14

Nov

Watch the Throne Tour Hits DC

And it was awesome!!

Kanye West and Jay Z rocked Baltimore and DC earlier this month with their Watch the Throne tour.  Besides music festivals like Bonnaroo, this was the largest concert I’ve been to since my very first concert seeing Nsync (LOL) back in 2001 when I was eleven years old.  I go to a lot of concerts and I’m used to most of the shows I see being general admission where for the most part I am able to determine for myself my placement in the venue and the quality of my view of the performance.  Very often I buy my concert tickets on Craigslist at the last min the day before the show even though I might have put the event on my iCal several weeks in advance.  I just always know worst case scenario I can scout tickets outside the venue right before the show so there’s no reason to buy tickets far in advance before I have any idea what my busy schedule will be like.  In this case, the Watch the Throne concert was not a general admission show and I purchased my tickets during the presale three months in advance.  Concerts of this size are generally unappealing to me and most of the artists I listen to are not big enough to fill up a large arena for a show of this magnitude anyway.  This was a truly well put on performance though.  From the song line up to the quality of Jay and Kanye’s rapping to the crazy lights and visuals… it was a top notch performance and thoroughly entertaining.

There was no opening act, which at first seemed odd but then again with two of hip hop’s biggest guys it’s hard to think of any opener that would be appropriate.  The show began with Kanye and Jay Z separated, each on their own large light up cube in the middle of the audience, rapping verses back and forth at each other across the arena.  The two then came together on the main stage performing Otis with an enormous American Flag hanging behind them.  The concert went on for two and a half hours of hip hop greatness, with smoothly flowing alternations between solo performances and tracks the duo could spit together.  Each artist performed a handful of their old classics and newer hits.  Visually the show was spectacular with fire, lasers and light effects, the two light up cubes as islands in the audience, and the giant screens on the main stage.

Kanye and Jay dropped Watch the Throne on August 8th, it being the biggest one-week digital tally ever for a rap album, breaking the US iTunes Store’s one week sales record, and debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.  The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in September and as of November 6th had sold 1,033,000 copies.  The Watch the Throne tour began in Atlanta Halloween weekend.  Both the album and tour have received plenty of praise and positive reviews from critics.  Swag.

13 years ago Short URL 9 Comments

Concert/hip hop

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26

Oct

GOODMUSIC.THE ALBUM.

Kanye West kanyewest Kanye West
GOODMUSIC.THE ALBUM.SPRING2012
19 Oct

Kanye West broke the news via twitter last week that a G.O.O.D. Music album will be coming out this spring.  This is great news.  Some of the best hip hop music to come out of summer/fall 2010 was from the G.O.O.D. (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music label’s G.O.O.D. Fridays series of weekly free music downloads.  For almost three months (late August to mid November) music fans could look forward to the release of a clutch new song every Friday and download it for free right from kanyewest.com.  Free, easily accessible, good new music from some of today’s best hip hop talent certainly does add up to be a very good Friday.  Here’s one of those quality numbers.

So far no other details have been released about the upcoming album but you can bet it will include some of the label’s big players heard on the G.O.O.D. Fridays tracks such as Kid Cudi, Mr. Hudson, Pusha T, CyHi The Prynce, Big Sean, Common, John Legend, and more.  We’ll just have to keep watching Kanye’s twitter for more updates on this project since for the past year that seems to be his chosen platform for making all news announcements.
In addition to debuting his first fashion line and going on tour this year, the G.O.O.D. Music album will be Kanye’s third full length major album to put out in less than a year and a half.  You don’t have to be a fan of his work to recognize that the dude is cranking out an impressive amount of creative projects for the hungry masses to consume.  The making of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Kanye’s creative process involved is fascinating to read about.  He survived off power naps the entire time he was making the album that many would argue is one of the best hip hop albums of all time.  He’s gotta be running on NZT-48.
Other upcoming releases on the G.O.O.D. Music label include

    • 13 years ago Short URL 3 Comments

    hip hop/New Music

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    16

    Oct

    New Childish Gambino and the Rise of the Nerds

    Donald Glover is a 28-year-old comedian/actor/writer/producer/rapper from Stone Mountain, Georgia (yeahhhhh Georgia represent!) who first started getting attention as a member of the NYU sketch comedy group Derrick Comedy back in 2006.  After NYU he went on to write for the Daily Show and then 30 Rock before his current acting gig as one of the stars (Troy) of the delightful NBC comedy Community.  And now the boy wonder is also rapping under the moniker Childish Gambino.  The dude is talented.

