She’s been lurking (and working) in the shadows for some time now and she’s decided it’s her time to shine. We’re happy! She’s got ridiculously good taste in music, and she pleases herself before making any concessions for you or I….our kind of girl….check for yourselves. This is her first podcast mind so go easy on her. We were all first-timers on the mic once:
Tracklisting
Strong Arm Steady feat Talib Kweli// Get Started Medina Green feat Mos Def// Party Done DTMD// Fantastic Jneiro Jarel// N.A.S.A Olivier Daysoul// The Walls Pollyn// Still Love (Debruit Remix) Will Powers// Adventures in Success (dub) Mulatu Astatake// Esketa Dance Shafiq Husayn// Nirvana Bei Bei and Shawn Lee// Into the wind Robert Glasper// The Robert Glasper Experiment Gill Scott Heron// Me and the Devil P.O.S// Goodbye Atmosphere// Shoulda Known Dabrye feat Doom// Air Janelle Monae feat Big Boi// Tightrope Big Boi// Royal Flush (Clean) Juggaknots// Settle Down Cunninlynguists// Mic Like a Memory Mos Def feat Talib Kweli// History Doom// Ballskin Oddisee feat Tranquil// It’s Over
After an inexcusably long hiatus, the Duke drops some fresh gems on y’all. Detroit House, Hip Hop, Raw Roots music from Africa to the Caribbean? It’s all here:
John Roberts//White Chez-N-Trent//All about You Bookworms//African Rhythms Donaeo//Riot Music (Shy FX Mix) Marcé//Ca Ca Ye (Frankie Francis Edit) Georgia Ann Muldrow//Jina Langu Ni Afrika (my Name Is Afrika) Brittany Bosco//Black Keys Will – I – Am//Money Pal Joey//Breakin’ Necks House Shoes//The Makings Georgia & Dudley//Shine On Dabrye//I’m Missing You Reggie B//Spoken Lenny Flying Lotus//Quakes Jay Electronica//Exhibit A (Transformations) Fatima//Higher Black Joy Edits//Edit 10 Red Earth Collective ft. Manasseh//Hard Times Dub Vincent Taylor//Living A Lie Connie Bell//Vampires Midnite//Enter Nneka//Africans Baloji//Karibou Ye Bintou
Blogging is a curious thing…especially when there are major labels/sponsors involved. They make crazy money, invest in something dope, give us a whiff of it & we do the rest…..for free. That’s only one reason why I feel slightly strange blogging about Baloji. The other is that seeing as I don’t speak French, I have only a feint idea of what he’s saying. What I do know though is that the way he says what he says is on point. Don’t hate me but that’s my main criteria for judging MCs & singers anyway….unless they’re really talking shit….
Baloji is a Congolese MC via Belgium. He’s been around for a minute and his flows stick to anything from high speed 70s funk to raw roots traditional drums. He’s been working on the follow up to the acclaimed ‘Hotel Impala‘ LP and sources tell us the fresh ‘Kinshasa Succursale’ project is ripe to drop. As a taster, the Konono No 1 sampling ‘Karibu Ye Bintou’ is currently doing the rounds. Not only is the track tight, but the video is excellent too….thoughts?
“… HOLD TIGHT! don’t ever give up in the fight,
GRACE! can only come into the sight,
SOUL POWER! it ignites like the sun…”
(Slum Village, Fantastic Vol.2, 2000)
As we approach the date of one of hip-hop’s greatest losses, updated merchandise, fundraisers and J Dilla anniversary events are spilling out from all corners of the globe. This is not only to commemorate someone who is often referred to as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time but also to raise awareness of lupus, the fatal disease that unfortunately claimed his life on 10th Feb 2006 (3 days after his 32nd birthday).
“Systemic lupus erythematosusSLE or lupus, is a chronic autoimmune connective tissue disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage.
SLE most often harms the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and nervous system. The course of the disease is unpredictable, with periods of illness (called flares) alternating with remissions. The disease occurs nine times more often in women than in men, especially between the ages of 15 and 50, and is more common in those of non-European descent.”
Find out more about lupus and what you can do to make a difference on J Dilla Project’s MySpace which has a variety of links and info.
In saying all this, there is still a genius of a producer who’s work requires celebration and his legacy, continuation. Here are three dope suggestions as to how to we can all participate in making it happen:
1. The J Dilla Foundation. After being shut down for some years, the J Dilla Foundation was relaunched this year by Ma Dukes aka Maureen Yancey. Their mission is to encourage ‘progressive music education’ in schools and to ’support music enthusiasts with the tools they require to become successful within the entertainment industry.’
2. The Doctor’s Orders Presents J-Dilla Changed My Life. This is tonight at Kings Cross’ Scala. Contributing a minimum of £5 at the door will go to both the J Dilla Foundation and Lupus UK. This event will be pretty rammed but you can expect all the Dilla classics and extras. Massive vibe with the most Jay Dee die-hard, party harders from all over the UK. If you would like to make further donations, there will be all kinds of merchandise being sold there too.
3. There have been numerous Jay Dee re-workings and remixes building up to his anniversary, however the best contribution I’ve heard so far is from the stuff that the Roots have put together. It must be pretty hard attempting to re-work the ultimately skillful re-worker; however refreshingly for us, they took on some of his rarer beats. Obviously as very close friends of the artist (especially ?uestlove), their genuine and personal renditions are tasteful and beyond magnificent. Click here to listen. (A personal favourite is ‘Make em NV‘)
Just like London buses, when there are no decent gigs for a while, we’ve come to expect that tons of them will come at once and all together. This seems to be the case for the first quarter of 2010 as yet another* super booking arrives via Mean Fiddler and The Outfit Agency who present to us, Jay Electronica at the Jazz Cafe.
Gracing our shores after a long break and much work, this is set to be a roadblock.
This New Orleans born rapper has trailblazed his way into a scene that has been somewhat lacking to say the least. Not only did his first percussionless joint, Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) bring a fresh perspective to hip-hop’s repetitive production templates (that every rapper seems to have exhausted to the core), Jay’s lyrical style has also been validated by many veterans of the game such as Rakim, NaS and Mos Def. To be honest, we should have known that any rapper affiliated with Miss Badu would be no less than dope.
Jay will be filling the Jazz cafe for two days, with the first (17th Feb 2010) being hosted by Benji B of 1Xtra/Deviaion fame and the second (18th) by 1Xtra and Def Jam UK’s DJ Semtex.
I’m sure that Jay’s performances will take no prisoners, so be ready to feel the force. POW!
* See previous posting for Robert Glasper’s UK tour dates. On the 13th of Feb, Dam Funk will also be performing at Brixton’s Plan B… Event details here.
I do realise that I’ve been going on about this dude for a minute, so I shall keep this post short and sweet. The Robert Glasper Trio is in town.
There is no need for me to breakdown why this jazz pianist, double-bass and drum outfit is worth catching; if your into good music, this should definitely be good enough to lure you out of hibernation.
I’ll cut to the chase. Firstly. you can catch them tomorrow (6th Feb 2010) amongst a whole host of other super artists at Gilles Peterson’s annual Worldwide Awards at the Garage… And secondly if you prefer Glasper and his crew 100% undiluted, then you can catch them at Ronnie Scott’s next Monday and Tuesday (8th and 9th). See below for more details.
Look out for the drummer, Chris “Daddy” Dave. This guy is sublime.
See you there…
Click here for details of Robert Glasper at Worldwide Awards.
Click here for details of Glasper at Ronnie Scott’s.
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