“The Three Rules” music video by Art Vandelay. Take 2. Ricky Pharoe “hated” the first version, and if you go back to our original YouTube post of that clip, you get an ominous “This Video Does Not Exist”. I can’t think of a more fitting message when it comes to Ricky and his producer cohort Mack Formway, Seattle’s top professors of hip hop pessimism.
Category: Video
VIDEO: “The Listen” – Wizdumb (feat. Def Dee; dir. by AR Jiles)
No, no not that Wizdom. This Wizdumb. He of the subterranean Town work, Basementality from late last year. Check below to sample that album’s wares. “The Listen” is Wiz’s latest video effort and it features one of your dude’s favorite producers, Def Dee, whose Mello Music Group debut, 33 And A Third, is also worth a spin.
VIDEO: “Slow Dancing In A Ski Mask” – Avatar Darko (dir. by Mego Lin)
Avatar Darko’s “Slow Dancing In A Ski Mask” gets the video treatment from Mego Lin, he of “Same Love” and “Can’t Hold Us” directorial fame. “Slow Dancing” appeared on Av’s last record, Soviet Goonion 2. His upcoming EP with producer Mega Man, Boris The Blade, is due November 6.
VIDEO: “Huey Newton” – Fleeta Partee (dir. by Notework; prod. by Bean One)
Fleeta Partee with a new video drop: “Huey Newton” was produced by Bean One and given the high-def treatment by The Notework.
NEW MUSIC: The Finger & The Moon – Budo
Budo’s new album, The Finger & The Moon, finds some things familiar and some things not. First, the self-produced LP is rich with sonic textures and (at times) dense fragments of musical thought that refuse to be beautiful at first listen, but reward later with repeated visits; it’s this ability that places the multi-instrumentalist in the category of musician rather than mere producer.
Secondly, Budo adds the “vocalist” tag to his repertoire, here singing on all ten of TF&TM‘s tracks. He doesn’t have a great voice — think of a sort of poor man’s Leonard Cohen for the millennial/internet set — but the combination of his spoken thoughts (which are often intensely personal) in addition to the musical help complete the whole picture.
Stream and download The Finger & The Moon below, and check out the video for the track “Fremont” below that.
VIDEO: “Macklemore & Ryan Lewis World Tour: Episode 1” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (presented by Buffalo Jeans)
Mack and RL are touring fools. Click here for an accounting of the remaining US leg of their Fall World Tour. This is episode 1 of 5 in a documentary series chronicling their adventures; it takes place in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, and Paris.
NEW MUSIC: “Constant” – RA Scion (feat. Daniel Blue; prod. by Rodney Hazard)
RA Scion’s new album, Lumberjack Beard, is set to drop October 31. Jokes. The record is actually called The Sickle and The Sword and it’s produced entirely by New Yorker Rodney Hazard. Different sounds, different motions, TS&TS promises a more ethereal, ambient vibe. Check the video for the first single, “Constant”, filmed on beautiful Orcas Island and directed by Casey Sjogren.
VIDEO: “New Religion” – Xperience (dir. by Adam Besheer)
Xperience drops a new clip from his upcoming The Revelations EP. “New Religion” was produced by MTK and the video was shot in Brooklyn and Seattle.
VIDEO: “It’s Time 4u2go” – Chimurenga Renaissance
Chimurenga Renaissance is Tendai Maraire’s “other” project. This is the one you already know him for. “It’s Time 4u2go” was filmed in the rapper/musician’s native Zimbabwe. Mother Earth politics and the bitter imperialist’s sword are on his mind. (H/T to PIMB.)
VIDEO: “Sores” – Nissim (feat. Rabbi Simon Benzaquen)
Nissim bridges the delicate gap between the Jewish and African American experiences. When the common ground is a history of enslavement and genocide, words generally aren’t enough to impart the inherited burden carried by generations. “Sores” comes about as close as you can. The vital chorus is provided by Rabbi Simon Benzaquen.
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