    He started getting some serious attention as a rapper last year with “Freaks and Geeks” and the fan base continued to grow with the release of EP, his unofficial mixtape I Do Not Talk, and songs like “The Longest Text Message”.  In the last several months he has hosted the mtvU Woodie Awards, performed at Bonnaroo, South by Southwest, and the traveling hip-hop festival Rock the Bells, and travelled the country with his sold out IAMDONALD tour of half concert and half stand-up comedy performances.  Now signed to indie label Glassnote Records (Phoenix, Mumford & Sons), Childish Gambino will release his debut album Camp on November 15.  A month ago he debuted the album’s lead single Bonfire (pretty similar sound to “Freaks and Geeks”) and a few days ago he released another track called “All the Shine”.

    heads up.. video contains explicit language

    I like Childish Gambino not only because his music sounds good (he definitely still has some growing to do as a music artist but I think he’s on an interesting path so far) but also because he is a prime example of the rise of nerd culture and the way hip-hop is evolving and reaching a broader audience.  In his songs he samples indie-pop music, includes quirky references to stuff like Tina Fey and The Office, and makes witty jokes and plays on words with lyrics.  His songs also touch on more personal subjects like family, troubled romantic relationships, alcoholism, schoolyard bullying, and alienation.  While this can be a bit emo at times, it feels real and honest and relatable for his audience.  This thrown in the mix with lots of mentions of his manhood and clever references and word plays results in a sound/feeling/product/whatever that is unusual to hip-hop.  But that’s the very point and, as Donald ofter tweets, #FuckRapCool.  This is what makes Childish Gambino the smart rapper and cool nerd with a fro that is so appealing to his large dedicated fan base.

    As somebody who has always been a “nerd”… grade school, high school, and now college… it’s interesting to me that while being nerdy might not have been particularly “cool” while I was growing up, it now seems to be the common consensus that geek is “in”.  Compared to now, being nerdy was “uncool” back in the day not just because I was in those inevitably awkward younger years, but also because the image of the geek in pop culture has completely changed since I was a kid.  Today, being a nerd is celebrated and a “cool” desirable identity.  Starting with the huge popularity of The O.C.’s adorably dorky character Seth Cohen, nerdiness has only continued to rise in prevalence in pop culture.  Just look at the success of the show The Big Bang Theory or pretty much anything staring Michael Cera.  The same goes for Donald’s character Troy and best friend Abed on Community who are easily lovable total dorks.

    As Donald has explained in his standup , a nerd is anyone who likes strange specific stuff.  His raps and stand up comedy talk about the fact that he used to be uncool for being a black nerd but is now suddenly incredibly popular for it.  As Bill Jensen of the Village Voice put it, “He represents a new archetype of entertainer—a black nerd who can like white stuff. Not a black nerd in the over-the-top Steve Urkel or Dwayne Wayne sense, but a regular black guy who likes the same stuff white people like—but just happens to be more talented than you.”  Today Donald Glover is the ultimate poster boy for the cool nerd.  He’s blowing up right now and is bound to continue to grow in popularity and prominence as a big name in music and entertainment.  It will be interesting to see how the release of Camp goes over next month.

    Childish Gambino is performing at the Fillmore in Silver Springs, MD on November 1st.  It will be my second time having to miss a Childish Gambino concert in the last six months, this time to go to the epic Kanye West and Jay Z Watch the Throne concert on the same night.  Sorry Donald.  I love ya but I gotta choose Kanye and Jay in this case.  I’m sure you understand.

    13 years ago Short URL 4 Comments

    hip hop/New Music

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    11

    Oct

    Black Star Debut New Song on Colbert Report

    Wednesday night Black Star, composed of Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, performed on the “Colbert Rerport”.  They performed the 1998 classic “Astronomy (8th Light)” and debuted their new Madlib produced song “Fix Up”.  They talked to Colbert about being a part of the “underground” rap scene and Yasiin’s decision to retire his Mos Def moniker.  It was easy to see that Yasiin especially was a fan of the Colbert Report and was excited to be on the show and get the Colbert bump.

    The duo has only put out one album, the 1998 hip hop classic Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, but there finally seemed some hope of a possible second album when bits of new Black Star material began surfacing in 2010.  Then last month they confirmed in an interview at Rock the Bells that a new Black Star album would be coming out in 2012.  This is great news, especially for the many fans who have been patiently craving more Black Star music ever since the 1998 album dropped.  The new track, “Fix Up”, is fresh while still hanging on to the same Black Star style that sounded so good back in the 90’s.  Back then Black Star was gaining success and public respect as an underground alternative hip hop group in the typically more gangsta and less intellectual hip hop culture of the late nineties.  Today, Black Star’s choice/ability to debut new material on a mainstream politically witty show like the Colbert Report is a sign of the way hip hop culture has clearly shifted and evolved since the time of the duo’s first brilliant collaboration.

