a surprisingly polished demo.
“Rebel”, however, will not be included in Chiddy Bang’s debut album The Swelly Life, which currently has no scheduled release date.
Listen and download the MP3 below.
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