My LOVE/hate relationship with Fresh Espresso continues! Hooray!
Check out this post on Winners Circle (Blah Blog) for the download links to “Something New (Remix)” and a brand NEW Fresh Espresso track, “Bedroom”. P Smoov and Rik Rude (aka Fresh Espresso, aka The Boys I Love to Hate) made some more fire — damn, man.
Just viewed this video on Blogs is Watching (courtesy The Long Pilgrimage on Vimeo).
Blue Scholars is my favorite hip-hop group out of the 206. I make no secret about it. Of all the local acts, I relate the most to Geo and Sabzi’s brand of political-minded, progressive rap. My affinity and loyalties within hip-hop music are inextricably linked to my constantly-evolving view of what’s going on in the world around me. I’ve found that the music I favor on my iPod is a function of where my consciousness is in the world. I’m incredibly thankful that groups like Blue Scholars exist. They serve to further confirm certain value systems and principles that I’m steadily learning about and striving to adopt or, in some cases even, reject.
…I learned in Pindergarten?
206 mixtape hero, J. Pinder released this nice little collection of material, the Pindergarten Mix, late yesterday. Some material is familiar to this blogger, some not. Download for FREE here. A nice addition to my (and your) collection.
Now, where’s that proper Pinder solo LP??
Two weeks ago it was Dr. Cornel West, tonight it was The RZA. Barnes and Noble in Union Square, Manhattan got their sh*t on lock!
The RZA just released his book, The Tao of Wu, an enlightening memoir which is one part autobiography, one part spiritual guidebook. It’s relatively short (I read like a third of it just while I was sitting waiting for RZA to get there). It’s well-written and should be thoroughly engaging to both hip-hop fans and those interested in bettering themselves (and the world) through spiritual channels. I really mean it: it’s that illuminative and honest a work.
During the short time he was on stage, RZA spoke eloquently and earnestly about his difficult past and how those experiences, career successes, and ongoing spiritual journey have informed his life thus far. He maneuvered easily and with obvious knowledge between Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, the entertainment industry, and, of course, martial arts movies. He’s truly a renaissance man for the hip-hop generation; a philosopher and truth-seeker borne out of the hardest housing projects in NYC. Yet, for me, he’s oddly relatable. Probably because, at his core, he’s just a huge nerd who likes to read books about sh*t. It’s strangely edifying to learn that one of your favorite hardcore rappers is just a sentimental book jockey like yourself.
…download his new sh*t, Dear Friends, EP, for free! (Click here or on the photo below for the link to Sol’s homepage.)
The new 6-track EP is a great look for Sol. The rapper confirms he has an excellent ear for beats and displays true signs of progression in his craft. I’ll be back later with my thoughts on Dear Friends, friends.
Q-Tip is kind of a hippie (but we been knowing that) and I still contend Norah Jones could have a career in neo-soul (whatever the f*ck that is). This video made me happy during a week that has been very unhappy.
Directed by Jason Reid, Sonicsgate is an in-depth look at the drama surrounding the purchase and subsequent departure of our beloved Supersonics. Using similar tactics as other agenda-progressing documentarians, Reid appeals to the emotions of folks like author Sherman Alexie (one of the film’s prominent subjects), fans whose main source of proverbial sunlight during the dreary 206 winters was the promise of 82 games of Sonics basketball. The film’s lengthy, but if you have any interest whatsoever in what went down, it’s a must-see. It features an impressive group of interviews (including Gary Payton, George Karl, various former Sonics players, and City and State politicians), and the soundtrack is a who’s who in the world of Seattle hip-hop.
(Photo by Ryan Lewis via Sol's Myspace Page)
Fret not, Pac Nor’westerners, for the sun hasn’t quite made its inevitable departure from our fair city yet. The Mariano Rivera of rhyme, Sol, will be keeping the heat on this fall with his Dear Friends EP, scheduled to drop for FREE download on 10.14.09. Follow Sol’s goings-on via Twitter here. And his new homepage here.
In the meantime, below is the album art with track listing for Dear Friends and the first leak, “Cash Rules!” available for free download here. (The SPARSE BEAT + TENSE STRING ARRANGEMENT = 206-FIRE of the highest order!)
UPDATE (10.12.09, 7:57 pm): Download the second leak, “No Sleep” (featuring Grynch), here at 2dopeboyz.
How many of you out there used to read the Massline Blog? Back when the Massline fam-damily were presumably much-less busy, they kept us Townfolk informed and entertained by posting the latest on artist news, shows, and album releases. They also kept us in stitches from the hilarious photo diaries and funny-because-it’s-not-funny social commentaries that Sabzi and comedian Hari Kondabolu would post. (Not to say Geo doesn’t also have a sense of humor, but it’s unclear if he’s as funny as Sabzi and Hari because his posts were far fewer in number. And Hari is, after all, a comedian, while Geo is a very serious and political-minded rapper.)
It was good stuff. My Lady even had a brief conversation with Sabzi himself last year at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan’s East Village, just before Blue Scholars headlined their very first show in NYC, where she told him how funny the Massline Blog was and that we both enjoyed reading it. Sabzi told her, “Thank you for the excellent feedback” (<— actual quote from DJ Sabzi). Alas, it appears the Blog is no more.
Tonight I was mindlessly surfing the internet and somehow ended up on Hari Kondabolu’s Myspace page. Much to my delight, Hari has included one of the funniest of the aforementioned posts. (Click on the photo below to read it.) In this adventure, Hari and Blue Scholars journey into Queens (where Hari grew up) in search of the best Masala Dosa and Burfi, and then to locate a bottle of the (apparently) elusive Mazaa Mango Juice, the magical elixir of Hari’s youth.
Enjoy. And RIP Massline Blog.
Shabazz Palaces is on some next-level ish. Literally.
See also: Killer of Sheep. See also: shabazzpalaces.com.
And have patience, time will reveal more…
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 