    We can expect Black Star to soon announce tour dates for New York City and Los Angeles shows.  I was bummed I missed the show when they were in DC last month so hopefully I can make it to their next New York performance.

    Also last week in New York, Talib Kweli stopped by Occupy Wall Street to show his support.  And now Russel Simmons and Kanye West are showing their support for the movement too.  OK Kanye.  POWER to the people.

    What do you think of the Colbert Bump and seeing hip hop artists on the Colbert Report?

    What do you think about music artists and/or celebrities reaching out to show support to the Occupy Wall Street movement?

    13 years ago Short URL 4 Comments

    hip hop/New Music

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    27

    Sep

    Odd Future’s Loiter Squad

    The LA alternative hip hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All is at it again.  This time they’ve scored their own TV show and it’s going to be crazy.  The live-action show, called Loiter Squad, is to premiere on Adultswim in early 2012 and will feature music from Tyler, the Creator and his fellow OF members in addition to sketches, man on the street segments, pranks, and the type general debauchery typical of the group.

    Both the crew’s antics and the show concept are reminiscent of MTV’s Jackass.  Appropriately, the show is being produced by the makers of Jackass.  While shows like Wildboyz and Jackass were once very popular, there are no other similar programs popular on TV today and it might seem that such a show probably wouldn’t draw as large of an audience now.  But I think Loiter Squad will be different as it appeals to a certain niche audience that I predict will grow significantly after the show’s premiere.  Cartoon Network’s late night transformation into Adultswim already appeals to a certain audience of dedicated viewers and now with Odd Future comes a large dedicated fan base which has grown at an astonishing rate over a relatively short period of time in the last year.  I started paying attention to Odd Future in November 2010 when the group was practically unknown to much of the music world.  Now Frank Ocean is collaborating with big guys like Kanye West and Jay Z while the group’s leader, Tyler, the Creator, is winning moon men at the MTV Video Music Awards and landing more magazine covers than I can keep count.  Part of their success is a response to the way OF is changing and bringing something new to hip hop while at the same time producing music that is somewhat reminiscent of old school hip hop rhyme style.  Their rise is also in part a response to the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All rebel hipster skater swag attitude.  Whether or not this culture resonates with you, it’s undoubtably interesting and culturally relevant.  Odd Future is blowing up right now and I predict Loiter Squad will to a lesser but still impressive extent blow up too.

    In other Odd Future news…

    The gang continues to challenge/diss some of the current norms in the hip hop world with their label’s most recent project Expensive Pasta which seems to be making fun of artists like Birdman and Lil Wayne.  Even though it has to be a joke, I’m just glad an album with this title exists.  Expensive Pasta.

    Anddd the world is stillll waiting for somebody to FREE EARL

    13 years ago Short URL 2 Comments

    hip hop

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    19

    Sep

    Cop this trend

    When rappers have tried their hand in fashion in the past it has usually not been too impressive.  The collections have tended to be either over the top extravagant and very expensive or at the other end of the spectrum and lacking clear creative inspiration.  But these days the trends and the hip hop game have changed and I see great promise in the separate fashion projects of Theophilus London and Kanye West.

    Up-and-coming Brooklyn rapper Theophilus London has received a lot of attention for his fresh sense of style.  In interviews he has talked about things such as customizing his leather jackets and the importance of colorful socks in an ensemble.  His most recent fashion project was a collaboration with Cole Hann in designing a blue suede buck.  This rich navy sued unisex shoe is designed to be able to be worn sockless and includes blue bottoms and gold detailing around the laces.  I think this shoe is pretty cool and very much in line with the style and vibes of Theophilus London.  It’s a fresh new spin on an old school classic.  You can pick up a pair at the Cole Hann located in Soho.

    Next up is hip hop heavy weight Kanye West.  The rapper is no stranger to the fashion world as he has consistently been recognized as one of the world’s most fashionable men and has even collaborated with Louis Vuitton on a sneaker collection.  This summer Kanye released a collection of silk scarves inspired by the artwork of his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  I’m a big fan of Kanye’s music and find his creative methods really interesting so I’m always eager to see anything he produces.  I thought his scarf and sneakers collaborations were pretty cool but his most recent fashion endeavor is on a much larger level.  On October 1st at Paris fashion week Kanye West will be showing his much anticipated women’s fashion line.  Not many details about the line have been released so far but word is we can expect to see lots of silk, bright colors, and wild prints.  Compared to his past fashion projects, putting together an entire women’s fashion line is a whole new ballgame.  Since just about everything Kanye does in the music world turns out to be huge, I’m expected the same here.  Can’t wait to see what he has to bring to the fashion world in less than two weeks.

    13 years ago Short URL 4 Comments

    fashion/hip hop

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