?uest Tease, DJ Soul & OKP Present FREE Tanya Morgan Mixtape DL, Boondocks Goes North, ATL’s A3C Fest.
W A L E - photo by Jati
?uesto declares Rising Down is The Roots best album yet. While its just a mean teaser, read his bliz-og then hit up his myspace home page and click the first track in his player. It’s a mash up with short (super short) snips of each song on the album in succession, called “Rising Down Teaser.” One of the snips is “Rising Up,” a song the band has been playing live since late last year, which features Chrisette Michelle on the chorus and Wale sandwiched between two Black Thought verses (photo of Wale and Thought). Word is they are shooting a video for that track as well and will be considered a “single.” Following the teaser are the four songs that have already leaked, including “Rising Down” feat. Mos Def and Styles P., “Get Busy” feat. Peedi Crakk and Dice Raw, and “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction),” and the controversial “Birthday Girl. Now let’s put aside that latte money this week and save up to cop Rising Down in it’s 1st week out on April 29th!
Today Tanya Morgan drops their mixtape Tanya Morgan Is A Rap Group, mixed by DJ Soul… and guess what? It’s FREE to download! Including production from 88 Keys and featuring guest spots from Naledge of Kidz In The Hall, and even a Jay-Z remix, (not to mention my joint “Brazilian Wax”). This is the third installment in Okayplayer and DJ Soul’s Free Mixtape download series which began with Assorted Donuts: A Tribute to J. Dilla followed by Time Travelin’: Best of Common.
Check out BigMell’s photos of Che Grand’s 99 Cent Store party featuring Spec Boogie, Tanya Morgan, Elucid, and Sankofa from 3.12 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
I don’t know about you, but ever since Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks comic strip stopped running I’ve had this giant hole in my heart, like I’m missing my ex or something. When they started running the animated cartoon I was elated. I craved more. And then I heard word that there were fully formed episodes not running because of Cartoon Network’s censorship. I grieved. But now, thanks to our friendly (and much more reasonable) Canadian neighbors, we can watch two of the condemned episodes, “The Huey Freeman Hunger Strike” and “The Ruckus Reality Show” which are running on Teletoon’s adult-themed “Detour” programming. Good stuff, ay?
We’ve all seen the beautifully filmed video for Talib Kweli’s “Hostile Gospel Pt. I” which is set entirely in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria. Shot in the streets of Lagos amongst the people of Nigeria, with pieces filmed at Fela Kuti’s Shrine, this ground breaking video, directed by Andrew Dosunmu (a Nigerian native himself), truly illuminated the message behind Kweli’s song. Now, go behind the scenes with Talib as they film in Nigeria and watch how the magic happened.
Hotlanta in the house? This weekend cop your three-day pass to Atlanta’s largest indie Hip Hop Festival, the A3C. Performers include Little Brother, Guilty Simpson, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Tanya Morgan, Aceyalone, Wale (pictured above), and Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, and the rest of the legendary Juice Crew who will come together for their first ever reunion show. It all starts this Thursday, the 20th, and rages through the 22nd.
Nicolay and Kay are hitting the road (in the U.S.) for some tour dates in support of their newest album Time:Line. See if they are stopping through your city, and then enter to win a brand new 80 gig iPod loaded with hours of music from each of their catalogs, including songs never before released.
Count Bass D is gearing up to drop a new album entitled L7 this spring on 1320 Records. Word is that this record will include tons of live instrumentation, followed by an entirely “live” album later this year which will be recorded using all vintage gear. Additionally, the Count has an LP in the works with Insight, and one with J Rawls as well.
-gingerlynn
ps. Wanna buy a yacht?