Crazy World Vid, The Left-Of-Center Hip-Hop Event of The Decade Has A Name, Jay-Z Gets The Fisheye, Who Is Wale?
• This past summer, fans who attended the Vh1 Hip Hop Honors Tour were treated to an energetic performance of a new song from Skillz called “Crazy World.” The recorded song, produced by Khari Ferrari and featuring Maimoona Yusef (”Don’t Feel Right”), will appear on Skillz’ upcoming album Million Dollar Backpack (KOCH / Big Kids Entertainment). Skillz teamed up with VA’s IllusiveMedia to make the above video. We were supposed to World Premiere it but things don’t always work out as planned so c’est la vie. Note to artists, if you are going to do the job of the label and management, please let them know about it! All good family. For those keeping score at home (i.e., us), this marks the second video in two days to feature an Okayplayer shout out! Now that’s love.
• The other video we are of course referring to is Erykah Badu’s “Honey” now in rotation on VH1, BET, and MTV as their “Jam of the Week.” This is just the beginning for E in ‘08. We already hipped you to her 3-album agenda, the first of which, New Amerykah will drop Feb 26th (also her bday!). But the entirely digital experience? The magazine Freaq? Read about all this and more in her interview with the Jamaica Observer.
• In what will be the left-of-center hip hop event of he decade, The Roots latest album Rising Down is STACKED with guest appearances. In addition to crew regulars Dice Raw, Truck North, P.O.R.N. and yes, Malik B, confirmed guests include: Mos Def, Common, Kweli, Peedi Peedi, Styles P, Wale, Patrick Stump, Mercedes Martinez, Chrisette Michelle. Also rumored to appear are Q-Tip, Lupe Fiasco, and more. See what the boards are saying.
• Lesson Heads have been championing DC’s Wale for a minute. Get up to speed and make your own opinion by downloading his “100 Miles & Running” mixtape, his “Flashing Lights” remix, and by peeping his video for “Uptown Roamers.” I’ll do the same.
• When Okayplayer got the call that Def Jam was looking for someone to capture video of Jay-Z and band rehearsing for his American Gangster tour, we knew exactly the person for the job. Following the first piece he shot and cut, the labeled liked the vibe enough to send Jason Goldwatch on the whole tour. Armed with a camera, two lenses, and an all access pass, check out the video Jason cut to “Pray” which debuted yesterday on RocAFella.com.
• We got the jump on a new track from Gnarls Barkley - “Run.” The group’s sophomore release is titled The Odd Couple and is slated for release on April 15th.
There is no information about an upcoming release but we understand that a new album is done.
-okpdan